Daily Baseball Update: 10/19

Postseason Player Profile: Michael Wacha
Prior to the 2012 season, Wacha was simply the ace of the Texas A&M rotation.  A lot has changed since then, as he has combined to go 12-4 with a 2.25 ERA in 46 games (29 starts) between the minors and majors, postseason included.  In his rookie 2013, he went 5-3 with a 2.78 ERA in the regular season, earning himself a spot in the postseason rotation.  Taking his three postseason starts plus his final start of 2013, he is 4-0 with a 0.30 ERA and 0.51 WHIP, allowing just nine hits in 29.2 innings and striking out 31.  He's won all three postseason starts, allowing one run in 21 innings.  In his lone NLDS start against the Pirates, he earned a Game Four win by limiting Pittsburgh to one run on one hit in 7.1 innings.  In the NLCS, he earned a Game Two win by tossing 6.2 shutout innings on five Dodger hits.  He came back in a crucial Game Six and shut down the Dodgers again, going seven innings and allowing no runs on two hits.  By going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 0.66 WHIP, he earned NLCS MVP honors at 22 years old, becoming the youngest to NLCS MVP winner since Steve Avery in 1991.

News
Congratulations to the National League Champion St. Louis Cardinals, who advanced to the World Series after defeating the Dodgers four games to two.
Cardinals pitcher Michael Wacha was named NLCS MVP, going 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA and earning wins in Game Two and Game Six.

Game Score
Cardinals beat the Dodgers 9-0.  Cardinals win series 4-2.

Postseason Leaders
Offensive: AVG: Victor Martinez (Tigers), .421 (16-38).  Home runs: Carl Crawford (Dodgers), 4.  RBI: Carlos Beltran (Cardinals), 12.  Stolen bases: Jacoby Ellsbury (Red Sox), 6.
Pitching: Wins: Michael Wacha (Cardinals), 3.  K's: Justin Verlander (Tigers), 31.  ERA: Justin Verlander, 0.39 (23 innings, 1 earned run).  Saves: Koji Uehara (Red Sox), 4.

Top Performers
Offensive: Carlos Beltran (Cardinals): 3-4, double, 2 RBI, run.
Pitching: Michael Wacha (Cardinals): Win, 7 shutout innings, 2 hits, 1 walk, 5 K's, NLCS MVP.
Worst Pitching Performance: Clayton Kershaw (Dodgers): Loss, 4 innings, 7 earned runs, 10 hits, 2 walks, 5 K's.

Today's Probable Starters
ALCS Game 6: Tigers@Red Sox: Max Scherzer (21-3, 2.90 ERA, 0.97 WHIP reg. season, 2-0, 2.25 ERA postseason) vs Clay Buchholz (12-1, 1.74 ERA reg. season, 0-0, 6.17 ERA postseason).

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Teams followed in this update: Washington Nationals, Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees, Chicago Cubs, Tampa Bay Rays, Los Angeles Dodgers, Philadelphia Phillies, Colorado Rockies, Detroit Tigers
If your team is not included, please leave a comment.
HR: home runs.  RBI: runs batted in.  AVG: batting average.  SB: stolen bases.  ERA: earned run average. WHIP: walks/hits per innings pitched.  K's: strikeouts. WPCT: winning percentage
Zack Silverman