The 2013 National League Division Series gets underway this afternoon when the surging Pittsburgh Pirates take on the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 1 of the best-of-five series. The first pitch is scheduled to take place at 5:00 p.m. EST.
Now, before you look at this series and say the Cardinals will run away and win easily, don’t think that the surging Pirates aren’t aware they are the underdogs here- and they relish the role.
According to MLB.com on Oct. 2, the Pirates won the season series vs. the Red Birds 10-9 and have been the better team over the last two weeks of play. Sure the Cardinals have many players with a ton more postseason experience over the past decade, but that won’t faze this Pittsburgh team.
The Bucs are on a mission and they believe they are good enough to knock off the Cardinals and advance to the NLCS.
All that being said, don’t expect the Cards to be a push over.
St. Louis led the NL in runs scored this season and are one of the winningest teams at home over the last five seasons. They also have won two World Series titles in the last seven seasons.
And oh, by the way, the Cards are in the postseason for the third straight season, while the Bucs are making their first appearance in decades.
So who wins?
It’s a tough one, but I’m going with the young guns. Pittsburgh upsets the Cardinals and moves on to the NLCS.
Series Winner: Pittsburgh Pirates
Here is a look at the NLDS schedule, Game 1 and Series odds.
Game 1: Pirates (Burnett) +145 vs. St. Louis (Wainwright) -160
NLDS Schedule:
- Game 1: Pirates at Cardinals, Thursday, 5 p.m. ET, TBS
- Game 2: Pirates at Cardinals, Friday, 1 p.m. ET, MLBN
- Game 3: Cardinals at Pirates, Sunday, TBS
- *Game 4: Cardinals at Pirates, Monday, TBS or MLBN***
- *Game 5: Pirates at Cardinals, Oct. 9, TBS
Series odds:
Pirates +140 - Cardinals -155
