Watch Game 4 of the N.L. Championship Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers face the St. Louis Cardinals. Postseason.tv brings all the action as the Dodgers will try to tie the best of seven series, preventing the Cardinals from taking a 3-1 lead.
First pitch is a 8 p.m. ET and responsible for kicking the game off will be righty Ricky Nolasco, who will be making the first playoff start of his career. He might be nervous, which is why his regular season success against the Cardinals might not be witnessed in this must-win situation for the Dodgers. All the talk surrounding Nolasco has regarded his last couple of disastrous starts during the regular season.
Is Yasiel Puig too cocky for the game?
Yes, it is true. Nolasco pitched horrible games at the conclusion of the 2013 season, which is mainly why Don Mattingly scratched him from his start against the Atlanta Braves in Game 4 of the ALDS. However, when studying Nolasco's numbers against the Cardinals in 2013, a lot more credit should be given to the 30-year-old, who spent his first eight years in the majors with the Florida/Miami Marlins.
In two starts this season against the Cardinals, Nolasco has looked like Clayton Kershaw. This is not an exaggeration. Nolasco is 2-0 with a 0.75 ERA, allowing just one earned run in 12 innings, though the Cardinals have totaled four runs in both games.
The most important fact about these starts is that the Dodgers gave Nolasco huge run support. He won in June after pitching seven innings of three-hit baseball allowing just one run. The Dodgers scored seven runs in that game. Then the second time he faced the Cardinals, they scored 14 runs as Nolasco only went five innings, allowing seven hits and three runs, all of which were unearned.
Lance Lynn, the Cardinals, also had a solid numbers against the opposition. Lynn faced the Dodgers once in 2013, going six innings, allowing no runs on two hits, while striking out nine. Manager Mike Matheny hopes Lynn can repeat this performance, rather than pitch like the Lynn that lost in the NLDS against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
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