Phillies Trade Jimmy Rollins to Dodgers

ESPN and Yahoo Sports are reporting that the Philadelphia Phillies have traded shortstop Jimmy Rollins to the Los Angeles Dodgers. There is no mention of who the Phillies will get in return for Rollins.

Here is the Yahoo Sports article.

Cards Advance to the NLCS with a 3-2 Win Over the Dodgers

The LA Dodgers did all they could to even the NLDS series in St. Louis on Tuesday afternoon. They started arguably the best pitcher in baseball in Clayton Kershaw. They staked Kershaw to a 2 run lead in the 6th while Kershaw was holding the Cards on a 1 hit shutout.

In 2014, while posting a 21-3 record with a 1.77 ERA, Kershaw gave up only 1 home run to a left handed hitter. In this series he gave up 2 home runs in 2 games to lefties. Matt Carpenter connected in the first game and Matt Adams jacked a 3 run blast to right field in game 3.

Kershaw is now 1-5 with a 5.12 ERA in his 11 postseason appearances.

"The season ended and I was a big part of the reason why," Kershaw said. "I can't really put it into words, Just bad deja vu all over again."

Enough about the Dodgers. The Cardinals won this NLDS series 3-1. This wasn't a fluke. The Cards will be in the NLCS for the 4th consecutive year. Their 9th NLCS in 15 years. They beat Kershaw twice while holding the Dodgers to 15 runs in 4 games. 

The Cardinals hit 7 home runs in this series, the most postseason home runs by a team that hit the fewest HRs in their league that year.

Box scores usually do not tell the complete story of the game but this one tells of the clutch hitting in the bottom of the 7th. The Cards had 4 hits all night. Matt Holliday and Jhonny Peralta singled to lead off the 7th for two of those.

Matt Adams hit an 0-1 curve ball into the Cardinals bullpen for the 3 run homer, Kershaw's first 3 run home run allowed since June of 2012, a span of 86 starts.

"I don't think I touched the ground the whole way around the bases," Adams said. "Definitely the highlight of my career. ... I will never, ever forget this."

Timely hitting by the Cards is evident when one sees that the Redbirds outscored the Dodgers 15-4 in the 7th through the 9th innings.

The Cardinals will face the Giants in St. Louis beginning on Saturday the 11th of October after the Giants defeated the Washington Nationals 3 games to 2 in the other NLDS Series.

Cards Take 2-1 in NLDS Series Over Dodgers

John Lackey pitched masterfully and home runs by Matt Carpenter and Kolten Wong powered the Cardinals to a 3-1 victory in game three of the NLDS.

Matt Carpenter became the first player in MLB Playoff history to have a home run and a double in three consecutive playoff games.

Carpenter hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 3rd to give Lackey the lead.

In the top of the 6th, Yasiel Puig tripled. Puig had struck out in his previous 7 at bats. Nanley Rameriz then doubled to score Puig with the tying run.

Kolten Wong stepped to the plate with Ydier Molina on second and drove a ball over the right center field wall off of reliever Scott Elbert to push the lead to 3-1.

Read the ESPN story here

Mattingly to Start Kershaw in Game 4 of NLDS on Three Days Rest

The LA Dodgers are tied with the St. Louis Cardinals at one game apiece in the NLDS series between the two teams.

Don Mattingly has said before Game 3 that Clayton Kershaw would start game 4 of the series on a short three days rest.

When asked why, Mattingly replied,   "He's our best guy," 

You can't argue with locic that simple But I would have waited to see the outcome of tonight's game before i made that decision. Maybe it's because I'm not the manager that I can be so sure of myself. And, if the Dodgers lose tonight then the decision won't warrant a second guess, but, how does this affect the rotation if the Dodgers need 5 games to put away the Cards?

Mark Saxon has a real good story here