If 27 straight batters retired is a perfect game, wouldn't that make 27 straight scoreless innings a PERFECT SERIES ??!!?? Hell yeah!! Does it get any better than this??? I think not. Let's go over some of the details of today's excellent 3-0 victory and all the associated joy, shall we?
1) We are in FIRST PLACE. The season is effectively reset and the ridiculous dogger wonder start is a thing of the past. The doggers are obviously crippled and Arizona lost their ace ( Daniel Hudson ) for the year, so the race is looking very Giants friendly at the moment.
2) Tim Lincecum may very well have refound his "freak." Today was his best start of the season ( game score 75 ) and his second consecutive quality start. The only extra base hit was by Chad Billingsley and
he was stranded at third, which, by the way, was the only smog sucker to get that far all series long. Tim seemed to have all his pitches working. He certainly had movement; sometimes too much. Hector Sanchez, catching Lincecum for the second straight game, took a beating trying to block some crazy pitches in the dirt. Tim unleashed two more more wild pitches, which gives him 9 for the season. One of them lead to a collision at the plate with Timmeh taking the hit but getting a generous call. I sure wish he would quit doing that.
3) We are in FIRST PLACE.
4) Our starters are quietly doing one of those crazy things again. That makes one earned run allowed in the last 31 innings. They all (even Beezy sometimes) seem ready to rip off a brilliant performance. When Tim gets back up to full speed, which may well be right now, our rotation takes on intimidating proprotions.
5) Making history is way cool. Today is not as sweet as Matt's perfection, of course, but doing this beautiful thing, THREE CONSECUTIVE SHUTOUTS OVER THE doggers, is as gratifying as it gets. I mean it warms my heart. We put up with a lot of crap, you know, all that "torture" and Tim's tough spell. We deserved this. I will sleep well tonight.
Oh, and, of course, 6)
WE ARE IN FIRST PLACE !!
10 comments:
http://scores.espn.go.com/mlb/recap?gameId=320627126&teams=los-angeles-dodgers-vs-san-francisco-giants
See story on ESPN website:
The Giants swept the Dodgers - outscoring them by a total of 13-0 over the course of 3 games. According to Elias: This is the first time that the Dodgers have been shut out in a series sweep of 3-or-more games (all-time). This is the fourth time that the Giants have shut out an opponent in a series-sweep of 3-or-more games. The other examples: 1918 vs. Phillies (3 games) 1948 vs. Reds (3 games) 1954 vs. Phillies (3 games)
Thanks for details. You gotta love HISTORY!
A "perfect series" is more rare than a perfect game. Dodgers had NEVER been shut out over a three game series. EVER. Giants get their first perfect game EVER and deliver the first EVER series shutout against their hated rivals.
Fabulous. They were a crippled team coming in and ripe to be swept. Giants administered the coup de grace. Let's keep it going!! Cincy, Washington, and Pittsburgh are all good teams, the next ten games before the ASG are going to be tough, but the way the starters have been throwing should give the Giants are great chance.
Way to go, Tim! Way to go, Giants!
Oh, and fuck Ron Cey and the rest of them blue-clad fuckers.
I got to watch the replay of the game last night on CSN--we were out all day and missed it. Two things:
1) Tim's play at the plate. One thing I've learned watching snowboarders is that those guys know how to fall. Tim looked like he was about to pop back up and shred his way down the hill. (I hope he has a clause in is contract that forbids him from doing that.) He's an amazing athlete. I love how he held onto the glove! It almost looked like Billingsley got his leg in there, but the ump was on the other side, and I think he awarded the out to Tim just on pure studliness. Hell, Chad is a big boy.
2) Giants OF catches everything. Melky would have caught his RBI hit easily. (Bobby Abreu is too old to be in the NL--maybe he can pitch.) The Brian Trust got the right guys out there and it is paying off.
One question, as I did not actually get to see the game, although I did get to see the outcome just before going into a shitty and useless meeting for two hours (but I repeat myself). With Crawford on third and no outs in the sixth, why were there two swinging strikeouts (Tim and Gregor)? Was no one bunting?
And:
Ohboy, Ohboy, Ohboy, Ohboy, Ohboy, Ohboy, Ohboy, first place, Ohboy, Ohboy.
First, the Giants shut out the Dodgers 3 times in a row. Then, George Bush's own hand-selected Chief Justice votes with the good guys & upholds the Health Care Act. It's been a great week so far!
Republicans, being the gracious losers that they always are, will, of course, make everyone miserable for decades, but, for today, 'Yay!!!!'
And, 'Yay' to 1st place, too!
Bochy is not one to bunt. He's the anti-Roger Craig.
I'm so happy for my Bro JC. He's had to write about a lot of bad starts and now this.
So Bochy is not one to bunt? I don't get it. I realize that a bunt to score a run is a lower percentage than a bunt to move a runner to second. But you have a pitcher, followed by a guy who is supposed to be a speedy bunting guy. Isn't it a better percentage play to have Tim put a bunt down up the first base line than to hope for a hit? I mean I know he tagged a single and scored the first run of the game, but really. And doesn't the same logic apply to Blanco, except that he should be an even better bunter, so increase the chance for success and maybe even land safely at first? I could fathom it if you told me that they missed a couple bunting attempts and then swung at strike three, but to have Lincecum flailing away because Bochy don't do bunt? The result speaks for itself, runner on third, no outs, inning over. I know it is a niggling thing in the awesomeness of the final result, but then again, without niggling, the internet would wither and die like a smogsucker's vision of being a division leader.
Hey, I'm just tellin' ya what I see: Ol' Boch don't bunt much. I buy your logic--I'd probably have the pitcher bunt, but Billingsley throws high hard stuff. Maybe the chance of a grounder to 2nd or toward the middle was what he was shooting for. But does Gregor Blanco's chance of getting an RBI go UP when he bunts rather than swings away? With two outs, the fielders play for the force at first on a ball in the infield, be it a bunt or not. Blanco pokes a ball in the hole, shortstop has to make a long throw, that's a good chance of a hit with his speed. I know he's a good bunter, but it is easy to defend that (move the third baseman in). Six or one-half dozen, call it how you like it.
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