The 6-4-2 Plan

That title will resonate in a special way for a few of you who recognize the acronym "IBO." Now, forget about it. In this business model, we have six teams competing for two wild-card playoff spots, and heavens to Betsy, one of them is our very own San Francisco Giants! 

With 21 games left to play, the Giants are on the outside looking in on the expanded eight-team postseason field.  Twelve of the 15 National League clubs are in contention for something, but only five have winning records. One, the LA Dodgers, are playing .750 ball and will easily win the West. The Atlanta Braves and Chicago Cubs are both at .600 and leading the East and Central, respectively. And the San Diego Padres have, at long last, risen from the cellar and are perking along comfortably at .600 in second place. At this point, it's reasonable to say that those four are likely to qualify. Then we have baseball's hottest team, the Philadelphia Phillies, who have won 9 of 10 and leaped past surprising Miami into second place in the East at 19-15. 

Meanwhile, second place in the Central is a virtual tie between the Milwaukee Brewers and St Louis Cardinals, with Milwaukee (18-19) ahead by three percentage points, mostly because they have played eight more games than have the COVID-handicapped Cards. So, while the names may change from day to day, we're left with six teams in third or fourth place in their divisions who are all within two games of one another. Theirs is a battle for the bottom two at-large wild-card berths, which seem likely to go to one or more teams that finish with a losing record. It's a SJW's participation-trophy dream! 

 

The actual postseason will be another story altogether.

Let's get there first, OK?   Here we go...

	W-L	GB
Miami	16-17		22 road games, 11 at home
St Louis	14-15		Fewest games, runs, wins in NL
Colorado	18-20	1/2	Minus 39 runs, thanks to Giants
GIANTS	18-21	1	Can't afford baserunning gaffes
Cincinnati	17-22	2	Haven't made playoffs since '13
New York	17-22	2	Lead NL in grounding into DPs

Yesterday

Giants lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-5.

All the rivals lost as well. Status quo. 

Today

Giants at home against Arizona; 6:15 PDT.  Trevor Cahill, who gimped off the field at Arizona a week ago, and who used to pitch for the 'Snakes, will take the hill. Opposing is our old beloved postseason warrior, Madison Bumgarner, who hasn't pitched in a month himself. Can't we have 'em switch uniforms, just for one day?

Last Night's Game

Everyone, including himself, is blaming Mauricio Dubon for running the Giants out of a bases-loaded no-out situation in the eighth. Anticipating Steven Duggar, on third, would take off for the plate on a fly ball out, Dubon took off for third. Good hustle, but bad situational awareness. The fly ball was a short one, and Duggar's move was a deke. He retreated to third and Dubon was caught dead to rights. Bang-bang double play, the inning fizzled, and it's another one-run loss. 

But before we get too exercised about this, keep in mind the Giants put on 18 baserunners last night via 12 hits, 6 walks, and an error, and stranded 11 of them. They grounded into three double plays for a total of 4 on the night, and were 2-for-12 with RISP.  Bright moments: Brandon Belt, batting .341  with a 1.088 OPS, going 2-for-4 with a walk, 2 RBI, and a homer into McCovey Cove; resurgent Alex Dickerson on base thrice and scoring twice; Joey Bart 2-for-4 and up to .250; and four scoreless innings of relief from our shaky bullpen.