ATLANTA, GEORGIA – It is fitting that Kyle Lohse (Paskenta Band of Nomlaki) is starting for the St. Louis Cardinals in their one game wildcard matchup with the Atlanta Team. Lohse has been the ace of this pitching staff since opening day when he beat the Miami Marlins.
Lohse finished the year with 16 wins against only 3 losses. His earned run average of 2.86 and WHIP of 1.09 were 5th and 4th best among National League pitchers. In a year when the 2 other Native American baseball players, Joba Chamberlain and Jacoby Ellsbury, were set to have big years, Kyle Lohse has gone out and performed for the defending World Series Champions.
This year Major League Baseball added a second wild card team in both the National and American League. The catch is that instead of a best of 5 series that wild card teams in the past were in, both wild card teams play each other in a 1 game series, The winner moves on in the playoffs while the loser goes home. The added pressure on teams to come out and win 1 game shows the confidence the Cardinals have in Lohse.
Kris Medlen and the Atlanta Team are not going to make things easy though. Medlen has been absolutely dominate with a 10 and 1 record with a 1.57 ERA. The biggest stat about Medlen is that the Atlanta Team have won the past 23 games in which he has started. That is a modern big league record.
The key to this game is whether or not the Cardinals can hit against Medlen. Kyle Lohse is expected to go out and put the Cardinals in a position to win this game. It is up to their hitters to take advantage of Medlen and push the Cardinals into the next round.