Win or Go Home: NL Wild Card Preview

It's that time again. The calendar has turned to October, summer has become fall and baseball is ready to start it's push towards another climatic finish. This time, it's one game, a Game 7 if you will, that will determine the fate of four different teams. Let the games begin.

St. Louis Cardinals at Atlanta Braves:
This time last year the St. Louis Cardinals had already embarked on one of the most improbable journeys in postseason history and capping it by winning their 11th World Series title. That is the most in National League and second in baseball history only the the Yankees' 27.

Allen Craig came through in last year's postseason,
maybe tonight he shines once more.

Now, they find themselves defending their crown in a one-game, winner-take-all, wild-card playoff game against the Atlanta Braves, but this is a much different team that won the World Series a year ago.

Tony La Russa retired and first-year manager Mike Matheny was brought in to replace him. Albert Pujols bolted for the West Coast, Carlos Beltran has found rejuvenation in the Gateway City and Lance Berkman is out for season.

Many wondered how this Cardinal offense could replace the bat of Pujols, but they found a way to do so. In fact, the 2012 St. Louis offense was just as productive as the 2011 team. Last season the Cards batted .273 as a team, scoring 762 runs and hitting 162 home runs. Compare that to this year's offense with a .271 average, 765 runs and 159 home runs.

This time around they just needed other guys to step up.

Five of the eight regulars drove in 75 or more runs this season, where as last year St. Louis only had three players do that. They didn't even have someone reach the century mark. Not to mention the fact the Red Birds had those same five guys hit 20-plus home runs. Pujols lead the team in home runs (37) and RBIs (99) a year ago, but this year Beltran lead with 32 home runs and Matt Holliday added the 102 RBIs.

All that being said, pitching is the key, it always is.

Matheny sends right-hander Kyle Lohse, who is enjoying the best season of his 12-year career, to the mound tonight in Atlanta, hoping that he can catch lighting in a bottle in his first postseason game as a manager. Lohse has been apart of a surprisingly good pitching staff this year that was missing ace Chris Carpenter until September 21.

At age 34, Lohse posted career-bests in starts (33), wins (16), losses (3), winning percentage (.842), earned run average (2.86), and innings (211).

The right-hander started one game against the Braves this season, that coming on May 30 at Turner Field. Lohse didn't fair that well, surrendering five runs on nine hits in just five innings of work. However, that start may have been the turning point in his season. After that rough night in Atlanta, Lohse reeled off ten straight starts in which he went at least six innings and only allowed as many as three runs in each. His ERA went from a respectable 3.36 to a brilliant 2.71.

La Russa sent Lohse to hill in the first game of last year's postseason and we all know how that story ended.

For the Braves, they could be watching future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones play his final game in an Atlanta uniform tonight, but will do all they can to prevent that from happening. In fact, this game could  not just be about moving on to play the Washington Nationals in the NL Division Series, but revenge.

Remember it was the Braves historic collapse last season, where they blew an eight and a half game lead, that allowed the Cardinals to complete an unthinkable comeback and get into the postseason.

This relatively young Atlanta is a year older and wiser. It took a terrible year last season from Jayson Heyward that if he wanted to live up to expectations, hard work has to be in the cards. Heyward struggled mightily in '11, batting just .227 with 14 HRs and 42 RBIs.

McCann won't start tonight in Atlanta, but his
bat off the bench could be the difference.

What a difference a year makes.

Heyward was back to his old self this year, leading the team with 27 HRs and driving in a career-high 82 runs. Freddie Freeman came into his own, as well. The 23-year-old first baseman posted career-bests in runs (91), doubles (33), triples (2), home runs (23), RBIs (94), walks (64), slugging percentage (.456) and on-base plus slugging (.796).

However, not every offense player performed up to expectations this season, two in particular. All-Stars Brian McCann and Dan Uggla both struggled to find their stride this season and it had left manager Fredi Gonzalez with some tough decisions.

At one point during the year, Gonzalez elected to bench the power-hitting Uggla because of his lack of production. Uggla hit a team-high 36 HRs last season, but only batted .220 in '12 and hit just 19 out of the yard.

McCann had been a topic of conversation the last two days since Gonzalez announced he would start veteran David Ross in place of the 28-year-old backstop against St. Louis. McCann batted a career-low .230 this season and his struggles really continued in the second half with a .181 average in August, .214 in September and .219 overall.

But just like the Cardinals, the Braves' future this year rides on the right arm of their starting pitcher.

Kris Medlen will get the ball tonight with his team looking to win their 24th straight start with him on the mound. Atlanta has won a Major League record 23 straight starts when Medlen takes the ball, a record that was previously held by Hall of Famers Whitey Ford and Carl Hubbell, whose teams won 22 straight starts with them on the mound.

That's pretty good company to be in.

If all goes according to plan, Gonzalez will hand the ball to the NL reigning Rookie of the Year Craig Kimbrel in the ninth. Kimbrel is having arguably the greatest season in reliever history with a 1.01 ERA, 42 saves and 116 strikeouts in just 62.2 innings.

Play ball.

STL X-Factor: Allen Craig

ATL X-Factor: Brian McCann

Atlanta wins, 3-2