LEADING OFF: 106-win Dodgers host Cards in wild-card game

A look at what's happening around the majors Wednesday:

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WILD OUT WEST

The 106-win Los Angeles Dodgers put their season on the line in the NL wild-card game against the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals. No team has ever won so many games and failed to win its division, but LA couldn't catch the 107-win San Francisco Giants, forcing the club into the one-game playoff.

Max Scherzer will start for the Dodgers. The 37-year-old right-hander was 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA after joining Los Angeles from Washington, along with NL batting champion Trea Turner, at the July trade deadline. The three-time Cy Young Award winner is from the St. Louis suburb of Chesterfield.

He'll face Cardinals 40-year-old Adam Wainwright (17-7, 3.05 ERA). St. Louis used a 17-game winning streak down the stretch to lock up the second NL wild card

The Dodgers will be without slugger Max Muncy and ace Clayton Kershaw. Muncy injured his left elbow Sunday but could return if Los Angeles remains in the postseason. Kershaw has an issue in his left elbow/forearm and is done for the year.

CALLING IT A DAY

Umpire Joe West is set to work behind the plate in the NL wild-card game as his long, colorful career nears an end.

West, who turns 69 on Oct. 31, is planning to retire at the end of the season. He told The Associated Press that he doesn’t know whether he will be assigned any more postseason games after the St. Louis-Los Angeles matchup at Dodger Stadium.

West called his first big league game in 1976 and broke Bill Klem’s record for most games umpired when he worked his 5,376th regular-season game last May.

Known as “Cowboy Joe” and “Country Joe,” the former Elon College quarterback has worked the World Series six times.

West has been a polarizing figure...

source https://www.chron.com/sports/article/LEADING-OFF-106-win-Dodgers-host-Cards-in-16512015.php