The Dodgers have their backs to the wall, but the 2013 NLCS isn't over yet. The series returns to St. Louis on Friday for Game 6, with the Cardinals leading the best-of-seven showdown, 3-2. Los Angeles will need to win two games on the road to advance to the World Series, and the Dodgers will turn to probable Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw to keep their hopes alive and force a Game 7. The Cards will counter with postseason wunderkind Michael Wacha.
2013 NLCS Game 6 lineups: Hanley Ramirez out for Dodgers
Yasiel Puig hits cleanup for the Dodgers, and Shane Robinson gets his first start of the postseason for the Cardinals.
After scoring just seven runs in the first four games of the series, Los Angeles slugged four home runs in a 6-4 victory in Game 5. Nevertheless, the Dodgers are shaking up their lineup a bit, plugging the red-hot Yasiel Puig into the cleanup spot to break up left-handers Adrian Gonzalez and Andre Ethier. Puig has gone 5-for-9 over the last three games after starting the series 0-for-10. He'll need to stay hot, as banged-up shortstop Hanley Ramirez is out of the lineup for the first time since Game 2. The full lineup:
1. Crawford, LF
2. Ellis, 2B
3. Gonzalez, 1B
4. Puig, RF
5. Ethier, CF
6. Uribe, 3B
7. Ellis, C
8. Punto, SS
9. Kershaw, P
Meanwhile, the Cardinals have a new face in their lineup: Right-handed hitter Shane Robinson will make his first start of the postseason, playing in center field. Robinson has picked up three plate appearances off the bench in this series and chipped in with a solo home run off of J.P. Howell in Game 4 to provide a late insurance run in a 4-2 victory. Full lineup:
1. Carpenter, 2B
2. Beltran, RF
3. Holliday, LF
4. Molina, C
5. Freese, 3B
6. Adams, 1B
7. Robinson, CF
8. Kozma, SS
9. Wacha, P
The Kershaw-Wacha pitching matchup is a rematch of Game 2. Wacha out-dueled Kershaw in that contest; the Cardinals’ rookie threw 6⅔ shutout innings, while the Dodgers’ left-hander allowed an unearned run in six innings. Kershaw took the loss in the 1-0 game. In two playoff starts this year, Wacha has allowed only one run and six hits in 14 innings. Kershaw has been almost exactly as good, allowing four runs (only one earned) and eight hits in 19 innings over three postseason starts.
First pitch is scheduled for 8:37 p.m. ET on TBS.
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