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By Jon Weisman
It’s not that Kenley Jansen wasn’t dominant finishing off Saturday’s National League Division Series victory over St. Louis. It’s that the Cardinals almost seemed to ignore his dominance.
Jansen threw between 93 and 98 miles per hour on all but one of his 20 pitches, with good movement, but Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong combined to foul off six of the first 14 of them, while swinging and missing at only one pitch apiece. But Jansen did set each down, one on a nothing grounder to Juan Uribe, the other on a whiff.
Randal Grichuk, who homered in his first at-bat of the NLDS off Clayton Kershaw, was the last out but also the easiest, lasting five pitches but also swinging and missing at three of them, including the game’s finale.
In 11 days since September 23, Jansen has pitched in two games, throwing eight pitches on September 28 and the 20 Saturday. He’ll have another day off today, then be on call to go Monday and Tuesday in St. Louis. The chances that he’ll work more than an inning in a game have only risen.
oldbrooklynfan
Jansen looked good last night closing out the game but the rest of the BP, excluding Brandon League has got to start stepping it up. My nerves just can’t take it.
artieboy
Great playoff baseball! Both teams fighting to the very end.
Where do those screen shots come from?
winnipegdave
Not exactly connected to this thread but I just realized how close the Dodgers came to matching the 1929 Cubs’ World Series experience.
The Cubs were playing the Athletics (in Shribe Park in Philadelphia) and already down in the Series 2 games to 1. However, they took a 8-0 lead in game 4 into the bottom of the 7th inning, and had a more than reasonable chance to win the game and tie up the Series. That is until the Athletics came roaring back and scored 10 times in the bottom of the 7th to win 10-8. Heartbreak for Chicago; wonderful amazement for Philadelphia and their fans.
Then in Game 5, the Cubs scored 2 runs in the 4th inning and still lead 2-0 going into the bottom of the 9th inning. The Cubs once again had a seemingly good chance to win and send the Series back to Chicago. That is until Philadelphia tied it on a 2 run HR with one out and then scored once more with two outs to win the game 3-2 and the Series 4-1. Devastation for Chicago; exultant rejoicing for Philadelphia and their almost 30,000 fans.
So thank you Matt Kemp, Brandon League, Kenley Jansen et al. for not being the 1929 Chicago Cubs. And thank you 1929 Chicago Cubs for making me feel a bit better about the 2014 playoffs…
http://www.baseball-reference.com/postseason/1929_WS.shtml