Well, first off I would like to say I had an awesome weekend aside from being a SF Giants fan as my wonderful GF was back in town and it was awesome watching some Giants playoff baseball with her...
Now, to tonight and the Giants this weekend, well done...
I had been saying that the Giants needed to win 1 of the first 2 games in Texas, because we needed to take control of the series and ensure we left with at least 3 wins. My reasoning was that if we lost the first 2 games, we would be facing Cliff Lee with the pressure on us and I didn't want to have to come back needing to win 2 (especially with Sanchez the scheduled starter in game 7).
Game 4 will be remembered for one thing: Madison Bumgarner pitching like he was Tom Glavine...at the age of 21. This kid is younger than me and pitched maybe the best game he has pitched the entire season in a Giants uniform. I was hoping that Jonathan Sanchez would be able to utilize his off speed stuff to regulate the strong fastball hitting Rangers lineup...he did not. Where Sanchez failed, Bumgarner succeeded and it looked like the Rangers hitters were often guessing wrong. He made one of the best hitters in the history of baseball, one who rarely strikes out even on balls in the dirt, look completely lost at the plate. He stuck the changeup low and outside and no one could make hard contact with it. He kept his slider down and whoever was unlucky enough to swing either fouled it off or struck out. A couple of balls were hit hard against him, but not hard enough as the Giants defensive minded OF was always there to make the catch. Its pretty amazing to have a guy like that as our 4th starter in the rotation...he won't be for long as he clearly is going to be a top end starter before too long.
Torres and Huff both had big games for us and did enough damage to get us through the game offensively. While the Giants didn't score 10+ runs again, the hitters for the most part were very patient and made pretty solid contact. Ross and Uribe both just missed hanging pitches that ended up landing at the warning track, even with the wind blowing in towards home plate. When Huff hit his HR, the camera angle made it look like it was a lot closer to the foul poll than it was, thankfully it wasn't close and he got us off to a great start.
Tomorrow isn't a must win, but I would be more than happy to beat their ace again and take the series in Texas...
Shout Outs:
Madison Bumgarner: Amazing. Didn't try and get too tricky, just threw his stuff on the edges and worked his change up in when hitters looked to be timing his fastball / cutter. Timmy / Bumgarner / Cain = Best rotation in baseball for a long time...
Aubrey Huff: He was so key to our regular season success, especially in the middle of the year and he was key to tonights win. Madison utilized that lead in the way he pitched, by attacking the strike zone and making guys attack bad pitches. Plus, that ball was SHOT out of the park, only question was whether or not it was foul.
Giants Defense: Great work all around, could have easily been a different game without the amazing infield play and smart Outfield defense.
Troy Smith: I loved Singletary starting him over Carr, as what do we really have to lose. He looked off to start, but he made enough plays to get us the W. Some of his passes were scary, but you have to like this:
and you know Singletary loved this
Predictions for Tomorrow:
Lee vs Timmy, Survival vs Clinching....
I think this will be closer to the Game 1 we expected. Both pitchers will be dialed in and I think the Rangers will feel a lot of pressure, making those nasty breaking pitches of Timmy all that more appealing to swing at. The Rangers did a great job of laying off the change up and Slider in Game 1, with the threat of elimination I think they will be looking to swing early in the count. I think Lee will locate his curve better and will limit the Giants to a couple runs. I think Bochy will give Burrell a shot again to prove himself and it will work. I think the Giants win this game 3-2, with Wilson finishing the game with 2 runners on...perfect torture.
I will take a ten nothing shutout as well...
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