The young and the old

Yadier Molina was happy Monday with the work of
rookie starter Michael Wacha.

The NL Division Series on Monday offered a contrast too obvious to ignore: Two teams, Atlanta and St. Louis, in elimination games. One's starting pitcher was about as inexperienced as they come; the other's was a crafty veteran who offered almost nothing but his veteraniness.

St. Louis won its game. Atlanta lost its. But both pitchers did quite well, thank you, establishing yet again that there is no pat answer to this game.

Michael Wacha is indeed an impressive young pitcher. He's 22, a rookie out of Texas A&M, the 19th overall pick in the 2012 draft, and his major league resume entering the series boasted less than 65 innings in just 15 games and nine starts. On Monday, he carried a non-hitter into the eighth inning (when Pittsburgh's Pedro Alvarez hit a long homer) and came away credited with the 2-1 win that forced a decisive Game Five back in St. Louis. He threw almost nothing but fastballs and changeups, and why bother with a third pitch when two are that effective?

That game will feature the Cardinals' best in Adam Wainwright — and Pittsburgh's own rookie sensation, Garrett Cole, who is being moved ahead of veteran A.J. Burnett in a youth-over-veteran move.

Freddy Garcia's been there and done that in the postseason,
and even without the fastball he had in his youth
he still got the job done on Monday.

Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, with the Dodgers bringing Cy Young favorite Clayton Kershaw (league leader in ERA and strikeouts) back on short rest to try to close out Atlanta, the Braves countered with Freddy Garcia — at age 37 a veteran of 15 major league seasons with seven teams. Monday's outing was Garcia's 11th career start in playoffs and World Series (6-3, 3.25 in postseason play).

"I don't panic," Garcia was quoted as saying on Sunday (which, as it happened, was his birthday) after the Braves were pushed to the brink. "I just make pitch." Which pretty much sums up the appeal of age and experience in a crucial situation.

Garcia made his pitches on Monday: Six innings of two run ball. He navigated his way around eight Dodgers hits, struck out six and left with the lead.

Garcia was hardly as overwhelming as Wacha, but he gave the Braves all they could ask for, and more than should have been expected from a guy who brought a 5.77 ERA over from the American League in midseason.

Nice work by both of them.

The final weekend

The Twins obviously have no margin for error. They also have no good option to start tonight, and they face Zach Grienke on Saturday.

Apparently Jeff Manship (right) starts tonight, Manship and a cast of thousands. I figured after Liriano's disaster last Sunday that Manship would get the call, but ... I suspect he can become a useful major league starter someday, but that day is not here.

As I understand it, the matchups for the final series:

Friday

Kansas City at Minnesota: DiNardo (0-2, 7.52) vs. Manship (0-1, 5.81). Wow, a matchup that might favor Manship.

Chicago at Detroit: Peavy (2-0, 2.25) vs. Jackson (13-8, 3.38). Peavy's numbers are AL only. Jackson's August ERA was 4.45; his September ERA, 5.08. He's shot way past his career high in innings, and things are falling apart for him.

Saturday

Kansas City at Minnesota: Greinke (16-8, 2.06) vs. Blackburn (11-11, 4.08). Greinke is the unanimous pick for AL Cy Young in the poll. Blackburn will be working on three days rest for the first time in his brief career. He's 1 1/3 innings short of 200.

Chicago at Detroit: Garcia (2-4, 4.78) vs. Figaro (2-1, 5.74). The Tigers are holding back Rick Porcello after the 20-year-old threw 111 pitches against the Twins. Garcia's stats don't look like much, but he's impressed the Sox enough that he's penciled into their 2010 rotation.

Sunday

Kansas City at Minnesota: Hochevar (7-12, 6.24) vs. Duensing (5-2, 3.69). Hochevar is either brilliant or awful. Duensing is coming off the worst start of his brief career. It's possible the Twins would use Carl Pavano on three days rest instead if this game means something.

Chicago at Detroit: Danks (13-10, 3.69) vs Verlander (18-9, 3.45). The Tigers really don't want Verlander pitching Sunday. They'd rather save him to open against the Yankees.

Here's the Detroit Free Press' take on the matchups on the Tigers end of things. I think Michael Cuddyer's right on the Sox pitchers — these are the best the Twins could hope for.

The odds are definitely against the Twins, but these matchups suggest it's not impossible.