Ryu & Puig Bring Dodger Blue Back

The way people talked about St. Louis Cardinals on Monday, the thought would have been this team was the 1927 New York Yankees and they were going to complete the first three-game sweep in National League Championship Series. As baseball taught us twice within 48 hours, nothing is ever given. Los Angeles pitched a shutout of their own winning 3-0 instilling some confidence in players whom needed it the most.

If we looked at the last two months of the season including playoffs, it seemed like Hyun-Jin Ryu versus Adam Wainwright could not have been a bigger pitching mismatch. But it was Ryu imposing his will against the Cardinals suddenly anemic offense. Ryu pitched great throughout the seven innings pitching a shutout in his best pitching performance in quite some time living in the moment when Los Angeles needed him the most. Ryu barely had to deal with trouble throughout the game and that was unexpected to say the least. 

Wainwright did not get any help from his defense on Monday night but he also did not have the same stuff we saw against Pittsburgh.  John Jay played single-handily the worst defensive game in the postseason and there are some reports he saw 'Brooks Conrad was here' engraved into his locker after the game. Jay not understanding the dynamics of Dodger Stadium where the Cardinals will play two more games is a huge problem for St. Louis. With Allen Craig out, they really do not have a bench meaning Jay will play again tonight. Not to mention if David Freese's calf is a no go, it is a bigger problem for St. Louis' bench. Jay has to be out there in center and I highly doubt Carlos Beltran would do any better.

The moment of the game where maybe we can point to the Dodgers collective 'I guess got my swagger back' was Yasiel Puig's bat flip triple. This is one of the best things about baseball all season. Puig finally broke out out of his streak against one of the toughest pitchers in baseball thinking he hit a two-run homer to put Los Angeles ahead by three runs. Instead, he ended up with a triple after showboating in front of the plate although it at least seems like to give him some confidence back in his swing.  This has obviously upset the Cardinals which surprises virtually no one and it possibly means they hold a mental edge. He had a single to lead off the seventh and this might be a major development for the series. (H/T @CorkGaines for the GIF)

Game 4 is a great unknown for both teams. Lance Lynn pitched well out of the bullpen in Game 1, but he seemed to look out of gas against Pittsburgh in the Division Series. Ricky Nolasco gave up five or more runs in the last three starts and has not even pitched this postseason. This could be the time where both offenses break out and it ends up being the complete opposite of the first three games. But then again, it could be another pitchers duel, you never know with baseball.

Charlie.