Cardinals content with low-scoring NLCS
LOS ANGELES -- Games 1 and 2 of the National League Championship Series were historically bereft of offense, and the question before Game 3 was: Can this possibly continue?
Lance Lynn, who will pitch Game 4, sure hoped so.
"You have two really good offensive teams that haven't done much so far, and I've never been one to be naive to the fact that somebody's probably due," Lynn said Monday afternoon, before Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright took the mound in Game 3. "We have two great offenses here that haven't done anything yet, so there could be a couple good games here offensively.
"But as a starting pitcher, you don't want to see it."
Lynn was a relief pitcher -- and the winning pitcher -- in Game 1, which the Cardinals won, 3-2, in 13 innings. The Cards won Game 2, 1-0, with two hits and a sacrifice fly, making this an NLCS so far owned by the arms.
According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Cardinals' .134 batting average (9-for-67) through the first two games was the lowest for a club with a 2-0 lead in a postseason series. Only 12 teams have won a series with an average below .200, most recently the Giants (.194) over the Reds in last year's NL Division Series. The lowest average for an LCS winner is owned by the A's, who hit .183 while beating Baltimore in the 1974 American League Championship Series.
Neither the Cards or Dodgers homered in the first two games, the first time that has happened in an NLCS. It's particularly strange considering Los Angeles hit seven home runs in the NLDS and St. Louis hit six, the top totals among NL postseason participants.
The Cardinals led the NL with 783 runs scored, and the Dodgers were seventh with 649. The Cards were second in the league with a .733 OPS, and L.A. was fourth at .722.
"We're hoping from our side to continue to see [the offenses stay quiet]," Cardinals manager Mike Matheny said. "With our ace going today, we like kind of the tempo that's been set, and hopefully he keeps it up. But it's been very well pitched on both sides."