MLB Playoffs 2014: TV Schedule, Live Stream, Bracket Predictions for Day 8

You may have your eyes turned toward college football or even NASCAR on Saturday, but the main events on the sporting calendar are the two respective MLB league championship series.

The Kansas City Royals and Baltimore Orioles take the diamond for Game 2 of the American League Championship Series, while the St. Louis Cardinals and San Francisco Giants kick off the National League Championship Series. This will be the fifth straight season that either the Cardinals or Giants represent the NL in the World Series, so it certainly feels like business as usual.

Here is a look at the schedule and broadcast information for Day 8 of the MLB playoffs before we dig into some previews and predictions.

Date	Game	Matchup	Time (ET)	TV	Live Stream
Saturday, Oct. 11	ALCS Game 2	Royals at Orioles	4 p.m.	TBS	TBS.com
Saturday, Oct. 11	NLCS Game 1	Giants at Cardinals	8 p.m.	Fox	Fox Sports Go

Royals vs. Orioles, Game 2

Lenny Ignelzi/Associated Press

Yordano Ventura will take the ball for the Royals in Game 2 and try to build on his success against Baltimore in the regular season.

In fact, Ventura sports a 1.26 ERA and 17 strikeouts in two starts versus the Orioles this year and has some momentum on his side after allowing a single run in seven innings against the Los Angeles Angels in Game 2 of the division series.

Ted Berg of USA Today pointed out there should not have been so much concern regarding the young hurler heading into the playoffs:

"

Some worried about young Royals starter Yordano Ventura after manager Ned Yost’s strange decision to bring him in on short rest out of the bullpen in a big spot during the Wild Card game. It turns out Ventura’s just fine. The 23-year-old was throwing triple-digit heat into the late innings on Friday, holding the Angels’ excellent offense to one run on five hits over seven frames.

"

The Orioles were yet to announce their Game 2 starter as of this writing on Friday afternoon, but it will likely be Wei-Yin Chen. Chen struggled in his outing against the Tigers in the division series and allowed five earned runs and two home runs in only 3.2 innings pitched. The silver lining is he should be well-rested, but there is reason for concern if you are Baltimore looking at the postseason performances of the two pitchers.

Patrick Semansky/Associated Press

Chen did go 16-6 with a 3.54 ERA during the regular season, so Baltimore is clearly hoping he returns to his regular-season form.

We have discussed the strong bullpens before in this series, but they will take on extra importance here if either starter struggles. Baltimore’s came through when Chen was knocked out early against Detroit.

The thought here is that Ventura keeps the momentum rolling. Sure, the Orioles led the MLB in home runs, but Ventura shut them down in the regular season and should have plenty of confidence after his division series performance.

The Royals will look to fluster Chen, who is coming off a rough outing, early again with their small-ball approach. It could rattle his confidence if Kansas City gets a few guys on base in the opening innings. 

Prediction: Royals 5, Orioles 3

Giants vs. Cardinals, Game 1

The NLCS kicks off with a showdown of aces, which is only appropriate.

Madison Bumgarner (18-10, 2.98 ERA) takes the hill for the Giants against the Cardinals’ Adam Wainwright (20-9, 2.38 ERA).

Before we simply assume that there won’t be any scoring, though, remember that Matt Carpenter has destroyed left-handed pitching in the playoffs and will get another shot against Bumgarner. Carpenter hit .375 in the division series (.385 off lefties) and finished with a home run and double in each of the first three games.

Ben Margot/Associated Press

All of those homers came off lefties Clayton Kershaw, J.P. Howell and Hyun-Jin Ryu, and his critical three-run double in the eighth inning of Game 1 also came off Kershaw.

Carpenter discussed the impending matchup with Bumgarner, via Barry M. Bloom of MLB.com:

"

He's a different breed. He's funky. He throws from behind you. There's some deception there. I've faced him a couple of times. For me, it all stems back to -- you've got to stay on the ball, you've got to let it get deep [in the batter's box], you've got to keep from pulling off the ball, especially with a guy like him who's going to come behind you like that.

"

Alex Gallardo/Associated Press

Bumgarner went 1-1 against the Cardinals this season with a 3.00 ERA, while Wainwright finished 1-1 against San Francisco but with a 5.25 ERA.

There is some hesitation with this matchup for Cardinals fans after Wainwright allowed six runs and 11 hits in 4.1 innings in Game 1 of the NLDS. He was working on 10 days’ rest in that one and will have seven days off before Saturday’s start.

The Giants are one of the few teams that seem to have Wainwright figured out this season, and they will take advantage again in Game 1. As long as the offense puts a couple of runs on the board, Bumgarner is more than capable of doing enough to win.

Carpenter will once again struggle to get into the flow of the game with extended rest. 

Prediction: Giants 6, Cardinals 3

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