Game Wrap 8/13/2014: Giants 7 White Sox 1

A controversial replay decision in the 7'th inning on a play at the plate involving the "Buster Posey Rule" gave the Giants their first run of the game and opened the floodgates for 6 more turned what might have been another close loss into a route for the Giants.  Key Lines:

The Play- With runners at first and third and one out, Joe Panik hit a slow grounder up the first base line.  Jose Abreu charged the ball and threw a strike home beating Gregor Blanco coming down the line by at least 20 feet.  Catcher Tyler Flowers was waiting for Blanco as he tried to slide around him and put the tag on by a good foot in front of the plate. Blanco's hand touched the plate long after the tag was applied.  2 outs, no runs in.  But wait a minute!  Bruce Bochy came out of the dugout and argued that Flowers blocked Blanco's path to the plate before he had the ball and therefore Blanco was safe by the new "Buster Posey Rule."  The replay took seemingly forever with the crew chief umpire clearly engaged in an animated discussion with the replay crew in New York.  Finally, the ruling came through:  Safe!

White Sox Manager Robin Ventura came roaring out of his dugout yelling at the crew chief who immediately signaled Ventura's ejection from the game, after which Ventura proceeded to kick dirt over home plate.  The trailing runner, Adam Duvall was initially awarded 3B, but after another discussion with New York, he was put back at 2B.  Crawford flied out to CF, but then PH Joaquin Arias drew a walk in which the last 2 pitches from White Sox SP Jose Quintana were not at all close and appeared to be delivered awkwardly.  That brought in Ronald Belisario who brought his gas can with him and the Giants scored 6 more runs before the final out of the inning was recorded.  Had the out call on Blanco at the plate stood, the Giants do not score at all in the inning and quite possibly lose the game 1-0.

Here's my take on the call:  The exact language of the rule appears to make it a judgement call by the umpire.  Although Flowers' back foot and leg were in front of home plate before he received the throw, I my judgement, Blanco was still so far away at that point that blocking was a moot issue.  There was nobody there to block!  By the time Blanco did arrive in the vicinity of the plate, Flowers was holding the ball at which time the rule states he is allowed to block the plate.  Were I the replay official, I would have allowed the call on the field to stand and the Giants probably would have lost the game.  But again, it's a judgement call and the replay officials obviously judged it differently.

Jake Peavy- 7 IP, 4 R, 1 R, 3 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 4.51.  Peavy pitched a great game and finally got a well deserved win, even if it was, ahem, not deserved!  But my goodness!  I remember The Peav from his SD days and he was always a fierce competitor, but I don't remember all the yelling and gesturing and grotesque facial expressions.  Dude, we love the intensity, but tone it down, already!

The Win leaves the Giants 5.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West and tied with the Cardinals for the second Wild Card slot, pending the outcome of this evening's games.  The Dodgers, Pirates and Cards all hold 2-1 leads as of this writing.

The Giants now get a day off before starting a weekend series against the Phillies.