Game Wrap 09-30-2010: Giants 4 Diamondbacks 1

With help from the Chicago Cubs, the Giants took a giant step toward the NL West championship today once again using the long ball and great team pitching to complete a sweep of the Arizona Diamondbacks. Key lines:

Andres Torres- 2 for 4, HR(16), SB(25). BA= .270. The timing of Andres' appendectomy may have been a blessing in disguise. It now seems likely that he was ill for 2-3 weeks before the surgery. What if he had kept on toughing it out for another week or two? Now he's back and seems to be in mid-season form just in time for the playoffs! Dude showed this series why, before he got sick, some people, including me, thought he might be the team MVP.

Aubrey Huff- 0 for 2, 2 BB, SB(7). BA= .290. Huff Daddy finds ways to contribute almost every day. Today he drew a couple of walks and used one of them to ride home on Buster's HR.

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, HR(17). BA= .313. Buster had been in a mini-slump. I don't think this guy is going to have too many prolonged slumps in his career!

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4, HR(13). BA= .267. The HR was a splash hit. Pablo finally seems like his old self out there, and it couldn't happen at a better time!

Madison Bumgarner- 5 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's, W(7-6), ERA= 3.00. Bum gave up some hits, but the K and BB ratios look great. What a great young talent to have on this team, not just for this year, but for years to come!

Santiago Casilla- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.08. There are so many heros on this team, but where would the Giants be without Santiago Casilla. I think I commented several times as early as spring training that I expected him to play a big role in the bullpen before the season was over. What a find off the scrap heap!

Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, H(21). ERA= 2.24. Routine day for Romo. Tied for 17'th in MLB for Holds.

Ramon Ramirez- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(3). ERA= 3.00. 0.63 ERA since joining the Giants.

This Win combined with the Padres stunning 1-0 defeat at the hands of Tom Gorzelanny and the Cubs, puts the Giants 3 games ahead in the NL West with 3 games to play. Their magic number is now 1. With a H2H matchup with the Padres this weekend, the Giants need just one win to clinch the division title. If the Padres somehow sweep the Giants, the two teams would end up tied and there would be a 1 game playoff in San Diego, something that we all should be hoping does not come to pass. In the Wild Card race, the Braves were idle and gained 0.5 games on the losing Padres. The Braves now hold a 2 game edge in the WC race.

Matt Cain moves up in the rotation on 4 days rest to pitch game 1 of the weekend series against the D'Backs. By making this move, Bochy is not only trying to wrap it up in game 1, but he is also re-setting his rotation for the playoffs with Timmy as #1 and Cainer as #2. IMO, Sanchez or even Bumgarner should be #3, but we'll see. Bochy has shown he is willing to step on toes to win, so this will be interesting. Gotta be hoping for Hoss to wrap it up tomorrow night, because Zito is no sure thing for Saturday and then you have Sanchez trying to right the ship on Sunday. Timmy or no Timmy, we do not, I repeat do not want this to go back to San Diego on Monday! Clayton Richard goes for the Pads tomorrow and he has been awfully tough on the Giants. I don't think the Giants are quite as helpless against LHP's as they were earlier in the season, but the Giants and Cain have their work cut out for them.

Go Matt Cain! Go Giants!!!

P.S. The Padres marketing department may have helped dig the team's own grave by rubbing a 1984 playoff victory over the Cubs in their faces, complete with throwback uniforms for that year. Think that didn't give the Cubbies some incentive to stick it to the Padres current playoff hopes?