The two Wild Card contests will take place over Tuesday and Wednesday and obviously, it is go or go home. One of the two American League Wild Cards will have to face the Rangers and one of the two National League Wild Cards will have to face the Cubs. Who will survive and advance to reach the Division Series? Here are my predictions.
TV Schedule
Tuesday, October 4th
The idea that starting pitching is the be-all end-all is
largely a myth but I do think it will be important here since both teams are quite good offensively. A Chris Tillman-Marcus Stroman matchup certainly isn't sexy but hey, that's life. Tillman is a veteran but he didn't pitch particularly well down the stretch while Stroman really struggled against Baltimore this season. I think that the powerful Oriole offense will do be just enough for Tillman to pass off a lead to a strong bullpen to seal the deal.
Pick: Orioles
Wednesday, October 5th
Meanwhile, this is a tremendous pitching showdown between Madison Bumgarner for the G-Men and Noah Syndegaard for the M-E-T-S Mets Mets Mets.
I did pick the Mets to win the World Series back in the spring but Bumgarner is just so tough to pick against in the postseason and especially so in a ballpark where he has been dominant.
Pick: Giants
Hi Ben
ReplyDeleteHope you are wrong about the Jays-Os outcome but I do fear the worst based simply on the strengths of the bull-pens and closers. In this case the Jays don't possess many strengths at all given the BP and closers have been sub-standard most of the season. If it is a low scoring game the Os would be favourites unfortunately. But at least the Jays have got this far...
The Cubs await the winner of the Giants/Mets' NL Wildcard Game Wednesday night. It's awfully hard to pick against Madison Bumgarner, let alone Bruce Bochy. Remember...It's an even numbered year, and San Francisco has won the last 3 World Series. I think the Cubs draw the Giants at Wrigley Field Friday night in the NLDS.
ReplyDelete