Matt Cain has been the Giants' best starter this year. I said this
same exact thing on September 30, and it still rings true. In the postseason, he's been as good as...
ever. He's looking like a legendary pitcher. Want some proof?
He's gone three consecutive postseason starts with 6+ IP and 0 ER allowed. This has been done by only six other pitchers in the history of baseball:
Whitey Ford and Christy Mathewson? If you ask me, that's some
pretty good company.
His 2010 postseason ERA is a perfect 0.00...he's allowed just 13 hits in 21.1 innings thus far. He's struck out 13.
Cliff Lee, who's been proclaimed one of the greatest postseason pitchers of all time, has an ERA of 2.51 in the 2010 playoffs.
His WS Gm 2 line: 7.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 K, 2 BB. The strikeout numbers weren't impressive, and he got a little help from the defense (
Nate Schierholtz, for example), but he certainly didn't disappoint. He was able to induce popouts to shut down the Rangers.
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Edgar Renteria and
Aaron Rowand combined for five RBIs and three runs. They've been criticized, scrutinized, disparaged the entire season for injury-marred sub-par offensive seasons. They were overpaid (Renteria is making $9MM this year and Rowand is making $13MM this year), but they've come out and done the job when it's mattered most -- in the World Series. Rowand is batting .375 this postseason (8 AB) with a couple of runs and a couple of RBIs. Renteria has batted just .240 but he's played solid defense and scored five runs.
Were they grossly overpaid? Yes, of course. But they're proving that they aren't worthless. They can contribute, even on the big stage.
This team was built around veterans. Those are the kinds of players Bruce Bochy and Brian Sabean love -- ones with experience. They have Huff, Sanchez, Uribe, Renteria, Ross, Rowand, and Burrell as veteran position players, all players with veteran experience (especially Huff, Burrell, and Renteria). Renteria has logged over 60 postseason games in his career. Maybe that's having a positive impact. Maybe -- just
maybe -- it wasn't such a bad idea to build this team based on the philosophy that experience is ideal. It certainly seems to be playing a role in these postseason games.
As far as Rent and Rowand go, this will go down as one of their best (if not
the best) games they've had in a Giants uni'. There was the home opener, in which Renteria hit a ninth-inning game-tying shot off of
Billy Wagner and Rowand got the walkoff single. There was the game in '09 (I believe August 30) in which
Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam to give the Giants a 6-5 lead over the Colorado Rockies. Today's game tops their best moments as Giants.
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This has been almost
too easy. The Giants have scored 20 runs in their last two games. These are
World Series games, though. This is supposed to be top-notch baseball, fierce, tight, tense competition between the best in the game. The Rangers have failed to match the Giants' level of play. It seems to all be coming down to the thing the analysts blatantly ignored: the bullpen. When choosing the Giants as underdogs in each postseason series, the media has sized up the Giants' offense as weak, and therefore come to the conclusion that the other team was better. They've been overlooking the bullpens, though. The Giants used relievers for seven scoreless innings to win NLCS Game 6, the pennant-clincher. Does any other postseason team have the bullpen depth to have done that? I seriously doubt it. The Rangers' bullpen has allowed 11 earned runs over the last two games. The Giants' bullpen? Three earned runs.
Derek Holland walked three Giants on 13 pitches. I can't honestly think of a Giants pitcher that would do that. I doubt Bruce Bochy would let a Giants reliever walk three consecutive batters. These games have been handed to us.
It's almost sad, because there's been very little torture. Finally, the pieces have come together. Everybody is hitting...there was always the potential in every Giants bat -- from Torres to Renteria (yes, Renteria has always had potential). Finally, this potential has come to fruition, all at once.
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These next three games are looking
good.
Game Three:
Colby Lewis is a flyball pitcher, and he'll be pitching in a hitters park, The Ballpark in Arlington. Although his home/road splits don't show it, I think the Giants will benefit from the longball in this game.
Game Four:
Madison Bumgarner is a
much, much, much better pitcher than
Tommy Hunter. 'nough said.
Game Five:
Cliff Lee. The Giants have gained a psychological advantage over him after destroying him in Game One. Throw in the fact that Lee has a career 5.07 ERA pitching in Texas and you have a good outlook.
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Bruce Bochy is showing that he is a good manager. At the end of the regular season, I would've been outraged at the notion of him winning Manager of the Year. I found Bud Black to be much more competent. But Bochy once again made critical, intelligent decisions. He brought in
Nate Schierholtz in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement, and Nate promptly made a
great catch. His decision to bring in
Javier Lopez in the eighth inning with two outs to face
Josh Hamilton worked out well too.
And...his decision to throw Lincecum in Game One and Cain in Game Two was highly successful.
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Ross extended his hit streak to nine games. He's moving up on the list of top Giants postseason hit streaks. I'll post the stat table tomorrow.
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TWO MORE WINS.
