The St. Louis Cardinals put on a nearly perfect display of total team baseball while they destroyed our beloved Giants, 8-3, in Game 4 of the NLCS. Literally every member of their starting lineup contributed a significant hit. Their starter, Adam Wainwright, completely out pitched the amazingly erratic Tim Lincecum. You really do have to tip your hat to the Cards; they made it look easy and they did it with style.
I suppose Tim's performance was totally predictable. And that is exactly what makes it so heart-breakingly disappointing. He sucked in the first; three singles, a walk, and 2 runs. Big Surprise! Tim led the world in first inning runs this year (28, I believe). Is there anything more disheartening than being in a hole and having the home crowd fired up right from the beginning? He had his moments this evening (just like throughout this horrible season) but basically Tim let his team down AGAIN ( just like almost all year long). Why did I really expect tonight be any different? I'll tell you why: Cuz I'm a fool.
Kudos to Angel Pagan and Marco Scutaro. What studs! Anti-kudo to Bochy. Putting Hector Sanchez out there turned out to be SO BAD in so many ways. Oh well, I suppose he had to try something.
We haven't been whooped so bad since Game 2 against the Reds....Hey! Wait a minute. I seem to remember that working out pretty good. Maybe we have them right where we want them!
Go Barry! We love you, Zito! Namaste'!
I've always loved that guy.
5 comments:
Big Time Timmy Jim has really not shown up. A nation turns its lonely eyes...
I expect Bochy will manage with urgency tomorrow, something lacking tonight, and with both MadBum starts. Its almost like he's turned in a little Dusty Baker "ima be loyal to my guys" action. I like Bochy with the quick hook.
All hands on deck, with Barry Zito to boot! I hope our guys go down fighting. And don't let us get a game 6 in our park. The series is over when its over. Go Giants!
Yeah the catcher switch didn't help Buster, either. He was 0-4 on 11 pitches. As you said, they had to try something. Last night was a winnable game, tonight not so much. Too bad about Timmy, it looked like so many other 2012 outings. I really thought he'd be OK and give the Giants a chance.
So many problems right now. I couldn't get excited by either of the Giants' run-scoring plays. When Pence jacked that one, it was like, 'sure, now you hit one a mile; yesterday, we just needed you to hit a fly ball, & you hit into a DP'. I just sat there motionless & emotionless on the sofa. I was supposed to get pumped, I guess. Then, a gratuitous 2-run HR by Panda in a non-pressure situation, off of the guy who has (to-date) been their least effective Pitcher. Whoopee! So, as far as I am concerned, again, the 3 P's didn't contribute much, when it mattered.
Pagan, on the other hand, tried to keep us alive with both offense & defense. I hate wasting 3B's. I especially hate wasting outstanding defensive plays (his dive, trap, throw to Crawford, relay home in plenty of time to get that pest M. Carpenter out, then ... dropped ball by Sanchez). Infuriating. I pretty much melted down watching that play, much to dismay & disturbance of my Family.
And, H. Sanchez with his sudden plate patience, taking called 3rd strikes left & right, didn't help either. What did Belt do to get dropped from the lineup?
As I've said before on this blog, I HATE designated Catchers. It's fucked up thinking. Furthermore, results of the Lincecum-Sanchez combo have sucked all year anyway, so what's the point. Generally, I actually like H. Sanchez, but ... fuck ... this is the NLCS, & he & Lincecum have no good track record together.
It was all a formality after that play at the plate. We were going to lose that game - the final score was the only detail remaining to be determined. So, why not put the worst Pitcher in baseball in for awhile, just to let them run up the score.
If, by some miracle, we run off 3 wins again & take this thing, & Mota gets put on the World Series roster, I will have to engage in some form of boycott. Jean Machi or Shane Skip-to-my-Loux pitching blindfolded would be an improvement. Hensley would be a big improvement.
I was much more optimistic, when we were down 0-2 to the Reds. I really believed that we could do the one day at-a-time thing & win. Right now, I don't see us winning an inning, let alone a game. I hope that I feel better by 5 PM. And, I hope that I am wrong.
The Cardinals are, unfortunately, pitching like we did in 2010. Wainwright may have not been very impressive during the season, but he was very impressive last night. It seems like at least most of their pitchers have all their "stuff" working. You can't say that about ours. If we face Lynn and Carpenter, then those are the guys against whom we have had the most success, so far. This is very hard on fans.
All this negativity!
No, it's all justified. The Giants have sucked pretty bad. If Vogelsong is our best starter, well good for him, but jeezus.
Still, hurray for Pagan & Scutaro again.
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