Tuesday, October 14, 2014

Game Wrap 2014 NLCS Game 3: Giants 5 Cardinals 4

The Giants built a 4-run first inning lead largely on a misjudged flyball to right-center that went for a bases loaded and clearing double.  The Cardinals then pecked away to tie it in the 7'th inning on another HR, this time by the guy who misjudged the first inning flyball, Randall Grichuk.  They then scratched out a walk off run in the bottom of the 10'th inning on a throwing error by reliever Randy Choate.  Key Lines:

Joe Panik- 0 for 4.  BA= .154.  Looks like a bad line, but Panik hit the ball hard at least 3 times, one in his first AB of the game in the first inning that John Jay went a long ways for and made a sensational diving catch on.

Travis Ishikawa- 1 for 3, 2B.  BA= .500.  Travis is leading a charmed life this offseason always seeming to be in the right place at the right time.  His windblown drive to right-center kept tailing away from Grichuk until it was almost in CF.  Grichuk either lost sight of the ball or gave up on it and it hit off the fence about 2 feet off the ground, appearing to be a catchable ball.  John Lackey was not happy and he's a guy who does not hide his feelings well.  In Grichuk's defense, that ball had some serious wind blowing it away from him.  At the angle the ball finally came down, I'm not sure it was as catchable as it looked.  In Travis's defense, had it not been for the wind, that ball probably would have hit high off the wall with the same result.

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .417.  Pablo kept his on base postseason streak alive and contributed to the first inning rally.  He also made a sensational play late in the game, making a diving stop way behind 3B, then getting up to make the loooong throw across the diamond to easily beat the runner.  I'm not sure how many third basemen make that throw.  I have a feeling that if Pabs leaves via free agency, the Giants are going to miss his defense as much or more as his offense.

Tim Hudson- 6.1 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.68.  Huddy looked great early, but the Cardinals just kept pecking away at him.  Bochy probably should not have let him come out to start the 7'th inning which is when he gave up the dinger to Grichuk.  Still, a gutty effort by a fierce competitor.

Jeremy Affeldt- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 0.00.  Another multi-inning postseason gem from Affeldt.  Casilla, Lopez and Romo followed with shutdown 9'th and 10'th innings enabling the walk-off in the 10'th.

The Win puts the Giants up 2 games to 1 in the best of 7 series.  Ryan Vogelsong takes the mound tomorrow night in Game 4 facing Shelby Miller.

The Giants have now failed to hit a HR in something like 180 PA's since Belt hit the walk off in Game 2 of the NLDS.  That is going to positively regress one of these games, right?

Around the League:

The KC Royals took a 3-0 lead in the ALCS with a 2-1 win over the Orioles.  They do look like the Team of Destiny this year.

The Dodgers hired Andrew Friedman away from the Tampa Bay Rays to be President of Baseball Operations(I thought that was Stan Kasten's job).  Agent Ned Colletti stays on in an advisory role.  LOL!  I'm not convinced that "Moneyball" tactics work so well in a big money environment like LA.  Just because you are great at finding undervalued players when you have budget limitations does not mean you are going to find them when you have almost unlimited money to spend and ownership bosses who want results yesterday.  I would also point out that Tampa Bay's vaunted reputation for producing homegrown players has taken quite a beating in the last few years with an extended series of draft day busts.  So no, I am not shaking in my shoes over the Dodgers hiring of Andrew Friedman.

21 comments:

  1. The ball took a bad hop as well. Really a clutch, great play by Pablo.

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  2. would like to thank fox and the mlb for making sure that the only way i could watch the game would have been by quitting my job.

    my bro was following on his work computer (he is technically the boss) and kept giving me updates

    got lucky and was mobile for the 10th, so i got to hear the walkoff error

    was very impressed at the way craw milked the walk off of choate

    as for lackey giving it to Grichuk.....dude needs to open his eyes as how hard it is to play d in the of at att.....i wouldve given the rook a pass....so much for the cards treating all players equally

    praise the gods that perez cant bunt

    and earth to blanco.....dude....speed kills....use it....stop with the warning track dingers....your speed won this game

    nothing finer than watch the ball buster throw up an ofer

    why do i have a feeling that whoever wins this series its just to become fodder for the royals? and thank god for them, as they have captured the interest of a nation who allegedly hates baseball...i do feel bad for buck...he has done a great job with the o's

    as for the recent fo moves by the bums....gl to mr friedman,,,,hes gonna need it

    he is stepping in the middle of what seems to be a fight for the soul of the dodgers....with the money men wanting a star studded win now team on the field and kasten wanting the strong farm system the dodgers once had and allowed them to develop their own stars....unless kasten is out....as im sure he was the one who made sure that agent ned would not trade for the arms the team needed for the stretch run, but would have forfeited their future by trading away their top prospects

    boy, will vogey's nostrils be flaring tomorrow night

    bacci



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    1. You gotta remember that Lackey is the guy who divorced his wife while she was being treated for cancer, then said he hated everything about his life while getting millions to play baseball for the Red Sox. Just not a real nice or happy guy.

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    2. At least that's how I remember the story.

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    3. I wouldn't bet on the NL becoming fodder for the Royals even though they're red hot. This could end up being the case of 2012 where the AL team wins too fast and has to sit and wait for the NL to battle it out. This may possibly be their undoing as they will likely lose some momentum.....As great as this story is they better not be the Team of Destiny. We are it's an even year of course!

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    4. The grass is greener somewhere else.

      Our team is always in danger of 'this failing' or 'that not working.'

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    5. If you have read my stuff long enough, you would recognize the Team of Destiny thing has just a hint of parody in it, and it's a way of warding off irrational exuberance for what the Giants are doing.

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    6. The long layoff may work against the Royals who to a large extent are feeding off of emotion and adrenaline. It might just take beating the Royals once to bring them back to reality. They may not face adversity so well once their air of invincibility is shattered. Also, they beat the Angels and Orioles who didn't show a lot of fight. They have not met a team the likes of the Giants (or Cards, hopefully not) yet.

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  3. The Friedman signing is a fun one. Definitely a good GM, but is he a great one? Its nice for him to get removed from the instant excuse of not having enough money. He rides the coattails of 3 big moves: trading for Ben Zobrist and his 36.6 WAR, drafting Evan Longoria and drafting David Price. He's shuffled starting pitching around, I think the jury is still out on both the Shields and Price trades from the Rays "get" stance. He can build a pen (and empty it for draft picks that don't turn out). What are his 3 big losses? Letting Hamilton get claimed by not protecting him? Signing Pat Burrell? Definitely drafting Beckham over Posey with the 1/1 in 2008. That's a huge mistake that always gets glossed. His drafting has been terrible since 2007. But the Dodgers are built to compete now, so drafting won't be the emphasis anyways.

    I agree with bacci that Kasten commanded no trading of their prospects.

    Should be fun to see things develop. More hype for the Dodgers, and results await on the field that counts.

    I just watched Ishi's hit, I heard it on the radio, that ball was crushed, and the wind took it 40 feet along the wall. Lackey is crazy.

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  4. Great take on Friedman. Yeah, Dodger baseball is not the model he is accustomed to. Would Joe Maddon in Dodger Blue make you quake?

    Well maybe they brought Friedman aboard to execute some trades. Perhaps they move Puig. Definitely got to shuttle Ethier elsewhere.

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    1. Trading Puig for pitching makes a lot of sense for the Dodgers, IMO.

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    2. i'm amused at all the posts re: the Dodgers … wow, even in the middle of an LCS Giants fans keep their eyes on the rival….

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    3. by many reports, seems the mlb execs arent thrilled about the bums announcement as it was timed to take away interest from the lcs games.

      bacci

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    4. Eff the bums for that move btw.

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  5. That's how we roll!

    Let's go Vogelstrong!

    NWGiantsFan
    DtF!!!

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  6. MLBTR did an FA assessment on Melky.

    He had health problems in 2013, bounced back nicely in 2014. PED stigma holds his value down. MLBTR Theorized that he'd be in the 5-year, $60 mil range.

    There's history, and I wouldn't have thought that the Giants would consider him. But maybe, Pablo goes, he's not the worst opition in LF.

    Dreaming sure...but Melky, Angel & Hunter sure sounds nice....

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  7. Puig for pitching would make sense, but the dude's stock isn't as high as it can be. I've heard in SO CAL that Puig would be a very sexy option for the Marlins, who will likely get priced out of the Stanton sweepstakes and Puig is controlled for quite a while. Might make sense for the money grubbers to pay Stanton 30 mil a year to wear the Blue and send Puig to South Beach?

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    1. go big or go home for the Fish

      Trade for Puig with Heaney and Cishek

      Trade a guy like Yelich to a team like the Giants with a good 1B like Belt

      then they've got two more middle order bats to go with Stanton.

      And then they've got some pitching holes to fill.

      Air trades never easy my friends.

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    2. Agree that Puig's trade value is not super high right now.

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    3. He is one of the few players the Dodgers could probably trade without having to pick up most of his salary, though.

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  8. Here is another great take (both naratively and analytically) on the NLCS. http://armsiderun.wordpress.com/

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