Cardinals vs. Giants Game 1 - Live Streaming, Start Time & TV Info: MLB NLCS Preview

For the unprecedented fifth year in a row, the San Francisco Giants and the St. Louis Cardinals will represent the National League in the World Series. Which one of them gets that honor will come down to the next seven games. Both of these teams were written off in favor of their opponents in tho opening series and managed to handle both of them with little trouble. They now look to prove that they are the true competitors of the year in this final series, here is a breakdown of everything that can be expected in the series.

Who: San Francisco Giants and St. Louis Cardinals
What: Game 1 of NLDS finals
When: Saturday Oct. 10 5:07
Start Time: 5:07
Where to Watch: FOX 

San Francisco Giants

The perennial underdogs (or at least as much of an underdog that you can be with two World Series wins in three years). This team was written off in favor of the NL leading Nationals in the opening series. San Francisco is very familiar with this. The Giants have won a whopping seven elimination games in recent years, including one this season that brought them to the playoffs in the first place. Even though no one seems to bring it up that often, Bruce Bochy deserves so much credit as their manager. He knows how to make effective decisions and how to navigate the treacherous waters of the postseason. Now is the time to see if they can pull out another win.

St. Louis Cardinals

The red birds also experienced their fair share of being written off in favor of the Dodgers, whom they handily beat despite LA having all the momentum in the world. They managed to do this with some strong offense,  which is uncharacteristic for the team given their lackluster performance in the regular season. That hitting performance is going to be under heavy examination in this game to see if they were simply a fluke in the year or if they truly have truly come alive when it matters most.

Pitching

Adam Wainwright was about the only sour point of the Cardinals game early the playoffs. The man gave up six runs against the Dodgers. It all worked out for the best, but now is the time to see if he can bounce back from that.  He had better do it in a hurry too; rumors say that Madison Bumgarner will be on the mound to open this series up. You can contest how impressive he looked throwing the no-hitter a few months ago, but facts say that he knows how to lead the Giants to wins. Even if he is not there, there is also Jake Peavy who has been on absolute tear since becoming a Giant, pitching a 2.17 ERA. Give this edge to San Francisco for sure.

X-Factor

The Giants are practically their own X-Factor at this point. The team may not always be so impressive, but they know how to win when it counts. The twist though is that Mike Morse is back. He has great Isolated Power there's no denying that, but he also has a very poor defensive standard and few at-bats so his position at left field is something for the Cardinals to exploit.

Then there are the catchers. Yadier Molina and Buster Posey are both expected to do great things in this game, but focusing on Posey specifically for a second: the ref calls in against the Nationals give that team a legitimate gripe, but Posey is great at stealing strikes, pure and simple. He is one of the reasons San Francisco is still being discussed in October. Look forward to his performance

Game/Series Prediction:

Tonight's score: 4-1, San Francisco. Giants take the series in six. This is really difficult to call considering the similarities between these two including a lack of base-stealers, contact hitting and a recent history of playoff performers. It honestly comes down to Wainwright. Will he pitch at the level he has been expected to produce, or is he simply not going to do what they expect him to do in the postseason?