The Pinch

Sure, an' ye can pinch yerselves if ye must, but the plain truth is that even if you do so right now, the San Francisco Giants will still have the best record in the National League, and will continue to lead the division by two and three games, respectively, over those twin terrors, the Padres and the Dodgers. (Chew on this for a moment, because that may be as long as it lasts: the Dodgers right now are closer to fourth place than to first place.)

Monday evening, with the Texas Rangers in town, Gabe Kapler pulled off one of his-- well, his "Gabe Kapler" moves, sending three pinch-hitters in a row to the plate in the seventh inning of a 1-1 game. With two out and nobody on, Austin Slater batted for his outfield compatriot, Steven Duggar, a  standard lefty-righty switch since the Rangers had changed pitchers to open the inning. Slater, as he does a lot, worked the count full against John King and drew a walk. Then it was Darin Ruf batting for pitcher Alex Wood, he of the seven strong innings just completed. Ahead 2-1, Ruf went the other way with a line drive to right field. First and second now, and Kapler sends up Mauricio (.582 OPS) Dubon to bat for Mike Tauchman, the newest Giant. Dubon delivered the hit of the game, an RBI single for a 2-1 lead that became a 3-1 lead one play later, and which held up over the final two innings.

In case you haven't been paying attention, Kapler does this stuff all the time. We're trying to recall the last manager who had such success with his pinch-hitters and position swaps. Earl Weaver? There has to be someone less great and more recent, but the point is Kapler, during his career a part-time role player, sure seems to get the most out of those types of guys in those moments. Bruce Bochy's three-time World Champion Giants teams (no, we're nowhere near tired of repeating that one) also had a common characteristic: a tendency to take advantage of opponents' pitching changes late in the game, often with guys off the bench. We don't want to get ahead of ourselves here, of course.    

OK, enough ranting about strategy. How about this? The Giants have three starters with ERA below 2.40 and WHIP below 1.00--  Kevin Gausman, Alex Wood, and Anthony DeSclafani. Wood has won all four of his starts to go with his 1.80 ERA, Gausman is 3-0 with 47 strikeouts in 45 innings, and between the three of them they have a 9-1 record. That's a front line that'll match up with anybody's. Add Logan Webb's 10-K game yesterday and there could be some real depth here as well, even as Johnny Cueto and Aaron Sanchez try to stay healthy. 

Charlie Culberson of the Rangers threw away a ground ball in the seventh inning yesterday that ended up giving the Giants their two-run winning margin. Tough break for a guy who's having a good year: .295 with a .824 OPS (though he won't take a walk). Culberson, now 32, is, of course, a former Giant. If you'll remember, he was the rookie that Brian Sabean sent to Colorado in order to get Marco Scutaro for the 2012 stretch drive that carried the Giants to their second world championship. (Nope, not tired.) He bounced from Colorado to LA, played in a World Series and did well, spent three years in Atlanta, and now is with Texas. All this because we had a sudden thought that, everything else being equal, he might just as easily have ended up back in the home dugout as one of Kapler's many role players. 

The Giants' 22-14 record is no mirage; their Pythagorean expected record, based on the ratio of runs scored to runs allowed, is exactly the same. And do take note that San Diego and LA are slightly underperforming according to ol' Pythagoras. There are 126 games left, after all; let's remember to enjoy what we have right now. The Giants' 14-4 home record is the best in the game; tradition tells us that if you play .500 ball on the road and .600 ball at home, you're successful.  

And speaking of .500 on the road, that will be tested before our very eyes starting tomorrow. The Giants are off to Pittsburgh and so are we: four games at the finest ballpark east of the Mississippi. Win two and we're happy, boys. Win three and you'll hear us all the way back to the Bay.