Last night the Giants had the opportunity to close out the NLCS in front of a booming home crowd and advance to the World Series for the first time since 2002. Unfortunately, Aubrey Huff’s clankmitt and the Philadelphia Phillies had other ideas. With last night’s 4-2 loss, the Giants will now head into the heart of darkness — Philadelphia —… Read more →
I’m in between a few things this morning, but here’s a few quick thoughts before the Giants and Phillies kick off NLCS Game Three today at 4:00 PM EST (What a weird starting time?) in San Francisco. 1. Will Andres Torres be able to catch up to the heat? – Torres’ bat looked noticeably sluggish against the Phillies in the… Read more →
In typical fashion, the Giants beat the Phillies in last night’s Game One of the NLCS by just one run. The Giants have now won 4 total postseason games all by a single run. In a publicized ‘Battle of the Aces’ between Lincecum-Halladay, neither pitcher was exceptionally sharp — or exceptionally poor, either. Halladay pitched solidly but Cody Ross got… Read more →
Today, I sat down — virtually, through the email machine — and asked Bill Baer, a fellow SweetSpotter and author of Crashburn Alley, a few questions about the Phillies. How good is their defense? Is their rotation as scary as it seems? Why does he irrationally hate Ryan Howard so much? And does Jayson Werth’s beard really house an entire… Read more →
The more I watch ‘Giants playoff baseball’, the more I’m reminded about how stressful these things can be. I’m going to look like Eli Whiteside before this thing is over with. For the first time since 2002, the Giants are advancing to the NLCS. I’m going to keep this recap brief — I’ll expand more on tonight’s win later —… Read more →
I wanted to touch a little bit more on Jonathan Sanchez’s start yesterday. Specifically, how well his slider was working for him against Braves’ hitters. Giants’ starters have been very tough to hit in this NLDS, with Sanchez’s 11 strikeouts yesterday, the starters have struck out 31 batters in 23 innings pitched. That’s a 12.13 K/9 ratio for the staff…. Read more →
Egads. The common phrase used to describe the Giants particular style of play this year has been ‘torture’. After tonight’s 3-2 win, the phrase is entirely appropriate. Quick Thoughts: Jonathan Sanchez pitched maybe the game of his life — 7.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 11 SO. The slider was filthy and the fastball was difficult… Read more →
Welcome to the list, Tim. You’ve earned it. Rk Player Date Series Gm# Tm Opp Rslt App,Dec IP BB SO 1 Bob Gibson 1968-10-02 WS 1 STL DET W 4-0 SHO9 ,W 9.0 1 17 2 Kevin Brown 1998-09-29 NLDS 1 SDP HOU W 2-1 GS-8 ,W 8.0 2 16 3 Roger Clemens 2000-10-14 ALCS 4 NYY SEA W 5-0… Read more →
Both Barry Zito and Jose Guillen get left off the roster. It’s a good move for the Giants. Though, I was worried about Guillen. PITCHERS (11): Jeremy Affeldt, Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Santiago Casilla, Tim Lincecum, Javier Lopez, Guillermo Mota, Ramon Ramirez, Sergio Romo, Jonathan Sanchez, Brian Wilson CATCHERS (2): Buster Posey, Eli Whiteside INFIELDERS (7):Mike Fontenot, Aubrey Huff, Travis… Read more →