MLB Playoffs 2014: Preview and Schedule for Remainder of LCS

The 2014 MLB playoffs continue to set the gold standard when it comes to inducing heart arrhythmia.

Both of Tuesday's League Championship Series games were decided by a run. The San Francisco Giants took a 2-1 series lead in the NLCS with a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals, while the Kansas City Royals are up 3-0 in the ALCS after a 2-1 win over the Baltimore Orioles.

It's almost better to be a neutral observer for this entire postseason. If you weren't, your nerves would be completely frayed, and you'd need to have a defibrillator on hand at all times to jump-start your heart when necessary.

Nothing leads you to believe the drama will end anytime soon, either.

American League Championship Series (Kansas City leads, 3-0)

Game	Date	Matchup	TV Info
4	Wed., Oct. 15	Baltimore at Kansas City	TBS
5*	Thur., Oct. 16	Baltimore at Kansas City	TBS
6*	Fri., Oct. 17	Kansas City at Baltimore	TBS
7*	Sat., Oct. 18	Kansas City at Baltimore	TBS

By now, everybody knows the historical precedent for the Orioles overturning this 3-0 deficit. The 2004 Boston Red Sox are the only baseball team to come back from down 3-0 in a seven-game series, per ESPN Stats & Info:

Grantland's Rany Jazayerli did, however, accurately note that the chances the Royals would come back on the Oakland Athletics in the AL Wild Card Game were extremely slim as well, and they pulled it off:

The biggest reason that you could see Baltimore begin clawing its way back into the series and eventually win in seven games is that the bubble is bound to burst sooner or later for the Royals. Six of their seven wins have come by three runs or fewer, and five of their seven wins came in the last inning.

It wouldn't have taken much for Kansas City to be down in this series or gone by now altogether:

The Orioles won't muster much of a comeback unless their biggest hitters rediscover their old form. Steve Pearce, one of the team's best players during the regular season, is hitting .077 in the playoffs, while Adam Jones and Nelson Cruz (a combined 204 runs batted in) have driven in 10 runs between them.

As a team, Baltimore hit 211 home runs this year, first in the majors. Through the first three games of the ALCS, that number is one, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post:

Good pitching tends to overcome good hitting, and that's especially true in the postseason. However, it's mind-boggling that one of the best power-hitting teams in the league would all of a sudden disappear during the most important games of the year.

The Orioles sit in a deep hole. Given Kansas City's defensive edge and unhittable bullpen, the Royals should close this out before the ALCS gets to a Game 7.

National League Championship Series (San Francisco leads, 2-1)

Game	Date	Matchup	TV Info
4	Wed., Oct. 15	St. Louis at San Francisco	FS1
5	Thur., Oct. 16	St. Louis at San Francisco	FS1
6*	Sat., Oct. 18	San Francisco at St. Louis	Fox
7*	Sun., Oct. 19	San Francisco at St. Louis	FS1

It's somewhat surprising that the Giants are leading this series since Hunter Pence and Buster Posey are a combined 4-for-24 in the NLCS. Pence has driven in two runs, putting his performance so far in a more positive light.

Both will need to improve if San Francisco is to turn its 2-1 advantage over St. Louis into an NLCS victory.

After the game, Posey commented that he doesn't care how the Giants win as long as they do, per Tim Kawakami of the San Jose Mercury News:

To a certain extent, he's right. A win is a win, and as long as the wins keep coming, nobody's going to complain. With that said, the Giants must be able to count upon their two best hitters. Pence and Posey are the tone-setters.

The fact that the latter scored on the former's double in the first inning of Game 3 offers some hope that the duo is getting back to its best.

San Francisco will be in business if St. Louis starting pitchers fail to produce quality starts. Here's how the Cardinals' starters have performed so far.

Game	Pitcher	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	PC
1	Adam Wainwright	4.2	6	3	2	3	2	98
2	Lance Lynn	5.2	6	2	2	1	3	98
3	John Lackey	6.0	5	4	4	1	3	79

Those numbers might be passable during the regular season, but in the playoffs, pitchers need to dig deep down, especially in the case of the Cardinals. St. Louis wasn't an offensive juggernaut this year and relied on its massive stable of arms.

The Cardinals bullpen has been brilliant so far, save Randy Choate and Trevor Rosenthal, so the problem with the starters hasn't been particularly glaring. But you can't help but look at Madison Bumgarner's gem in Game 1 and wonder why Lance Lynn or Adam Wainwright haven't produced something like that.

If this series goes to six or seven games, the Cardinals' continued reliance on their bullpen might prove their ultimate undoing when their relievers tire out.