League Championship Series Predictions
The Detroit Tigers carry momentum into the AL Championship Series (ALCS), which begins on Tuesday, October 10th. The Tigers were the best pitching team in the MLB this entire season, leading both leagues in team ERA. However, the pitchers struggled down the stretch and many experts wondered how the young pitchers and Rogers would handle the playoff pressure.
After the Yankees series the Tigers’ pitchers proved that they have what it takes to win. The Athletics also have good pitchers, in Zito, Haren, Esteban Loaiza, and Rich Harden, who will matchup well against the Tigers’ starters.
Both bullpens are strong and both lineups are made up of consistent hitters, like the Athletics’ Thomas, Mark Kotsay and Eric Chavez, and the Tigers’ Ordonez, Carlos Guillen, and Craig Monroe. The two teams are even, both strong in all areas of the game. The Tigers momentum and depth of pitching will lead them to the series win, in an evenly played series that goes seven games.
Prediction: Tigers in seven games.
Over in the NL, the Cardinals and Mets are both teams missing key starting pitchers, the Mets’ Pedro Martinez and the Cards’ Mark Mulder. Both Mulder and Martinez were brought in by their teams to lead them in series like this, but both are injured. The Mets’ are also missing playoff veteran Orlando Hernandez.
The Cardinals have a strong lineup, with rookie Chris Duncan, the son of Cardinals’ pitching coach Dave Duncan, who hit 20 home runs in the second half of the season, MVP candidate Pujols who is one of the top three hitters in the league, and veterans Jim Edmonds and Scott Rolen, but Rolen and Edmonds have struggled in the playoffs this year and in the past. However, Chris Carpenter is the best starting pitcher in the National League, and can carry the Cardinals to at least two wins. But the bullpen is inexperienced and the rotation is shaky after Carpenter.
The Mets pitching is no better than the Cardinals, but the lineup is much stronger. Reyes is one of the top leadoff hitters in the league and Wright, Delgado, and Beltran can hit for power and drive in Reyes and Paul LoDuca, who both get on base consistently.
The Mets will rely on veteran starter Tom Glavine and closer Billy Wagner to lead the pitching staff, but will need the hitting to stay hot to win. In the end, the Mets’ hitters will lead them to victory, while the Cardinals will pick up two wins from Carpenter, who will establish himself as one of the game’s best.
Prediction: Mets in six games.
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