To play, or not to play !??

Looks like game 6 is going to be postponed til tomorrow, but if the rain holds off long enough for these teams to get it in, we here at World Series Heroes headquarters are going with the Cardinals. 

We were originally going to go with the Rangers and Colby Lewis as we did in our game 2 winner, but a good friend of mine(lets call him BF66 for conversation sake) told me the other night that the Series is going 7 games. Now I don't normally let someone's opinion or comment sway my decision when it comes to putting my money down, but he was adamant and seemed to know what he was talking about !? It got me thinking that he may be privy to some inside information. :) 

With that being said, with their backs against the wall we're gonna have to count on the Cardinals and Jaime Garcia to battle back tonight at Busch. No question if you're going to make a play on St. Louis' talented southpaw it has to come at home, where he's been as nasty as they come, going 9-5 with a 2.45 ERA this season (including a WHIP of 1.10) Garcia's turn in Game Two at home last week was as solid as could be-- 7 scoreless innings pitched, 3 hits allowed, no runs and 7 strike outs in a no-decision as the bullpen blew the lead in the ninth. As you already know, Colby Lewis was the opposing starter in that game.

This series has gone back-and-forth, and I guess BF66 just doesn't see Texas winning three in a row to clinch their first-ever World Series title, so we're riding with him and the Cardinals to hold off elimination.

Final score:

Cardinals--5  Rangers--3 

World Series Game 5: Rematch time

Sorry WSH fans, we missed getting our blog out for games 3 and 4 due to work schedule on Saturday and a little R&R yesterday.

For the record, we picked the Rangers and over the run total of 9.5 in game 3. As you already know, the Rangers were pounded, mainly due to a heavy dose of Albert Pujols and his record tying 3 home runs in that game. Final score: Cards-16 Rangers-7. Last night in game 4 we went with the Rangers again(if you read one of our earlier blogs, Texas hasn't lost 2 straight games since Aug 23-25) and under the run total of 10. We scooped as Derek Holland pitched an absolute gem, allowing just 2 hits over 8-1/3 innings in a 4-0 shutout to even the series at two games apiece.

Now, on to tonight...

It's rematch time: Game 1 pitted aces Chris Carpenter and C.J. Wilson against each other in St Louis and ended up an exciting 3-2 Cardinals win. The two aces will square off again in a pivotal Game 5, this time in the hitter-friendly Rangers Ballpark.This has been a see-saw series as the teams have alternated wins, starting with the Cards in game 1. If everything were to hold true you would say it's St Louis' turn to win, and if you are looking to establish a crucial series lead before heading home, what better man to have on the mound than Chris Carpenter? The Cardinals have won all four of his starts in the 2011 postseason.

With that being said, we here at World Series Heroes headquarters are going to throw caution to the wind and once again we are going with the Rangers, as we see C.J. Wilson getting the better of Carpenter. Carp got the better of Wilson in Game 1, but we're expecting an even better effort from Wilson in Game 5 at home. It's not like he even pitched that poorly in Game 1... he just got out-dueled and the Rangers lost 3-2. We can say with confidence, it was not Wilson's fault they lost that game. And knowing how important it is to win the final game on your home field, it will place even more urgency on the Rangers bats to get on Carpenter early. If they fall behind in the count against him tonight like they did in Game 1....they're in trouble. But we think the Rangers learned from that and will be looking to swing early in the count.....hopefully when he's throwing fastballs !?  :) 

Also remember, Wilson might be playing for a new contract in 2012, so it's time to step up !  Expect this to be a close game, but we think the Rangers win by a run or two.

Final score: Rangers--5 Cardinals--3

ps....the posted run total is 8 and we have the final score landing on that number. Unlike some other sites that like to claim who and what they had after the fact, we like to disclose everything beforehand so you know what we are playing...win or lose ?! It's called not being afraid to put your balls out there, whether you're right or wrong. We're right more than we're wrong so we don't mind. So, for the record we flipped a coin-lol and we will be playing the over and hoping we are a little off on our final score prediction and that the Rangers bats get us a few more runs. Go Texas !!

History on their side !?

Chris Carpenter and five relievers combined for a narrow 3-2 home win in Game 1 of the 2011 World Series and it may have given St. Louis a bigger advantage than most people might think. 20 of the last 25 titles have gone to the team that went up 1-0.

Who will win game 2 ?

The Cardinals may have history on their side, but this is just one game, so we here at World Series Heroes headquarters say it will be the Rangers who get their bats unpacked and square this series at one game apiece as they go up against Jaime Garcia who is 0-2 in three post season starts with an ERA of 5.74 as he's allowed 19 hits and walked five in 15.2 innings of work.


The Rangers will counter with Colby Lewis, who pitched much better on the road than at home this season, compiling a 3.43 ERA and 9-5 record in 17 starts. He is 4-1 lifetime in the playoffs.

The Rangers were handcuffed at the plate last night with just two runs and six hits, but Texas has too much offensive firepower to be silenced for a second straight night, plus they haven't lost two straight games since August 23-25 and that's the type of number you want to hang your hat on as a 'capper and bettor.

We were gonna go with the shut out, but we'll give the Cards 1 for showing up-

Final score: Texas-6  St Louis-1

Fairytale finish for the Cards ?

Deep into August they were 10 ½ games behind in the NL Wild Card race – now they’re about to start the World Series with home-field advantage ! The St. Louis Cardinals are looking to end one of the wildest rides in recent MLB history by crowning themselves world champions. Are you backing the Cards to top the Rangers ?

Although we have written that we believe the Cardinals have the best player in baseball in Albert Pujols, we here at World Series Heroes headquarters will be going with the Rangers based on the fact we believe they have the best lineup top to bottom, plus there is something to be said about the 'hungry' factor, as they went to the World Series last year and were beaten. That sour taste is probably still lingering in their mouths and we think there is enough motivation and experience to get the job done this time around !?

As always we like to give you our thoughts on each of the games, so here we go with game one:

Normally we break down the numbers and give a side to lean to, but in this case we are throwing everything out the window and going on just a pure hunch. C.J. Wilson is squaring off against Chris Carpenter and Carpenter's October numbers are better, as Wilson has an ERA over 8 and Carpenter's is just under 4. The hunch is that Wilson will bring his A game tonight and give his team a shot to pull out a game one victory.

Final score: Rangers-5 Cardinals-2

Also, we want to give our pick for Series MVP. The logical pick is Josh Hamilton(3.5-1) if you think the Rangers will win it all, or Pujols(3.5-1) if you think the Cards take it. We will go with Ian Kinsler as he has a little better price(6-1) at the betting window.

Cards holding the aces ?

With five RBIs from Albert Pujols leading the charge, the Cardinals ended Milwaukee’s home playoff run in emphatic style on Monday to take home-field advantage in the NLCS. Who are you backing in Game 3 on Wednesday ? St. Louis to keep the momentum going in front of its own fans, or the Brew Crew on the road ?

We here at World Series Heroes headquarters are gonna side and ride the pitching of Chris Carpenter as the St. Louis Cardinals go up in their best-of-seven series tonight at Busch Stadium.

Carpenter is fresh off a division series clinching three-hit shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies, as he improved to 4-0 over his last seven starts. In four of those seven starts, Carpenter has not allowed a run to score ! Bottom line, Carpenter gives his team a chance to win when he steps on the mound, and he will give them a chance to win once again tonight.

Yovani Gallardo has been Milwaukee's go-to guy, but Gallardo's road numbers are not nearly as impressive as his work at home this season, as Gallardo is just 7-8 away from home with an over 4 road ERA.

The Brewers are also 1-7 in Gallardo's last eight assignments versus St. Louis. Those are not winning numbers where I come from.

We say take the Redbirds to go up 2-1 in the series with the win behind their "ace" tonight at home.

The winner takes it all !

Now this is what the fans want to see: The Yankees ripped Detroit 10-1 in Game 4 on Tuesday to set up a winner-take-all spectacular in Game 5 tonight. And now, the seasons of two teams that combined to win 192 regular-season games will come down to just one. It will be a rematch of game 1 starters, Ivan Nova for the Yanks and Doug Fister for the Tigers. Who are you backing to hold their nerve and book a ticket to the ALCS against the waiting Rangers?

We here at World Series Heroes headquarters don't really have a solid feel for this game. The Yankees fought all year to get home field advantage and would like to see it pay off, however, history slightly favors the Tigers. Road teams are 8-6 in Division Series Game 5's (factoring in the AL and National League) since baseball went to the eight-team playoff format in 1995. And the Yanks haven't won a decisive game (be it a Game 7 or a Game 5) since Aaron Boone connected off Boston's Tim Wakefield in Game 7 of the 2003 AL Championship Series.

As the writer and creator of this blog, I should note that I am a Yankee fan and have been since a little kid, so I will definitely be pulling for them. Personally, I will not have a stake in this game, but we always like to look at the numbers and give our thoughts. It's pretty tough to go against a pitcher(Nova) who hasn't lost since June, but he is a rookie and from a bettors perspective it's hard to ignore the numbers that Fister put up in the final two months of the season. The 27-year-old right-hander ranked first in the AL in ERA (1.79), second to Verlander for the league lead in wins (eight) and led all Major League pitchers in strikeout-to-walk ratio (11.40). So, we will give a slight lean toward the Tigers and their 6'-8" pitcher Doug Fister, who struggled and lost game 1 of this series, but overall has been a rock for Detroit.

Here's to hoping this is one time we're wrong !? :)

Cards need Jackson’s ace game!

It’s all or nothing for the Cardinals after losing Game 3 to the Phillies at Busch Stadium on Tuesday. The hosts turn to Edwin Jackson for Game 4 and he will need to turn it on in his first ever postseason start when dueling Roy Oswalt on the mound. Are you expecting St. Louis to keep its season alive? We here at World Series headquarters believe they will be heading back to Philly for game 5 !?