Just to sum up very briefly the ridiculousness that has occurred so far during the National League Championship Series:

The St. Louis Cardinals are batting .134 — yes, you saw that correctly and as a team I might add — after the first two games of the NLCS against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They’ve scored in only three of the 22 innings so far that have been played between the two teams. The team with arguably the best lineup in the National League struggled mightily against the Dodgers’ two former (and perhaps one soon-to-be reigning) Cy Young winners.

Yet, these Cardinals are winning. They find themselves up two games to zero heading to Los Angeles. Come again?

Therein lies the reasons why baseball in October is among the greatest sporting events to witness ever. The numbers defy logic, all conventional wisdom is thrown out the window, and the end result often makes no sense whatsoever.

On Friday, the Cardinals struck out 10 times and scored twice in eight innings against the Dodgers and former Cy Young winner Zack Greinke — and won miraculously in 13 innings on the shoulders of Mr. October Carlos Beltran. Then, on Saturday, the Cardinals managed a measly two hits in six innings against the best pitcher on the planet, Clayton Kershaw, and scored one run that wasn’t even earned — and won again in stunning fashion.

Here’s what makes this feat doubly amazing: The Cardinals ran out two starters, Joe Kelly in Game 1 and Michael Wacha in Game 2, that hadn’t even spent a full season in a major league starting rotation. Imagine what the odds must have been against the Cardinals in Vegas. So after two down-to-the-wire thrillers, where does that leave this series?

The Cardinals are up 2-0 for the first time in their last 10 postseason series, and only once in franchise history have they lost a postseason series after winning the first two games. To keep the good times rolling in St. Louis, they now turn to their own ace, Adam Wainwright, in Game 3. The Dodgers, meanwhile, are down 2-0 in the NLCS for the second time in three trips. The last time was in 2008 against the Phillies, which saw Los Angeles losing in five games. Only three of the last 23 teams to go down 2-0 in the LCS have come back to win the series. Clearly, the Cardinals have the upper hand and a tidal wave of momentum going into Los Angeles, but in theme of the article, anything can happen in October.

To make matters worse for the Dodgers, their offense doesn’t seem to be up to the task. They haven’t scored in the last 19 innings, they’re 1-for-16 with runners in scoring position, and they’ve racked up almost twice as many strikeouts (24) as hits (14). Los Angeles might also have to begin the comeback without Hanley Ramirez, who was a late scratch for Game 2 and has been their best hitter so far in the playoffs, and Andre Eithier, whose ankle is still bothering him (refer to his misplay of Carlos Beltran’s double in Game 1).

The Dodgers can also be thankful for the fact that they don’t need to face Wacha in either of the next two games because while he might not be an ace yet, he’s certainly pitching like one. Over his last three starts, beginning with his final regular-season game, Wacha has faced 80 hitters — and allowed seven hits. He went 8 2/3 innings against Washington before giving up a hit, and followed that up with eight more innings of no-hit ball against the Pirates in an elimination game for the Cardinals. On Saturday, all the rookie did was outduel the consensus pick for NL Cy Young Clayton Kershaw with 6 2/3 shutout innings.

The Cardinals find themselves in prime position to take a commanding 3-0 lead against the Dodgers, with Wainwright slated to face Hyun-Jin Ryu, who struggled greatly against the Atlanta Braves in his first postseason start. I have my money on the Cardinals to close out this series relatively quickly, but who knows, your guess is probably as good as mine.