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N.L.C.S. Game 5: Cardinals vs. Dodgers; A.L.C.S. Game 4: Red Sox vs. Tigers

It's win or go home for the Dodgers, and win or be backed into a corner for the Tigers in another playoff doubleheader.

By Al Yellon
Tim Fuller-USA TODAY Sports

It's another afternoon/evening pair of games in the league championship series today, only flipped -- the NLCS will be played in the afternoon, the ALCS at night. This will mean that for one of the rare times during this postseason, shadows should not be a factor for the day game, as it will start in Los Angeles at 1 p.m. local time. No problems with lights, as there were in Detroit Tuesday afternoon/evening.

The NLCS game features a rematch of Game 1 starters; that worked out well enough for the Dodgers for the first nine innings, as Zack Greinke outpitched Joe Kelly. He'll have to do that again to keep LA's hopes alive, and even if they win this one, they'll have to win a pair in St. Louis to then win the series. This has been done before, but it won't be easy.

The Tigers will look to even up the ALCS with Doug Fister, who is throwing on seven days' rest. So is Jake Peavy, Boston's starter. This has been a very low-scoring series, even with the Red Sox' outburst in the late innings of Game 2; we've already had two 1-0 games. Could this be the one where the offenses get untracked? It will be a chilly night in Detroit, with temperatures in the low 50s. Will that make a difference?

In case you couldn't tell by the photo at the top of this post, I'm rooting for the Tigers. If they don't make it, I'll be forced to root for Boston in the World Series, if they wind up facing the Cardinals. So it goes.

Dodgers/Cardinals game time: 3 p.m. CT. TV: TBS. Announcers: Ernie Johnson, Cal Ripken, Ron Darling, Craig Sager.

Red Sox/Tigers game time: 7 p.m. CT. TV: Fox. Announcers: Joe Buck, Tim McCarver, Ken Rosenthal, Erin Andrews.

Cardinals/Dodgers pitching matchup:

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2013 - Joe Kelly 10-5 40 15 0 0 0 1 124.0 124 42 37 10 44 79 2.69 1.35
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2013 - Zack Greinke 15-4 29 28 1 1 0 0 177.2 152 54 52 13 46 148 2.63 1.11

Red Sox/Tigers pitching matchup:

W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2013 - Jake Peavy 4-1 10 10 1 0 0 0 64.2 56 29 29 6 19 45 4.04 1.16
W-L G GS CG SHO SV BS IP H R ER HR BB K ERA WHIP
2013 - Doug Fister 14-9 33 32 1 0 0 0 208.2 229 91 85 14 44 159 3.67 1.31

MLB.com Gameday for Dodgers/Cardinals

MLB.com Gameday for Tigers/Red Sox

Baseball-reference.com game preview for Dodgers/Cardinals

Baseball-reference.com game preview for Tigers/Red Sox

SB Nation game preview for Dodgers/Cardinals

SB Nation game preview for Tigers/Red Sox

SB Nation Cardinals site: Viva El Birdos

SB Nation Dodgers site: True Blue LA

SB Nation Tigers site: Bless You Boys

SB Nation Red Sox site: Over The Monster

This will serve as your one and only game thread for today's games. Enjoy, and discuss amongst yourselves.

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