Well, that was a wild first year for the new wildcard system. The Braves finally lost a game with Medlen on the mound, but it was not without its controversy. A call went their way early on, when David Ross was granted a very late time-out on a pitch he went on to strike out on. The pitch was thrown again and Ross plunked it into the left field seats. But the biggest call came in the 8th inning, when with men on 1st and 2nd, rookie Andrelton Simmons hit a shallow pop-up into left field. With the short-stop Kozma back-pedalling and left-fielder Holliday hurrying in, there was some confusion which ended with them leaving it for each other and allowing the Braves to load the bases. However, a second before the ball had hit the turf, left-field umpire Sam Holbrook had called on the infield fly rule, meaning that the batter was called out. The call was not a good one, the catch was clearly anything but regulation. However, the response by the Braves fans, who threw bottles and other debris onto the pitch, was undignified. The Cardinals went on to close the game out, although it was being played under protest.
The other game was less controversial, but no less surprising. Leftie Joe Saunders gave up just one run over 5.1 innings and the shut-down Orioles 'pen did the rest to leave me 0-2 from my picks so far. Soon to be free-agent Josh Hamilton received boos from the Texas faithful after striking out in his final at-bat, and the final 14 days of the season proved to be very forgetful indeed for the Rangers who perhaps got complacent atop the AL West.
But there's no rest in October, and we have the first games of the NLDS taking place today. In the first game we have a juicy match-up between the surprise AL West winners Oakland and the resurgent AL Central victors Tigers. The Tigers will send their ace, Justin Verlander, out to the mound to face off against one of the Oakland rookies - Jarrod Parker. The Oakland line-up has a tendency to strike out a lot, so Verlander may rack up some K's, but his post-season record in his career so far does not match up to his stellar regular season record. Parker has been the most reliable of Oakland's rookie rotation so far this season, but he will have his work cut out if he wants to shut down this red hot Detroit offense powered by triple-crown winner Miguel Cabrera. The heralded A's power will also be limited by the spacious outfield of Comerica Park, so they may have to revert to more small-ball and base stealing if they want to score runs on Verlander.
My prediction: 5-3 Detroit
On the National League side of the draw, two NL heavy-weights will do battle in the late game. The Giants quietly put together an excellent season, with Cain, Bumgarner and Vogelsong making up for Lincecum's misgivings and Buster Posey compiling an MVP calibre season with the second half omission of Melky Cabrera. It will be the 28 year old right-hander on the mound for the Giants, who put together the best campaign of his career with 16 wins, a 2.79 ERA and 193 punch-outs as well as a perfecto back in June. However, he will have to face off against another Cy-Young candidate in the Reds break-out ace Johnny Cueto. The 26 year old right-hander has been superb for the Cincinatti side this year, putting together 19 wins and a 2.78 ERA despite pitching half his games in the most hitter-friendly park in the National League. Both line-ups are good without being destructive, and in the cavernous AT&T park this could easily turn into a fascinating pitchers duel. I'll give the nod to the Reds though, because their hitting is slightly stronger and their bull-pen can match-up to that of the Giants. Should be fascinating game though.
My prediction: 2-1 Cincinatti
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