The Atlanta Braves will be taking on the defending 2011 World Series champion St. Louis Cardinals in the 2012 National Wild Card game. In what many are expecting to be a very closely matched game, two dominating pitchers will take the hill for both sides. St. Louis will be starting Kyle Lohse (16-3, 2.86 ERA) while the Braves will send the lights out Kris Medlen (10-1, 1.57 ERA) to the mound.

St. Louis is looking a strong performance out of Lohse, who put together an impressive season overall after a late season decline. The right-hander showed impressive control this year, as he only walked 38 batters in 211 innings pitched.

Hometown Atlanta is looking for Medlen to continue his superhuman dominance after his July 31 return to the starting rotation. In his last 12 starts, the pitcher has gone 9-0 and the Braves have won all of those respective games. To top it off, he's only given up nine earned runs in 83.2 innings and sported a 0.97 ERA in that time span.

For the Cardinals to be successful in their attempt to repeat as champs, they must first get past a tough Atlanta ball club. Medlen's dominance aside, the Braves also possess an impressive batting order, which includes first baseman Freddie Freeman, the soon to be retired third baseman Chipper Jones and right fielder phenom Jason Heyward.

Although there was an obvious void left by Albert Pujols' departure to the Los Angeles Angels, St Louis' offense still remains strong. The middle of the lineup is made up of catcher Yadier Molina, first baseman Allen Craig, left fielder Matt Holliday, and right fielder Carlos Beltran. Impressively enough, all four players hit over 22 homers and had a minimum .495 slugging percentage.

CLICK HERE to watch the St. Louis Cardinals vs. Atlanta Braves in the 2012 National League Wild Card. Coverage will begin at 5 PM ET on Friday, Oct. 5th.

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Mlb, Television