Giants 1, Phillies 1
I have to be honest. Last night was probably the most distraught I've been at a Giants loss since this one on April 10:
See, the Giants were 4-0 at the time, and I really expected them to go 162-0. When they lost a game, it was like my universe shattered. And don't get me started on all the horrible details of this game. Edgar Renteria went 0-5, dropping his average at the time to .524. Waldis Joaquin allowed 2 runs in relief. And the Braves "tweet volume" was much higher than ours in the top of the 7th. Dang.
What, you thought we were going to sweep the Phillies? C'mon. Last night was no big deal. It would have been fantastic if we had won, but there was no moment, not one, when I thought "we are going to win this game." My internal monolgue, from the time Fontenot made his Sandoval-esque error in the 1st to the last pitch of the game went like this:
"we're losing, we're losing, we're losing, HOLY CRAP CODY ROSS, YOU ARE AMAZ....oh wow, we're losing again. we're losing, we're losing, we're losing...."
The way I see it, this 7-game series is going to consist of 2 blowout Phillies wins and 5 one-run games. We "just" have to go 4-1 in the close games, and so far we're 1-0. That's fine.
And the Phillies, while recovering some of their swagger, have to be a little concerned that even their "blowout" win was 2-1 in the 7th inning, and that their first run was unearned and came without a hit, and their 2nd run came on a sac-fly.
Concerned not in the sense that they might lose, but in the sense that they have a lot more torture to enjoy before they can start thinking about the Yankees.
What I would do if I was Bruce Bochy
First of all, you got to play Sandoval. Will he be terrible? Probably. Terribler than Mike Fontenot? Maybe. But there's a chance he could jack a homerun. Fontenot hasn't hit a homerun since he was 14, when they let him play little league because nobody could tell he was too old (he hadn't yet become a werewolf).
this picture was taken BEFORE he grew his werewolf mutton chops. And he looks like a werewolf anyway. Scary.
Next, you have to bat Cody Ross directly after the Giant with the highest on-base pct in the playoffs. So that means....Cody Ross. We should bat Cody Ross after Cody Ross. Do it, Boch.
Also there's the Andres Torres - Aaron Rowand debate. On the one hand, Andres Torres struck out 4 times yesterday and he bats BETTER lefty than righty, which is how he would bat against Cole Hamels in game 3. On the other hand, Aaron Rowand is awful at baseball. So it's a tough call. I'd go with Willie Mays. Is he available?
Game 3 is going to be a big game, no doubt about it. It's a very good pitching matchup, the winner takes the lead in the series. I'm so glad Fox recognized this and put the game on at 1pm Pacific time. There goes 4 hours of vacation time that I was planning to use in December to lie around the house in my pajamas and drink hot chocolate and play scrabble. Screw you, Tim McCarver.
One thing in the Giants favor is that the Phillies will have to get used to hitting in our ballpark. Those homeruns they hit in Game 1? Long outs in SF. Rollin's 3-run double? A 0-run out. The 512 foot blast Mickey Mantle hit in Yankee Stadium back in the day? Nate Schierholtz catches that in his hat while juggling batting gloves in triples alley.
Matt Cain. Kick some butt, man. Maybe they'll score some runs for you. Maybe the bullpen won't blow it. Maybe the full moon will come out and Fontenot will eat Ryan Howard. Oh wait. The game is at 1pm. Never mind. Better not give up any runs.
Today's Poll Question
Who is your leadoff hitter Tuesday?
A) Andres Torres. A leadoff hitter should never, ever, make contact with the ball.
B) Aaron Rowand. See above.
C) Cody Ross. Why? Cody Ross. Cody Ross. Cody Ross.
D) KUNG FU PANDA!!!!
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