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First you get the pitching. Then you get the power, and then you get the World Series.

As the cliche goes, good pitching always beats good hitting. Fans have heard it drilled into their heads year after year after year.

That wouldn’t be the case if it wasn’t true. Time and again you see great offenses felled by a couple of great hurlers.

This postseason has featured a much larger sample of great pitching performances rather than outstanding offensive feats. It’s made for some great drama. As little as a single run at times has turned both championship series on their heads.

Fans should expect more of the same in the World Series. The Commissioner’s Trophy looks like it will be headed to the team with the best pitching staff.

With that in mind, here is how each team remaining stacks up when it comes to its respective arms arsenal.

3. Detroit Tigers

The Tigers bullpen has been a concern from Day 1. Some of the critics got a little extreme before the season. They acted as if Detroit was going to lose the division as a result of not having that stopper in the ninth inning.

Alas, it was able to win the American League Central and then beat the Oakland Athletics in the ALDS. Maybe that bullpen isn’t so bad after all.

But you saw what it’s capable of in Game 2 of the ALCS. After Max Scherzer pitched seven innings and gave up one run, the bullpen took over and gave up five runs and the ballgame.

That’s the worst nightmare for the Tigers, and a very real possibility every night in a pressure cooker like the World Series. Scherzer, Justin Verlander and Anibal Sanchez could pitch gems for six or seven innings and watch as the relievers implode and lose the game.

2. Boston Red Sox

The Boston Red Sox rotation has been of the “bend but don’t break” variety. They lack that kind of transcendent ace but get the right performances at the right times.

Who would’ve thought John Lackey would pitch 6.2 scoreless innings in that 1-0 Game 3 ALCS win? Before that Clay Buchholz managed to have his poor performance in the same game David Ortiz had his grand slam.

The Tigers arguably have the better rotation. Where Boston gets the edge is in the bullpen.

The relievers have yet to let a game get away from them. Craig Breslow, Junichi Tazawa and Felix Doubront have been very good in setup roles.

More importantly, Koji Uehara has been a horse in the postseason. In eight playoff innings, he has given up just one run, while striking out 11 batters. He came on for a five-out save against the Tigers in Game 5 and set the Detroit batters down in order.

1. St. Louis Cardinals

As if the St. Louis Cardinals weren’t tough enough with one ace on the staff. Opposing teams are probably thinking back to the good old days when just Adam Wainwright was a devastating postseason pitcher. Now they’ve got Michael Wacha to worry about.

The 22-year-old won the NLCS MVP Award after getting his second win of the series on Friday night, via MLB.

The Cardinals have a fantastic 1-2 punch between Wainwright and Wacha. The rookie faced off against Clayton Kershaw twice and won both games.

While Lance Lynn wasn’t great in the NLDS, he turned things around against the Dodgers. What does it say about St. Louis’ rotation that Shelby Miller—a 15-game winner during the regular season—can’t even get a postseason start?

Of course, the Cardinals wouldn’t be where they are if their bullpen wasn’t also fantastic.

Trevor Rosenthal, Randy Choate and Seth Maness have all yet to give up a run during the postseason. Carlos Martinez also has three holds.

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On Friday night, Michael Wacha became part of baseball history.

Starting Game 6 of the NLCS in St. Louis, the 22-year-old rookie shut out the Dodgers for the second time in the past week, allowing only two hits and a walk with five strikeouts over seven stellar innings.

More importantly, Wacha helped extend the Cardinals season once again, as they ultimately won the game 9-0 and punched a ticket to their third World Series in the last eight years.

Between both starts in the series, Wacha was 2-0 with 13 strikeouts in 13.2 scoreless innings. Needless to say, it didn’t come as a surprise when he was named as the NLCS MVP, becoming the second rookie pitcher in baseball history to win the award.   

Mature Beyond His Years

When talking about Wacha in his press conference following Game 2 of the NLCS, St. Louis Cardinals manager Mike Matheny couldn’t help but show excitement when discussing his performance this postseason. 

“The way this kid has gone about it has been—it’s really hard to describe,” Matheny said, via MLB.com. “I don’t want to keep describing it, because I’d like to watch it happen a few more times.”

Though vague, Matheny’s explanation of what makes Wacha so impressive is spot-on: The kid has “it.”

“It,” of course, is unquantifiable. However, the word is typically used to describe a pitcher who exhibits outstanding poise and moxie on the mound. It describes a pitcher who goes out there and competes with a veteran-like confidence, thriving in the most pressure-filled situations. 

Believe it or not, the above description of “it” wasn’t derived from watching Wacha pitch this October—he just fits the mold perfectly.

Though he reached the major leagues for the first time in late May, Wacha didn’t join the Cardinals’ starting rotation until September. Pitching in the heat of a playoff race roughly one year after the Cardinals made him the No. 19 overall pick in the 2012 draft, the right-hander was 2-1 with a 1.72 ERA, .198 opponent batting average and 28/10 strikeout-to-walk ratio in 31.1 innings (five starts) over the final month of the season.

However, it wasn’t until his final regular-season start that Wacha captured the attention of a national audience. Taking the mound against the Washington Nationals on Sept. 24, Wacha came within one out of a no-hitter before allowing an infield single to Ryan Zimmerman. As a result of his late-season success, he was named to the Cardinals’ postseason starting rotation.

The brilliance Wacha showcased against the Nationals carried over into his start against the Pirates in Game 4 of the NLDS, with the Cardinals trailing 2-1 in the series and facing potential elimination. Suffice to say, Wacha stepped up in a big way, as he allowed one run on one hit and two walks with nine strikeouts over 7.1 impressive frames. He carried a no-hit bid into the eighth inning before surrendering a solo home run to Pedro Alvarez with one out.

In the wake of his domination of the Pirates in the most important game of his life, Matheny named Wacha as the Cardinals’ Game 2 starter for the NLCS, meaning he’d also start Game 6 should it be necessary.

While Wacha’s combination of electric pure stuff and advanced command certainly has played a part in his success during this postseason, it’s the “it” factor that has made him a star.

Prior to Wacha’s start in Game 4 of the NLDS, Matheny raved about his starter’s makeup to Joey Nowak of MLB.com:

As you spend a little bit of time around him, you can see that he’s mature beyond his years and beyond his experience. We put him to the test, pitching late in the season. Watching him take a no-hitter into the ninth inning and kind of watching how he’s handled every step along the way, we learned that early about him in Spring Training.

Matheny hasn’t been the only one in the Cardinals dugout to notice Wacha has something special about him. 

Veteran starter Chris Carpenter was quick to praise the youngster as well, via MLB.com‘s Adam McCalvy:

He has the ability to block everything out. You watch the excitement of what he’s doing, the poise. His talent is there, and you watch the mound presence during the game. He’s been fantastic.

And like the rest of us, Jake Westbrook has grown increasingly impressed with Wacha over the course of the season, via McCalvy:

Just with the spring he had and how he came in as a 21-year-old at the time and the poise he showed … as a 21-year-old going into a big league camp, you don’t know what to expect no matter how good your stuff is. You don’t know what you’re going to see. He stepped up and acted like he had been there for a while. That was impressive from the get-go.

Third-string catcher Rob Johnson was even more complimentary, via MLB.com‘s Steve Gilbert:

I’ve never experienced his temperament with his kind of stuff. The guy is amazing. He’s obviously very confident in his stuff, but his ability to stay focused and stay humble and continue to learn and process the stuff other guys are teaching him and then go out to the field and execute it, is quite amazing.

Next Up: World Series

Wacha’s maturity and polish were on full display in both starts against the Dodgers in the NLCS. However, while the video-game numbers highlight his overall excellence, they don’t completely convey what made him so successful in the series.

He did an outstanding job of preventing the Dodgers from putting together a productive, game-changing inning, as he retired the side in order eight times. Along those same lines, on the rare occasion in which Wacha did allow a Dodgers hitter to reach base, only one of them was able to reach third.

However, Wacha’s greatest accomplishment in the series was undoubtedly his utter domination of the Dodgers’ 3-4-5 hitters, a group that collectively failed to get a hit against him in 28 at-bats.

After shutting down two of baseball’s better offenses in the first two rounds of the playoffs, Wacha will get the chance to add to his already impressive postseason résumé when he takes the mound in the World Series. Matheny has time to decide on a starting rotation, but it’s likely the rookie will be tabbed as the team’s Game 2 starter, therefore giving him a chance to start two games in the series.

And though the Cardinals’ World Series opponent is yet to be determined, whoever they wind up playing should once again be a non-issue with Wacha on the mound.

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We know the when and half of the who, but we don’t yet know the where.

The World Series begins on Wednesday, Oct. 23, and the St. Louis Cardinals have punched their ticket after a dominating 9-0 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 6 of the National League Championship Series.

The American League representative, however, remains TBD, and as such, so does the site of Games 1 and 2 of the Fall Classic. With the Junior Circuit’s 3-0 blanking of the Senior back in July, the AL champ will get home field, but whether that will be in Boston or Detroit depends on how the rest of the weekend plays out.

The Red Sox are leading the Tigers three games to two heading into Saturday’s Game 6, and if necessary, a winner-take-all Game 7 will be Sunday. We’ll know soon enough which club gets to host the Cardinals, but in the meantime, here’s how the three teams stack up based on their lineups, rotations and bullpens, starting in each case with the club that’s already advanced.

Lineups

Catcher

Cardinals: Yadier Molina and Tony Cruz

Red Sox: Jarrod Saltalamacchia and David Ross

Tigers: Alex Avila and Brayan Pena

Boston has a very strong veteran duo, and Saltalamacchia has beat up right-handers this year (.294/.350/.523), which is the arm all Cardinals starters use to throw. Similarly, the lefty-hitting Avila, whose knee injury puts his status in question, can hold his own against righties (.767 OPS versus .455 against southpaws). Still, Molina is inarguably the best all-around backstop in the sport, so St. Louis has this one won, no matter who they play.

Rank: Cardinals, Red Sox, Tigers

First Base

Cardinals: Matt Adams

Red Sox: Mike Napoli

Tigers: Prince Fielder

Napoli, the lone right-handed hitter of this trio, gets the edge here because he’s been the hottest of the three in the postseason (.969 OPS) and is also the best defender. Fielder (.587 OPS) and Adams (.724) both have the potential to do major damage—they just haven’t. Especially Fielder, who sports a career average of .199 in the playoffs and hasn’t driven in a run since the ALCS…in 2012. Not so crazy to think Adams, a 25-year-old rookie, might be the better option in October.

Rank: Red Sox, Tigers, Cardinals

Second Base

Cardinals: Matt Carpenter

Red Sox: Dustin Pedroia

Tigers: Omar Infante

Despite strong seasons from each, none is playing particularly well at the moment, but ol’ reliable Pedroia’s all-around game—and postseason experience—gives him the top spot over Carpenter, the position’s breakout player of the year.

Rank: Red Sox, Cardinals, Tigers

Third Base

Cardinals: David Freese

Red Sox: Will Middlebrooks or Xander Bogaerts

Tigers: Miguel Cabrera

Cabrera has to be the choice here, even with all of the injury issues that are hampering him. Meanwhile, Freese, the Cardinals’ postseason hero from 2011, is hitting .189 and battling Middlebrooks (.174) for who can post a lower batting average this month, which is why Boston has turned to 21-year-old rookie Bogaerts, according to Joe McDonald of ESPN Boston.

Rank: Tigers, Cardinals, Red Sox

Shortstop

Cardinals: Pete Kozma

Red Sox: Stephen Drew

Tigers: Jose Iglesias or Jhonny Peralta

More ineptitude here, as all three primary shortstops are hitting .200 or below, with Kozma leading the way at 5-for-25, barely ahead of Iglesias at 4-for-22. Drew, though, has been particularly atrocious, with just three hits in 32 at-bats—and 10 strikeouts. Detroit wins out, mainly because Peralta’s production (11-for-30, 1 HR, 6 RBI) has to count somewhere.

Rank: Tigers, Cardinals, Red Sox

Outfield

Cardinals: Carlos Beltran, Matt Holliday, Jon Jay

Red Sox: Jacoby Ellsbury, Shane Victorino, Daniel Nava or Jonny Gomes

Tigers: Torii Hunter, Austin Jackson, Jhonny Peralta or Andy Dirks

This is a close call, because St. Louis has those two big-name big-hitting bats in Beltran—a postseason god—and Holliday, but all three (including Jay) struggle on defense. The Red Sox are being driven by Ellsbury’s on-base ability (.463 OBP), speed (Red Sox playoff record six steals) and D. The Tigers, on the other hand, lack star power but might have the best third outfielder (at least offensively) when Peralta plays left field.

Rank: Cardinals, Red Sox, Tigers

Designated Hitter

Cardinals: Allen Craig or Shane Robinson or Daniel Descalso

Red Sox: David Ortiz

Tigers: Victor Martinez

Ortiz and Martinez are closer than you’d think given how hot Martinez is and how much Ortiz is struggling of late. Yes, he hit that game-tying grand slam in Game 2, but he has only one other hit in the ALCS so far. The Cards are a distant third, unless a healthy enough Craig can make it back from a foot injury that’s kept him out since Sept. 4. Otherwise, they’ll be relying on bench bats that shouldn’t be starting a postseason game, let alone as many as four in the World Series. Remember: The AL’s home-field advantage puts St. Louis at a severe disadvantage here.

Rank: Red Sox, Tigers, Cardinals

Bench

Cardinals: Robinson, Descalso, Adron Chambers, Kolten Wong

Red Sox: Gomes, Nava, Bogaerts, Mike Carp, Quintin Berry

Tigers: Dirks, Don Kelly, Ramon Santiago, Hernan Perez

This one ain’t close, as Boston’s bench is superb, providing everything from offense to defense to speed. The Cards come up way short here again, especially if Craig can’t be at least a pinch-hitter.

Rank: Red Sox, Tigers, Cardinals

Rotations

Cardinals: Adam Wainwright (RHP), Michael Wacha (RHP), Lance Lynn (RHP), Joe Kelly (RHP)

Red Sox: Jon Lester (LHP), Clay Buchholz (RHP), John Lackey (RHP), Jake Peavy (RHP)

Tigers: Max Scherzer (RHP), Justin Verlander (RHP), Anibal Sanchez (RHP), Doug Fister (RHP)

Detroit’s quality and quantity is unmatched, so the Tigers are a notch above the Cardinals, whose top two have proved to be a dominating duo that the Red Sox just don’t quite have. The only edge Boston gets here? Lester is the lone lefty of all of the above, which might make things a bit more challenging for St. Louis’ same-sided bats like Adams, Carpenter and Jay.

Rank: Tigers, Cardinals, Red Sox

Bullpens

Cardinals: Trevor Rosenthal (RHP), Carlos Martinez (RHP), Kevin Siegrist (LHP), Randy Choate (LHP), John Axford (RHP), Edward Mujica (RHP), Seth Maness (RHP), Shelby Miller (RHP)

Red Sox: Koji Uehara (RHP), Junichi Tazawa (RHP), Craig Breslow (LHP), Brandon Workman (RHP), Felix Doubront (LHP), Franklin Morales (LHP), Ryan Dempster (RHP)

Tigers: Joaquin Benoit (RHP), Jose Veras (RHP), Drew Smyly (LHP), Al Alburquerque (RHP), Jose Alvarez (LHP), Phil Coke (LHP), Rick Porcello (RHP)

While Detroit’s relief corps has been exposed at times (lookin’ at you, Mr. Benoit), Boston’s bullpen has been a revelation this month—Uehara and Tazawa are the only two who have given up a run. Still, it’s hard to match what St. Louis brings to the table, as far as a deep ‘pen full of dynamic and specialist arms.

Rank: Cardinals, Red Sox, Tigers

Head-to-Head Breakdowns

Having run down all three teams, here’s a sneak-peek preview of how each matchup would shape up, depending on which American League squad joins the Cardinals in the World Series.

If the Red Sox advance…

The Cardinals would have the biggest advantages at catcher and in the rotation, while also holding slight edges at third base, outfield and in the bullpen. However, they would have to make up for shortcomings against Boston at designated hitter and on the bench.

The Cardinals probably get a slight overall edge in a head-to-head against the Red Sox, who have shown that elite pitching and power arms—St. Louis has both—can handle their top-notch offense. Craig’s availability would be an X-factor here, because it would help the Cards get a bit closer with the sticks, particularly considering the DH would come into play in Games 1 and 2 and, if necessary, 6 and 7.

If the Tigers advance…

St. Louis would have the upper hand at catcher, outfield and in the bullpen, while stacking up fairly well at second base, too. But the Cards would be lacking compared to Detroit at third base, designated hitter, on the bench and in the rotation.

This might be the more competitive of the two potential series, given that both teams can throw some of the best arms around on the mound. Again, Craig’s availability may wind up being a key to combating Detroit’s staff, whereas the injuries to Cabrera and Avila and postseason struggles of Fielder could make St. Louis the favorite.

It’s not really worth wondering whether the Cardinals would quote-unquote prefer to face the Red Sox or Tigers, because they’ll find out which opponent they’ll face soon enough.

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As the Los Angeles Dodgers bowed out of the 2013 NLCS, the player that helped spark their remarkable run through June, July and August, Yasiel Puig, suffered through a difficult series at the plate, in the field and through the voices of critics.

Puig burst onto the scene in Junr, electrifying the Dodgers, winning over the fans of Los Angeles and captivating baseball fans around the country. He was must-watch television on a nightly basis. From the literal (.319/.391/.534) to the figurative, Puig was a comet, soaring from Double-A Chattanooga to rescue a season on the brink.

In the end, he and the Dodgers fizzled. Losers in St. Louis by a 9-0 margin in Game 6, the NL West champions are heading home to retool, reload and vie for a World Series in 2014. Despite a regular season that should surely end in a first or second place finish in the National League Rookie of the Year voting, along with a smattering of MVP consideration, Puig will face question marks in the offseason due to a difficult NLCS and a strange, twisting narrative having to do with his personality.

To be fair, Puig wasn’t good enough in the NLCS. Asked to carry more of an offensive load and hit in the middle of the order, the 22-year-old star didn’t produce the way his team needed. After posting a .471/.500/.529 slash line against the Atlanta Braves in the NLDS, Puig exits his first League Championship Series with an ugly .227/.261/.318 line. On defense, his overaggressive demeanor led to two errors in the deciding game.

Outside of an electrifying triple in Game 3, Puig’s impact was minor in the series. Prior that water cooler moment, the Dodgers right fielder went 0-for-10 in Games 1 and 2, left runners on base in one-run losses and seemed overwhelmed by the St. Louis pitching staff.

Over the next few months, expect writers, fans and rival executives to use broad narratives to explain Puig’s sudden decline during the biggest moments, innings and plate appearances of his season. While it can be convenient to blame his seemingly cavalier attitude, showboating style and flair for the dramatic, those personality traits had little to do with an NLCS slump.

Instead, blame the youth and inexperience of a player that entered the postseason with less than 400 career at-bats in the majors. Against a pitching staff as talented and well-schooled as St. Louis, led by their all-world catcher in Yadier Molina, Puig’s weaknesses were exposed.

At the plate, St. Louis’ plan was clear: bust Puig inside, disrupting his ability to extend his arms and drive the ball the other way. Outside of the ball he hit off Adam Wainwright in Game 3 that became the showboating triple, the Cardinals’ staff stuck to the game plan and it worked.

Clearly, pitchers adjusted against Puig on an at-bat by at-bat case during the regular season, yet he still thrived. The NLCS, however, was different because Puig simply wasn’t ready to adjust on the fly when the pressure of leading his team and batting in the middle of the order was placed upon him due to Hanley Ramirez’s rib injury.

When this season started, the Dodgers looked at Puig, obviously talented from what we watched of him all summer and fall, and decided to send him to Double-A. Part of that was due to a trio of expensive, veteran outfielders that all needed everyday playing time. Regardless, a team with a $200-plus million payroll didn’t place Puig on the opening day roster so he could mature, improve and work on his game.

After injuries and losses piled up, the Dodgers called on Puig. What he lacked in veteran savvy and maturity, he made up for in raw talent. The Dodgers didn’t expect Puig to play the role he ultimately did and can’t be surprised by his struggles on the NLCS stage.

With the World Series starting next week, baseball will quickly shift to the offseason, hot stove and talk of 2014’s breakout stars. When it comes to assessing the present and future of Yasiel Puig, block out the noise. His personality and stardom won’t be the reason for success or failure in Los Angeles. His talent and maturation will be.

His expressive personality and demonstrative on-field behavior are part of his dynamic and unique game and far, far from a reason for decline. Puig’s issues in the 2013 NLCS had more to do with sinking action on Michael Wacha’s fastball than failing to run as hard out of the box as some fans opined for while screaming at their televisions.

If the Dodgers qualify for the 2014 postseason, Puig will be better equiped to handle the moment, expectations and criticism that goes along with struggle, regardless of the regular season numbers and moments that he provides.

In the end, Puig wasn’t ready to take a franchise to the World Series. On a roster that includes Adrian Gonzalez, Clayton Kershaw, Matt Kemp, Zack Greinke and Hanley Ramirez, he shouldn’t have had to assume that role at the age of 22.

As Vin Scully famously said about Puig in July, “The Wild Horse has led the team to the barn.”

On Friday night in St. Louis, the race ended for the Wild Horse and the team that rode him to October.

Within time, if his game matures, along with his approach at the plate and defensive prowess, he’ll be ready to overcome the pressure of October and lead the Dodgers to a World Series.

Comment below, follow me on Twitter or “like” my Facebook page to talk all things baseball.

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Deviating from the trend of nail-biting NLCS battles, the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Los Angeles Dodgers, 9-0, in Friday night’s Game 6 to clinch the 2013 National League pennant.

Closer Trevor Rosenthal brought the series to an end with this strikeout of A.J. Ellis: 

Pandemonium followed.

Raise the flag! NL Champs! #PostCards https://t.co/gWAUVDzj8F

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 19, 2013

I love my team, no doubt about it, & I hope the Cards win the World Series, they earned it #classy

— Marissa Lopez (@Marisssaahh) October 19, 2013

Cards win! This calls for a celebration, I mean FIREWORKS

— karter denman (@kartershipley) October 19, 2013

My sister got this awesome pic! Go cards!! pic.twitter.com/DWPo5v67G7

— Courtney Quinn (@CornbreadQuinn) October 19, 2013

The sell-out crowd of 46,899 who made it to Busch Stadium certainly enjoyed the moment. They stayed around for a while to see manager Mike Matheny hoisting the NL champions trophy, and Michael Wacha accepting the NLCS MVP award:

The skipper and his trophy. pic.twitter.com/VEqEfPMamT

— MLB (@MLB) October 19, 2013

Wacha! Wacha! Wacha! @MichaelWacha #NLCS MVP pic.twitter.com/LWYpV5yERb

— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) October 19, 2013

The rookie right-hander tossed seven scoreless innings to out-duel Clayton Kershaw for the second time in the series.

The action moved to the home clubhouse, where the players soaked their grass stains and sweat with some ice-cold refreshments:

No one is safe from @Joe_Kelly_Jr. #PostCards https://t.co/GPQvQAXWZb

— St. Louis Cardinals (@Cardinals) October 19, 2013

Even some Bleacher Report MLB writers who weren’t on the Cardinals bandwagon couldn’t resist acknowledging their accomplishment:

Is anybody else just completely blown away by the #STLCards? As a Reds’ fan, and a general baseball fan, I tip my proverbial cap..

— Tyler Duma (@TylerDuma) October 19, 2013

Congrats Cards, truly astonishing what this organization has accomplished. Now shaddup

— Gabe Zaldivar (@gabezal) October 19, 2013

ESPN Stats & Info reminds us that a World Series berth is nothing new for this proud franchise:

Cardinals: 19th World Series appearance all-time, tied for most in NL history (with Giants) and 2nd in MLB history (to Yankees)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 19, 2013

St. Louis has been especially successfully over the past decade:

The @Cardinals are headed back to the #WorldSeries, 4th trip in past 10 years. http://t.co/SeHoFTs66p pic.twitter.com/jR2JjvwNun

— Baseball Tonight (@BBTN) October 19, 2013

The Red Birds won their most recent championship in 2011, overcoming the Texas Rangers in a seven-game epic. We can only hope that the Boston Red Sox or Detroit Tigers—whomever emerges from the American League—provide us with an equally dramatic matchup.

The 2013 World Series begins next Wednesday night at the home of the AL pennant winner.

Ely is a national MLB Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a sportscaster for 90.5 WVUM in Miami. He’s hoping to deepen relationships with his fantastic online audience (that means you) via Twitter.

Follow @MrElyminator

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All the Yasiel Puig critics are already getting started on their “I told you so” columns. The phenom’s poor defensive decisions in Friday night’s third inning allowed the St. Louis Cardinals to build a 4-0 lead in Game 6 of the NLCS.

Mistake No. 1 occurred following this Carlos Beltran run-scoring single:

Matt Carpenter would’ve come home under any circumstances, but Puig is to blame for Beltran advancing to second base. He missed the appropriate cutoff man, and didn’t do it with enough urgency. Beltran was already cruising into scoring position by the time the high-arcing throw even reached Adrian Gonzalez. 

Mistake No. 2 was far more blatant:

This time, Puig had an opportunity to nail a runner at the plate. This bullet actually beat David Freese, but it was about four feet higher than the Los Angeles Dodgers wanted.

All 6’3″ of A.J. Ellis—plus however many inches he gains from leaping—wasn’t enough to make the catch, much less apply the tag.

ESPN’s Mark Simon puts this disaster into historical perspective:

Puig ties record for errors by an OF in an LCS game, last by Albert Belle, 1995 Record in any postseason game-3 Willie Davis, 1966 LAD

—Mark Simon (@msimonespn) October 19, 2013

In defense of the polarizing rookie, this rally is mostly a byproduct of good fortune on balls in play. Both of the aforementioned base hits were grounders. A few extra feet to either side of Mark Ellis, and Clayton Kershaw wouldn’t have been removed from this game so prematurely.

Ely is a national MLB Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report and a sportscaster for 90.5 WVUM in Miami. He’s hoping to deepen relationships with his fantastic online audience (that means you) via Twitter.

Follow @MrElyminator

Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com

The Los Angeles Dodgers scored an early victory in Game 6 of the NLCS when Scott Van Slyke held firm and refused to budge before St. Louis Cardinals right-hander Joe Kelly finally broke his gaze during a tense pregame standoff.

After the national anthem, both men remained standing on the field, transfixed on one another. Exactly why they chose to do so remains up in the air.

USA Today‘s Bob Nightengale posited that the answer may have to wait until after the game.

Joe Kelly and Scott Van Slyke may have nothing to do with tonight’s game, but certainly they’ll be asked about the pre-game staredown

— Bob Nightengale (@BNightengale) October 19, 2013

Pittsburgh Pirates outfielder Andrew McCutchen was watching at home and couldn’t help but to be entertained.

Not gonna lie…that Van Slyke and Kelly standoff was kinda funny.

— andrew mccutchen (@TheCUTCH22) October 19, 2013

Finally home plate umpire Greg Gibson had to step in after 12 minutes and tell the players there was a game that needed to be played.

Scott Van Slyke vs. Joe Kelly standoff. Umpire had to tell them to leave the field. pic.twitter.com/Yhq04tplzW

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) October 19, 2013

Kelly blinked first, but it was Van Slyke who actually stepped foot in the dugout first. Determining a winner was hard. The judges’ scorecards were inconclusive, and C.J. Ross curiously had Steve Garvey listed as the victor. In the end, you’d have to give the edge to Van Slyke, via Los Angeles’ Twitter account.

Scott Van Slyke, last man standing: pic.twitter.com/BpLhZpAgsG

— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) October 19, 2013

After this epic staredown, the rest of the game seems anticlimactic. The energy and drama of those 12 minutes is hard to top.

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It’s understandable that even the best players go through their struggles at the plate, but did they really have to choose now?

Why can’t everybody be like Justin Verlander? 2013 was actually one of his down years, leading some to believe he couldn’t be counted upon as the ace of the Detroit Tigers pitching staff come playoff time.

Those fears have been unwarranted, as Verlander has given up just a single run in 23 postseason innings, striking out at least 10 batters in each of his three starts.

Of course, Justin Verlanders don’t grow on trees. Some stars have a lot of trouble in the postseason. Maybe it’s the weight of expectations in the playoffs. Maybe it’s the fact that when going up against the best teams in the league, players the fans consider to be elite are found out more.

Whatever the case is for these four players, they have to figure out the problem and solve it in order to help their teams in the playoffs.

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox

One of David Ortiz’s two hits in the ALCS went a long way and scored a lot of runs, so you can’t say that “Big Papi” has been awful in this series. But only going 2-for-19 through the first five games isn’t acceptable for a player with Ortiz’s reputation.

Even at 37 years old, he remains a dangerous hitter. During the regular season, he led the Boston Red Sox in batting average (.309), home runs (30), RBI (103) and slugging percentage (.564).

The entire postseason Ortiz has been off his game. He’s hitting only .219, with three home runs and seven runs batted in.

So far, the Red Sox haven’t been hurt too badly by Ortiz’s struggles. You could envision a future, though, when Boston will need his power to be the difference-maker.

Prince Fielder, Detroit Tigers

Moving on to somebody who has been truly awful, if you happen to find where Prince Fielder has been hiding, let the Detroit Tigers know. He’s been missing for some time.

This isn’t a recent problem, either.

Fielder has been bad the last two years in a row, via ESPN Stats and Info.

ESPN.com’s Mark Simon has a great visual representation of Fielder’s at-bats.

Throughout the entire postseason, he’s failed to drive in a single run. In addition, he’s had a single extra-base hit.

Perhaps you could forgive Fielder’s struggles if he was making good contact. Sometimes you see hitters on a bad run where they’re making great contact, only to find a fielder’s glove every time.

That’s not the case with Fielder. Most of his balls in play aren’t even getting out of the infield. Even worse, he’s hardly working the count. At the very least, if you’re going to get out on every at-bat, you should make the pitcher work for it.

Matt Carpenter, St. Louis Cardinals

In 38 postseason at-bats, Matt Carpenter has just six hits. He’s driven in just one run and had two extra-base hits.

Carpenter emerged in a big way this season. Sure he was good after getting called up last year, but it was hard to see him making the jump he did in 2013. Aside from Yadier Molina, there is no more important Cardinals’ batter than Carpenter.

St. Louis needs his offense in the NLCS and the World Series should it get that far. He’s the spark at the top of the lineup and can set the tone for the rest of the game.

Against outstanding pitching, it will be hard for the Cardinals to score enough runs without Carpenter at his best. Too much will fall on Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday.

Zack Greinke, Los Angeles Dodgers

The 2013 postseason has turned into an arms race. You better have top-notch pitching, or you’ll watch you’re World Series hopes flushed down the drain.

Clayton Kershaw is one of the best pitchers in the league and the unquestioned ace of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation. However, he can’t start every game. He must get some help from the guys behind him, the most important of which is Zack Greinke.

In 21.0 innings so far this postseason, Greinke has given up six earned runs on 14 hits, striking out 17 and walking just two.

In short, he’s been good when he needs to be great. As the No. 2 starter, Greinke will be expected to pitch like an ace. While it’s an incredibly high standard, he should’ve expected this when he signed that massive contract before the season.

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Going into the final two games of the St. Louis Cardinals–Los Angeles Dodgers matchup in the National League Championship Series, all the talk has centered on starting pitching.

You know all about the Clayton Kershaw-Michael Wacha showdown for Friday night’s Game 6. There’s a possibility that Adam Wainwright could face Hyun-Jin Ryu in Game 7 with a trip to the World Series on the line.

Not that Wainwright thinks there will be a Game 7, according to ESPN.com’s Arash Markazi:

But don’t forget about the bullpens as the series wraps up in St. Louis with the Cardinals leading the series 3-2, one victory away from their second World Series trip in three years.

Chances are, relief pitching will play a crucial role in deciding the outcome of the NL pennant. Runs will be at a premium with such stellar solid pitching on the mound, so let’s take a look at the bullpens on each side.

St. Louis Cardinals

Former closer Edward Mujica has had an unspectacular fall from grace since September, but the team has benefited from the rise of rookie Trevor Rosenthal. Mujica had 35 saves in 37 opportunities with a 1.73 ERA through August, setting himself up nicely for a free-agent deal this offseason. But he regressed in September, posting an 11.05 ERA in 10 appearances, blowing two saves and losing his role as closer.

Since then, Rosenthal has been a revelation. But it’s not like success in the playoffs is anything new for the 23-year-old, who helped the Cardinals during their NLCS run last year. The fireball-throwing right-hander is yet to allow a run in 14.2 career postseason innings, including six scoreless frames so far this year.

He’s already notched two saves this series, including in Game 4 when he struck out Juan Uribe to close out the 4-2 Cardinals victory:

Entering play Friday, the Cardinals have a 1.93 bullpen ERA so far in the postseason, better than the 2.86 ERA mark that the Dodgers have posted thus far. It’s not just Rosenthal who’s been producing for the Cardinals all year. Setup men like rookie southpaw Kevin Siegrist (0.45 ERA), veteran lefty Randy Choate (2.29 ERA) and rookie righty Seth Maness (2.32 ERA) each posted great numbers in the regular season.

Not to mention, the bullpen likes to stretch together:

So far, the Cardinals bullpen has given up three runs in 15 innings of work in the NLCS. It played key roles in the victories of Game 1 and Game 2, but it gave up two costly runs in the 6-4 Dodgers win in Game 5. Otherwise, this bunch has been hard to hit.

Los Angeles Dodgers

These Dodgers are all about star power and they have a bunch of it in Brian Wilson. With his outrageous beard and long black locks flowing from underneath his cap, Wilson has provided an instant boost to the Los Angeles bullpen since joining the club in August.

He might not have the blazing fastball that he once possessed, but Wilson has been effective as ever this postseason in a setup role, allowing just four hits in six scoreless games. His most recent appearance came in Game 5, when he completed a 1-2-3 eighth inning:

But all roads lead to closer Kenley Jansen in the Dodgers bullpen. Despite racking up 53 saves with a 2.10 ERA the past two regular seasons, Jansen has looked shaky so far in the NLCS. He gave up two runs in the 6-4 Dodgers win Game 5, and he was also responsible for surrendering Carlos Beltran’s game-winning walk-off single in the 13th inning of the Cardinals’ 3-2 win in Game 1:

Aside from Wilson, other top setup man would be lefty J.P. Howell (2.03 ERA), as the Dodgers left fellow southpaws Chris Capuano and Paco Rodriguez off the NLCS roster. Other than Jansen’s miscues, this group has given up just two runs in 13.1 innings of work.

The Advantage

Even though the Cardinals are relying on six rookie pitchers in the bullpen right now, the group has handled the bright lights of the postseason well. When you factor in the postseason performances of each team’s young closer, it appears Rosenthal has the edge over Jansen as well.

As the stakes get higher in the postseason, the Cardinals looked poised to handle the pressure with a deeper bullpen and top, proven season-long options from both the left and right sides of the mound. It’s not completely out of the realm of possibility that we see four complete games in the final two contests of this series, but don’t count on it.

Expect some late-inning drama and count on the Cardinals bullpen to shut the door on the Dodgers if it has the opportunity.

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It’s impossible to imagine the opening three games of the American League Championship Series playing out any better for the Detroit Tigers. And yet, it’s impossible to imagine the outcomes being any worse.

Despite a third straight unequivocally dominant effort by a starting pitcher, the Tigers somehow trail the Boston Red Sox two games to one.

Justin Verlander, who had thrown 15 scoreless frames in two outings in the division series, was his ho-hum self, allowing four hits and one walk while striking out 10 over eight more near-perfect innings. The right-hander, though, made one mistake and paid for it when Mike Napoli launched a solo home run to left field in the top of the seventh.

That run held up in a 1-0 Red Sox win in Game 3.

Here’s the proof Verlander is, in fact, fallible:

That, by the way, was the first run Verlander allowed since his third-to-last regular-season start, which came on Sept. 18—almost a month ago.

It’s impossible to imagine a scenario in which Tigers starters Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer and Verlander—as fantastic as they are—could have been any better than they were in Games 1, 2 and 3.

Consider this stat, from Doug Miller of MLB.com, which was pointed out prior to Game 3:

The Tigers became the first team in postseason history to post three straight games in which their starting pitcher opened with at least five no-hit innings. Verlander pitched 6 2/3 no-hit innings to open Game 5 of the AL Division Series vs. Oakland; Sanchez and relievers Al Alburquerque, Jose Veras, Drew Smyly and Joaquin Benoit no-hit the Red Sox through 8 1/3 innings in Game 1 of the ALCS; and Scherzer opened Game 2 with 5 2/3 no-hit innings.

And in Tuesday’s Game 3, Verlander came within one out of extending that streak to four consecutive games to start out with a no-hitter through five innings.

Although Sanchez, Scherzer and Verlander allowed a total of just six hits and only two runs in 21 combined innings, the Tigers trail 2-1. How is such a thing even possible? Well, while Boston has scored all of seven runs in total through three contests, the Tigers have mustered one fewer, because they have repeatedly failed to get a key hit in a big spot.

Speaking of big spots, in Game 3 alone, Detroit had three instances of a runner on third base, two of which came with fewer than two outs. Each time the lineup failed to get in what would have been the tying run.

The biggest such situation, no doubt, came in the bottom of the eighth inning, by which time the Tigers had managed to get Boston’s John Lackey (6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 8:0 K:BB) out of the game.

With Austin Jackson on third and Torii Hunter on first, up to the dish stepped the very heart of Detroit’s order, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder. A fly ball, a slow roller, a mishit poke of a single was all that was needed to knot the game.

Cabrera and Fielder, though, could manage none of those things. Instead, the game’s greatest hitter (admittedly playing at well below 100 percent due to groin and abdominal injuries) and one of its top lefty sluggers struck out on a combined seven pitches, against setup man Junichi Tazawa and closer Koji Uehara, respectively.

Here’s video evidence of that opportunity being whiffed away:

All in all, the Tigers left seven men on base in Game 3 and have tallied 25 through the first three contests. The Red Sox, by comparison, have been so shut down offensively that they’ve left “only” 16 hanging.

And that’s what has to be so scary for Detroit. At some point, one imagines, the Red Sox offense will wake up, or at least start to stir. And when it does, what then? Because, again, as impossible as it is to imagine a scenario in which Detroit’s elite arms pitch any better, it’s also impossible to imagine a scenario in which the Red Sox offense—the best in baseball during the season—could struggle this much.

This is still the same team that triple-slashed .277/.349/.446, posted an MLB-high .795 OPS and scored an MLB-best 5.3 runs per game. In the division series, Boston went .286/.390/.414 for an .803 OPS and 6.5 runs per.

This round? Try .133/.228/.222 for a .450 OPS and 2.3 runs per game.

With at least two games still to play in this ALCS, there’s a pretty good chance that, even against Doug Fister in Game 4 and Sanchez in Game 5, the Red Sox will see some progression to the mean in the form of an uptick in offense.

What’s worse is that Detroit lost its initial outing of this series on its own turf, meaning the Tigers can no longer advance without avoiding a return trip to Boston. The Red Sox might have lost Game 1 at Fenway Park, but they were 53-28 there during the season—that was tops in the AL—and a raucous Boston crowd would only make things that much more challenging for the Tigers.

In more than a few ways, it was fitting that the lights went out, albeit temporarily, at Comerica Park during Game 3. If the Tigers can’t turn the power back on before the Red Sox do, it might be lights out for Detroit. For good.

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