Jobu previews and predicts the NLCS.

Excuse the tardiness of this post, but rest assured it will be brief. It’s tough to pick between these two teams. First of all, I didn’t pick the Giants to even beat the Reds, so I’m a little surprised they’re in the NLCS to begin with. The Cardinals, on the other hand, might have surprised some people by getting by the Nationals, but I am not one of those people. You can’t even be really all that surprised at how they did it, when they scored four runs with two outs in the ninth inning to win game five. Late comebacks were a staple of their World Series championship last season. So who will win this matchup? I think we all know where I’m going with this.

As I mentioned in my NLDS preview, the Giants have the pitching to win just about any series they play in. What I didn’t count on was the resiliency of their offense, and even the team as a whole. The Giants started on their home field and dropped the first two games to Cincy, then rallied to win the next three in Cincinnati. They even put up 14 runs in the last two games. Buster Posey showed why he should be the NL MVP, as his grand slam in game five proved to be the difference.

The Cardinals might be on another plain right now as far as never being out of anything. The Nationals had that game. Up two with two strikes and two outs in the ninth inning? Are you kidding me? Next thing you knew, walks and huge hits by Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma sent the Nats home and the Cards to the NLCS. They still have that great pitching too, so don’t think they’ll be overwhelmed by the Giants arms.

I cannot bring myself to bet against the Cardinals at this point. They’re going to take this series. Like everything else they’ve managed to accomplish this season, it won’t be easy. I look for this series to go six games. The Cardinals will best the Giants and make it to their second consecutive World Series against the Yankees, whom I also predicted will move on in six games (Yes, even without Derek Jeter… although maybe now it will go seven).

Featured image courtesy of: Rob Carr/Getty Images
Posey image courtesy of: Marcio Jose Sanchez/AP