NLDS Preview - Game 1 - Pirates at Cardinals

The Pirates Get Ready for NLDS Game 1 vs the Cardinals

The Pittsburgh Pirates defeating the Cincinnati Reds was sweet, but the prize for their victory?  A best of 5 series with a perennial powerhouse, the St. Louis Cardinals.  This will be a matchup for the ages as the Pirates superb pitching will be matched up against one of the best hitting teams in all of MLB.  It should make for a fun and exciting series.  I'm not going to bog you down with stats, just facts and opinions to get you ready for today's game.  Here's the breakdown:

Pitching Matchup:
PIT - AJ Burnett
STL - Adam Wainwright

- To me, this is going to be the biggest factor in this entire series.  The Pirates pitching is by far the strong point of the team, and the Cardinals have some power arms, but not to the extent of the Pittsburgh rotation.  The big question is: Will the Pirates pitching be able to shut down the Cardinals bats?  AJ Burnett takes the mound in Game 1 in what should be a tremendous pitching duel with Adam Wainwright.  Burnett has pitched in big games before, and tonight's game is no different.  AJ has always seemed to step up in big situations, and the fact that some "experts" are saying the fact that Burnett is taking the mound instead of Liriano is a detriment to the Pirates is downright laughable.  AJ Burnett was the staff ace till Liriano went on to win 16 games, and Burnett is still considered a top 2 pitcher on this team.  I don't feel any less confident in my favorite team taking the field today behind Burnett than I would if Francisco Liriano was climbing the hill.  I like Burnett pitching in adverse situations, and this would be one of those times.

Lineups:
- The Pirates strength is their pitching staff and defense.  From top to bottom they rely on keeping the opponents off the scoreboard and hope for the occasional clutch hit.  The opposite could be said about the Cardinals.  The Cardinals sport the best run differential in the NL and are the best hitting team in MLB with runners in scoring position.  An interesting fact about the season series between these 2 teams: In the 19 regular season meetings, only 5 games were decided by 2 or fewer runs.  The other 14 games?  Well the margin of victory was greater than 2, obviously.  This could be a very entertaining series in a lot of different ways.  If the Pirates can keep the momentum going and build on their Wild Card win, these games could be intriguing.  One thing to note about the Pirates bats vs the Cardinals pitching.  The Cardinals don't throw left handers too often, which bodes well for Pedro Alvarez who always seems to hit well against the Cardinals.  The Pirates will need his power in this series to help bolster run support for the pitching staff.

Intangibles:
-  The Pirates and Cardinals are hardly strangers.  After 19 meetings, they felt it necessary to continue the battle into a 5 game set for the chance to make it to the NL Championship Series.  The Pirates are a team that plays with passion, emotion, and at times by the seat of their pants.  The Cardinals couldn't be further from that description.  A team rich with postseason tradition, they play cool, calm, and collected with the poise that you expect from a World Series Championship caliber team.  The Pirates have everything to gain and absolutely nothing to lose.  They are truly playing with "house" money right now.  The Pirates will keep doing what they do, and thats plugging away and hoping for the best.  Will the Cardinals have a slow start after the lay off during the Wild Card round?  Alot of questions to be answered, but to me, this matchup comes down to the Pirates bats.  Hit the ball around the park like they did on Tuesday, and this thing could get real ugly for the Red Birds.

Game 1 Prediction:
- Again, baseball is so hard to predict, but I like the Pirates with AJ Burnett in Game 1 on the road.  He has that edge to him and that "me against the world" mentality.  Look for the Pirates to all embody that persona in Game 1.