Ground Chuck vs. Rookie
St. Louis Cardinals Career statistics vs. Charlie Morton
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Matt Adams-L 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Carlos Beltran-S 15 6 1 0 0 4 5 2 0.400 0.500 0.467 0.967
Matt Carpenter-L 8 3 1 0 0 1 3 2 0.375 0.545 0.500 1.045
Allen Craig-out 18 9 2 0 0 2 3 3 0.500 0.591 0.611 1.202
Tony Cruz-R 6 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.667
Daniel Descalso-L 10 0 0 0 0 0 3 3 0 0.286 0 0.286
David Freese-R 17 5 0 0 1 5 1 4 0.294 0.368 0.471 0.839
Rafael Furcal-out 9 3 2 0 0 0 2 1 0.333 0.455 0.556 1.010
Matt Holliday-R 25 8 1 0 1 5 1 3 0.320 0.346 0.480 0.826
Jon Jay-L 16 8 2 0 0 3 2 5 0.500 0.579 0.625 1.204
Rob Johnson-R 3 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.333 0.333 0.333 0.667
Pete Kozma-R 6 2 1 0 0 1 0 0 0.333 0.333 0.500 0.833
Yadier Molina-R 19 8 4 0 0 6 0 1 0.421 0.421 0.632 1.053
Totals 153 55 14 0 2 27 20 24 0.359 0.441 0.490 0.932
Here’s his three starts against the Cards this year:
(last column is IP)
8-Sep @ STL L 9-2 1.2
13-Aug @ STL L 4-3 6
1-Aug vs. STL L 13-0 6
Here’s his splits:
ERA W L IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
Home 2.85 2 2 53.2 49 21 17 2 14 41 0.250
Away 3.61 5 2 62.1 64 30 25 4 22 44 0.270
vs. Left 186 24 58 13 39 7 2 0.312 0.425 0.419 0.844
vs. Right 247 27 55 3 46 4 4 0.223 0.264 0.287 0.552
Day 4.81 1 2 33.2 38 23 18 2 20 26 0.286
Night 2.62 6 2 82.1 75 28 24 4 16 59 0.250
One could argue that Chuck’s stats are less than impressive against the Cardinals, but when you take into account that Craig and Furcal are out for the season, it’s not as bad as it could be. Even though Morton had a few rough outings against the Cards this season, he didn’t let up any triples, and there were only two homers hit against him. He’s known for being a ground ball pitcher, hence his nickname “Ground Chuck.” The defense needs to be stellar today when fielding: no errors, no bad throws, and no sketchy decision making. My guess is that Barmes will get the start instead of Jordy for that reason.
*A few other things worth noting: Chuckles pitches better at home, better against righties, and better at night. He needs to make sure he neutralizes the lefties today. Beltran, Carpenter, and Jay have shown they can be deadly against our RHP. Beltran “Mr. October” passed Babe Ruth yesterday for post-season HRs. Chuck needs to keep that under control.
Pittsburgh Pirates Career statistics vs. Michael Wacha
BATTER AB H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO AVG OBP SLG OPS
Pedro Alvarez-L 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
John Buck-R 4 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.250 0.400 0.250 0.650
Marlon Byrd-R 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0.167 0 0.167
Garrett Jones-L 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Andrew Lambo-L 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Andrew McCutchen-R 3 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0.333 0.500 0.333 0.833
Jordy Mercer-R 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 1 0.333 0.333 0.667 1.000
Justin Morneau-L 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Tony Sanchez-R 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
Neil Walker-S 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 0 0
Totals 30 3 1 0 0 1 3 6 0.1 0.176 0.133 0.31
Wacha’s two game against us, keep in mind the 8/14 game was 2 innings of relief:
8-Sep vs. PIT W 9-2 7
14-Aug vs. PIT L 5-1 2
Here’s his splits:
ERA W L IP H R ER HR BB SO AVG
Home 2.15 2 1 46 28 11 11 2 14 47 0.174
Away 4.34 2 0 18.2 24 9 9 3 5 18 0.316
vs. Left 117 5 23 0 28 1 0 0.197 0.254 0.239 0.493
vs. Right 120 15 29 0 37 0 0 0.242 0.293 0.417 0.710
It’s difficult to infer anything about rookie Michael Wacha. He’s only pitched against us twice, and the 8/14 game was only 2 innings of relief. The sample size is way too small to make too many projections about his stats against the Pirates. Being that he’s a rookie, however, I do think it’s important for the crowd to be extremely loud and taunting. If the crowd could rattle an ace like Johnny Cueto, imagine the potential damage they could do to a rookie pitcher who is pitching his first post season game. GET LOUD PNC!!!
*Wacha pitches much better at home than away, and he pitches better against lefties than righties. The key for the Pirates is to get to Wacha early, and force the Cards to go to their bullpen. They used four bullpen pitchers yesterday, so they will most likely be unavailable today: Maness, Axford, Martinez, and Segrist. Score early, and keep the pressure on the Cards.
Other Stats and Fun Facts
~Against both the Reds and the Cards in the 3 post-season games so far, we won the game when we scored first. The WC game and game 2 and 3 of the NLDS we scored first. Our only loss came in St. Louis against Wainwright when AJ let up 7 runs.
~The Cards won game 5 last year in the biggest elimination game comeback in MLB history.
~BUT, the team that has won game 3 always advanced, except the Cards last year.
~The 1970 Pirates finished 89-73. They were swept in 3 games by the Reds in the NLCS.
~The 1971 Pirates finished 97-65. They beat the Giants in the NLCS 3 games to 1 after losing the first game. They went on to win the WS.
~The 1972 Pirates finished 96-59. They lost to Cincinnati in the NLCS, 3 games to 2.
~The 1975 Pirates finished 92-69. They lost to Cincinnati in 3 games in the NLCS.
~The 1979 Pirates finished 98-64. They swept Cincinnati in the NLCS in three games. They went on to win the WS.
~The 1990 Pirates finished 95-67. They lost to Cincinnati in the NLCS, 4 games to 2.
~The 1991 Pirates finished 98-64. They lost the NLCS to Atlanta, 4 games to 3.
~The 1992 Pirates finished 96-66. They lost the NLCS to Atlanta, 4 games to 3.
~The NLDS was played in 1981, then 1995-present. The Pirates have NEVER been to an NLDS. Today we could make history.
Prediction
I predicted Pirates in 4 from the start of this series. With Chuckles on the bump against a rookie in his first postseason game, I’m predicting a Pirates win, 6-4 at home to take the division!! Also, I’d like to thank my good friend Tony for making it possible for me and my partner in crime to be a part of today’s game! See you all at PNC! GET LOUD! #BLACKOUT #WAAAAAAAACHA
