With Clayton Kershaw pitching for the Dodgers, the Cardinals didn't figure to score many runs in Game 2 of the NLCS. Sure enough, St. Louis only mustered one run and two hits against the likely NL Cy Young Award winner.
Unfortunately for Kershaw and the Dodgers, their lineup couldn't put any runs on the board against Michael Wacha. The rookie pitched 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing five runs with eight strikeouts, leading the Cardinals to a 1-0 win on Saturday afternoon. St. Louis now leads the NLCS 2-0 with the series headed to Los Angeles on Monday.
The Dodgers' lineup was short-handed, missing both Hanley Ramirez and Andre Ethier. Ramirez suffered bruised ribs after being hit by a Joe Kelly pitch in the first inning of Game 1 on Friday. X-rays taken afterward were negative, but the decision was made to scratch him from the Game 2 lineup. Ethier sat out after starting Game 1 in center field. He likely re-aggravated the ankle injury that sidelined him for more than four weeks.
Nick Punto started at shortstop for the Dodgers, with Skip Schumaker playing center field. The two combined to bat 1-for-6 with two strikeouts.
Yasiel Puig wore the ol' golden sombrero, striking out in all four of his at-bats. In the first two games of the NLCS, he's batted 0-for-10 with six strikeouts. Adrian Gonzalez went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts. And Juan Uribe hit 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. With the middle of the Dodgers' batting order so ineffective, it's not too difficult to see why they were shut out.
After scoring two runs in the third inning of Game 1 (which lasted 13 frames), the Dodgers have now gone 19 consecutive innings without a run in this NLCS.
Is it worth pointing out that Wacha was pitching for Texas A&M last year? It seems so, since that was mentioned several times on Twitter during the ballgame. But you could be excused for guessing Wacha is a polished veteran, given how well he's performed. It's probably also worth a mention that the Cardinals drafted Wacha with the No. 19 selection in the first round, right after the Dodgers selected high school infielder Corey Seager.
It will be years before the Dodgers know what kind of player Seager develops into. But they — and the rest of MLB — have a damn good idea of what kind of pitcher Wacha is right now.
Wacha wasn't the only first-year major leaguer to shut down the Dodgers on Saturday, however. Three more rookies — Kevin Siegrist, Carlos Martinez and Trevor Rosenthal — contributed to the effort. The trio allowed no hits over two combined innings, racking up five strikeouts. As FOX Sports' Jon Paul Morosi mentioned on Twitter, the Cardinals tied a MLB record for most rookie pitchers used in a LCS game.
Game 3 of the NLCS will be played on Monday at Dodger Stadium. First pitch is scheduled for 8:07 p.m. ET, and the game will be broadcast on TBS. Adam Wainwright gets the start for the Cardinals, while Hyun-Jin Ryu takes the mound for the Dodgers.
