I suppose that means the Mets are favored tonight. (The odds are from
Vegas Insider.) All I can find on
betting lines is pretty close to "you pick 'em" (Giants -117, Mets +107) with a slight edge to the home team. I think it will come down to home runs--the Mets hit a lot of them and the Giants don't. Bumgarner allowed 26 in 226-2/3 innings (1.03/9), Syndergaard 11 in 183-2/3 (0.54/9). Mets score about half of their runs with the long ball. The Giants offense is allergic to homers, as we know, but gets on base at a good clip and avoids the strikeout. Citi Field is
rated as a pitcher's park, though not as extreme as AT&T. If Bum can keep it in the yard then I think the Giants win. I don't see the Mets stringing together big rallies so no gopher balls is the key tonight for the big lefty.
The knockout game is not really a baseball feature. This is a sport of attrition and long grinds punctuated by the drama of short series. The one-and-done format is not what you want after 162 games. But it is exciting and a fair attempt at giving division winners some sort of advantage in the post-season. Giants salvaged a crazy and somewhat disappointing 2014 regular season with a big Wild Card win in Pittsburgh (we know how the rest of
that month turned out). This season is much like that one--high expectations, second-half chaos, squeaking into the post-season at the last moment. Can they capture lightning in a bottle again? I'm not going to answer that. But I will say a win tonight will erase weeks of frustration and that post-ASB .417 win percentage!
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
5 comments:
I like the term "play-in game" for this one. A game to get into the playoffs.
I sure hope our game is a lot less exciting than yesterday's AL play-in. Let's have another 8-0 game please.
Man, that'd be nice. I have a feeling it will be a lot like the AL game--close, nail-biting agony.
Did you see that the Jays used both Jason Grilli and Francisco Liriano?
Joe Panik for 'Hometown Hero' - he gets the big hits & makes the big plays in front of Family & Friends! And, MadBum is studly, of course!
Go Giants!!!
Its always an unlikely guy and tonight it was Connor Gillespie. A guy at one time we thought would be a good player. Connor hit it because, Travis Ishikawa was not on the Roster. It looked tonight as if the Mets brought their own private umpiring crew, but Bummy managed to keep his cool and toss a "GIANT" performance. On the east coast of Florida we are awaiting a hurricane to hit. I know if Bumgarner stood on the coast he would stave that hurricane off shore.
I was thinking the same thing--Gillaspie is this year's Ishikawa!
Stay safe (and dry) down there. And Go Giants!
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