Yesterday’s preview was all about how much better the Cubs have been than the Marlins this season and then they lay an egg in a terrible 5-1 defeat.
With the first round being best of 3 this season, I expect that we’ll see a more complete performance from them here.
Miami has the worst run differential of any team in recent memory, clocking in at -41.
For reference, that is significantly worse than the 25-35 Orioles, the 26-34 Royals, ad the 26-34 Mets.
While they did manage an impressive 5-1 win yesterday, I think a lot of that was due to unsustainably good pitching.
Sixto Sanchez doesn’t have much experience at all at this level and I can see him struggling against a strong Cubs batting lineup.
If Yu Darvish can deliver a respectable performance, they should advance to game 3 with a win.
Despite a very impressive regular season campaign, a single loss has San Diego on the brink of elimination.
The Padres were the much better of these two sides throughout the season, winning 7 more games and having a +73 advantage in run differential.
St Louis were a fairly average team by most metrics, but the 37-23 Padres definitely looked like one of baseball’s best sides.
Much like the Cubs, I think they’ll be all in here, doing whatever it takes to push this series to a game 3.
I’d expect their pitching to be better than it was in game 1, largely because ace Zach Davies is returning to the lineup.
Adam Wainwright has been good for St Louis, but this strong Padres batting lineup should enjoy at least some success.
I’m treating yesterday as an aberration and taking what I consider to be the much better team here.