NL Wild Card 2020: Game 2 Odds, TV Info, Live Stream for Each Series

The three National League Central teams down one game in the Wild Card Round will turn to three of the most powerful pitchers in baseball to keep their respective seasons alive.

The Cincinnati Reds open Thursday's slate of games by sending Luis Castillo to the hill to oppose Atlanta Braves rookie Ian Anderson. Cincinnati was the only team to not score a run during Wednesday's eight-game schedule, but it was not for a lack of trying.

The Chicago Cubs failed to muster much enough to support Kyle Hendricks in Game 1. They may not need many runs to come away with a Game 2 win over the Miami Marlins, with Yu Darvish opposing Sixto Sanchez.

The Milwaukee Brewers scored more runs than the Reds and Cubs combined, but it still finds itself in a hole against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Brewers will send ace Brandon Woodruff to the hill to oppose Clayton Kershaw, who is one of the most experienced playoff pitchers in the field.

The St. Louis Cardinals impressed with their bats to take an advantage over the San Diego Padres and set up Adam Wainwright with a chance to clinch a division series berth against a team dealing with injuries to its pitching staff.

NL Wild Card Round Game 2 Schedule

Cincinnati (+120) at Atlanta (-143) (12:08 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Miami (+155) at Chicago Cubs (-180) (2:08 p.m. ET, ABC)

St. Louis (+145) at San Diego (-175) (7:08 p.m. ET, ESPN2)

Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers (10:08 p.m. ET, ESPN)

Games can be live-streamed via ESPN.com or the ESPN app.

Odds via DraftKings Sportsbook.

Cincinnati at Atlanta (Atlanta Leads 1-0)

Aaron Doster/Associated Press

Strikeouts were an issue for both lineups in the Cincinnati-Atlanta series in Game 1's 13-inning epic. The teams combined for 37 against 14 pitchers, eight from Atlanta and six from Cincinnati.

If both sides struggle to make consistent contact in Game 2, the edge could go to the Reds since Castillo possesses more power than Anderson.

Castillo fanned 39 batters in the final month of the regular season and allowed more than three earned runs in just three of his 11 appearances. Anderson was a welcome addition to the Braves rotation after Mike Soroka and others hit the injured list. He opened with a six-inning gem against the New York Yankees on August 26, during which he conceded a single earned run.

The rookie right-hander put together a handful of solid outings in September, but he did walk three or more batters in three of those starts.

If the Reds are more patient at the plate Thursday, they could put themselves in better positions to score. They left 26 runners on base in Game 1. Nick Castellanos and Joey Votto combined for five hits from the No. 2 and No. 3 spots in the order, compared to one base knock from Freddie Freeman and Marcell Ozuna in the same positions of the Atlanta lineup.

Were the Reds to receive similar production from Castellanos and Votto and Castillo twirls a gem on the mound, they could force Game 3 at Truist Park.

Miami at Chicago Cubs (Miami Leads 1-0)

Matt Marton/Associated Press

Miami is one win away from remaining an undefeated franchise in playoff series. The Marlins' only postseason appearances resulted in World Series titles in 1997 and 2003.

The Marlins got to Hendricks in his final inning of work, as Corey Dickerson hit a three-run home run to left field. Jesus Aguilar followed with a two-run long ball off Jeremy Jeffress. Six of Miami's eight hits were produced by the top five hitters in the lineup. Starling Marte and Jesus Aguilar had two each.

Getting on base could be much harder against Darvish, who made a strong case to be the NL Cy Young Award winner. The 34-year-old pitched seven scoreless innings in his final regular-season start, and he held opponents under four earned runs in all but one of his starts.

Darvish had a 6-2 record against the playoff teams out of both Central divisions and had 93 strikeouts compared to 14 walks. The Cubs need Darvish to keep Miami off the base paths in case their lineup can't figure out Sanchez in the first few frames.

Sanchez fanned 10 in his second career start against the Tampa Bay Rays on August 28, and he held Atlanta scoreless over six frames September 8. Although he was fantastic in those appearances, the 22-year-old let up let up nine earned runs on 12 hits in his final two regular-season appearances.

If the Cubs find a way to get an early run or two off Sanchez, they could allow Darvish to settle into a rhythm and force a series-deciding game Friday.

St. Louis at San Diego (St. Louis Leads 1-0)

Gregory Bull/Associated Press

St. Louis may be in the best position to advance to the NLDS on Thursday.

The Cardinals will send Wainwright to the mound for his 13th career playoff start, and they will avoid seeing Dinelson Lamet or Mike Clevinger, who were kept off San Diego's wild-card roster with injuries.

Wainwright could have the best run support of any Game 2 starter based off the way St. Louis opened Game 1. St. Louis jumped out to an early advantage through six runs off Chris Paddack, who did not make it out of the third inning.

San Diego had to use seven bullpen arms, which gave the Cardinals a firsthand look at how each hurler approaches hitters. The Cardinals used five of their own relievers, but they allowed some arms to be rested since three pitchers went 1.1 innings in relief of Kwang-Hyun Kim.

The most important statistic from Game 1 was the Cardinals holding Fernando Tatis Jr. and Manny Machado to two hits in nine at-bats. If the Cardinals can keep San Diego's top two power bats from picking up key base knocks, they could avoid game-changing extra-base hits and keep the Padres under control.

Milwaukee at Los Angeles Dodgers (Los Angeles Leads 1-0)

Ashley Landis/Associated Press

The Brewers waited to call on Woodruff for Game 2 so he could start at Dodger Stadium on regular rest.

Woodruff struck out 10 St. Louis batters in his final regular-season start Saturday, during which he lasted eight innings.

In his past four starts, the Milwaukee ace allowed five earned runs and had three performances with nine strikeouts or more. Despite those strong totals, Woodruff was victorious in only two of those games because of the lack of run support he received. Milwaukee totaled nine runs in that four-game span.

The bulk of Milwaukee's Game 1 production came from three bats. Christian Yelich, Orlando Arcia and Avisail Garcia combined for six of the team's seven hits. Arcia drove in the only two runs on a fourth-inning home run.

Since Kershaw owns a 4.43 postseason ERA, the Brewers could have an opening for success Thursday, but they need more production from across the order to come away with the victory.

Milwaukee hitters struck out 582 times in the regular season and produced the fifth-worst batting average in the majors. If Kershaw keeps the NL Central side frustrated at the plate, he could set up Mookie Betts and others to take advantage of the few holes in Woodruff's game to put more pressure on the Brewers in the latter innings.

In Game 1, Milwaukee struggled against the Los Angeles relievers, earning four hits over the final five innings.

Follow Joe on Twitter, @JTansey90. Statistics obtained from MLB.com and Baseball Reference.