>>Cardinals Beat Brewers To Clinch Postseason Berth
(St. Louis, MO) — The Cardinals are heading to playoffs for a second consecutive year. St. Louis clinched a postseason berth by beating the Brewers 5-2 at Busch Stadium. The Cards scored four runs in the third and Harrison Bader tacked on a homer in the fourth, while Geovany Gallegos got the win. St. Louis earned the number-five seed in the National League postseason bracket. They head to San Diego to face the Padres in their best-of-three Wild Card Series starting on Wednesday.
Game 1 is set for Wednesday, with Games 2 and 3 (if necessary) on Thursday and Friday, respectively. There are no days off in this round.
Game Date Time Matchup TV
Gm 1 Sep.30 5 p.m. STL @ SD ESPN2
Gm 2 Oct. 1 TBD STL @ SD ESPN/TBS
Gm 3* Oct. 2 TBD STL @ SD ESPN/TBS
* if necessary
The Padres went 37-23 in part to an incredible lineup that includes Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, former Royal Eric Hosmer, and Wil Myers. However their rotation is battling some injuries. They’re number two pitcher Dinelson Lamet is dealing with bicep tightness and Mike Clevinger, who the team acquired from Cleveland has an elbow sprain and is unlikely to start. He would have been slotted as one of their starters.
The Padres will most likely start former Brewer Zach Davies in Game 1. He’s 2-3 against the Cardinals in ten career starts with an ERA of 4.55. Chris Paddack is a 24-year old righty who went 4-5 this season. He would be the most likely starter for Game 2 if Lamet is unable to go. 32-year old Garret Richards is the team’s fourth starter. I would assume he would get the ball in a deciding Game 3 if Clevinger has not recovered. Richards is 2-2 in ten starts and 14 appearances.
Tatis Jr. Machado and Myers have hit 17, 16 and 15 homers respectively for a total of 48. By comparison, the entire Cardinals organization has hit 51.
However, the Cardinals have starting pitching depth. Adam Wainwright, Jack Flaherty and Kwang Hyun Kim have combined for a 12-6 record which could be enough to carry the Cardinals in this first round Wild Card series.
