Another fantastic regular season has ended, beginning the thrills and suspense of the postseason. The St. Louis Cardinals, once again, have won the NL Central after watching the Pittsburgh Pirates lose to the Cincinnati Reds in their final game, making the Cardinals’ 1-0 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks virtually meaningless. The rest of the playoff bracket, though, will not be meaningless. According to Odds Shark, the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim have the greatest odds to win the World series at 5-1, with the Los Angeles Dodgers at odds of 11-2, Washington Nationals also at 11-2, Detroit Tigers at 6-1, Baltimore Orioles at 13-2, Cardinals at 8-1, Oakland Athletics at 11-1, San Francisco Giants at 12-1, Pittsburgh Pirates at 12-1, and the Kansas City Royals have the worst odds in the postseason at 14-1. Here’s how I see the playoffs shaking out:

Wild Card

The National League Wild Card Game featured the Giants and the Pirates playing in Pittsburgh. The Giants rolled over the Pirates 8-0 on the strength of an early grand slam by Brandon Crawford and three more RBI’s from Brandon Belt. Madison Bumgarner threw a gem as well, pitching all nine innings and only allowing four hits.

The American League Wild Card Game was a much better matchup. The Royals trailed the Athletics 7-3 after seven innings. The came back to score three runs in the eighth, one in the ninth, and the clinching one run in the bottom of the 12 to end the game. They accumulated seven total stolen bases between the sixth and 12 innings. The Royals’ tenacity and speed are what brought them back to win the game.

Divisional Series

The NLDS features the Cardinals against the Dodgers and the Nationals against the NL Wild Card winner, the Giants. Washington will easily defeat the Giants because of their ability to play a complete game of baseball. They ranked fourth in overall hitting (batting average+on-base percentage+slugging percentage), and they were first in pitching earned run average (ERA) with a 3.03 mark. This will propel them into the NLCS against the Cardinals. While the Cardinals are in the lower half of every major batting category, their pitching is what will redeem them. They held opponents to a .242 batting average, and the MLB average is .251. The Dodgers, though, do have a potent offense, as they are third in overall hitting, but any deficit can be overcome with heart, and the Cardinals are chock full of heart.

The ALDS showcases the Orioles facing the Tigers and the Angels squaring off with the Royals. While the Royals showed that they can play with the big boys in the AL Wild Card game, they will fall easy prey to the Angels, who had the best record in the Majors at 98-64. The only hope that the Royals have in this game is their ability on the basepaths, led by speedsters Lorenzo Cain and Jarrod Dyson. The Orioles-Tigers series will be much more entertaining. Both teams have explosive offenses and outstanding pitch staffs, but the Orioles have the key advantage: Buck Showalter. Showalter has a 1259-1161 overall record as a manager. He has also won two Manager of the Year awards, and he’s shooting for his third this year. If the Orioles advance, he has a great shot for his third.

Championship Series

This would make the NL Championship Series the Cardinals against the Nationals. This will be a tough matchup with two great pitching staffs. The Cardinals will come out on top, though. This brings up memories of the 2012 NLDS, in which the Cardinals scored six runs in the last three innings to defeat the Nationals, in Washington, 9-7. Their rally was led by role players like Daniel Descalso and Pete Kozma, neither of whom start anymore. This year, the Cardinals are led by Matt Holliday, Yadier Molina, and Matt Carpenter, while the Nationals counter with Jayson Werth, Adam LaRoche, and Bryce Harper. This will be a very interesting series to watch from an offensive standpoint, as the Nationals have only three left-handed pitchers and the Cardinals bullpen is built around righties. Both teams will have to find ways to get their big lefties, Adam LaRoche and Matt Adams, more at bats and more hits.

On the AL side of things, the Angels will host the Orioles. This matchup will be even better than the Cardinals-Nationals. The Orioles outstanding pitching staff will face the Angels bomb-dropping offense. The Orioles will win this series because they have both an amazing pitching staff and an offense that can get hits in the clutch. Their offense had a .256 batting average, while the Angels boasted a .259 average. This shows that the Orioles can keep up with the best on the offensive side, and they can lead the pack in pitching with a 3.43 ERA.

World Series

This brings up the World Series. This year’s matchup will be between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Baltimore Orioles. Both teams have very good pitching, as well as offenses that can get the job done. Now, I may be extremely biased, but the Cardinals will win their 12 World Series Championship this year. This is solely because of what happened in 2011. They were looked down upon as the underdog, but they came back to beat the Texas Rangers. This year, they’re playing the inexperienced Orioles. Nelson Cruz is their only starters with playoff experience, with Cruz on the Rangers team in 2011. This will clearly not help much, as we saw how that turned out last time. In addition, the Cardinals are hungry. They made it to the World Series last year, but lost to the Red Sox in six games. This year, the Cardinals will not let their opportunity go. Their outstanding pitching and defense coupled with the Orioles lack of experience will bring a 12 World Series title to St. Louis.