The 2013 World Series hasnt even started and many are already dubbing this MLB post-season to be the "Year of the Pitcher." No team has managed to score better than three runs more than once in the League Championship round, with each club pitching a shutout in the opening three games. So, whats behind this years pitching dominance? The first and most obvious factor is sheer talent. Each of the four remaining playoff teams boast a blend of ace talent and veteran presence that has led to individual pitchers stepping up and tossing gem after gem to will their teams toward a pennant. Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Jake Peavy and Zack Greinke all have Cy Young Awards on their resumes. Max Scherzer is very likely to join that group once the 2013 hardware gets handed out, while Cardinals ace Adam Wainwright led the NL in wins and logged more innings than any other pitcher during the regular season. But its not just those pitchers – lest we forget David Prices Wild Card game heroics, Anibal Sanchez near-no-hitter or the efforts of Red Sox vets John Lackey and Jon Lester – that are forming the narrative. Rookies like Michael Wacha, Hyun-Jun Ryu and Sonny Gray have all tossed gems that have pushed the "Year of the Pitcher" to the forefront. While Verlander would eventually get the better of Gray in the decisive NLDS game and Ryu essentially is a rookie in name only (being 26 and a veteran of seven dominant seasons in Korea), Wacha has certainly emerged as one of Octobers biggest stars. Drafted just over a year ago – 19th overall by the Cards in 2012 – Wacha has taken a huge leap forward this fall, flirting with a no-hitter against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the NLDS and following that up with a six-plus-inning shutout performance to power a 1-0 NLCS Game 2 Cardinals win over Kershaw. It would be an easy fix to just flat-out state that the pitching has been that good, but its not like these starters have been facing inferior lineups. All four of these teams have the potential to be offensive juggernauts, with the Red Sox, Tigers and Cardinals having finished top-three in runs scored in 2013. All four teams can boast of game-breaking bats in their line-up, from Miguel "Triple Crown" Cabrera to the playoff pedigree of David Ortiz, clutch performers like Carlos Beltran and David Freese to break-out stars like Yasiel Puig. But still, the Red Sox 1-0 win on Tuesday marked the fourth of this years post-season, tying a record for most 1-0 games in a single post-season since the dawn of the LCS era, previously set in 1991 with all four involving the Atlanta Braves three-headed monster of Tom Glavine, John Smoltz and Steve Avery. History might tell us that its just a recurring trend swinging back the pitchers way. Since the inception of the League Championship Series MVP Awards in 1977 (NL) and 1980 (AL), starting pitchers seem to claim the award in clusters. Of the 10 pitchers that have won ALCS MVP there have been three separate occasions of three pitchers winning the award in a five-year span or less. More pitchers have claimed the NLCS MVP Award (12), but those wins, too have come largely thanks to three- and four-year spans of pitching dominance. Whats even more curious is that those spans basically overlap. Between 1990 and 1995 a starting pitcher won the LCS MVP six out of 10 times. Between 1997 and 2001 starters again took six of 10. The trend would repeat itself once more between 2005 and 2009. Since 2009, however, no starting pitcher has won either the LCS or World Series MVP Award. Is this season just the start of another cycle? Regardless of why its happening, the starting pitchers appear to be on a collective roll this October and were only just past the half-way point of the month. What do you think is behind this post-seasons pitching dominance? As always, its Your! Call. Wholesale Nike Air Max 90 . In Europe, top teams seem to be largely happy with their squads after spending nearly $1 billion in the off-season. And although English league clubs are unlikely to splash cash in January, Arsenal and Chelsea could be tempted to strengthen their squads with new strikers. Nike Air Max 90 Outlet . -- Former Penn State coach Joe Paterno was admitted to the hospital Friday for observation due to minor complications from cancer treatments, his family said. https://www.cheapnikeairmax90china.us/. The Oilers will try to get back in the win column on Monday when they continue a four-game road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres. Edmonton won its third straight game last Wednesday against visiting San Jose, beating the Sharks 3-0 as Scrivens stopped 59 shots to set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout. Cheap Nike Air Max 90 . Hattestad managed to avoid the carnage midway through the mens final, as a crash took out three skiers, essentially leaving two men vying for gold. The Norwegian posted a time of 3:38.39, outlasting Swedens Teodor Peterson, who took silver with a time of 3:39. Nike Air Max 90 From China . - Skiing far more aggressively than in her season debut a day earlier, Lindsey Vonn was in provisional 10th place after the first 45 skiers in a World Cup downhill on Saturday.SAN ANTONIO - The San Antonio Spurs didnt dwell on nearly blowing a 24-point lead in the second half. They won, and thats all that mattered to the veteran club. Tim Duncan had 29 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and San Antonio overcame a fourth-quarter collapse to beat the Denver Nuggets 108-103 Wednesday night for its 15th straight victory. Tiago Splitter, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili had 10 points apiece for the Spurs (55-16), who have the leagues best record. "They made it competitive," Parker said. "They played with a lot of energy. We missed a lot of little stuff; easy layups that we always make and they got back in the game. It happens sometimes. Were not going to beat everybody by 20." It just seemed like they were after overwhelming the Nuggets in the first half. Danny Greens 3-pointer at the buzzer was his fifth of the half, giving San Antonio its largest lead of opening 24 minutes at 63-43. Green scored 16 points, all in the first half, before leaving with a foot injury early in the second. His status is unknown, but he wore a walking boot as a precaution after the game and will have an MRI on Thursday morning. "All of a sudden he couldnt walk," San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. "The bottom of the foot, there is something. They are going to X-ray it. I am just guessing it is plantar fasciitis or something like that." San Antonio had 19 assists while going 24 for 42 from the field and forcing nine turnovers in the first half. "We were getting embarrassed in the first half," Denver forward Darrell Arthur said. "I was upset. I had words with some of the guys in the locker room." Aaron Brooks scored 25 points and Kenneth Faried had 24 points, including 15 points in a frenzied final quarter for the Nuggets. Denver went on a 34-20 run in the final 11 minutes. "We played a good half, we played a bad half," Popovich said. "The NBA is a 48-minute game and youve got to keep playing." After leading by as many as 24 points and by 20 midway through the third quarter, San Antonio needed Duncans late heroics to preserve its win streak.dddddddddddd Duncan scored all but one of the Spurs final 11 points, capping his performance with an off-balance jumper off the glass for a 107-99 lead with 30 seconds remaining. The heavily contested shot sealed the win and led Nuggets coach Brian Shaw to turn and smile at Popovich, who shook his head as well. "(Duncan) played a great all-around game," Popovich said. "Probably nobody noticed, but it was assists, boards, scoring — he was the guy that kept it together." Duncan finished the game 12 for 20, including going 4 for 5 in the final five minutes on a series of layups and jumpers. It seemed like it was going to be an early night for Duncan and San Antonios veterans after the team rolled to a sizeable early lead. The Nuggets opened at a frenetic pace and the Spurs were more than willing to play along. The teams combined for 24 shots in the opening six minutes. Green and Kawhi Leonard benefited the most from the fast start, going a combined 4 for 5 on 3-pointers. Leonard got the Spurs started by swatting Farieds jumper from behind off the opening tip and then hitting a 3-pointer and 19-footer to give San Antonio a 7-4 lead. Green then hit three consecutive 3-pointers to extend the advantage to 16-10 with 8 minutes remaining in the first quarter. Green ended the run by draining a closely contested 3 on Randy Foye after screaming for the ball as Duncan brought it up court off a rebound. "We fell asleep," Brooks said. "They got a lot of backdoors in the first half. We fell asleep on a lot of plays and allowed them to run their offence, and I think in the second half we pressured a little bit more." NOTES: Spurs F Austin Daye has become an overnight fan favourite, receiving an ovation second only to Ginobilis upon entering with 29.5 seconds remaining in the first quarter. After averaging just 2.3 minutes in four games since being acquired from Toronto, Daye scored a game-high 22 points in 29 minutes in a 113-91 victory over Philadelphia on Monday. ... Spurs F Matt Bonner (right calf strain) missed his second straight game and his ninth due to injury this season. ' ' '