Cardinals vs. Cubs: Keys for Each Team to Win NLDS Game 4
The youthful Chicago Cubs are just one win away from the National League Championship Series, but the upstart squad is going to have to get past the most experienced postseason starter in baseball first.
John Lackey, who gets the nod for the St. Louis Cardinals in this must-win clash, has started 19 games in October. As Jayson Stark of ESPN.com notes, that makes Lackey the leader in that department among all active big league starting pitchers.
While St. Louis will be calling on Lackey to pitch on just three days' rest, the Cubs will be trotting out Jason Hammel, who last stepped on the mound Oct. 1.
Here are the biggest keys for each side as the Cards aim to send this series back to Busch Stadium for Game 5 and the Cubs attempt to wrap this set up in front of the home crowd.
Key No. 1 for the Cardinals: Strike Early Against Jason Hammel
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Hammel makes everyone look like an All-Star in the first frame.
This season, the opposition clocked in with a .302 average, a .373 OBP, a .548 slugging percentage and a .921 OPS against the veteran right-hander in the opening inning.
For the Cards, jumping out to an early advantage would provide Lackey with a boost as he takes the mound on short rest, and it would also help the visitors take the home crowd out of the game.
With the Cubs on the doorstep of advancing to the NLCS for the first time since 2003, the stands at Wrigley Field should be roaring. For Game 3, a couple of fans showed up at the stadium dressed as Dr. Emmett Brown and Marty McFly in a nod to the prediction in Back to the Future Part II that the Cubs will win the 2015 World Series.
Key No. 1 for the Cubs: Keep Leaning on the Kids
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The brilliant play of rising stars like Kyle Schwarber, Jorge Soler and Kris Bryant is just business as usual as Dexter Fowler sees it.
"Nothing with the younger guys amazes me," Fowler said, per Carrie Muskat of MLB.com. "When they came up, they made an immediate impact and that's all you can ask for."
That trio sure has been making an impact early on in October.
Soler and Schwarber have both gone yard twice in the playoffs, and Bryant has also chipped in a bomb. That makes the rookies the youngest set of three teammates to all homer in the same postseason, according to ESPN Stats & Info.
With the Cubs aiming to send the Cardinals home for good in Game 4, those three first-year standouts are among the leading candidates to play the role of hero.
Key No. 2 for the Cardinals: Another Gem from John Lackey
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Lackey turned the lights out on the Cubs in Game 1 of the National League Division Series.
On Friday at Busch Stadium, the righty ripped off 7.1 shutout innings as Chicago managed just a couple of hits. With the Cardinals in a must-win situation, the club needs a repeat of that performance in Game 4.
Considering that Lackey sported a 2.77 ERA in the regular season, there's reason to believe that he'll do just that. His teammates certainly believe he will.
"I'm confident in Lackey. He's been there multiple times," Jason Heyward said, per Mark Sheldon of MLB.com. "There's nobody, right now in our situation, you'd rather have the ball. I look forward to it."
First baseman Brandon Moss echoed that sentiment.
"He's been doing what he does for so long that I don't think you'd rather have anybody else out there," Moss told Sheldon.
The big concern for the Cards is that the 36-year-old is working on three days' rest. As Sheldon noted, the starter has recorded a 1.69 ERA in his two previous postseason starts on short rest. But those numbers might not mean much, as the last time he did so was way back in 2005.
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Key No. 2 for the Cubs: Watch out for Jason Heyward
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There's just no other way to put it: Heyward owns Hammel.
In 18 at-bats against the 33-year-old starter, Heyward is hitting .500. As if that average isn't scary enough, the 26-year-old is currently locked in at the dish. In Game 3, Heyward connected on a double and a towering home run.
And Heyward, who is hitting .333 in the series, isn't stressing the situation, even as the Cards have their backs against the wall.
"I love it," Heyward told Fox Sports Midwest. "Ahead or behind, we don't ever stop playing the game."
While Heyward has the most ridiculous stats against Hammel, the starter will also have to be extra careful with Yadier Molina and Jhonny Peralta. The backstop has logged a .462 average in 13 at-bats, and the shortstop has hit .357 with a couple of jacks in 14 trips to the plate.
Note: All stats courtesy of Baseball-Reference.com and MLB.com.
If you want to talk baseball, find me on Twitter @KarlBuscheck.
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