NLDS Schedule 2012: Game Times, Matchup Comparisons and More for Both Series

The St. Louis Cardinals settled the matchups for the National League Divisional Series  by beating the Atlanta Braves. Both series offer great pitching and just enough offense to keep the games interesting.

The Washington Nationals secured home-field advantage on the final day of the regular season. This gave them an extra day of rest and sent the Cincinnati Reds to San Francisco to face the Giants.

The Nationals finished their regular season at home and had one of the top two playoff spots wrapped up for a week. They were ready to leave town and just needed to wait for the Cardinals to beat the Braves in the Wild Card Game, so they knew where they'd be heading. 

The Reds (97-65) and Giants (94-68) are back in the playoffs after missing postseason play in 2011. Cincinnati will attempt to improve on its 2010 performance when it was swept by the Philadelphia Phillies. San Francisco fans no doubt remember that postseason well, as its campaign ended with a 4-1 World Series win over the Texas Rangers.

Full NLDS Schedule

Sat. Oct. 6:	Cincinnati at San Francisco	9:37 p.m.
Sun. Oct. 7:	Washington at St. Louis Cincinnati at San Francisco	3:07 p.m. 9:37 p.m.
Mon. Oct. 8:	Washington at St. Louis	4:37 p.m.
Tues. Oct. 9:	San Francisco at Cincinnati	5:37 p.m.
Wed. Oct. 10:	St. Louis at Washington San Francisco at Cincinnati	TBD TBD*
Thurs. Oct. 11:	St. Louis at Washington San Francisco at Cincinnati	TBD* TBD*
Fri. Oct. 12:	St. Louis at Washington	TBD*

*If necessary

Reds vs. Giants

Starting Lineups

Reds	Pos.	Avg.		Giants	Pos.	Avg.
Brandon Phillips	2B	.281		Angel Pagan	CF	.288
Zack Cozart	SS	.246		Marco Scutaro	2B	.306
Joey Votto	1B	.337		Pablo Sandoval	3B	.283
Ryan Ludwick	LF	.275		Buster Posey	C	.336
Jay Bruce	RF	.252		Hunter Pence	RF	.253
Scott Rolen	3B	.245		Brandon Belt	1B	.275
Ryan Hanigan	C	.274		Gregor Blanco	LF	.244
Drew Stubbs	CF	.213		Brandon Crawford	SS	.248

Starting Pitchers

Reds		Giants
Johnny Cueto (19-9, 2.78)		Matt Cain (16-5, 2.79)
Bronson Arroyo (12-10, 3.74)		Madison Bumgarner (16-11, 3.37)
Mat Latos (14-4, 3.48)		Tim Lincecum (10-15, 5.18)
Homer Bailey (13-10, 3.68)		TBD

Prediction

This series provides a solid matchup for the Reds. They have a quality three-man rotation and one of the best bullpens in baseball. The Giants are a bit weak offensively and will struggle to score runs.

The Reds aren't exactly an offensive juggernaut; they were in the bottom third in MLB in runs scored. San Francisco has a one of the better pitching staffs in baseball, but not quite to the quality of Cincinnati.

The Reds will likely steal a game or two in the latter innings. 

I see the series going the same direction as their regular season matchup. The two teams split in San Francisco and the Reds took two of three games in Cincinnati.

Should the Reds trot Cueto out to the mound for Game 4, that will be the final meeting in this series. However, they may let Bailey take that start and try to keep Cueto fresh for the NLCS.

Saving Cueto is a risky proposition, but I see Cincinnati trying to do just that and winning Game 5.

Nationals vs. Cardinals

Starting Lineups

Nationals	Pos.	Avg.		St. Louis	Pos.	Avg.
Jayson Werth	RF	.300		Jon Jay	CF	.305
Bryce Harper	CF	.270		Carlos Beltran	1B	.269
Ryan Zimmerman	3B	.282		Matt Holliday	LF	.295
Adam LaRoche	1B	.271		Allen Craig	1B	.307
Michael Morse	LF	.291		Yadier Molina	C	.315
Ian Desmond	SS	.292		David Freese	3B	.293
Danny Espinosa	2B	.247		Daniel Descalso	2B	.227
Jesus Flores	C	.213		Pete Kozma	SS	.333

Starting Pitchers

Nationals		Cardinals
Gio Gonzalez (21-8, 2.89)		Adam Wainwright (14-13, 3.94)
Jordan Zimmermann (12-8, 2.94)		Jaime Garcia (7-7, 3.92)
Edwin Jackson (10-11, 4.03)		Chris Carpenter (0-2, 3.71)
Ross Detwiler (10-8, 3.40)		Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86)

Prediction

The Cardinals have the National League’s best hitting lineup in the playoffs. They don’t have the power of the Nationals (159 home runs vs. 194), but their team average of .271 is 10 points better.

The Nationals will win with pitching, though. They will start with Cy Young candidate Gonzalez and follow with Zimmerman. They could leave St. Louis with a 2-0 lead, allowing them ample flexibility to attempt to set up their rotation for the NLCS.

Nationals coach Davey Johnson has been hesitant to release his rotation, in part because it would have been different had they faced the Braves. John Lannan was the wild card; Atlanta hasn't performed well against left-handed pitchers this season, but the Cardinals have done quite well.

If Lohse doesn't take the mound in Game 3, he might not pitch at all. Penciling Carpenter in for that matchup is surprising.

I can't see Mike Matheny taking that chance. Lohse will win Game 3 for the Cardinals and Carpenter will be asked to set up Wainwright for Game 5.

The Nationals won't let that happen, though, winning the series in four games.