The Los Angeles Dodgers and St. Louis Cardinals wound up being the two Wild Card teams in the National League and will compete in a winner take all NL Wild Card game at Dodger Stadium on Wednesday at 5:10 PM Pacific on TBS. The Dodgers will start star pitcher Max Scherzer, who has been outstanding this season. Scherzer is 7-0 for the Dodgers with a 1.98 ERA and 0.82 WHIP since his acquisition from the Washington Nationals. Prior to the trade, Scherzer went 8-4 with a 2.76 ERA and 0.892 WHIP for the Nationals this season. Combined, Scherzer was 15-4 with a 2.46 ERA and 0.864 WHIP this season. Scherzer led the MLB in WHIP, hits per nine innings at six, and walks per nine innings at 1.8.
Max Scherzer’s strikeouts per nine innings are 11.8 this season and his home runs per nine are only 1.2. Mad Max struck out 236 batters in only 179 1/3 innings pitched this season. He has also held opponents to a .185 batting average and .570 OPS this season. In Scherzer’s career, he has a 2.76 ERA and 1.03 WHIP in 84 2/3 innings against the Cardinals. In addition, Max has given up 0.5 home runs per nine and 1.7 walks per nine innings. His strikeouts per nine innings are 11.5. His opponent’s batting average against is .223 and his strikeout percentage is 31.6%. These statistics also include his first two seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks. The Dodgers have not lost a game with Scherzer on the mound, so they will look to keep that streak alive.
Wainwright to Start NL Wild Card Game for Cardinals
Adam Wainwright will be on the mound for the Cardinals. Wainwright has had an amazing bounceback season for the Cards, going 17-7. Adam has a 3.05 ERA and 1.057 WHIP in 206 1/3 innings this season. He struck out 7.6 batters per nine innings, which totals 174 strikeouts in those 206 1/3 innings. Wainwright’s home runs per nine innings are only 0.9 and his walks per nine are only 2.2 this season. He also led the league in complete games with three. Wainwright threw more innings this season than he has since 2014 when he received both Cy Young and MVP votes in addition to being an All-Star. He won 20 games during that 2014 season.
Adam Wainwright held opponents to a .220 batting average and .627 OPS this season. In Wainwright’s career against the Dodgers, he has a 2.66 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 98 innings. His strikeouts per nine innings are 6.8 and his walks per nine are 2.6. In addition, Wainwright has only given up 0.6 home runs per nine innings. He has held the Dodgers to a .237 batting average and has left 80.7% of the Dodgers base runners on base. The Cardinals won the last eight games in which Wainwright pitched, including one against the Dodgers, so they hope to keep that streak alive. The Cardinals also won 17 consecutive games on route to obtaining the second Wild Card spot in the National League.
The winner of the NL Wild Card game will take on the NL West champion San Francisco Giants in the NLDS at Oracle Park beginning on Friday.
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