The Arizona Diamondbacks return to Milwaukee as the team send Ian Kennedy against Yovani Gallardo with the NLCS on the line. In game one, Gallardo easily out-pitchEd Kennedy, the former last eight inning, walking one and striking out nine. While Kennedy only walked one in his 6 2/3 innings, he hit two batters. The Brewers were able to put the ball in play, resulting in eight hits.

The big money players for the Brewers stepped up in this series. Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder are a combined 12 for 30 with three walks, five doubles and two home runs. It seems every time you look up one of them is on base. Jerry Hairston, Jr. is right there with them, giving the Brewers a potent middle of the lineup. They could still use a little help around those players, however.

The Diamondbacks are getting by without a great series from their MVP candidate Justin Upton as Chris Young, Paul Goldschmidt, Ryan Roberts and Miguel Montero are smacking the ball. So far, however, the home team won every game in the series. Arizona scored five of their 23 runs in Milwaukee, so they’re going to need to find a way to generate some offense tonight if they want to advance to the next round.

Former Blue Jays take the mound as the Cardinals and Phillies decide their division series. Chris Carpenter and Roy Halladay square off in a battle of aces. Carpenter never really put it together for the Blue Jays, but the Cardinals took a chance on the injured pitcher, and stuck with him when he missed another two years, and were reward with five seasons of 15 wins or more. Carpenter keeps it simple, walking few, keeping the ball in the park, and striking out enough batters to keep the opposition from collecting too many hits.

His friend, Roy Halladay, takes all those traits to the extreme. He allowed ten home runs and 35 walks in 233 2/3 innings while striking out 220 batters. He posted an ERA under 3.00 for the fourth consecutive year, two of those in the American League. He owns the best ERA in the majors in that time (Carpenter is ninth). Of the top six on the list, three missed significant time in 2011 due to injury, making Roy’s durability all the more impressive, as he pitched the most innings in that time frame.

Four teams, four aces, two elimination games. Enjoy!