Road Warriors

After last nights dominant performance by the Giants, the NLCS is tied at 1-1. Heading back to Stl., the cards are probably feeling just fine about that. They played very well at home, winning 50 games, in the regular season and they have home field advantage for the series until the Giants win again. This is where they wanted to be and now it the task of the Giants to do what they have done for the past 3 months, win on the road.

Needing to win away from home is nothing new for the 2012 edition of the Giants. They have been here before and done it better than any team in baseball, at least during the stretch run and into the postseason. Although the pitching has been better at home, the bats have been the story on the road. The Giants led all NL teams in runs per game on the road and, this series, you can expect that to continue. If you look at the damage done in games one and two, with a heart of the order that combined for 3 hits and 0 rbi, fans should feel very good. Given the struggles of the Cardinal starters, pretty much all year, there is no reason not to expect an explosion from Sandoval, Posey and Pence soon.

The goal for the next three games is to win two and bring it home with a chance to clinch behind Volgelsong on Sunday. Obviously, it would be nice to take all three like they did in Cincinnati and be done with it but that probably won't happen twice in a row. Winning one would not be terrible scenario either because it would setup Vogelsong and Cain in games 6 and 7 but then the challenge is trying to beat Chris Carpenter twice in a series. That is something I would like to avoid but with this team I still would believe that they will find a way.

Likely pitching matchups for the next two:

Cain vs Lohse
      This one could be tough, while I expect Cain to bring his a game and show much of what he started with in the Reds clincher, Lohse is having a great year and is coming off his best playoff start against the Braves. If Lohse is on, this could be a typical Cain start with little offense on either side. The key will be the Giants being aggressive with Lohse but not trying to drive it really. He doesn't give up a lot of homers or walks but he can be hit. If the Giants can get guys on, this could be the game where the heart of the order comes through.

Lincecum vs Wainwright
    Another very intriguing matchup. If the freak can translate his relief success to a starting role then this is the one I feel best about. However, if we see the Lincecum we saw most of the year, this could be a shootout. This is not the same Adam Wainwright we have seen in the past. This year's version was much like Lincecum with a few more spots of brilliance sprinkled in. However, with a good hitting approach, I expect the Giants to score off of him. He has a tendency to walk too many guys and give up big extra-base hits. This is the type of pitcher that guys like Scutaro and Posey can feast on. Again, the outcome of this one will likely depend upon which Freak we see.