Saturday, September 26, 2020

                  W-L     GB

Cincinnati 30-28     Reds clinch lead WC spot

GIANTS         29-29     Two outs away…

Philadelphia 28-30 1     Marlins clinch second place

Milwaukee 28-30 1     Two more at St Louis

New York 26-31 2 1/2    Next loss will do it

Yesterday

Giants split a doubleheader with San Diego, and they should have swept it. 

Cincinnati defeated Minnesota and clinched (at least) the seventh seed.

Philadelphia lost at Tampa. Milwaukee split a doubleheader at St Louis.

New York was rained out at Washington; they have a doubleheader today.

Colorado lost at Arizona and were eliminated from postseason contention.

Today

Giants face San Diego at Oracle Park; 6:15 PM PDT. The Giants have not yet announced a starter, but it almost has to be Johnny Cueto. Zach Davies starts for the Padres.

Philadelphia is at Tampa. Milwaukee is at St Louis. New York plays two at Washington.

Last Night's Games

Things were lookin' mighty good as Sam Coonrod took the mound in the bottom of the seventh of the second game. Despite playing as the "road" team in their own park, the Giants had a 5-3 lead courtesy of Wilmer Flores' three-run blast in the sixth. They'd already won the first truncated game, taking an early lead and then agonizing as Tony Watson held on to survive a three-run seventh for a 5-4 win. Now, Tommy Pham led off by beating out a slow roller to short. Coonrod fanned Jason Castro for the first out, but with a game-ending double play in order, Greg Garcia worked a walk on a full count after some very questionable "ball" calls from our old friend Edwin Moscoso. More strike-zone maneuvering ensued as Trent Grisham also worked it full, then Grisham sailed one to deep right that cleared the brick wall, ended the game, and cost the Giants a truly golden opportunity to take a two-game lead in the wild-card race. 

The Giants managed only one hit off starter Dinelson Lamet, but still scored two runs, one an outright gift in the fourth thanks to two San Diego throwing errors and a walk to Brandon Belt, who had scored their first run in the second on a leadoff double, sac fly, and infield grounder.  This drew the Giants within one after Jeff Samardzija, making his first start since August 7, gave up three runs in the first three innings. In the sixth, two were out when Donovan Solano singled just past Manny Machado's reach. Austin Slater batted for Belt against our old friend Drew Pomeranz and drew a walk, setting the stage for Flores, who launched one over the fence in left and should have been the hero of the game. 

Bullpen blowups in the last at-bat have been a recurring nightmare for the Giants all season. Just glancing at the game log, we count six such collapses going into this weekend, though only one in the last month. Last night's opener, which the Giants had to win, was almost another. Mike Yastrzemski returned to the lineup with a double and a two-run homer, while Flores and Brandon Crawford added solo shots off Chris Paddack, who was gone by the fourth. Meanwhile, Tyler Anderson did all that was asked of him and more: he was sharp through six, allowing only one run. Leading 5-1, he gave up a leadoff double to start the final inning, and Tony Watson came in to finish it up. It was almost his undoing. A walk and a RBI single made it 5-2 with runners at the corners with nobody out, then Watson committed a horrendous throwing error on a Machado grounder and another run scored. Watson composed himself, perhaps taking a look at the spacious outfield behind him, and forced three successive fly balls. The first brought in another run, but the next two ended a game that never should have been close.     

What's Happening 

The only postseason spots left up for grabs anywhere are second place in the NL Central, and the Giants' goal-- the eighth and last NL seed. A sweep last night would have clinched a theoretical tie for that spot, though remaining subject to tie-breakers. They're still a game ahead of the Phillies and Brewers, thankfully, and will remain so if those teams keep losing. Both St Louis and Cincinnati are ahead to stay, and while the Cardinals are not "in" yet, they will be if they win another game. There is also opportunity for a six-way tie at .500, with three teams in and three teams out. New York's minuscule chances rest on a three-game sweep at Washington while the Giants, Phillies, and Brewers all lose two. That would leave the Mets and Giants at 29-31 and New York would have the tiebreaker in such case. Any Mets loss or any win by any of the teams ahead of them eliminates them. 

The six-way tie? Giants split with San Diego, Philadelphia takes two from Tampa, Milwaukee takes two from St Louis, Cincinnati loses two at Minnesota, and Miami loses two to the Yankees. The Giants, Phillies, Reds, Brewers, and Marlins would be 30-30; the Cardinals 29-29. Miami would still be the #2 team in the East. The Cardinals and Reds would both be in with identical division records-- the tiebreaker for the #2 team in the Central is beyond our capability to figure. And Philadelphia would be the #8 seed with a divisional record one game better than the Brewers and two better than the Giants.   

Okay. Despite all this, despite last night, the Giants can clinch the final wild-card spot with a win today and another loss for both Philly and Milwaukee.   Let's stay positive.

Notes

If the Giants do get in, they will play the Dodgers at LA for three games, and it will be a first. San Francisco has never faced a division opponent in the postseason since it became possible in 1995... Minnesota backed in to the AL Central pennant yesterday as the White Sox lost their sixth straight game, a 10-0 whitewash by the crosstown Cubs... Congratulations to former Giants player and scouting director David Bell, who has managed the Cincinnati Reds to their first postseason since 2013... And speaking of former Giants, the legendary (can we call him that now?)  Dusty Baker has set an all-time postseason record for managers. His Houston Astros clinched the last AL postseason spot yesterday (they're at 29-29, same as the Giants) and Dusty thus becomes the first manager in major-league baseball history to lead five different teams to the postseason! He did it with the Giants in 1997, 2000, and 2002; with the Cubs in 2003; with the Reds in 2010, 2012, and 2013; and with the Nationals in 2016 and 2017. Congratulations to the man who will one day join Bruce Bochy among the greatest managers of the game, in the Hall of Fame.