The Baltimore Sun from Baltimore, Maryland • D4

4 THE BALTIMORE SUN SPORTS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 3, 2013 GAME 1 GAME 2 GAME 3 GAME 4 GAME 5 Thursday Friday Sunday Monday Wednesday 5:07 p.m. 1:07 p.m. TBD TBD TBD TBS MLB TBS TBSMLB TBS Pirates Pirates Cardinals Cardinals Cardinals (Burnett, (Cole, (Kelly, (TBD) (TBD) at Cardinals at Cardinals at Pirates at Pirates at Pirates (Wainwright, (Lynn, 15-10, (Liriano, (TBD) (TBD) 3.97) GAME1 GAME 2 GAME 3 GAME 4 GAME 5 Thursday Friday Sunday Monday Wednesday 8:37 p.m. 6:07 p.m. TBD TBD TBD TBS TBS TBS TBSMLB TBS Dodgers Dodgers Braves Braves Braves (Kershaw, (Greinke, (Teheran, (TBD) (TBD) at Braves at Braves at Dodgers at Dodgers at Dodgers (Medlen, (Minor, (Ryu, 14-8, (Nolasco, (TBD) 3.00) NLDS ifnec.

NLDS ifnec. Cardinals vs. Pira Dodgers vs. Braves BY KEVIN BAXTER Tribune Newspapers Both teams have huge holes on offense so this series likely will be all about BY KEVIN BAXTER Tribune Newspapers It's hard to find a flaw with the Cardinals. They have a potent offense that led the National League pitcning.

ino iNauonai league team strucK out more tnan tne Braves, DUt no team homered more either. They have two of the league's top three itters in batting average, Chris Johnson in scoring. Even without Allen Craig, who was batting .315 with 97 KB Is when he was sidelined with an injury to his left foot, the Cardinals have three .300 hitters in their lineup, including MVP candidates Matt Carpenter, who led the majors with 126 runs scored, and catcher Yadier Molina The Cardinals aren't one and Freddie Freeman. What the Braves can't do is manufacture runs: only three NL teams had fewer stolen bases. Offense recently has been an even bigger challenge for the hobbled Dodgers, who outscored just two teams with winning records this season and now are handicapped further by the loss of Matt Kemp and Andre Ethier's inability to play in the field.

Cuban wunderldnd Yasiel Puig hit just .214 with a .452 slugging percentage in September. On the mound, the Dodgers have baseball's best rotation and the Braves have the majors' best bullpen. If the Braves can get the Dodgers starters out early, they could feast on some iffy middle relief. If not, they may have to hope the Dodgers do themselves in the West Division champions had the second-worst defense in the NL and allowed the fourth-most unearned runs in the league. KEVIN BAXTER'S PICK DODGERS (and Clayton Kershaw) IN 5 CHRIS HUMPHREYSUSA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO dimensional either.

The rotation had baseball's second-lowest ERA, led by Adam Wainwright, who topped the NL with 19 victories, and 15-game winners Lance Lynn and Shelby Miller. The Cardinals have momentum, clinching home-field advantage throughout the NL playoffs because of a league-best 19-8 record in September. Pitching has been key for the Pirates, especially from the bullpen. Their relievers led the NL with 55 saves and ranked second with 30 victories and a 2.89 ERA. But no winning team in the majors scored fewer runs than the Pirates, who averaged less than four per game.

KEVIN BAXTER'S PICK CARDINALS (and Yadier Molina) IN 4 DENNIS WIERZBICKIUSA TODAY SPORTS PHOTO IP 1 CF Jason Heyward .254 14 38 2 RF Justin Upton .263 27 70 3 IB Freddie Freeman .319 23 109 4 LF EvanGattis .243 21 65 5 Brian McCann .256 20 57 6 3B Chris Johnson .321 12 68 7 SS A.Simmons .248 17 59 8 2B Elliot Johnson .209 2 19 9 Chris Medlen .164 1 4 1 LF Starling Marte .280 12 35 2 2B Neil Walker .251 16 53 3 CF A. McCutchen .317 21 84 4 IB Justin Morneau .259 17 77 5 RF Marlon Byrd .291 24 88 6 3B Pedro Alvarez .233 36 100 7 Russell Martin .226 15 55 8 SS Clint Barmes .211 5 23 9 A.J.Burnett .068 0 2 1 RF Yasiel Puig .319 19 42 2 LF Carl Crawford .283 6 31 3 IB Adrian Gonzalez .293 22 100 4 SS Hanley Ramirez .345 20 57 5 3B JuanUribe .278 12 50 6 A.J.Ellis .238 10 52 7 2B Mark Ellis .270 6 48 8 CF SkipSchumaker .263 2 30 9 Clayton Kershaw .182 1 10 1 2B Matt Carpenter .318 11 78 2 RF Carlos Beltran .296 24 84 3 LF MattHolliday .300 22 94 4 IB Matt Adams .284 17 51 5 Yadier Molina .319 12 80 6 CF John Jay .276 7 67 7 3B David Freese .262 9 60 8 SS Daniel Descalso .238 5 43 9 Adam Wainwright .211 0 6 Probable Game 1 lineups Season fell business is short, but up for O's AL WILD-CARD GAME RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 Cobb dominates Indians 2nd time Orioles Insider Read at baltimore RAYS 4, INDIANS 0 sun.comoriolesinsider about the late Tom Clancy's ties to the Orioles TAMPA BAY AB Bl AVG. DeJesus If 4 0 0 0 .000 Myers rf 4 0 1 0 .250 Kiermaiercf 0 0 0 0 Loney 1b 4 110 .250 Longoria 3b 4 110 .250 zobrist 2b 4 110 .250 De.Jenningscf 3 0 2 2 .667 1-Fuldcf 1 0 0 0 .000 D.Young dh 3 111 .333 Y.Escobar ss 4 0 1 1 .250 J.Molina 3 0 0 0 .000 TOTALS 34 4 8 4 CLEVELAND AB Bl AVG. Bourn cf 4 0 0 0 .000 Swisher 1b 4 0 0 0 .000 Kipnis 2b 4 0 0 0 .000 C.Santana dh 4 0 2 0 .500 Brantley If 4 0 1 0 .250 Raburn rf 3 0 1 0 .333 AsCabrera ss 4 0 0 0 .000 Y.Gomesc 4 0 2 0 .500 Chisenhall3b 4 0 3 0 .750 TOTALS 35 0 9 0 Tampa Bay 001 200 0014 8 0 Cleveland 000 000 0000 9 1 1-ran for DeJennings in the 7th. Chisenhall (1).

LOB: Tampa Bay 6, Cleveland 9. 2B: Raburn (1), C.Santana (1), Y.Gomes (1), DeJennings (1) HR: D.Young (1), off Salazar. RBIs: Y.Escobar (1), DeJennings 2 (2), D.Young (1). CS: J.Molina (1). SO: DeJesus (1), Myers (3), Loney (1), Longoria (2), 1-Fuld (1), D.Young (1), J.Molina (2), Bourn (2), Swisher (2) CSantana (1), Raburn (2), As.Cabrera (1), Chisenhall (1).

GIDP: As.Cabrera, Loney. DP: Tampa Bay 1 (Loney, YEscobar, Cobb); Cleveland 1 (Chisenhall, Kipnis, Swisher). Runners left in scoring position: Tampa Bay 4 (YEscobar, J.Molina, Longoria, DeJesus); Cleveland 4 (Kipnis 2, Swisher, As.Cabrera). IP ER BB SO ERA TAMPA BAY Jo.Peralta 1 McGee 1 Rodney CLEVELAND 654 1 1 ip 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 ERA Salazar Rzepczynski Shaw Masterson Allen J.Smith 6.75 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4 Yi 155 2 Yi Yi ORIOLES, From page 1 "It's the best it's been since 1997" said Robbie Davis owner of the Lutherville sports memorabilia shop Robbie's First Base. "Machado, Davis, Adam Jones.

They're not just guys that people in Baltimore know. They're guys people around the country know. It's the first time the Orioles have had that in a long time." The Orioles drew 2,357,551 fans to Camden Yards this season, their largest attendance since 2005. Their increase of about 255,000 fans from 2012 was fourth-largest in the sport, just behind the Washington Nationals'. Overall attendance for Major League Baseball dipped by about 300 fans per game.

The Orioles' 12 percent attendance jump from 2012 to 2013 couldn't match their 16 percent jump from 2011 to 2012. But it fit the club's historical pattern after surprise seasons. "It was similar to what we expected, given that we were in it all year but never really had that one big hot streak," said Greg Bader, the club's vice president of communications and marketing. The Orioles did not get the kind of September bump they did the previous season, when every game mattered to the team's playoff chances. They also had to get by with fewer special-attraction dates, such as the six sculpture unveilings that drew large crowds in 2012.

Bader said the Orioles were particularly pleased to see their season-ticket base increase for the first time in several years. Though he wouldn't quantify the increase, he said the club expects similar growth this offseason. More fans watched on television as well, with ratings for Orioles games on MASN increasing about 50 percent from 2012, the second-biggest jump in baseball, according to the club. "They outperformed our estimates," said MASN senior vice president John McGuinness. Orioles owner Peter An-gelos also owns a controlling interest in the network, which the Orioles share with the Nationals.

McGuinness said corresponding advertising interest was such that the network was often low on inventory for retailers seeking commercial space during games. The Orioles don't benefit as directly from increases in merchandise sales, since all 30 major league clubs share equally in national merchandising revenues. But improved sales were another sign of the club's greater popularity. For the calendar year to date, the Orioles held 2.54 percent of MLB's licensed apparel market, according to 1 Sports Xchange CLEVELAND Alex Cobb pitched 62A scoreless innings, and Desmond Jennings hit a two-run double to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 4-0 win over the Cleveland Indians in the American League wild-card game Wednesday night. Tampa Bay, winner of 10 of its past 12 games, advances to the AL Division Series against the Boston Red Sox.

Game 1 will be played Friday at Fenway Park. Cobb limited the Indians to eight hits and one walk. He struck out five. In two starts against Cleveland this year, counting Wednesday, the 25-year-old right-hander went 2-0 and pitched a combined 14 scoreless innings. Cobb was at his best in the middle innings, when the Indians had two golden opportunities to score.

ALDSGamel In the fourth, RAYS Cleveland loaded the RED SOX bases with one out, Friday, 3 p.m. but Cobb got As- drubal Cabrera to ground into an inning-ending double play. In the fifth, the Indians had runners at first and third with no outs, but Cobb struck out Michael Bourn, then induced ground-outs from Nick Swisher and Jason Kipnis. Both teams finished 2-for-9 with runners in scoring position. Indians rookie right-hander Danny Sala-zar lasted only four innings, as the Rays reached him for one run in the third inning (on Delmon Young's homer) and two more in the fourth (on Jennings' double).

Salazar, facing Tampa Bay for the first time, retired the first six batters, striking out three. In the first two innings, Salazar threw 20 pitches, 16 of them strikes. Salazar's 21st pitch resulted in a 1-0 Tampa Bay lead. Young led off the third inning with a home run over the left-field wall. The Rays added two runs in the fourth.

With one out, James Loney singled and went to second on a single by Evan Longoria. After Ben Zobrist flied out, Jennings ripped a double into the left-field corner, scoring both runners. Salazar gave up four hits and two walks while striking out four. The Indians' last good chance to score came in the seventh inning when they had runners at first and second with one out. But Cobb retired Bourn on a flyout and reliever Joel Peralta came in to strike out Charlotte-based industry analyst SportsOneSource.

That's 12th highest in the league and a big leap from the L57 percent of the market the club held for the same period last year. The Orioles' market share remained solid in August and September, even though they failed to generate the same playoff push as in 2012. "The Orioles definitely improved this year," said Matt Powell, an analyst for SportsOneSource. One big difference from previous years was the club's star power. At the end of each season, MLB releases its list of the 20 best-selling player jerseys on MLB.com.

From 2010 to 2012, the top 20 was devoid of Orioles. But Machado ranked fifth and Davis 16th on the recently released 2013 list, which ranked sales since the AU-Star break. Davis' prodigious home run pace and Machado's precocious wizardry at third base put them on national highlight reels to a degree no Oriole had experienced since Cal Ripken Jr. retired. "I think what that shows is that there's national and international interest, not just local interest," Bader said of the jersey sales.

"You see your brand increasing its reach, and that's a good thing." Robbie Davis Jr. said Machado is the king in his memorabilia shop. "He's going to be our Derek Jeter," he said of the 21-year-old third baseman. "Young kids like him. He's our own homegrown guy.

The closest thing we've had to this is probably Ripken." Having a star like that in town makes a huge difference to a local shop, Davis said. McGuinness said young stars are important to television ratings as well. "We're seeing some of our most dynamic growth in the younger demographics," he said. "And I think a lot of that is kids identifying with these younger players." But Powell said phenoms take a club only so far in the merchandising realm. "What really moves the needle is winning the championship after not having won for years," he said.

"I think Orioles fans believe the team can be competitive after 2012." The Orioles' sales could slip if they don't make any significant offseason signings and fans sense stagnation, Powell added. childs.walkerbaltsun.com Win: Cobb (1-0). Loss: Salazar (0-1). Shaw pitched to 1 batter in the 7th. Salazar pitched to 1 batter in the 5th.

Inherited runners-scored: Jo.Peralta 2-0, McGee 1-0, Rzepczynski 1-0, Shaw 1-0, Masterson 1-0, J.Smith 1-1. HBP: by Masterson (DeJesus). IBB: off Salazar (D.Young). Umpires: Gerry Davis; IB, Ted Barrett; 2B, Mike Everitt; 3B, Greg Gibson. Time: 3:40.

43,579 Swisher and end the inning. In his career against Peralta, Swisher is 2-for-19 with eight strikeouts. Tampa Bay added an unearned run in the ninth inning on an RBI single by Yunel Escobar. Rays closer Fernando Rodney struck out two of the three batters he faced in the ninth in a nonsave situation. Lonnie Chisenhall went 3-for-4 for Cleveland.

He also committed a ninth-inning error that led to a run. Carlos Santana and Yan Gomez added two hits apiece for the Indians. NOTES: The Red Sox announced the order of their rotation: Jon Lester, John Lackey, Clay Buchholz and Jake Peavy. Salazar, 23, was the youngest pitcher to start a postseason game for the Indians since left-hander CC Sabathia, then 21, started Game 3 of the 2001 AL Division Series against the Seattle Mariners. Andre Thornton, a four-time Ail-Star first baseman and designated hitter for the Indians in the 1970s and '80s, threw out the ceremonial first pitch..