When the Los Angeles Dodgers went into the first two games of their National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals with two of the best pitchers in all of baseball taking the mound, they had every reason to believe they would be heading home with at least a tied series if not a commanding two games to none lead.
Unthinkably the Dodgers dropped both games to the Cardinals despite great performances by both Zach Greinke and Clayton Kershaw. In 14 combined innings the Dodgers' aces gave up three runs (only two earned, both by Greinke) on only six hits and two walks while striking out 15 with a no decision and a loss to show for it.
Things aren't going to be getting any easier for the Dodgers as the series shifts to the west coast; after playing a tight five game series against the Pirates the Cardinals' ace, Adam Wainwright, was unable to pitch until Game Three.
Los Angeles manager Don Mattingly has faith in his starter, Hyun-Jin Ryu, after a regular season that would have been good enough to make him the number one starter for a lot of teams but believes that the key to winning and avoiding a 3-0 hole is getting the offense going, according to MLB.com.
"It's a matter of us... getting the outs when you need them and being able to get that key hit," Mattingly told MLB.com. "This series, up to this point, we haven't gotten the key hit. We weren't able to put the run up when we need it. If we get two key hits over the last two days, we win two."
Injuries are making things even more difficult for the Dodgers; Andre Ethier is thought to be questionable for the game as he deals with the microfracture that has held him back since early September and shortstop Hanley Ramirez might miss a second game in a row due to a broken rib he suffered getting hit by a pitch in Game One, according to ESPN.
"We're just working on that, taking the pain away so I can go," Ramirez told the Associated Press on Sunday. "Even if it's cracked or something, I'm going to be able to get out there if we can take the pain away. It feels the same, but that doesn't stop me from trying to remain positive for tomorrow."
St. Louis manager Mike Matheny thinks that his team will be able to keep an even keel and not get too cocky or start to overlook the Dodgers in light of their two game lead.
"We've had some brutal losses and the guys came back the next day like it never happened. We've had some exciting wins and we've come back the next day with a lot of hunger," Matheny told the Associated Press. "That's what we continue to preach. That consistency is really in my mind what separates the good players from the very good players and the good teams from the very good teams."
Monday night's game is scheduled to start at 8:00 p.m. A live radio broadcast of the game through ESPN Radio can be heard at this link. A live stream of the game can be seen through TBS at this link.
*Stats for this article were taken from Baseball-Reference.com
