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Season Preview: Playoffs and World Series predictions
Oct 3, 2014; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw (22) pitches the first inning against the St. Louis Cardinals in game one of the 2014 NLDS playoff baseball game at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports
Cassandra Negley, Staff Writer:
The National League will likely look a lot like it did last year, with one main exception: The Chicago Cubs. The Nationals should do clean work of taking the top spot, with the Cardinals behind them and the Dodgers trailing. The Pirates have come on strong in recent years with some powerful offense.
The Cubs take more punchlines than the Mets and though they still might be a few years away from a playoff spot, why not give them the benefit of the doubt? The Pirates will win the Wild Card game, but fall to the Dodgers in the NLDS. The Nationals will beat the Cardinals, and will fall to the Dodgers in the NLCS.
Breaking down the American League is more like throwing spaghetti at the wall to see if it’s done. The boldest of predictions could turn out to be spot-on. The East is a mess that the Orioles will find themselves on top of. The team is losing a lot in Nick Markakis, Nelson Cruz and Andrew Miller, but they’ll overcome. The White Sox and Angels will round out the division winners with the Red Sox and Indians taking the first and second wild cards.
The Red Sox will prevail in the Wild Card game and go on to take out the Angels. The White Sox will defeat the Orioles in the ALCS. Red Sox over White Sox in an all-Sox ALCS.
The Los Angeles Dodgers will take down the Red Sox in six games in the World Series and Yasiel Puig and company will do some crazy celebrating.
National League
Wild Card Game:
Pirates over Cubs
NLDS:
Dodgers over Pirates
Nationals over Cardinals
NLCS:
Dodgers over Nationals
American League
Wild Card Game:
Red Sox over Indians
ALDS:
Red Sox over Angels
White Sox over Orioles
ALCS:
Red Sox over White Sox
World Series:
Dodgers over Red Sox (6 games)
Next: Mollie Galchus' Playoffs and World Series predictions