"There's a line drive... it's gonna be, I believe... THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!"
Saturday, August 21, 2010
RIP Bobby Thompson
He gave the Giants possibly the greatest moment in all of baseball and the years may pass, but we'll never forget what he did for us.
"There's a line drive... it's gonna be, I believe... THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!"
"There's a line drive... it's gonna be, I believe... THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!"
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
July Recap: Rejuvenation
So.. I've been really lazy and haven't been writing down what's been happening, but I suppose I'll start changing that now. The Giants had an amazing July, winning 20 (21*) games in a month for the first time since 2000. In just a month, they've gone from barely above .500 to being the Wildcard leader, 2 games above St. Louis as of today and just 2 back of the NL West leading Padres. They own a better record than both the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves and the NL Central-leading Cincinnati Reds and even made it up to the #5 spot on this week's ESPN Power Rankings. So, here's a quick summary of what happened this month:
Pre-All Star Break:
July actually started off slowly for the Giants, as the first two games of a four-game set in Colorado, and it appeared that they would drop a 3rd consecutive game, as they had to face the untouchable Ubaldo Jimenez. But, to everybody's surprise, the Giants rocked Ubaldo, at least in the 3rd inning of the game, scoring 7 runs in the inning, capped off by Ishikawa's grand slam. The Rockies got Jimenez off the hook by rallying from a 6 run deficit to take a 8-7 lead, but the Giants would respond and win the game 11-8. Though the final game of the series resulted in a heartbreaking 15-inning loss for the Giants, they showed incredible resiliency throughout the game, escaping jam after jam and rallying from a late 3-0 deficit to force extra innings. These two games marked a turning point for the Giants' fortunes, as they found both their offensive stride and their swagger. The Giants rolled through Milwaukee, sweeping the 4-game series thanks to an impressive display of offense and sloppy defense from the Brewers, and, despite a setback against Strasburg, took 2 out of 3 from the Nationals. Posey made a mockery of major league pitching, hitting 5 homeruns for the week (one, two, three, four, five) and winning the NL Player of the Week award. Bumgarner notched the first two major league victories of his young career with strong starts against both the Brewers and Nationals.
Post All-Star Break:
The All-Star Game ended well for the NL, as they finally won an All-Star Game behind strong pitching (except for Kuo and his inability to throw to 1st base, of course), McCann's clutch bases-clearing 3-run double, and David Ortiz's obesity. Even more surprising, Brian Wilson actually pitched a quiet and quick 8th inning to preserve the 2-run NL lead. The Giants remained hot, taking 3* (again, f*** you, Phil Cuzzi) out of 4 from the Mets thanks to their usual mantra - superb pitching. The Giants started off the second half with 2 shutouts and cruised to a series victory (should have been a sweep). Up next were the reeling Dodgers, having been swept in a 4-game series in St.Louis by the Cardinals, and the Giants took two out of three - the first thanks to a good start from Bumgarner and the second in hillarious and dramatic fashion, as noted by the previous post. Billingsley pitched a shutout to prevent a sweep, but the Giants were on a roll and the Dodgers woes would continue for the rest of the month. The Giants then took three out of three in Arizona, capped off by Ishikawa's clutch RBI-single for a 10th inning win in the series finale. The Giants suffered a minor setback against the Marlins and settled for a series-split against another hot team. Posey's hit streak ran to 21 games, but ended there with Anibal Sanchez's 1-hit shutout of the Giants in the series finale, one shy of the record for Giants rookies.
And then in came the Dodgers, seeking to reverse their fortunes in a place where they have reigned over the Giants this past decade, but the Giants would refuse to relieve the Dodger woes. The Giants escaped with a 6-5 victory on Monday despite Lincecum's shaky start and a Wilson-less bullpen that put the tying run on third after entering the ninth with a 4-run lead. The Giants won in dramatic fashion on Saturday, in front of a national FOX Game of the Week audience, thanks to a clutch 2-run homer off closer Jonathan Broxton in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was sweet revenge for the Giants, as the Dodgers had hit Buster Posey, the previous batter, to bring the winning run to the plate, and even sweeter for Zito, who was spared of another undeserved loss. The Giants and Dodgers would play the series finale in front of another national audience, this time on ESPN's Sunday Night Game of the Week with hometown Hall of Fame announcer Jon Miller doing the play-by-play. Renteria's two-run triple proved to be the only offense in the game, as Matt Cain outdueled Dodgers' ace Clayton Kershaw for his first win against the Dodgers in 15 tries (now 1-8 against them), shutting the Dodgers out over 7 and 2/3 innings.
The Giants emerged from the series a season high 16 games above .500. The offense proved to the primary surprise, as the Giants led the NL in runs scored in July with 149, one shy of the Yankees for the MLB lead. Though Sabean elected not to trade away one or more of major pitching prospects for another hitter, the offense has proven this month that it can deliver when it needs to. Despite Lincecum's apparently reduced fastball velocity, the pitching looks as strong as ever, with 5 starters wielding ace-caliber talent, the bullpen receiving reinforcements in the form of left-handed specialist Javier Lopez and right-handed middle reliever Ramon Ramirez, and left-handed reliever Dan Runzler expected back from the DL soon. It remains to be seen whether the Giants success can hold out to get them into the playoffs, but the outlook is certainly bright.
Interesting Notes:
Pre-All Star Break:
July actually started off slowly for the Giants, as the first two games of a four-game set in Colorado, and it appeared that they would drop a 3rd consecutive game, as they had to face the untouchable Ubaldo Jimenez. But, to everybody's surprise, the Giants rocked Ubaldo, at least in the 3rd inning of the game, scoring 7 runs in the inning, capped off by Ishikawa's grand slam. The Rockies got Jimenez off the hook by rallying from a 6 run deficit to take a 8-7 lead, but the Giants would respond and win the game 11-8. Though the final game of the series resulted in a heartbreaking 15-inning loss for the Giants, they showed incredible resiliency throughout the game, escaping jam after jam and rallying from a late 3-0 deficit to force extra innings. These two games marked a turning point for the Giants' fortunes, as they found both their offensive stride and their swagger. The Giants rolled through Milwaukee, sweeping the 4-game series thanks to an impressive display of offense and sloppy defense from the Brewers, and, despite a setback against Strasburg, took 2 out of 3 from the Nationals. Posey made a mockery of major league pitching, hitting 5 homeruns for the week (one, two, three, four, five) and winning the NL Player of the Week award. Bumgarner notched the first two major league victories of his young career with strong starts against both the Brewers and Nationals.
Post All-Star Break:
The All-Star Game ended well for the NL, as they finally won an All-Star Game behind strong pitching (except for Kuo and his inability to throw to 1st base, of course), McCann's clutch bases-clearing 3-run double, and David Ortiz's obesity. Even more surprising, Brian Wilson actually pitched a quiet and quick 8th inning to preserve the 2-run NL lead. The Giants remained hot, taking 3* (again, f*** you, Phil Cuzzi) out of 4 from the Mets thanks to their usual mantra - superb pitching. The Giants started off the second half with 2 shutouts and cruised to a series victory (should have been a sweep). Up next were the reeling Dodgers, having been swept in a 4-game series in St.Louis by the Cardinals, and the Giants took two out of three - the first thanks to a good start from Bumgarner and the second in hillarious and dramatic fashion, as noted by the previous post. Billingsley pitched a shutout to prevent a sweep, but the Giants were on a roll and the Dodgers woes would continue for the rest of the month. The Giants then took three out of three in Arizona, capped off by Ishikawa's clutch RBI-single for a 10th inning win in the series finale. The Giants suffered a minor setback against the Marlins and settled for a series-split against another hot team. Posey's hit streak ran to 21 games, but ended there with Anibal Sanchez's 1-hit shutout of the Giants in the series finale, one shy of the record for Giants rookies.
And then in came the Dodgers, seeking to reverse their fortunes in a place where they have reigned over the Giants this past decade, but the Giants would refuse to relieve the Dodger woes. The Giants escaped with a 6-5 victory on Monday despite Lincecum's shaky start and a Wilson-less bullpen that put the tying run on third after entering the ninth with a 4-run lead. The Giants won in dramatic fashion on Saturday, in front of a national FOX Game of the Week audience, thanks to a clutch 2-run homer off closer Jonathan Broxton in the bottom of the 8th inning. It was sweet revenge for the Giants, as the Dodgers had hit Buster Posey, the previous batter, to bring the winning run to the plate, and even sweeter for Zito, who was spared of another undeserved loss. The Giants and Dodgers would play the series finale in front of another national audience, this time on ESPN's Sunday Night Game of the Week with hometown Hall of Fame announcer Jon Miller doing the play-by-play. Renteria's two-run triple proved to be the only offense in the game, as Matt Cain outdueled Dodgers' ace Clayton Kershaw for his first win against the Dodgers in 15 tries (now 1-8 against them), shutting the Dodgers out over 7 and 2/3 innings.
The Giants emerged from the series a season high 16 games above .500. The offense proved to the primary surprise, as the Giants led the NL in runs scored in July with 149, one shy of the Yankees for the MLB lead. Though Sabean elected not to trade away one or more of major pitching prospects for another hitter, the offense has proven this month that it can deliver when it needs to. Despite Lincecum's apparently reduced fastball velocity, the pitching looks as strong as ever, with 5 starters wielding ace-caliber talent, the bullpen receiving reinforcements in the form of left-handed specialist Javier Lopez and right-handed middle reliever Ramon Ramirez, and left-handed reliever Dan Runzler expected back from the DL soon. It remains to be seen whether the Giants success can hold out to get them into the playoffs, but the outlook is certainly bright.
Interesting Notes:
- Giants pitchers lead the majors in walks issued at 417, but they rank first in strikeouts and 3rd in ERA at 3.41.
- Giants pitchers sport a collective 1.41 WHIP after the 6th inning, despite leading the league in saves - a sign of the torture they put fans through.
- Andres Torres is on pace to hit about 50 doubles, which would be a franchise record.
- The Giants had not swept a home series against the Dodgers since 2004.
- Mota is a slang term for pot in Spanish.
- Matt Garza pitched MLB's 5th no-hitter this year in a 5-0 win against the Tigers. The Rays have been on a tear and are now neck-and-neck with the Yankees for the AL East lead.
- Teams in 4 of the 6 divisions in baseball are further back in the Wild-card standings than they are in the division standings.
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