BASTA: World Series Berth Cements Giants’ Spot Among October Legends

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

With all the talk about the “Cardinals’ Way” leading up to the series, the Giants proved that their way is superior. In a tight series, the Giants dominated in the late innings and high-leverage situations to take themselves to the World Series for the third time in just five years. Regardless of the result of the Fall Classic against Kansas City, the Giants have become the new “Big Red Machine,” that the Reds were in the 1970’s, reaching four World Series in seven years.

Madison Bumgarner earned every bit of his World Series MVP Award, gritting through eight innings despite not having anything close to his best stuff. Jon Jay gave the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead in the third on a double that eventual hero Travis Ishikawa should have caught, and gave up two homers in the fourth inning, solo shots to Matt Adams and Tony Cruz. He settled in after the fourth, not giving up a hit for the next four innings. In a postgame interview on FS1, Bumgarner explained that he beared down after the fourth, “Making sure to make pitches with conviction.” Bumgarner’s grit and determination in Games 1 and 5 willed the Giants to win, and he hopes to do the same Tuesday night in Kansas City. With his contributions in the previous two postseasons, Bumgarner has left a legacy of excellence in October, despite just turning 25. Two Giants’ legends, Hall-of-Famers Orlando Cepeda and Gaylord Perry, could not win even one Fall Classic in their entire careers. He wasted no time celebrating his accomplishments in the locker room.
((HT: Alex Pavlovic's Vine))


The Giants had not hit a long ball since Brandon Belt’s in the 18th inning of Game Two of the NLDS, and they certainly changed that on Thursday night. The Giants launched three long balls, including a two-run shot from the light-hitting Joe Panik in the third that gave the Giants a 2-1 lead. Michael Morse added a pinch hit homer in the eighth, tying the game at three apiece and igniting AT&T Park. Morse raised his arms while running around the bases, rallying the crowd and the team in a magical moment for Giants fans. His homer was reminiscent of his game-tying shot against the Padres at Petco Park in July.

With all due respect to Morse’s homer, Travis Ishikawa blew his out of the water, a walk-off three run homer in the ninth against righty Michael Wacha. The homer was the first walk-off home run to send the Giants to the Fall Classic since Robby Thompson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” in 1951, on the way to a World Series loss to the Yankees. Wacha meated a fastball, and Ishikawa did not miss, leaving the Cardinals and Giants crying, for two very different reasons.
((HT: MLB.com))


Ishikawa’s homer cemented his legacy in Giants’ history, in his second postseason. He was part of the Giants’ first championship run, earning his ring in 2010. The Giants and October baseball have become synonymous. No one can dismiss their success as pure luck now that they have done it three times. Pitching and defense have been the core of these teams, and the club followed that model once again on Thursday. Brian Sabean, the Giants’ general manager, was visibly emotional and crying, along with Pablo Sandoval and many others. Hopefully for the Giants, this postseason run will give Sandoval good reason to stay in San Francisco for a hometown discount, as he is due to become a free agent after the playoffs. Even if the Giants are swept in Kansas City, their legend will remain.

BASTA: Resurgent Giants Come From Behind, Take 3-1 Series Lead

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

Early on, nothing was going the Giants’ way. Ryan Vogelsong was rocked early, giving up four runs in three shaky innings, possibly his last as a Giant. Vogelsong simply could not get ahead of hitters, leaving the Cardinals’ hitters in advantageous counts. While Vogelsong struggled, the Giants’ offense hit starter Shelby Miller hard early, but only got nothing to show for it, with balls hit right at the Cardinals’ defenders. None of that would matter in the end, with the Giants taking a 3-1 series lead with a 6-4 win at AT&T Park.

Vogelsong’s adversity started immdeiatly, when Matt Carpenter led off the game with a hard double that kicked off of Joe Panik’s glove, slowing it down enough for Carpenter to take second. Matt Adams drove him in on a single, giving the Cardinals an early 1-0 lead. Jhonny Peralta bailed out Vogelsong, grounding into a hard double play to third to end the inning. Peralta had another double play in the third, but that one drove in a run, extending the Cardinals’ lead to 3-1. Peralta accounted for four of the nine outs Ryan Vogelsong got, and saved him from disater. After his double play in the third, Kolten Wong launched another home run on a full count, giving St. Louis the 4-1 lead, a shot that would have chased Vogelsong from the game had his spot at the plate not been due up the next inning. Bochy did not want to have Yusmeiro Petit come in for one out and then have to hit or be pinch-hit for. Bochy should have taken him out after the second; usually, if a pitcher has not found his release point by the second, he never will.

Vogelsong left the Giants in a 4-1 hole heading into the bottom of the third. The Giants’ only run up to that point came on a sacrifice fly in the first off Buster Posey’s bat, the star of the game. Despite the three run deficit, there was a feeling in the air that a comeback was inevitable. The Giants’ offense finally got some real results off of the hard-throwing righty, Miller, in the third. Joaquin Arias pinch-hit for Vogelsong, coming through with a single, and eventually was moved to third after a groundout and a flyout. Buster Posey came up, and calmly knocked in Arias, cutting the lead to 4-2. After Pablo Sandoval walked, Hunter Pence also came up clutch with an RBI single to center, scoring Posey and cutting St. Louis’ lead to one run.

Petit’s performance left many observers questioning why Vogelsong ever got the nod in the first place. He kept the ball down, leaving Cardinals’ hitters no chance, as they could only muster one hit in three innings. Petit should get the nod in a potential World Series start (but we’re not there yet) in Vogelsong’s spot. He kept the Giants in the game and gave the club momentum, taking the life out of the Cardinals’ dugout. Petit has not allowed a run in nine innings in the postseason this year.

The star of this series, Buster Posey, and the Giants’ bats came to life in the sixth, taking the lead for good. Posey went two for three with a walk and three RBI’s, coming through when the Giants desperately needed him. Juan Perez came in as a defensive replacement for Travis Ishikawa, and drew a walk from the soft-tossing Marco Gonzales. Perez has really turned it around at the plate after going 0 for his first 9 in the postseason, becoming a key part of the Giants’ last two wins. Brandon Crawford then reached on a hard single to right, and Matt Duffy bunted Crawford and Arias over to second and third.
((HT: MLB.com))


Gregor Blanco stepped up to the plate with two on and no outs, and hit a grounder to the defensively-challenged Matt Adams, who thought he had a chance to get Perez at home, but was too late, and got no outs. Perez’s run tied the game, and demoralized the Cardinals’ bullpen. Joe Panik followed with another grounder to first, and Matt Adams committed another mental error with runners on first and third. He touched first, and tried to go to second, but the throw was wide and let Blanco reach at second. Crawford scored, but Adams had a very good chance to nail him at the plate. Adams seemed lost mentally and didn’t seem to know the situation; the error on the previous play clearly flustered him. Seth Maness relieved Gonzales, and didn’t do much better; he immediately gave up an RBI single to Posey on a meted 0-2 fastball. It was a magical moment at AT&T Park, with the crowd shouting “Posey, Posey,” willing the slugger to come through.

The Giants’ relievers threw six shutout innings, saving the game. Petit exited after the sixth, and a combination of Jeremy Affeldt, Jean Machi, Javier Lopez. Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla locked down the Cardinals’ offense, this time preventing the solo home runs that have killed San Francisco in this series.

With the Cardinals down 3-1 in the series, they will send Adam Wainwright to the hill, who struggled in his last outing against the Giants, going four innings of three-run ball. Ace Madison Bumgarner goes for the Giants, who went seven shutout innings in Game One, giving up only four hits. It does not look good for the Cardinals, who will have to face Madison Bumgarner with a shaky Wainwright and its bullpen in shambles.

Awesome: Steve Perry Lip Synchs Steve Perry at Giants Games

((ht:thebiglead.com))

We love this...and no, we aren't San Francisco Giants fans.

But growing up, we were Journey fans.

Check out the between innings entertainment at Wednesday nights San Francisco Giants/St. Louis Cardinals National League Championship Series game in the City by the Bay.

The ATT ballpark p.a system is pounding out the song "Lights" in the 6th inning break to get the crowd pumped up...and low and behold, the in house video system finds none other than former Journey lead singer Steve Perry, the guy who sang the song and lives in the Bay area.

And Perry appears to be belting out a lip synch version of a song he helped make famous...

Love this:



This after spotting Perry on Monday doing the same thing to "Don't Stop Believing"...

Wonder how many times we would be seeing him if the Giants end up in the world series?

BASTA: Choate’s Error Helps Giants Overcome Bochy’s Poor Managing

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

Bruce Bochy is infatuated with his veteran players, and it almost spoiled an early four-spot from the Giants’ offense. Only an egregious throwing error from Randy Choate bailed out the Giants’ skipper and the offense, which sputtered after a hot start. The Giants won in their typical playoff fashion, relying on magic and what some would call luck in a tightly contested game to take the 2-1 series lead in a 5-4 win in ten innings over the Cardinals

The Giants’ offense backed Tim Hudson early, rallying after veteran righty John Lackey got two quick outs to start the game. Buster Posey laced a single to right, and Pablo Sandoval followed with a opposite field single of his own to put runners at first and second. Hunter Pence fell into an 0-2 hole and proceeded to slap a pitch at his shoulders down the line in right, good for a double that gave San Francisco a 1-0 lead. After falling behind 3-0 to Belt and clearly pitching around him, Lackey intentionally walked Belt, loading the bases for Travis Ishikawa. Lackey was able to execute, unlike Nationals’ reliever Aaron Barrett. On the first pitch, Lackey meated a 90 MPH fastball, and Ishikawa did not miss, launching it to deep right center, bouncing at the foot of the wall for a bases-clearing double. The right fielder Grichuck appeared to lose sight of the ball, and took a strange route that left him farther away from the ball than he should have been, preventing him from making a play on it.
((HT: MLB.com))


After the explosion in the first inning, the Giants got absolutely nothing for the next eight innings. Their only two base runners were on a single from starter Tim Hudson, and Pablo Sandoval, who reached after being hit by a pitch. In an interview on FS1 after the game, Hunter Pence explained that Lackey “beared down” and started “work[ing] it in on us,” when the Giants expected him to “work away.” The Giants should have been able to make this adjustment, but clearly didn’t, as Lackey went on to throw six innings in total, not allowing any runs after the first.

As Lackey settled in, Hudson fatigued, starting out well but slowly fading. He allowed just one hit in the first three innings, but started to run out of steam in the fourth. After giving up back to back singles to lead off the frame, Hudson gave up hard contact but got Holliday to line out, and struck out Jhonny Peralta. With runners on first and second for Kolten Wong, Hudson hung a curve that Wong launched, just a few feet short of leaving the yard in right center, cutting the Giants’ lead to 4-2. The Cardinals continued to chip away in the sixth, when Peralta drove in a run with two outs on an RBI single to left, just beyond the reach of Sandoval at third.

That should have been it for the 39-year old Hudson, who has struggled with hip problems as of late and hasn’t been able to go deep into games. With 86 pitches under his belt going into the seventh, Bochy should have recognized that going to his bullpen was the right option. Instead, he left Hudson in, even after giving up a scorcher to A.J. Pierzynski that Ishikawa was able to glove. With one out, Hudson hung a changeup to Randal Grichuck, and he launched it off the foul pole in left for a homer, tying the game and chasing Hudson from the game. Luckily for the Giants, they escaped with a win, largely due to 3 and 2/3 innings of dominant pitching from their bullpen.

Randy Choate was dominant against lefties in the regular season, yielding a stingy .171 wOBA in the regular season, but that didn’t matter against Brandon Crawford, who battled to lead off the tenth with a walk. Juan Perez failed to get the bunt down twice, leaving the count at 0-2. Perez worked the count to 2-2, and drove a pitch to left center, over the head of Peralta for a single, putting runners at first and second.

Gregor Blanco also failed to put down his first bunt attempt, but got the second one down. As Blanco put it on an FS1 interview, “the first one was a little rushed, then I told myself to just put it down.” Blanco’s bunt was not perfect in execution, a little too far away from the line, but it was perfect in effect. Randy Choate picked it up and rushed the throw, letting the ball sail into the Cardinals’ bullpen and the game sail away from St. Louis. Brandon Crawford came around to score easily from second, and the Giants took Game Three.
((HT: MLB.com))


Choate’s miscue may mask Bochy’s questionable managing, but it may still come back to haunt San Francisco later in the postseason. It cost the Giants a victory on Sunday, and could very well do so again. Veterans are not better at battling fatigue than younger players, despite what Bochy may think; it is actually the opposite. Experience may calm nerves, but it certainly isn’t a panacea.

BASTA: Bochy’s Poor Decisions Prove Costly As Cardinals Tie Series

((HT: BASTA/Ben Leonard))

One day after a magical win to take Game One of the NLCS, the Cardinals’ come-from-behind victory left the Giants thinking about what could have been. The fiery Jake Peavy struggled early, but largely averted disaster and kept San Francisco in the game. Mistakes plagued the Giants’ bullpen, allowing three solo homers in the last three innings. The Giants’ bullpen has allowed six runs this postseason, and all six have come on solo shots. Sunday’s game was entertaining, although disappointing for the Giants; three lead changes made Sunday a night to remember for baseball fans.

Jake Peavy did not have his “A” game on Sunday, letting too many fastballs fall right down the middle; yet the Cardinals largely did not make him pay for his egregious mistakes. The Cardinals made lots of loud contact in the first two innings, but hit balls right at Giants’ defenders and got nothing to show for it. Postseason hero Matt Carpenter turned the tide in the third, launching an inside fastball from Peavy into the right field stands for a solo homer, giving the Cardinals a 1-0 lead. After seeing his three home runs in the NLDS, Peavy was wary of throwing inside early in the count to Carpenter, with his first two offerings hitting the outside corner; his third pitch was not on target. Carpenter’s dinger made him the first leadoff man to have four or more home runs in postseason history.

Peavy’s struggles continued in the fourth, surrendering a leadoff walk to Matt Adams, and Jhonny Peralta followed with a hard single to center. In a head-scratching move by Cardinals’ manager Mike Matheny that somehow paid off, All-Star catcher Yadier Molina sacrifice bunted, moving Adams and Peralta to second and third (Molina left in the sixth with an oblique strain, leaving his status in doubt for the rest of the playoffs).Molina’s injury looms large for St. Louis, as the All-Star has been an invaluable piece of their recent postseason runs. Deep in the Cardinals’ order, Peavy intentionally walked Kolten Wong to load the bases, but defensive star Randal Grichuck lined a single up the middle, giving St. Louis the 2-0 lead. Peavy got the next two outs, but rightfully gave way to Jeremy Affeldt to start the fifth. He needed 76 pitches to make it through four shaky innings, but in typical Peavy fashion, fought and gave it his all to keep his team in the game.

The Giants’ offense responded in the fifth, with Brandon Belt leading off with a single and Travis Ishikawa lacing a double, setting up second and third with no outs for Joaquin Arias, pinch-hitting for Peavy. His broken bat groundout to second off of Cardinals’ starter Lance Lynn cut St. Louis’ lead to 2-1. Some typical Giants’ October magic contributed to a two-out rally in the sixth, on a poorly-hit double from Pablo Sandoval that fell just out of reach of a sliding Matt Holiday in left and into the stands for a ground-rule double. Hunter Pence worked Lynn for seven pitches, then lined a single to right center to score Sandoval, chasing Lynn and his dominant fastball from the game. Lynn threw 79% fastballs in the regular season, second in the majors behind Bartolo Colon (82.6%).

Gregor Blanco finally produced out of the leadoff spot, driving in a run on an RBI single just past the diving second baseman Wong with the infield in, giving San Francisco the 3-2 lead in the seventh. However, Bruce Bochy decided that it would be a good idea to let Jean Machi pitch to the dangerous lefty hitter Oscar Taveras instead of Javier Lopez, and Taveras made Bochy pay with a deep solo shot to right, tying the game at 3 apiece. The homer was the second Machi has given up this postseason, on a hanging forkball from the portly right hander. Javier Lopez was ready and waiting in the bullpen, but Bochy, for some reason, put the righty in instead, who had never faced Taveras. Taveras was 1 for 1 in his career against Lopez (A single), not exactly a large sample size.

Bochy continued the string of preposterous decision making, inserting Hunter Strickland into the game in the bottom of the seventh and the game tied at three. After giving up three homers in the NLDS, one would think that Bochy would not put him in in such a high-leverage situation against another great fastball hitter in Matt Adams. Strickland served up a high fastball to Adams on a 2-1 count, and Adams did not miss, depositing it into the right field stands, giving St. Louis the 4-3 lead.

With their backs to the wall, the Giants conjured up a rally in the ninth, scoring a run on a scudded wild pitch from Trevor Rosenthal, who was overhyped and blatantly overthrowing, missing high several times. Matt Duffy scored all the way from second, tying the game at four apiece on a play that constituted great individual hustle on the part of the scrawny rookie. However, the comeback was to no avail, as Sergio Romo hung a changeup in the bottom half of the frame and Wong did not miss, hitting a walkoff homer, the fourth solo shot for St. Louis in the game.

Here's the home run barrage
((HT: MLB.com))


Wong’s shot knotted the series at one apiece heading to San Francisco. Tim Hudson will go for San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon, in his first start since Game Two of the NLDS, when he went 7 and 1/3 innings of one run ball. He will face John Lackey, the active leader in postseason innings pitched.

ICYMI: Kolten Wong With The Walk Off NLCS Winner

((ht: mlb.com))

Okay, so we work late these days and are just getting up and able to post stories. And this was probably the best story of Sunday night.

The St. Louis Cardinals tied the San Francisco Giants at one game apiece in the National League Championship series late Sunday night courtesy of a walk-off home run.

Kolten Wong was the hero when he led off the bottom of the ninth in a 4-4 tie game and deposited a pitch from Giants closer Sergio Romo over the right field wall.

Bedlam ensued at Busch....

And somehow during all the celebrating, it appears Wong's jersey got torn in half....

Kolten Wong's two part jersey following his walk off HR tonight in GM 2. Both authenticated #Postseason #Cardinals pic.twitter.com/XcLRfujm8f
— MLB Authenticator (@MLB_Authentic) October 13, 2014

And the mighty blast from mlb.com:

BASTA: Bumgarner Propels Giants to Take NLCS Game One

((HT: BASTA Bay Area/Ben Leonard))

The baseball world had become infatuated with the Cardinals’ ability to hit left handed pitching after they rocked Clayton Kershaw not once, but twice in the NLDS, eliminating Los Angeles. Madison Bumgarner begs to differ after an utterly dominant performance against the St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday night, carrying the Giants to a 3-0 victory. The Cardinals never had a chance against the lanky lefty, scattering only four hits in 7 and 2/3 masterful innings, his fourth postseason start going seven or more scoreless innings. He established the strike zone early and often, getting ahead of Cardinal hitters and putting himself in advantageous counts. The Giants’ shutout win was their seventh straight road playoff victory, the longest in National League history. They have won ten of their last eleven in October overall, and their 27 playoff wins since 2010 are second only to the Cardinals’ 30. The Giants and playoff baseball have become synonymous.

Bumgarner did struggle a bit in the first inning, giving up a hard leadoff single to playoff hero Matt Carpenter and hard contact to several other Cardinals, but St. Louis got nothing to show for it, retired in order after Carpenter. It was smooth sailing for Bumgarner the rest of the way, as he settled in, leaving the Cardinals absolutely no chance. In a cold night at Busch Stadium, Bumgarner froze several hitters with his cutter, at times breaking from the inside corner all the way to the outside corner. He has not allowed a homer to a left-handed hitter since April 11th, when Carlos Gonzalez launched one at AT&T Park.
((HT: MLB.com))


The Cardinals only real chance at scoring came in the seventh, when Yadier Molina and Jon Jay hit back-to-back singles with one out. Rookie Kolten Wong moved the runners over to second and third on a groundout to first, but Tony Cruz struck out on a high 93 MPH fastball to end the inning. St. Louis has been strangely reliant on the seventh inning this postseason, scoring 15 of their 18 runs in the frame. This number isn’t just a product of pure coincidence; the seventh is usually when starters begin to feel fatigue. The Giants’ offense silenced the crowd at Busch Stadium early, giving Bumgarner a cushion. Adam Wainwright, who dealt with shoulder problems after his early exit from Game One of the NLDS, was not his usual dominant self. He was roughed up once again, giving up three runs (two earned) in 4 and 2/3 shaky innings, laboring to limit the damage. Saturday marked the first time he failed to pitch five innings in consecutive starts. He has given up 21 base runners in 9 postseason innings this season.

The Cardinals’ ace has pitched a major league high 512 and 2/3 innings in the past two seasons; perhaps this immense amount of innings has taken a toll on the righty. San Francisco employed some of their trademark “Magic Wandu” in the second inning, scoring two runs without making much hard contact. Pablo Sandoval led off the inning with a double to right, a ball that appeared to be caught by right fielder Randal Grichuk, but it came out after crashing hard into the wall. Sandoval finished the game with three hits, marking the third career postseason game with three hits for the plodding third baseman. After his double, Hunter Pence worked the count against Wainwright, drawing a walk. After Brandon Crawford struck out, Travis Ishikawa hit a flare single to the opposite field, falling just over the head of a diving Matt Carpenter, scoring Sandoval and giving the Giants a 1-0 lead. With two outs and the bases loaded, Gregor Blanco hit a sharp grounder to Matt Carpenter at third, but Carpenter booted it, letting it carom off of his glove, scoring Pence from third.

Had Carpenter stayed in front of the ball, he would have been able to field it cleanly. Instead, he backpedaled and dropped his left foot, making it harder on himself. The Giants struck again in the third, after another strange series of events. Buster Posey and Sandoval led off the inning with back-to-back singles, both on curveballs from Wainwright, his signature out pitch. Pence followed with a line shot that was slowed after hitting Wainwright’s glove, allowing the second baseman Wong to field it, except he didn’t. He bobbled the ball and wasn’t able to tag the bag, but shortstop Jhonny Peralta recovered it and was able to get the out at second. Instead of a sure double play, the Giants had runners on first and third with one out. Brandon Belt followed by putting up a tenacious at-bat, working the count and eventually hitting a deep sacrifice fly to center, extending the Giants’ lead to 3-0.

Santiago Casilla pitched a perfect ninth inning, sealing the game.


After taking Game One of the NLCS, the Giants will try to take a two game lead into San Francisco on Sunday, sending Jake Peavy (6-4, 2.17) to the hill against Lance Lynn (15-10, 2.74). Lynn has struggled in six career playoff starts, posting a 4.57 ERA, but was good in one start this year, going six innings and giving up two runs against the Dodgers. Michael Morse was added to the NLCS roster, sending Gary Brown home, but was not used on Saturday. His defense is a liability, especially when he does not have his timing back at the plate yet. Travis Ishikawa filled the void in left, and clearly didn’t miss a beat.

Will Ferrell Does NLCS Player Intros Because Will Ferrell is Everywhere

For those of you not watching game 5 of the National League Championship Series, which started at 4pm eastern (1pm pacific) on TV.

Yes, Will Ferrell, the Ron Burgundy of well, movie fame and funny guy who shows up everywhere, introduced the Los Angeles Dodgers for the game. No, we don't think he intro'd the St. Louis Cardinals...

(But the HQ wouldn't know that for sure because TBS only showed less than a minute of it..)

He put his usual spin on it....

Dodgers Unveil Bear Mascot Last Night, Only... They Really Didn't...

((HT: thegoodbyemailbox))

Hey, look!!!

The Dodgers broke this new guy out during the NLCS last night...


Tremendous timing... great marketing...
Just think of the merchandising opportunities...

Oh, wait...

It wasn't endorsed... the guy inside the bear suit got arrested and booted from Dodger Stadium...