2010 NLCS Game 6: SF 3, PHI 2

The Giants are going to the World Series! The Giants have won the Pennant! The San Francisco Giants are representing the National League in the World Series! I could say it over and over again in thousands of different ways and I wouldn't be able to stop smiling. Really, I don't think it has sunk in completely and as with every great, important game, it's really hard to type out everything I'm feeling. The Giants. In the World Series. Wow.

I'll probably talk about the season as a whole and how the Giants got here, but first I should go through this great game. Obviously, coming into today, the Giants were leading the series 3-2. The Phillies had to win if they wanted to keep going, and the Giants could clinch a World Series spot with a win. But Jonathan Sanchez got off to a very rough start. After getting the leadoff hitter out, Sanchez walked Placido Polanco and gave up an RBI double to Chase Utley. The Phillies led 1-0 already. Ryan Howard then singled, moving Utley to 3rd, and Jayson Werth's sacrifice fly put the Phillies up 2-0. Two runs doesn't seem terrible, but Sanchez didn't seem too comfortable and you felt like his stuff just wasn't Dirty tonight. The Giants countered with a fairly weird 3rd inning. After a Jonathan Sanchez single, Torres hit a deep flyball to center field. Shane Victorino attempted a basket style catch, but couldn't hold on and the Giants had runners on 1st and 2nd with no outs. Freddy Sanchez put down a bunt that I actually LIKED, so runners were then on 2nd and 3rd. Aubrey Huff singled up the middle, scoring Sanchez, but Torres was out at the plate. The next play was very weird and great. Buster Posey hit a very weak ball to third base so Polanco had to rush the throw and Ryan Howard couldn't hold on. Huff was able to score and the Giants tied the game, 2-2. However, the bottom of the 3rd deserves it's own paragraph.

Sanchez started off the inning by walking Polanco but it got interesting when he hit Chase Utley. You'll remember that Utley and Sanchez have history. Last year, Sanchez buzzed a pitch by Utley's head and Utley didn't like it. He took a step towards the mound and was visibly upset. All he could do to retaliate was hit a home run later in the at bat. This time, Utley wasn't angry but as he jogged to first base, he flipped the baseball to Sanchez. Sanchez didn't really like it and started yelling towards Utley, and Utley did the same. Both benches ended up clearing, which seemed pretty silly because Sanchez didn't intentionally hit him. It was unacceptable that Sanchez lost his composure, but Utley deserves some blame too. Who flips the ball to the mound like that? He did it in a really annoying, cocky kind of way and it was passive aggressive. I can actually understand why Sanchez would take that personally. Anyway, Sanchez was just too worked up and his stuff was pretty wild, so he was taken out after just 2 innings.

The rest of the game was locked at 2-2, until the 8th, when Juan Uribe hit an opposite field home run to give the Giants a 3-2 lead. Oh boy. 8th Inning Weirdness at it's finest.

What a great game. Let's talk about the bullpen. Jeremy Affeldt? He did not have a good season, but that doesn't matter because he relieved Sanchez early and pitched 2 great innings. Madison Bumgarner? He came put of the 'pen and also delivered 2 great, scoreless innings. Javier Lopez? He's more handsome than you. And he's a helluva lefty. He pitched in every single game of this series, solely to shut down Utley and Howard, which he did. What a guy. Tim Lincecum? He wasn't too sharp, but I appreciate the effort, coming out of the bullpen after having pitched 2 days ago! And Brian Wilson? Well, he made sure that we were tortured until the very end, striking out Ryan Howard on an absolutely PERFECT pitch to win the pennant.

And Juan Uribe gets his own paragraph. This guy gets so much criticism, and a lot of it is justified, because he strikes out a lot and doesn't get on base a lot, but wow, he has some huge hits. Remember his homer off Broxton in LA? If you thought that was big, it was nothing compared to his shot tonight. With one swing, he will be remembered in Giants history forever. Beautiful.

It's been a great season and a great ride. Let's make it a historic season by winning 4 more games. I am so ready. The Giants are going to the 2010 World Series.

2010 NLCS Game 5: PHI 4, SF 2

The 2010 Giants are in a great place. They are going back to Philadelphia, up 3 games to 2, with 2 quality starters going for them. The Phillies are a very good team, and will be hard to beat, but the Giants chances are more than fair. They have put themselves in a position to make it to the World Series. It could have happened tonight, but it didn't; they still have 2 more chances. It's more than any of us expected. We have a lot of exciting baseball to look forward to this weekend. But with all that positivity and good feeling, one fact remains: tonight's game was for the taking. It could have been won. It could have been over.

The Giants had some misfortune, some misplays, and some mismanagement in this game, all leading to a difficult loss. Before the 3rd inning, everything was looking good. Roy Halladay had only given up a run, but he just didn't seem strong. He wasn't getting the outside corner from the umpire, and he just didn't seem comfortable (we now know he had a groin injury as early as the 1st inning). And the Giants were hitting the ball hard off him. Unlike previous games in the playoffs, where the Giants weren't hitting with baserunners on, this time they were "hitting". The ball just kept getting caught. Whether it was Chase Utley's great leaping catch to prevent a potential Aubrey Huff double, or Jimmy Rollins getting to everything and throwing out everyone with his cannon of an arm, the Giants just weren't getting any breaks. There were certainly some bad at bats in this game (the 8th inning stands out), but in all, the SF batters were working the count and getting good wood on pitches in the zone. It just wasn't their night.

And yet the 2 runs they managed to score could have been enough. Lincecum was looking very good through 2 innings. And then the 3rd inning happened. The 7 and 8 hitters reached base. Halladay laid down a foul bunt that was called fair. Buster Posey threw to 3rd base to get the out, but Sandoval, who had been coming in to field the bunt, couldn't get his foot on the bag. The Giants were able to get the out at first, but that was it. Had the Giants gotten the out at 3rd, the Phillies would have complained very rightly that the bunt was foul. Instead, the play worked out just the way they wanted it to. And then Aubrey Huff added his name to the list of players this postseason who have made critical errors. Victorino hit a grounder to Huff, and it bounced up on him and away, allowing both runners to score. Victorino would then score on a single by Polanco. Lincecum got out of the nightmare inning, and was almost flawless for the following 4. It is technically true what the headlines are saying: Halladay did "outduel" Lincecum. But Lincecum could have easily held the Phillies to 1 or 2 runs without the weirdness that happened in the 3rd. He did look better than Halladay on the mound at least (partly because of Halladay's injury). And it would have been a different game, a game the Giants could have won.

One more thing to discuss before I end for the night: the decision to pitch Ramon Ramirez in the 9th, down by 1 run. Ramirez gave up an opposite field HR to Jayson Werth to lead off the inning, then got the next 3 outs. It is inconsequential now; the Giants failed to get a baserunner against Brad Lidge. But it is still worth talking about, because I believe it was a major blunder by manager Bruce Bochy. Brian Wilson should have been in the game. No question about it. He is the Giants best reliever. The Giants were at home, down by 1. It was the time to protect that 1 run deficit at all costs. And Ramon Ramirez has been good, but he isn't Brian Wilson, and Wilson NEEDS to pitch in those important situations. I can't think of reason against it. He had pitched in the last 2 games, but there is an off day tomorrow, so if the Giants lose, Wilson gets that rest (and if they win, he gets more than a week of rest). They were at home, so there is no situation where you'd want to save him for a save opportunity in extra innings. Once you get to the 9th at home, in a close game, you use your closer if his arm isn't falling off. Otherwise you'll use a lesser pitcher, and end up regretting it.

Something encouraging to take from this game: the top 2 spots in the lineup, Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez, both looked very good swinging the bat. Torres worked a walk in the 1st inning, the first walk Halladay had issued to lead off a game. Hopefully both these guys will hit in Game 6. Well of course, hopefully EVERYONE will hit in Game 6.

2010 NLCS Game 4: SF 6, PHI 5

Meowwwwwww!

Coming into this series, there was talk that Buster Posey was slumping and the Giants needed him to step up. I scoffed at that notion. I guess maybe it was technically true, but he was 1-for-11 in this series. Pretty much the definition of a small sample size. But if you were one of those people worried about Buster's "slump", he officially busted out of it, going 4-for-5, and getting the biggest hit in a game full of big hits. Sure, Juan Uribe hit the game winning sac fly, but Posey put Uribe in a great spot to give the Giants a 6-5 win. With Aubrey Huff on first base and 1 out, Posey had fallen behind Roy Oswalt (I'll explain why Oswalt was pitching a little later) 1-2. What came next was vintage Posey: he took a pitch on the outside of the plate and went the opposite way with it. He's only been around for less than a year, so it seems weird to call it vintage Posey, but I don't care, it was vintage Posey. Huff was now on 3rd with 1 out, and Uribe took care of it from there.

There's so much to talk about from this game. So many lead changes, so many big hits, quite a few torturous moments as well. I can start with the starting pitching. Madison Bumgarner's stat line doesn't look very good: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks but he wasn't that bad. It's just, all of a sudden in the 5th inning, Bumgarner couldn't get anyone out. To leadoff the inning, he gave up two line drive singles. Then the pitcher was out on a sacrifice fly. Shane Victorino then hit another line drive single, scoring 1 run, but Carlos Ruiz was also tagged out at the plate. Two outs with a runner on 1st. Bumgarner then allowed what would be his final line drive single to Chase Utley. It was bizarre, and Bochy brought in Santiago Casilla. Unfortunately, it was more of the same as Casilla allowed a Polanco double to score both runners, giving the Phillies a 4-2 lead.

There were so many heroes from this game. We've already talked about Posey, who got the scoring started with an RBI single in the 1st, doubled home the Giants' second run in the 3rd, tagged out a runner at the plate, and had that crucial hit in the 9th. And Aubrey Huff went 3-for-5, constantly setting Posey up for those RBI hits, and bringing the Giants back within 1 run with an RBI single after Philly's big 4-run inning. Pablo Sandoval had what was the biggest hit of the game at the time, driving an opposite field double, giving the Giants a 5-4 lead. Sergio Romo gave up the game tying hit to Jayson Werth in the 8th, but he kept his composure and didn't give the Phillies the lead. Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson were mostly great, no surprise there. And in addition to winning the game, Juan Uribe made a great play to erase a hit at the start of the top of the 9th. It was truly a team effort.

This turned out to be one of the greatest Giants games I've ever seen. The lead changed so many times, and the Giants missed so many opportunities, but the 9th inning was extremely intense. If the Giants had lost this game, all of a sudden they'd have to win 2 out of 3 vs Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels. Not an easy thing to do. And the Phillies knew the importance of the game too. Hell, they even brought in Oswalt, the scheduled game 6 starter, out of the bullpen. Everything was on the line. So when Aubrey Huff singled, Buster Posey did what he does, and Juan Uribe hit one deep enough to score Huff, the energy was unreal. It doesn't get much better than a walk-off win in Game 4 of the NLCS to bring your team within 1 game of the World Series. Hopefully, it does get even better tomorrow night. The Giants now need to win just 1 of the next 3, and while they're facing the best team in baseball tomorrow, it's a pitching matchup they've already won. Beating Roy Halladay twice in one week is almost unheard of, but Lincecum's no slouch and the Giants are playing at home this time. It's tough not to get excited. Win it tomorrow at home. One more time.

2010 NLCS Game 3: SF 3, PHI 0

Bruce Bochy did something rather strange for the game today: He completely shuffled the lineup. Suddenly Edgar Renteria was hitting 1st, Posey was up to 3rd, Burrell up to 4th, Ross up to the 5th spot, Huff (against a lefty) got moved down to 6th, and Aaron Rowand replaced Andres Torres in center field. I wasn't sure what to make of this. It felt like a panic move, a very odd thing to suddenly do in the playoffs. And even though the Giants only managed 5 hits and 3 runs off Cole Hamels, the order of the lineup had an effect. By putting the hottest hitter, Cody Ross, in the 5th spot, the Giants ended up in a situation in the 4th inning with 2 runners on and Ross at the plate. And Ross hit a line shot into left field to give the Giants their first run, moving over Pat Burrell, who would score on Aubrey Huff's single in the next at bat. The Giants would score another run in the 5th thanks to Aaron Rowand's double and Chase Utley's misplay on a Freddy Sanchez grounder. But the Ross RBI was all the Giants ever needed, because Matt Cain was on the mound.

Cain was brilliant especially when you consider the lineup he was facing. Utley has always hit him well, and Ryan Howard, contrary to the way he looked in Game 1, is hitting the ball well. Cain ended up walking 3 Phillies, which led to some tense innings with runners on. But he's used to that. He strands runners all the time. Cain was able (hehehe) to get out of those jams because the Phillies simply weren't hitting the ball hard against him. There were a couple line drives to infielders, a few long fly balls, and the long single that Rollins got off the right field wall. The other hit was a bloop single by Ryan Howard. And that was it. Everything else was quiet and easy. He finished 7 shutout innings, with only the 2 hits. Not the greatest performance by Cain at all; he's had better stuff and command on some days. But in another way, the best performance considering that. In a 7 game series tied 1-1, against a good offense and facing a very good pitcher, Cain was money. He showed up, and he got through 7 innings completely unscathed. All you could have asked of him and more.

Charlie Manuel can keep hitting Polanco third; Javier Lopez will just keep getting him, Utley, and Howard out. If the Giants win the World Series, could a huge part of the redemption of Brian Sabean really involve the acquistion a left handed specialist?

I would expect to see Andres Torres back in the lineup tomorrow against Joe Blanton. It will also be interesting to see if Bochy goes to Sandoval in favor of Uribe. I have a feeling he will. The Giants SHOULD have a major edge tomorrow in the matchup between Blanton and Bumgarner, but we'll see what happens.

Oh, and Raul Ibanez looks TERRIBLE at the plate. Just awful.

2010 NLCS Game 2: PHI 6, SF 1

Jonathan Sanchez pitched very well in Game 2, especially considering what he faced. The strike zone was terribly inconsistent and the defense by the Giants was painful to watch. The results were good, and could have been a lot better if those factors hadn't been in play. Sanchez a year ago would have fallen apart in the face of that; tonight, he limited damage in a potentially explosive 1st inning, and got stronger throughout the game. But none of it mattered, because the Giants (sans Cody Ross) simply could not hit Roy Oswalt. Looking at the game now, you had to figure it would be hard for the Giants offense to score against both Oswalt and Halladay. It's simply not likely for two great pitchers to give up many runs to a weak offense in back to back days.

Andres Torres struck out 4 times tonight. This is an issue. But what is to be done? He hasn't been the same since his appendix operation, and he was probably already going cold before that. In the playoffs, he has been pretty terrible at the plate; a few balls have been hit hard and caught for outs, but for the most part he just can't make contact at all. The thought of Aaron Rowand taking his spot scares me, but I wouldn't hate it if it was just for one game, to see what happens. But we have to remember something: Torres might look awful at the plate right now, but he is still a Gold glove caliber centerfielder, playing with an immobile left fielder. He still has value, and more than just a little. The best thing that could happen would be a change of approach, where he tries to go for contact more and use his speed. But who knows if a 32 year old career minor leaguer is capable of making an adjustment like that.

Cody Ross was the only true offensive force tonight, hitting his 3rd HR of the series. He just missed a 4th later in the game as well. It'll be fun to see what he can do against Hamels, a lefty who he has crushed, on Tuesday.

Even though Jeremy Affeldt struck out Ryan Howard in the 7th inning with runners on, I thought it was a strange move. Here was Ryan Howard, the powerful hitter who just can't hit lefties much, and Bochy leaves Lopez in the bullpen. What was he waiting for? Anyway, after Howard struck out, they intentionally walked Jayson Werth to get to Jimmy Rollins. And Rollins did something he's barely done all year: hit. The game was over after his bases clearing double. The Giants would get some baserunners on, but they really had no shot. They can be very happy with the 1 win they got in Philly: they now have 3 in SF, and 3 very winnable games. I will say, I'm looking forward to tomorrow when I can watch baseball without the nerves. Cliff Lee and his undefinable K/BB ratio, at Yankee Stadium? Sounds good to me.

Oh, and Raul Ibanez looks terrible at the plate. Just miserable.

2010 NLCS Game 1: SF 4, PHI 3

So much has been made of the fact that most of these Giants have no postseason experience. We've all heard about how this is Aubrey Huff's first postseason in his professional career. Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner are rookies who made great contributions during the regular season and have delivered so far in the postseason. Jonathan Sanchez clinched a playoff spot for the Giants and pitched a gem in his first ever postseason start. Tim Lincecum pitched one of the best games in playoff history. But nobody has talked about Cody Ross, who has also never been to the playoffs. It makes sense; he wasn't particularly impressive during the regular season, but he is quickly becoming the offensive hero for the Giants this postseason. In game 1 of the NLDS, he drove in the only run of the game. In game 4, he hit a home run to break up Derek Lowe's no-hitter and drove in the eventual game-winning run. And tonight, he hit 2 home runs off of the best pitcher in all of baseball, a pitcher who had just thrown a no-hitter in his last start. Even Mat Latos thinks that was a pretty great waiver claim.

Obviously, the big story coming into this game was the starting pitching. Both Lincecum and Halladay had pitched historic games the week before, and this was the most anticipated playoff pitching matchup in a long time. Neither pitcher was as dominant as last week, but they were both pretty good. The box score probably doesn't even show how good they were because the strike zone was ridiculous for both pitchers all night. Really, it was horrendous, but it's been talked about enough, so I won't elaborate. Still, besides a couple of mistakes to Cody Ross, a Pat Burrell RBI double (that Raul Ibanez probably should've caught) and a Juan Uribe single up the middle, Halladay was pretty good. Besides a couple of home runs from Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth that probably wouldn't have been homers at AT&T Park, Lincecum was great. His final line looked like this: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 8 Ks.

Bruce Bochy made some decisions that were again criticized, and I'll quickly defend him one more time. His decision to use Nate Schierholtz as a pinch runner for Pat Burrell in the top of the 6th was not received well. It would've normally been pretty early to take out Burrell, but on Uribe's single up the middle, Schierholtz scored and Pat Burrell would not have. It was the decisive run in the game. Bochy also brought in Brian Wilson for a 4-out save, and I don't know why people would have a problem with it, but some did. Brian Wilson was the best reliever in the National League during the regular season. That should be the end of that argument.

Lastly, I hate pointing out the negatives in a win, but with the bases loaded in the 9th inning and 1 out, Andres Torres had an abysmal at bat. He swung at 3 straight sliders, two of which were very much out of the zone. Torres had a great season, but that can't happen again. That could've ended very badly for the Giants.

I lied, that wasn't the last thing I'm going to say. That win was huge. I mean, you should never expect to win a game against the Phillies in Philadelphia when Roy Halladay is pitching. And the Giants have what could be a very favorable matchup tomorrow with Jonathan Sanchez pitching against Philly's lefty-heavy lineup. So today's game was huge. It may not have been a 0-0 pitcher's duel, but it certainly lived up to the hype.

NLCS Preview: Giants, Phillies, and the Significance of Matchups

In less than 24 hours, the Giants and Phillies will begin Game 1 of the 2010 NLCS at Citizen's Bank Park. We've waited long enough; the Giants won Game 4 of the NLDS against Atlanta all the way back on Monday. But before Andres Torres doubles off Roy Halladay on the 2nd pitch of the game tomorrow, let's take a look at some important players in the series. I'll give the pitching matchups for each of the first 4 games, then expand within that context to key position players:

Roy Halladay and Tim Lincecum - I'd like to think that the Giants could repeat what they did to Halladay in April this season, getting 10 hits off him and handing him his 1st loss. This is unlikely, though. There's no reason to think that a Hall of Fame pitcher like that can't shut down the Giants. Then again, there's no better reason to think he'll throw another no hitter. If the Giants do hit him, it will be thanks to an aggressive approach. Halladay is always in the strike zone. His season high for walks was 3, and he only did it twice. On the other hand, he gave up 10+ hits in 7 starts (but not a ton of runs in those games, strangely).

In the 7th month of Tim Lincecum's "worst" year as a pitcher, he is in fact as good as he has ever been. His playoff debut showed that. There are 4 Phillies with 15+ PAs against Tim: Howard, Utley, Rollins, and Victorino. The latter 3 all have done very little against him, hitting below .200. Howard, on the other hand, has 3 HRs off him, with a .409 OBP in 22 PAs. If you remember Lincecum's 1st start in the big leagues, it was at AT&T Park against the Phillies. He went 4+ innings, giving up 5 hits, 5 runs, 5 walks, and striking out 5 (these were the days when he was throwing 99 with little command). 2 of those 5 runs came on a shot Howard hit over the center field wall. Howard's high OBP in that very small sample size wouldn't be so concerning if he wasn't also slugging nearly .900. Even with only 22 PAs, it's a match up to be wary of. It would be fair to say that Halladay and Lincecum are pretty much evenly matched for this game.

Roy Oswalt and Jonathan Sanchez - Oswalt struggled in his start against Cincinnati, and this, combined with his 1-3 record against the Giants this season, makes him appear to be a better matchup for SF than he actually is. Sure, he has a 1-3 record, but he pitched well against them in each of those starts, not great, but well. These two games in Philly will not be easy to win with the pitchers they have on the mound.

Jonathan Sanchez pitched masterfully against Philadelphia at CBP in August, and that is part of the reason for him getting the Game 2 start rather than Matt Cain. There isn't much to be said for Sanchez's numbers against the Phillies' batters, because of the small sample size (yes, that is a theme today), but the fact that he is a lefty power pitcher against a lineup with 3 good hitter left handed hitters is something. On second thought, we can eliminate one of those lefties from the situation: Chase Utley hits better off left handed pitchers than right handers. Slightly less power, but better on base, resulting in a rare 8 point same sided wOBA platoon advantage. Howard is the opposite. Despite okay platoon numbers in a short season this year, he is notoriously poor against left handers. Raul Ibanez's platoon difference isn't as drastic, but this could be for the simple fact that Ibanez isn't nearly the hitter Howard is overall; Howard still rakes righties. Because two of their important hitters having this weakness, Sanchez could have good success on Sunday.

Cole Hamels and Matt Cain - Hamels' numbers against the Giants are not good, especially at AT&T. But the decision to pitch him in Game 3 rather than 2 is right in my estimation. Hamels gives up more HRs than most other good pitchers, including Oswalt. There's little reason to think that Hamels simply can't pitch at AT&T, a better park for limiting HRs than CBP. His poor numbers are simply not indicative of much. Hamels could very well pitch another shutout on Tuesday afternoon. He's that good. One player on the Giants that does have significant appearances against Hamels is Cody Ross, from his time in Florida. And he has hit Hamels well, which is no surprise given Ross' great propensity to hit left handers. Perhaps he will be a hero once again.

Ryan Howard has great numbers against Lincecum, but Chase Utley has arguably more of an edge on Matt Cain, hitting .467 with 3 HRs in 15 PAs. Once again, 15 is very small, but it's hard not to remember the time Cain nearly hit Utley in the head with a fastball (unintentionally) and Utley got back in the box and homered into McCovey Cove. Cain is pitching Game 3 because he is more of a flyball pitcher than Sanchez, although Sanchez gives up more HRs per flyball and walks more batters. I would have picked Cain to start in Philly simply because I believe he is better prepared mentally for such a start. If I can venture into pseudo sports psychology for a moment, I'll borrow the good idea that a fellow Giants fan on Twitter had, that Cain could use his "demotion" to the 3rd spot as motivation to be extra sharp. I normally don't bother with theories of extra motivation like that, because athletes have enough motivation in Game 3 of a postseason series. But for Cain I'll make the exception. I think he goes out and shows everyone just how strong he is.

Joe Blanton and Madison Bumgarner - If there is one game that the Giants are the favorites in, it is Game 4. While many would say that Philly's top 3 edge out each of the top 3 in the Giants rotation, there is no question that Bumgarner, only 21, is a better pitcher than Blanton. Blanton, with a 4.83 ERA this season, and 4.30 lifetime, is potentially more dangerous as a starter to the Phillies than Zito would be to the Giants. None of his postseason starts the last couple years have been disastrous, but he'll probably have a short leash. If somehow the Giants held a 2-1 lead going into Game 4, I wouldn't be surprised to see Roy Halladay pitch. Yes, they wouldn't be facing elimination in that game, but if they lose, they have to face Lincecum the next day.

With the blister on his finger, it might be hard for the Giants to pitch Lincecum on short rest in Game 4 should they face the same situation. No matter the series situation, Bumgarner will almost surely be the starter. He hasn't pitched well at home, but that is once again just a product of randomness. Logic just doesn't support the idea that a pitcher would naturally be incapable of pitching well in a neutral park like AT&T. Bumgarner is only 21, and he very well could struggle against the Phillies, but I think he is one of the wild cards for the Giants. He is a rare example of something the Giants have that the other team doesn't: a more than decent 4th starter.

A few thoughts on some players not yet mentioned - Ryan Howard has declined as a player, and hitter, this year, and Jayson Werth has become the Phillies 2nd most dangerous hitter behind Utley. He strikes out a lot, which is good because the Giants pitchers are all strikeout pitchers to a certain degree. But if he gets hot, he hits the ball FAR. And team that hit ball far, go far.

Earlier in the season, the Giants were known as a team that you could steal on, mainly because their pitchers didn't have great pickoff moves or fast deliveries to the plate. Then teams suddenly started getting caught a bit more. Gerald Demp just wasn't havin it. The Phillies are one of the best base stealing teams by percentage, and Shane Victorino is the most prolific. Remember the Lincecum debut I detailed above? Well, in that game, Victorino was picked off, and managed to avoid being tagged by running straight towards the pitcher's mound, then back toward 2nd base. He wasn't called for running out of the baseline. On Sunday Night Baseball, Joe Morgan called this "ESTABLISHING the baseline here, then ESTABLISHING it here". Ever since then, I've hated Victorino. Blame Joe Morgan and that awful explanation.

We're gonna have to watch out for Carlos Ruiz; he's apparently become something of a cult hero in Philadelphia. And for good reason: he's had a great season as their catcher, hitting .302/.400/.447. Yes, a .400 OBP for a catcher many of you may not have heard of.

I'm gonna finish with a look at both bullpens, with a few more thoughts on lefty matchups. Earlier today, Andrew Baggarly wrote about the importance of the Giants bullpen lefties in this series. With Howard, Ibanez, and Utley (Bochy will likely still go with that matchup for Utley even though it is wrong), the Giants will be needing more than Javier Lopez. Jeremy Affeldt will be on the roster, and possibly Dan Runzler.

The bullpen is the one area where the Giants are undoubtedly stronger. Brad Lidge has not had a great season, but has pitched well lately, and was able to brush his playoff demons aside the last two postseasons with the Phillies. Brian Wilson, however, is a better closer right now, period. Other than Lidge, the only legitimately good reliever they have is Ryan Madsen. The Giants bullpen isn't perfect at all, but they have at least a few Ryan Madsens: Ramon Ramirez, Santiago Casilla, and Sergio Romo. Yes, Sergio Romo. Now is not the time to give one of our best relievers the "Joe Nathan Felipe Alou" treatment.

Should the Giants Make Any Roster Changes for the NLCS?

Actually, the Giants have already made one change.

Today we learned that after Tim Lincecum pitches game 1 of the series, Jonathan Sanchez will be pitching Game 2 and Matt Cain will go for Game 3. Cain is still a better pitcher than Sanchez, but I see the reasoning behind the move. In his only start of the year in Philadelphia, Sanchez was rather brilliant. In 8 innings he allowed just 2 hits and 1 ER with 2 BB and 7 Ks. The Phillies' ballpark is also very small, and Sanchez does give up fewer flyballs than Cain, even though the difference isn't huge. The Phillies lineup has a lot of left-handed hitters too. Ryan Howard, one of Philly's best hitters, is significantly worse facing left-handed pitching and has always had trouble against Sanchez (3-for-14, 7 Ks). However, Sanchez does allow more baserunners and is generally more erratic. I don't really have a problem with the move, but I guess after all of these great starts, I'm waiting for bad Sanchez to come back. Cain is more consistent and I generally have much more confidence in him than Sanchez.

As for the rest of the pitching staff, it doesn't look like anything will change. I will not back down on my stance that Zito should be on the roster, but I realize the fight is over. In a 7 game series a long reliever is even more important and Guillermo Mota wasn't even used in the NLDS. I don't see the harm in having Zito, just in case. But the Giants, like many fans, don't seem to think Zito can effectively pitch out of the bullpen. It's okay, I'm over it.

It is also unlikely that any changes will made for position players even though the offense was atrocious against Atlanta. I guess there's not much they can do besides playing better. When Jose Guillen was originally left off the roster, it seemed like it was because he wasn't healthy, but the situation still seemed a little unclear to me. Would Guillen have made the roster if he was healthy or was it because the Giants wanted someone more versatile on defense? I think a healthy Guillen would have made it. We haven't heard anything about Guillen's health, so I assume he's still hurting. If healthy, I still think he's a better option than Rowand, particularly since Rowand was just used as a pinch-hitter, not a defensive replacement in the NLDS.

So.....I guess this post just told you that Cain and Sanchez switched spots in the rotation, which you probably already knew. Oh well. Keep an eye out for NLCS Pitching and Offense Previews in the next couple of days.

FJM Friday: Helllloooo, Marchman...

So sorry about skipping Fire Joe Morgan Friday last week. Anyway, here we are, on a day the Giants could clinch the division, and Tim Marchman of SI is here to tell us we shouldn't be excited. Go for it, Tim!

This year's NL pennant races are the kind that could one day inspire songs: dour songs, about futility and lack of meaning, sung by moping teenagers.

Huh?

In theory, this has not been an especially dull race. In practice, September has been a month of listing apathy.

I'd say that in PRACTICE, it has been a very exciting month, and that it is your THEORY that states otherwise. No?

Teams winning out on the basis of being less mediocre than others will never be any more compelling than a bicycle race run on flat tires.

Bicycle races with flat tires sounds GREAT. Much better than normal bicycle races. I think this statement bothers me more than anything else in the article, because it at least SEEMS to be suggesting that the great runs by the Phillies and the Giants in September are just those teams being "less mediocre" than their rivals. The Phillies finally got everyone healthy, and are clearly the best team in the league. And the Giants, well, the Giants pitching staff has had one of the most impressive runs of superb pitching in the history of baseball. That's not mediocrity. That's excellence.

...take BR's SRS stat, which adjusts run differential for strength of schedule and rates teams by how many runs per game better or worse they are than an average major league club. By this measure, the 95 win Phillies are as good as the 87 win Red Sox, the 88 win Reds are as good as the 77 win A's, and the 88 win Padres are as good as the 82 win Blue Jays.

I have a hard time thinking that the A's are as good as the Reds, or that the Red Sox are as good as the Phillies. But still, I get it: the AL is better than the NL. So? The amazing Yankee dynasty of the late 1990's won the division with 87 wins in 2000. Were they a mediocre team? There are countless other examples through the 100+ year history of AL/NL baseball which show teams much worse than the 2010 Reds going to the playoffs. And there have been just as many collapses that are far worse than the Padres this season. Your sepia-toned view of the teams of yesterday is inaccurate.

NL partisans will protest, but there's lot of reason (sic) to think that a team like the A's would do quite well if dropped into the Senior Circuit next year.

Please don't do that. The Padres are boring enough. The last thing I wanna watch is Wade LeBlanc pitching to Mark Ellis.

The 2nd point is that the irrelevance of the Dodgers, Cubs, and Mets, 3 teams with enormous natural advantages -- makes for a huge, sucking void in the standings.

Those teams might be irrelevant THIS year, but each of them has had very recent success. The Cubs were a 97 win team in 2008. The Dodgers played in the last 2 NLCS. And the Mets were one of the best teams in the NL from 2006-2008. Of course, the real point here is that there is no precedent for THESE teams making baseball exciting. The Dodgers, like the Giants, are one of the most storied franchises in baseball, but just like the Giants, they have had as many miserable seasons as great ones. And the Mets and Cubs? Posterboys of painful mediocrity for most of the 20th century. When they are not in the NL bracket, they are not missed.

...it takes villains to make heroes: How much more meaningful would a Reds division win be if it came over a bullying Cubs team, vaunting over the money minted along Clark Street?

I understand there might be a rivalry between the Reds and the Cubs (though certainly not at the level of the Cardinals and Cubs), but still, I don't think the Reds fans care one bit about sticking it to Chicago. I mean, the Reds are the oldest franchise in baseball history, and have had periods of ENORMOUS success. They don't need to prove anything to anybody. Certainly not the Cubs.

Broad equality among teams, with none standing out as especially good or especially bad, and a diminishing of the power of big city clubs are essentially the goals of the apostles of competitive balance. In the ideal game of the parity preachers, all teams would be average, with some just being slightly less average than others. Each year, there would be hope and faith for all, and each year a cluster of slightly above average teams would trip into October questing for a large trophy.

I don't know who these "apostles of competitive balance" are. I do know that many people, quite rightly, protest the fact that Boston and New York won 13/14 AL East titles from 1994 to 2007. People want every team to have the chance to be great. That's all. Of course they can't all win at the same time.

As baseball's races this year show us, though, a game actually built on this line is on par with roach fighting, without the illicit kick -- one has interest in the spectacle, but unless money is involved, less in the outcome. A great race needs great teams; it needs the swagger of wealth; mostly, it needs the prospect of a team playing spectacularly well and still losing out on what it wants.

I don't see the races this year as being akin to a roach fight, although I've never seen a roach fight. In fact, it is insulting to hear you say that. Did you watch the series the Giants just played in Colorado? It was magnificent. It was great baseball. So sorry the fucking Mets weren't playing.

Game Recap: SF 5, PHI 2

What was THAT?

That seems to happen a lot. First a terrible looking Giants lineup is announced. Giants fans everywhere plunge into a deep depression. Probably the worst Giants starter (even though he's still good) is pitching at a time when none of our starters are pitching well. Great Depression. Then, that terrible lineup plays well. That Giants starter pitches better than any Giants starter has in awhile. The Giants win. WHAT?

As I said, the offense did play pretty well. They got it started in the 1st inning, when a Buster Posey double scored Freddy Sanchez, and a pair of singles from Jose Guillen and Juan Uribe scored 2 more. At that point, I was worried Jonathan Sanchez would give up the lead because he has a tendency to be inconsistent and as I said the starting pitching has not been good lately, but not tonight. Another RBI double from Posey in the 3rd and a solo home run from Pablo Sandoval gave the Giants a 5-0 that they'd hold onto for most of the night.

Sanchez pitched 8+ innings and allowed just 2 hits. Pretty impressive. Sanchez allowed a line drive single to the first batter in the 9th, and then proceeded to throw 2 pitches that weren't close to strikes to the next batter he faced and Bochy pulled him out. I know Sanchez has a tendency to all of a sudden lose his control, but he was at just 97 pitches and I'm not sure why he wasn't given more of a chance to get the complete game shutout. Nevertheless, it's always good to see a great Sanchez start. He gets so much hate from Giants fans, but starts like tonight show that he is extremely valuable as a No. 4 starter and he doesn't get enough respect.

Aubrey Huff had the night off, which I have no problem with, as he's been struggling lately. So did Andres Torres. I also have no problem with keeping Torres fresh and giving him a break, but the only problem is that any time Torres doesn't play, Aaron Rowand leads off. That is by far the most terrible part of the terrible lineup. The fact that Bruce Bochy thinks Rowand's the next best option to leadoff after Torres shows that Bochy still doesn't understand baseball. And even though the terrible lineup played well, Aaron Rowand had nothing to do with it. Well, that catch he made was pretty nice, but I'm confident Torres would've made it too. I'm going to give him no credit for the win tonight.

Tomorrow the Giants face the Cardinals who are now led by the powerful Pedro Feliz. Should be a tough series. Hopefully tonight is the start of the starting pitching getting back on track.