Today marks the first day of the National League Divisional Series. The Dodgers play the Braves which should be interesting. The two teams both won their divisions easily in the regular season. Although the divisions are on the weak side, both teams have legit offenses and pitching. Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw will start it off tonight. The 25 year old former Cy Young Award winner is on the short list of the most feared pitchers to face. The lefty has a nasty curveball that is nearly unhittable to left handed batters. Supporting pitchers Zach Grenkie and Hyun-jin Ryu shouldn't make it any easier for the Braves. Offensive players like Hanley Ramirez, Adrian Gonzalez, Yasiel Puig and others should be enough to handle the Braves pitching staff. Meanwhile the Braves will send Kris Medlen to the mound. Medlen who shined towards the end of the season last year, struggled this season but picked up stream as the season went on. It should be very interesting to see which pitcher gets the better of the opposing line up. Braves line up consists of Power and speed. Brian Mccan among others will provide the power and BJ Upton and Jason Heyward supply the speed among others. The series should be a great matchup but time will tell.
The other NLDS tonight is the Pittsburgh Pirates facing the St. Louis Cardinals. Pittsburgh earned the right to play by defeating the Cincinnati Reds in a one game wild card playoff. the Pirates ended a 21 year drought of not making the playoffs this season and aren't showing any signs of slowing down. Lead by one of the best pitching staffs in the league the Pirates were the best in the NL for the majority of the season. Young Outfielders Andrew McCutchen and Starling Marte look to get the better or Adam Wainwright and the rest of Cards pitching. The series will be filled with rivalry between the two National League central teams and emotion especially when the Pirates are at home. 21 years of heartbreak for Pirates fans came out in the wild card game in the form of a deafening crowd. I expect the Pittsburgh crowd to play a big roll for the Pirates.
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