Giants Win NLCS, Head to World Series

Published by on October 23, 2010 | 10 Responses

Tonight, the Giants defeated the reigning NL champions 3-2 to advance to the World Series for the first time since 2002. This was, in large part, a template game for the San Francisco Giants: too many runners left on base, solid bullpen support, a “thrilling” Brian Wilson save in the 9th, a win by one run, and butt loads of torture. Holy cow.

Let me try and compose myself with a few quick thoughts before my brain liquefies.

  • I’m still convinced that the Giants paid too much for Javier Lopez, but man, what a NLCS he had. Lopez threw yet another scoreless frame in tonight’s game — neutralizing Philly’s tough left-handed batters — and he’s been rock solid in the postseason. Check out Lopez’s WPA scores in the playoffs (NLDS included): .019, .096, .114, .038, -.059, .048, .091. All positive scores minus the one blip in Game Four. He has been terrific.

  • Sanchez had a short start tonight (2 IP) but the bullpen really earned their stripes. The ‘pen combined for 7 innings pitched, 5 hits, 0 earned runs, 3 walks, and 6 strikeouts. If you would have told me that the Giants would win a game in which Sanchez only lasted 2 innings, I wouldn’t have believed you.

  • Juan Uribe is a beautiful man that hits opposite field home runs. Uribe hasn’t had a great playoff showing, but he’s got the chance to run into one every now and then. When he flashed his Jazz Hands in the 8th inning, I knew something good was about to happen. Uribe’s .298 WPA is best among position players in tonight’s game.

  • Using Lincecum as a reliever in the 8th didn’t work out great, but I liked the move. It’s an aggressive move that I think has to be made in a Game Six scenario when your team is up by one run in late innings on the road. I’d much rather run Lincecum out there than anyone else in the bullpen not named Brian Wilson.

  • If the Lincecum-Halladay match-up had you excited, how does the Lincecum-Lee match-up sound on Wednesday in Game One of the World Series?

  • Also, a fact of note: Since 2000, there have been 36 games in which a Giants’ starter lasted 2 IP or less. The Giants record in those games is 10-26 which equates to a winning percentage of .270. Tonight the Giants clinched the NLCS in a game in which their starter only lasted 2 IP. Jonathan Sanchez appears twice on our list of 36 starters since 2000 that have only lasted 2 IP or less in a game started.

Amazing game tonight. It’s been an amazing year for Giants’ baseball.

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nate
nate

btw, Uribe does not hit opposite field home run"S". As a stat that is possibly more astonishing than Ross's postseason, Uribe had not deposited a home run to right field since 2007!!!

www.PaapFly.com
www.PaapFly.com

It was an overpay for Lopez at the time, but obviously worked out. Lopez pitched way better down the stretch (and in the postseason) than his numbers prior would have led us to believe possible.

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

I think it's possible to overpay for a player and have it still work out. I just think that Lopez isn't worth both (keyword, both) Bowker and Martinez. That's basically my position. It's an overpay, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it didn't work out.

hairball
hairball

Okay, I'll bite. I know it's wrong to argue with a person's opinion, as opinions are inherently subjective. Still, I don't understand how you could still be convinced that Lopez was an overpay. Regardless of whether his excellence could have been foreseen or not (and I'm sure no one predicted it at this level), he has been worth well beyond the value that they paid for him. As a stats maven, I know you get that. So if what you're saying is that "at the time" it was an overpay, that's a weird thing to say, since it turned out to be such a super right move. I guess what I'm saying is that the Giants, this year, are magically immune to this type of analysis.

Merkled
Merkled

Yeah, I have to bite on this one too. I understand your love for Bowker but Lopez has to be one of the best moves that Sabean made "intentionally" to plug the holes in the ship. You may have an argument that if Affeldt and Runzler are not hurt for extended periods of time, the giants do not make a play for Lopez but it was absolutely necessary to be competitive in the regular season and be competitive in the post season. I hear that these moves are lucky or that it was a fluke that this player worked out so well, but on the flip side don't you think that Sabean and the scouts knew how valuable of a arm Lopez was to give up value to get him? Value of Bowker is all relative because I don't share your opinion of his worth. I will never concede the argument that luck is part of every move, for every team, in every season but educated guesses brings luck more towards your side. *Why no talk of giving up Molina for Chris Ray who didn't make the post season roster?

Chris Quick
Chris Quick

Value of Bowker is all relative because I don’t share your opinion of his worth. I like Bowker, but I think I was more disappointed to see Martinez go. I'm a big fan of Martinez and our pitching depth in the upper minors is non-existent. I think Martinez probably had more value to our organization than Bowker.

Merkled
Merkled

Maybe it is the postseason fog but I totally forgot Martinez was in that trade. Not an insult, just didn't come to mind. I think had Bumgarner not come along so quickly the Giants dont make that move. I also think that if they weren't in desperate need of a LHRP they also don't make that move. Both situations devalued both Bowker and Martinez enough or outweighed their value enough, for this to make sense. On a side note Chris......how excited are you to see Vlad patrolling the outfield at AT&T? Is there any chance in hell they put him in RF?

marcello
marcello

To use an extreme example, paying 1 million dollars to buy a turd pile doesn't suddenly become a good decision because you found a 2 million dollar diamond in the turd pile. That's not perfectly applicable (the values definitely aren't, so don't argue turd pile = Lopez and 1 million = Bowker), but it's the general gist of the idea. Maybe the Giants knew there was a diamond in there, and if so they deserve credit. We certainly don't know that though. I wasn't terribly happy with the Lincecum decision though. Would have much rather seen Romo, recent struggles and all.

daveinexile
daveinexile

I was Ok with Big Head aggressively going after those 6 last outs. I was not, and am not, wild about using Tim on 1 days rest like that but for Lords sakes if going to do that once the quick Victorinio gets on get Tim the hell out of there. It is a 1 run game and Tim is not that good at holding runners on and was not exactly blowing the ball past them. It was great win. One for the ages. But I though Big Head pushed his luck with leaving Tim in for Ibanez and the second inning of Maddison as well. Lucky the Baseball Gawds Smiled upon us and is didn’t bite us the arse this time. Four more Wins Please!