Sunday, September 27, 2020

                  W-L  GB

Milwaukee 29-30 Won the game they had to win 

GIANTS         29-30 Need a win here and a loss there

Philadelphia 28-31 1 Need a 3-way tie

Yesterday

Giants lost to San Diego, 6-2.

Milwaukee defeated St Louis, 3-0.

Philadelphia lost at Tampa Bay, 4-3. 

 

Today

Giants' last stand is at home against San Diego, with Drew Smyly against-- somebody.

Milwaukee is at St Louis; they clinch the last NL postseason berth if they win.

Philadelphia is at Tampa Bay and in dire straits.

All these games begin at the same time: noon for the Giants, 2 PM in St Louis, 3 PM in Tampa.

Last Night's Game

Yes, San Diego is a better team than the Giants, but must they prove it so emphatically? The Padres broke out for three against Johnny Cueto in the fourth, while Zach Davies, Craig Stammen, and Garrett Richards held the Giants scoreless on five hits through seven. Then in the eighth San Diego brought in lefthander Tim Hill, ostensibly to face Mike Yastrzemski and Brandon Belt, and at first Hill couldn't find the strike zone or get a lefty out. Austin Slater walked, Yaz singled, and Darin Ruf walked to load the bases with nobody out. With visions of a big inning dancing in our heads, Hill recovered to strike out Donovan Solano on a 3-2 pitch in the at-bat of the game. He then got Belt to hit a comebacker that forced Ruf at second with Slater scoring. Wilmer "Mr Clutch" Flores followed with a RBI single, but the Giants needed a homer at that point, and Evan Longoria fanned to end it. And the homers the Giants needed came in the ninth-- the top of the ninth. Tommy Pham and Mitch Moreland both went deep off Tony Watson, making his second straight disastrous relief  appearance, to break it open again. Cueto, about whom we were so worried, put up his best start in three weeks; he was dominant except for that one bad inning, which went: Fernando Tatis homer, Manny Machado,  Eric Hosmer, and Moreland singles, Austin Nola sac fly.  3-0 isn't that bad, but the Giants ended up 1-for-6 with runners in scoring position, and Shaun Anderson's fine relief appearance in the ninth came three batters too late. 

This Is It

Giants win, Brewers lose, or we all go home.