Jake Peavy did not have to be the best pitcher in baseball today, he just had to be better than Stephen Strasburg. Lo and behold, he was. Strasburg wasn't bad, he was very tough in fact, but the Giants had excellent approaches against him and got men on base and wore him down. Hunter Strickland was brought in to get the final out in the 6th, a ballsy move by the skipper, and he preserved Peavy's fine start with a huge strikeout. The rookie flamethrower gave up two bombs in the 7th to terrify the hell out of us, but the rest of the 'pen got the big outs and the Giants held on for a remarkable 3-2 win. Boch will have to answer some questions about why he stuck with the rookie, but one thing we've learned from Our Fearless Leader is that he is truly fearless. He had confidence in the young righty and went with him in a huge situation and, in the end, it all worked out.
The Giants did their "death by a thousand paper cuts" thing that worked so well in 2012. Rookie Joe Panik spoiled the party with a booming triple that led to the third and decisive run and once again the Giants had the entire lineup involved in the action. Travis Ishikawa got the scoring started in the 3rd and a steal by Hunter Pence in the 4th led to the second run. It was another of those total team efforts that seem to define this club. Grit, moxie, and veteran savvy clutchness prevailed today!
There's a lot to talk about. I hope we can get a field report from The Mystic Zo. Russian River sent me a text that said "let's get greedy and get two in DC." Hell, yeah.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. I liked that "easy" save from Casilla and Romo getting Harper in the 8th.
5 comments:
Still more MAGIC!!! This is getting very exciting. If Hudson pitches well tomorrow, then you KNOW we have the magic on our side once again.
What can one say about Joe Panik? I think I'm in love...last time I remember feeling this for a second baseman was Robby Thompson.
Romo looks so nasty against righties and so vunerable against lefties. I wonder when he gets used as more of a specialist.
The Nats are strong but they have some holes that really cost them. The obvious one today was their catcher, Ramos. A sloppy passed ball led to a Giants' run and he looks bad at the plate. Gee, it must be nice to have a superstar catcher...
Ten more wins to go!
And Captain Underpants contributed to the P-Power! :^)
Yeah, get in line and get a room, I'm in love with Panik too. I thought that he could be a starting MLB 2B, unlike the pundits that had him being a utility 2B, but he has been great so far, far exceeding what I was hoping from him. He now has more hits in his first two playoff games than any other Giants player in HISTORY.
As I tweeted to him the other day, if he keeps up the great work, these types of pronouncements will just be ordinary headlines, regular and ho-hum, routine.
And everyone contributed something for the most part, only Pablo wasn't doing anything, he left 4 on base. He really should be batting 3rd and Posey 4th, like they used to, if there is anything I could nit-pick on.
I had no problem with Strickland being kept in there. If he was good enough to face a bases loaded situation, he should be good enough to face the bottom of the Nat's lineup.
Yeah, it was a hell of a win. I liked Boch sticking with the rook, I like that he gives the kid confidence and the kid knows the manager has his back. Strickland could be our K-Rod like the Angels had in 2002. And it's not like Machi or Affeldt or Romo have been lights out--by their standards they have not been all there this season. And Lopez walked the lefty he was supposed to get out, so it's understandable that Boch would give Strickland the chance. The homer to Harper I get, he's a real talent, the homer to Cabrera was an obvious mistake, a fatty over the middle. But one way to learn to be a big league pitcher is to be thrown into a big league situation, and as you said OGC, if he can get the bases-loaded K why can't he get the next inning. I just think that if the Giants had lost there would have been a lot of questions for the manager. As it was the 'pen delivered the big outs, and Romo getting Harper, a lefty, was huge.
Have you checked out the Dodgers game? Kershaw is out having given up EIGHT RUNS! Fuckin' A!!!
And the Forces of Evil lose 10-9, with Kershaw shelled and the last out on Puig's striking out to leave the tying run on third! A delightful day in the NLDS.
Post a Comment