Wednesday, September 23, 2020

                  W-L   GB

Cincinnati 28-28     Still 8 runs to the bad

Milwaukee 27-27     Hold the tiebreaker edge

GIANTS         27-27 ...     Win when the others lose

Philadelphia 27-29 1     Nats put a hurtin' on 'em

New York 25-30 2 1/2    Can't afford one more loss

Colorado        24-30 3     You can do the math

                

Yesterday

Giants defeated Colorado, 5-2.

Cincinnati lost to Milwaukee and Philadelphia was swept in a doubleheader at Washington.

New York defeated Tampa to stay alive.

Today

Giants host Colorado, third game of the series. 6:45 PDT at the O. Righthander Ryan Castellani starts for the Rockies; the Giants have not announced a starter. It's Logan Webb's turn in the rotation, but don't be surprised to see Trevor Cahill, who threw 19 pitches in two-thirds of an inning last night, take the mound.

Milwaukee and Cincinnati finish up their three-game set at the GABP, while Philadelphia concludes the series at Washington. New York is home against Tampa Bay, who will clinch the division with a win if the Yankees also lose. 

Last Night's Game

The Giants' truly uncanny pinch-hitting heroics came through again. With the score tied 2-2 in the seventh, Alex Dickerson batted for Daniel Robertson against righthander Jairo Diaz and belted his tenth homer to lead it off. Joey Bart followed with his second double of the game, and with one out Austin Slater, who was on base five times (two hits including a leadoff home run, three walks, two runs scored, and a stolen base), singled, Bart taking third. Brandon Belt pinch-hit for Wilmer Flores and ripped a 2-0 pitch past former Giant Kevin Pillar in center for a double to bring both runners around, and that was the ballgame. Tyler Rogers, who had blown starter Drew Smyly's fragile 2-1 lead in the top of the frame, got the win. Tony Watson and Sam Coonrod finished up, Coonrod earning his third save.

Weekday Update 

LA clinched the NL West (and the top seed) last night, and the Chicago Cubs and Cleveland Indians clinched playoff spots... Philadelphia has lost four straight, but Miami has lost three in a row so that second-place NL East race is still hotly contested... St Louis continues to hold a one-game lead over the Reds and Brewers in the Central... Is Austin Slater a terrific ballplayer or what? .324/.442/1.033, albeit in 26 games, 13 walks in 71 AB, 8-for-9 stealing. Looking at Belt, Dickerson, and Flores too, there is no doubt the DH has been a huge boost to the Giants' offense. We expect there will be a strong push to adopt the universal DH after this season, and we think it will succeed, and we're not upset about it, as we would have been a decade ago. (Then again, Madison Bumgarner no longer plays for the Giants!)