The Los Angeles Dodgers are on the respirator as their season is on the line. Watch as the St. Louis Cardinals hold L.A.'s fate in their hand in Game 5 of the NLCS. MLB.com will provide the live stream online at 4 p.m. ET/1 p.m. PT.
A lot of people have either called out from work or will leave early in the west coast. They have to watch and keep track of their Dodgers as they could possibly play their last game in 2013. However, the season has been pretty magical, do the Dodgers have any more tricks left in their bag? Wednesday is a must-win game and they have the right guy on the mound and their hitting has bettered in recent games.
Yasiel Puig is now waking up, getting two hits and driving in a run in back-to-back games. The Dodgers have yet to hit a home run and Puig has yet to hit a four-bagger in the postseason. It almost seems like destiny will not permit the likely 2013 Rookie of the Year winner from not doing spectacular in the NLCS. The Dodgers need their regular season spark plug to do just that, spark something.
Not that Don Mattingly is doing a poor job, but maybe he should get A.J. Ellis more at-bats near the top of the lineup, where guys get on base. He leads all Dodger position players with a .308 batting average in this series. Andre Ethier's bat is waking up, but he becomes a hole at the top of the lineup. Cardinal pitchers have been able to get the centerfielder out with ease in this series. He is 3-13 with three singles, two walks, no RBI and a run scored. Ellis can at least drive the ball into the gap and get extra base hits.
Yes, the Dodgers are injured and it is time Mattingly made some adjustments instead of later on using the banged up lineup as a scapegoat for their struggles. They have to surprise the Cardinals and change things as rookie Joe Kelly will look to close the series.
The Cardinals removed themselves from the homer-less list in the LCS. In fact, with their two home runs in Game 4, the Dodgers are the only team to not have hit the ball over the fence in this series. After hitting seven against the Atlanta Braves in the division series, the Dodgers' sluggers have gone dry.
Matt Holliday and Shane Robinson went deep on Tuesday, driving in three of the Cardinals' four runs via the long ball.
Click here for the Cardinals vs. Dodgers live stream online.