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The Giants and Cardinals hook up in San Francisco for Game Three of the National League Championship Series this afternoon with the series tied at 1-1. The Giants shut down the Cardinals in Game One with a terrific performance from pitcher Madison Bumgarner, and nearly took Game Two on the road were it not for some late inning heroics from Cardinals second baseman Kolten Wong, who homered in the ninth to win it. Wong, you may remember, was a bit of a goat in last year's post-season, but something happened over the course of a year that caused him transform from a choke artist into a clutch Cardinal who does things the right way.
Was it that the team was rallying around catcher Yadier Molina who left mid-game with injury? If so, they had a funny way of doing it, blowing a lead in the ninth, before Wong saved their bacon with his blast. But perhaps closer Trevor Rosenthal was unaware Molina had left the game, and didn't know he was supposed to rally around Molina?
John Lackey goes for the Cardinals this afternoon, and his catcher will be A.J. Pierzynski if you needed more of a reason to hate the Cardinals. Tim Hudson, the ageless wonder, goes for the Giants.
I was on Yahoo Sports radio yesterday (humblebrag) and they asked me a question that kind of threw me off because I hadn't even thought as far as the World Series yet, but who would you rather face - the Giants or Cardinals in the World Series?