The Giants and Reds have played 28 innings so far in this NLDS. The Giants have had the lead in exactly 1 of them. They've managed a grand total of 4 runs on 13 hits through the 3 games. No starting pitcher has pitched into the 6th inning. Tim Lincecum has pitched out of the bullpen, and Sergio Romo has stepped into the batter's box.
And yet they've staved off elimination to force a Game 4.
In any run to the World Series, a team needs to get some breaks. The Reds got some in Game 1 when the Giants hit a few scorchers right at the defense in RBI situations. In Game 3, the Giants got theirs, taking advantage of a base running mistake in the 1st inning, and a passed ball and mishandled grounder in the last. But certainly credit the pitching staff in this one as well, who allowed just 1 hit after the 1st inning. In a classically gritty Ryan Vogelsong effort, he battled through 5 innings, never giving in to match a nigh-unhittable Homer Bailey. And the bullpen was 2010-esque, in the form of Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo splitting the final four frames. According to Mike Krukow in the post-game discussion, Romo got away with a few hangers, but it's hard to look bad in a 6-up-6-down performance.
Hunter Pence finally showed up in the series. Many Giants will credit his pre-game emotional speech for getting them ready to win. Any team facing elimination always needs that extra motivation, and in this case the Giants got so fired up that they exploded for 1 hit and 1 run through the first 9 innings. Thanks Giant's media, but I'll credit his key hit in the 10th inning while limping down to first base (fighting a calf cramp). He also made a nice diving catch in the 2nd inning.
And so now the Giants are a few hours away from a very winnable, series-tying Game 4. The injury to Reds' ace Johnny Cueto may finally show some benefits to the Giants, as the Reds will trot out Mike Leake (8-9, 4.58 ERA). The Giants are doing their best to keep things fair by handing the ball to Barry Zito, but I, like many Giants fans, have come to gain a strange (but not strong) sense of confidence with him out there over the last couple of months. Why? It's strictly anecdotal. McCovey Chronicles explains that there's not much new about this new Barry Zito. After all, his ERA is the same as it was in 2010 when he was left off the post-season roster. And now he's starting an elimination game. But still! They've won his last 11 starts! And while he'll never live up to his massive contract, he really has a chance to significantly move the needle with the baseball fans of San Francisco. It would also be very easy for him to demolish the bit of good will he's built up, but it definitely shows something that he's getting the ball over Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain on short rest. He'll definitely have a short leash, and even if he pitches adequately, I'm predicting another nice appearance from our boy, Timmy.
Last night the Giants showed up in Cincinatti's rear view. The Reds have got to be a little bit nervous about it.
No comments:
Post a Comment