NLDS Game 1: Cubs @ Cardinals
Jenifer Langosch/MLB.com
Regular Season Records: Cardinals (100-62), Cubs (97-65)
NLDS Records: Cardinals (0-0), Cubs (0-0)
First pitch: 5:45 pm CT
TV/Radio: TBS, 1120 KMOX, ESPN Radio
Cardinals lineup: Matt Carpenter (3B), Stephen Piscotty (1B), Matt Holliday (LF), Jason Heyward (CF), Jhonny Peralta (SS), Randal Grichuk (RF), Yadier Molina (C), Kolten Wong (2B), John Lackey (RHP)
Cubs lineup: Dexter Fowler (CF), Kyle Schwarber (LF), Kris Bryant (3B), Anthony Rizzo (1B), Starlin Castro (2B), Chris Coghlan (RF), Addison Russell (SS), David Ross (C), Jon Lester (LHP)
Reading material:
- Cardinals announce 25-man NLDS roster (link)
- Yadier Molina, given green light to play, talks about pain tolerance and playing with a splint (link)
- Examining three key decisions that the two managers will likely have to make in this series (link)
- How manager Mike Matheny proved to be the right man to navigate the Cardinals through so much adversity (link)
- The Cardinals brought John Lackey to St. Louis largely because of his postseason resume. Now, they’re counting on it (link)
- Game 1 NLDS Preview: It’s Cubs-Cards in October. For the first time (link)
- Long before they were NLDS opponents, Matt Carpenter and Jake Arrieta were teammates and fast friends (link)
- Brock-Broglio. McGwire-Sosa. The Ryne Sandberg game. A look at the most compelling moments of a longtime Cubs-Cards rivalry (link)
- A position-by-position breakdown of the Cardinals and Cubs (link)
- Friends John Lackey and Jon Lester will square off in Game 1 (link)
Follow me on Twitter (@LangoschMLB), Instagram (LangoschMLB) and Facebook (Jenifer Langosch for Cardinals.com)
By Gosh, It's Langosch 
Oops, I was wrong. Piscotty at 1B…with Grichuk in RF & Heyward in CF. Interesting that RF & CF aren’t switched, and that Wong bats 8th.
In any event, the line-up appears to include all our best batters.
Need to watch out RF Chris Coughlan in case he might try one of his bull-dozing slides.
Owner DeWitt interviewed this morning. When asked? No comment about Heyward, other than he knows Jason REALLY likes playing here, and if the Cards would try to resign him, the negotiations would probably take a while.
Fun fact: Jake Arrieta was one of the groomsman in Matt Carpenter’s wedding. (They were teammates while attending TCU.)
This could be an interesting story line to follow, especially if the Astros get to the series:
“Colby Rasmus, who homered in both Tuesday’s AL Wild Card Game victory over the Yankees and again in Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday, is the first player in Major League history to have an extra-base hit in each of his first six postseason games.”
Good for ex-Cardlnal Colby! : )
Yikes, sooooo nervous. Just glad Lackey’s starting.
Yup, if we get to the WS and the Astros do too? Needless to say the media will make a big deal outta’ the hacking accusations. Speaking of which? There’s still no word from the FBI yet.
Too busy looking for Al Capone, but they’ll get to it.
Yeah, so…where’d that Pham kid come from? Ha!
Stats show he hits harder than anyone. And Piscotty who was supposed to be finished 2 run Homer and 2 runs scored.
What a great start to the series. Everything seemed to work well even though the offense was slow to get going. Great that Rosenthal eventually got the outs as Lackey would have lost the win.
They played like the best team in baseball today. Satisfying because the announcers hyped the Cubs. They are always underestimated.
Yeah, most EVERYBODY’S been hyping the Cubs. Post-game, MM did say Piscotty feels better playing in the OF. But he needs him to start at 1B initially, to get things going.
MM even gave kudos to Reynolds for his defense tonite. Musical chairs, as I previously mentioned. ; )
Hrabosky tonite, insisted that with all Lackey’s done for the team? The Cards really HAVE to re-sign him if at ALL possible.
Spectacular game! ‘Nuf said!!! ; )
Merely a theory…but I think MM took Lackey out earlier than Lackey wanted, ’cause he may want to use him as a back-up for Lynn in 4 days (Tuesday)….or…instead of?
You know…just in case Lynn has a melt-down the first inning or 2?
Well MM outdid their genius manager, who left Lester in a bit too long. They probably wouldn’t bring Lackey in game 4 unless the series was on the line. Hope Garcia cango fairly deep and the offense does better against Hendricks.
Great game everything a rivalry should have. Hope once again, because its post season, we start hitting homeruns more regularly….Pham’s dinger was a bomb!
Piscotty’s had some gone to it also.We went power on teams last year in the playoffs Why not again?
As far as the ‘Cub Love’ from the networks and their announcers we’ll see.If they lose it’ll be back to the loser excuses,Bartman and goats. Even Buddy can’t be guru enough to get passed that, but tonight he’ll gather the team for face painting and making beaded necklaces, while watching Matilda and how she escapes the ‘chokey’
for motivational purposes. ( Ya had to have seen the movie to get the reference )
By the way,MM is NL Manager of the Year this yr. and I don’t care what MLB Cub Lovers think.He’s done more with less AND won 100 games, than any other manager in either league.
Using Lynn in Game 4, if I were the manager, would only occur if we were up 3 games to 0………………….get it? Its best of 5 so if we were up 3-0 we wouldn’t need him.
Wonder if Randy “Choke” paid attention last night as to how a LH gets lefthanded hitters out.
Yadi looked better than I thought he would, lets hope it stays that way. Wong looked clueless even though he had a hit.He’ll hit 8th for the rest of the series now,especially after Piscotty’s homer.OR we may see Garcia for a game?
Just lookinng at the roster again for the playoffs.I totally understand why Borjuos and Choate are not on it,but when I saw Adams off because Reynolds and Moss are more versitle, it made me think that Adams may not be in their plans for next yr.My thinking is that they’ll be looking hard for a new 1B guy next year. What do you guys think?
They addressed that very question on the KMOX Extra-Innings Show last nite. Chris Hrabe the host, wasn’t sure about that either. MM may have thought Adams has the talent, but didn’t have his timing back yet. And in that case…Adams could be first choice for 1B next year.
But he did make a case for finding another first-stringer for that position, too. Then again, Reynolds has played great at 1B (and has had some key hits too)….so no telling how that’ll all turn out.
To me Adams is more a suited for the AL.He can DH and play some 1B. With Busch Stadium being so big I’d like to see some who can hit 20-22 homers but hits for some average too. Like a heyward type.Where do we find that guy?
I’m sure you’re right, Dave. Good ole’ Maddon will surely try to get his Cubbies fired up by talking all sorts of trash to ’em before today’s game.
I did text the KMOX post-game show host last nite, to ask his opinion about possibly using Lackey again, but only as a back-up for Lynn in game 4….if say, the Cubs manage to get up on us 2-1….AND only if Lynn would begin to melt-down in the first coupla’ innings. Kind of unorthodox, granted. But he’s convinced that’d never happen.
Frankly, last nite’s win almost seemed too easy. Either the Cards were extra hot or Lester sucked…or both. And even if we win tonite? I’d think we’d have to give Chicago game 3, when Arrieta’s on the mound.
On MLB TV last nite, one of their guys did give the Cardinals (and MM) credit for never, EVER making excuses about injuries, as some teams have done. But then he turned around and said he was just tired of the Cards & wanted some new blood (quote) in the playoffs.
I suppose if another team was a regular presence every October…we’d be tired of them too?
Yadi did look good defensively. But he wasn’t quite batting like normal. The first time up…he almost looked like he was simply gonna’ stand there waiting for strike 3 to be called, so he could get back to the dugout.
My guess today, is that MM will continue with the musical chairs routine. And why not. How else can everybody have a crack at smokin’ a long ball. ; )
No doubt Jaime will give it his all on the mound today. This is his big chance to prove he’ll be worth mega-bucks, when negotiations begin in the off-season. But everybody can have an off-day, no matter how hard they try.
The funny thing, is that with all the hoopla surrounding the Cubs, with so many saying they’ll “probably” beat the Cardinals? Admittedly, I have been mentally preparing myself for the loss.
I was also wondering about contracts.Lackey’s contract is also on the horizon and considering how he does come playoff time the question(s) becomes, do they sign Lackey and Garcia, one or the other, or neither? I guess the playoffs will decide alot of that issue.
Also Arrieta threw alot of pitches the other night. Its the playoffs AND he might be throwing for the Cubs life if we win today.That’s alot of pressure for someone never having been there before.
And as far as new blood goes, it always comes down to those teams that step up.New blood or not you have to play your best. Just ask the Pirates after winning 98 games in the regular season how they feel now about those 98 wins now. Toronto and all the runs they scored during the season aren’t helping them now either.Bet that extra inning loss sealed their fate.The Mets steped up last night and Kershaw again fails to get the Dodgers the win they really needed. Sometimes its just the team with the best attitude for what’s on the line that wins the game. So stay positive girl and we’ll be alright:)
Yes experience will hopefully help us against Cubs ad Mets. And steady management. Arrieta could feel the pressure like Kershaw in post-season. Adams did good against him last year so could come back depending on who they face next. But overall his conditioning and size will make him injury prone so they could try to carry on like this year with Moss/Reynolds and Piscotty to back him up or look for someone else.
I understand the unhappiness of other fans – remembered despising Braves and Yankees when they were so dominant. The difference is Cards build it themselves, not buying with money mostly. But you can’t really expect other teams fans to get that or care if their team wins. Jays will be a disappointment up here and sacrificed much future. Hope rice doesn’t end up alongside Arrieta next year though.
Sorry I mean I hope Price doesn’t end up with Arrieta.
I recall one particular Lackey interview a coupla’ months ago. The reporter asked if he would resign with the Cards…and Lackey actually appeared to be caught off-guard, as if there was something he hadn’t heard yet.
Anyway, Lackey said he’d absolutely LOVE to re-sign with the club. But if the front office had suggested something about that already? He’d really prefer they tell him first. (He didn’t even say “ask me first”.) I sorta’ sensed the prospect of an actual offer got him genuinely excited.
That said…I do wonder how much personal preference has to do with WHO a player signs with. Or is is ALL about or only about the money? Needless to say, a player’s agent would shoot for the biggest contract.
I heard that Reynolds had a better $$$ offer, but wanted to play for a team who’d more likely make the playoffs. Hopefully, the same holds true with Heyward.
As for Garcia? I’ve paid very close attention to MM & MO, when they talk about Jaime during interviews. My take-away, is that they’re pretty leery of Jaime…primarily his “attitude”. Maybe more specifically, Jaime’s concern over his own “delicate” health issues.
And boy oh boy, are you right about Arrieta. He’ll be pitching for his life in Monday’s game. Especially, if we win today. I believe he threw 109 pitches in his last outing…right?
The one thing that all the talking-heads agree on tho’…is that this series will go the full 5 games.
4 games, with the Cards moving on. Probably the Mets the way they’re playing.
I dunno’. The Cardinals can be spastic. We’ve unexpectedly lost to some of the worst teams in our division…so that’s why I agree with it taking 5 games. You Dave, have faith in the Cards being consistent. More than I do.
And you might be right about the Mets. Kershaw didn’t come thru, and that’s gotta’ mess with the Dodger’s mental status. It’d be like Waino not coming thru…which would result in surprise & dismay.