Seasoned fans of any Major League Baseball team have been there before. It's a statistical rarity that might happen to a team maybe once every two or three baseball seasons, and you're damn lucky if you were accidently at that game, watched it live on TV or happened to be listening to the radio that day.

After a tight pitchers' duel, your team has coughed up the lead late and time starts running out. The other team is trying to hold back their celebration as the final outs tick off one by one. Then it's the ninth inning and there are two outs; then there are two strikes on the last batter.

Then miracles start to fall out of the sky like neon raindrops and magic starts happening right in front of your eyes. And your team somehow pulls a win out of very thin air and you are left emotionally exhausted and breathless.

Let's add two small additional elements to that rare scenario. Your team is playing away, and by the way it's also game three of the 2010 National League Division Series which is knotted up 1-1.

And that's how the San Francisco Giants pulled off the Miracle of Turner's Bluff in Sunday's NLDS Game 3 at Atlanta. Forget about Braves' second baseman Brooks Conrad's slippery glove, and anything else that might distract from the real magic of Game 3.

Starter Jonathan Sanchez had a no hitter to the 6th inning, and gave up two hits in 7 1/3 innings before he was pulled. With 11 strikeouts, Sanchez became the second left hander in franchise history to have at least 10 Ks in a post season contest; the legendary Carl Hubbell did it first in the 1933 World Series.

In the top of the 9th the Giants were down 2-1 after a pinch hit home run by Eric Hinske off Giant's reliever Sergio Romo in the bottom of the 8th. With one out, Travis Ishikawa managed a walk, then Andres Torres struck out. Two down.

The first indication of magic came off the bat of second baseman Freddie Sanchez, who singled up the middle with two strikes on him-- mere inches from the Giants dropping Game 3 and going to Defcon 1, desperately forced to pitch ace Tim Lincecum with only three days' rest in Game 4 the next day.

Braves' Manager Bobby Cox went to his second reliever of the inning to face first bagger Aubrey Huff. Huff came through with miracle #2 as he blooped a single to right field and Ishikawa scored to tie the game. The SF Chronicle's John Shea reported that when Huff, who has never before played in the post season, was asked after the game if that was the biggest hit of his 11 year MLB career, responded with characteristic crustyness: "Shut your mouth. What else would be a bigger hit?"

Which left the amazing Buster Posey to follow Huff with a ground ball hit hard enough to go straight though Brooks Conrad's legs, and the Giants took the lead 3-2. Posey is batting .417 in three LDS games.

Closer Brian Wilson needed 18 pitches in the bottom of the 9th to dispose of the Braves, and the Giants went up 2-1 in the LDS.

In fifty-three years of baseball, no San Francisco team has come back in a post-season game after being behind in the 9th inning. Except this amazing team, who created this "miracle" the old fashioned way: with grit, determination and a dogged refusal to give up no matter what.

Prior to the start of Game 2 of the Division Series between the Giants and the Atlanta Braves last night, San Francisco's saucy PA announcer Renel Brooks-Moon did her usual great job of welcoming the crowd and making introductions. In retrospect, it may have been more appropriate to have a grainy video of "Twilight Zone" icon Rod Serling do the honors from the scoreboard screen, because this game would be both weird and spooky-bad.

"Let your mind go back", Serling may have intoned, "to a time long past in the year 2003, when two teams representing our national past time met in ritual combat sport using ball and bat. One of those teams would go on to win America's ultimate prize-- the World Series. The other team? Well the other team would be doomed to relive the events from 2003 some seven years later, in a ball park tucked in the foggy recesses of a place known as... the Twilight Zone..."

In 2003 the San Francisco Giants won the National League West and started the Division Series playoffs facing the wild card winner, a team from the National League East. In Game 1 at AT&T Park, the Giants' ace pitcher threw a three hit shutout as the Giants won 2-0, and took a 1-0 lead in the series. In Game 2 the next day, the Giants took a solid lead, 4-1 in the 4th inning, but the Giant's manager went to his bullpen early, resulting in a blown save and a Game 2 loss.

After a day off, the action shifted to the Wild Card team's park. The National League East team took the next two games and went on to win the National League Pennant and the World Series.

Spooky, right?

That 2003 NL East wild card team was the Florida Marlins, the Giants' ace pitcher who won Game 1 was Jason Schmidt, and the reliever called in to Game 2 by Giants manager Felipe Alou was Joe Nathan. After beating the Giants, the Marlins took down the Chicago Cubs after being down 3 games to 1 in that series, then bested the Yankees in the World Series, after being down to the Yanks 2-1.

Playing first base for the 2003 Marlins? 2010 Atlanta Braves first baseman Derrek Lee. The Marlins pitchers in games one and two were Josh Beckett and former Giant Brad Penny.

But let's get really scarey and talk about what happened in LDS Game 2. I will briefly summarize the Giants performance issues in Game 2 of the 2010 NLDS by asking and answering three simple questions:

1. Should Manager Bruce Bochy have taken reliever Sergio Romo out of LDS Game 2 after Romo started the 8th inning giving up two consecutive singles?

Answer: No. Romo is the team's set-up man and not only deserved a chance to get out of that mess (and be allowed to give up at least one run), it's important to remember that Romo often comes into games with two on and less than two outs. That's his job, and he does that job well.

2. Was it unreasonable to bring closer Brian Wilson into the game to get a six out save?

Answer: No, it wasn't "unreasonable". But Wilson had not been tasked to get a six out save all year, and all this tired talk about what Goose Gossage did 35 years ago, and all those rough and tough closers who threw three innings in the Paleozoic Era, is really tedious. Hell, there was a time when catchers didn't wear masks, so what's wrong with that wimp Buster Posey?

The reason you don't bring Wilson in to get six outs is that you have Casilla, Affeldt and Mota sitting on the bench. As it happened, the Braves were allowed to turn San Francisco's bullpen upside down, with Romo bounced too early, Wilson brought in too early, and Ramirez having to follow Wilson.

3. Did Game 2 expose a bigger problem than a rare misstep by the Giants relief corps?

Answer: Yes. Pablo Sandoval. He appears to be increasingly prone to make bad plays at third base at the worst possible times. The first play after Wilson came into the game in the 8th was a Sandoval throwing error that cost a run and put another Braves runner on base. After the next batter sacrificed, Braves shortstop Alex Gonzalez doubled both runs in. Add to the poor defense a 1 for 4 performance at the plate and your problem starts to get bigger.

The fact that Sandoval grounded into 26 double plays in the 2010 regular season, to lead all National League hitters, starts to make solving the Sandoval issue more than just putting on a panda cap and crossing your fingers.

A prediction for Games 3 and 4? Why sure...  the Giants take two and head to Philadelphia!        

In the first post season start of his young Major League career, Tim Lincecum demonstrated the ultimate measure of a great pitching performance. Turns out it’s not the just the ability to churn out 102 mile-per-hour fastballs, or consistently toss a 12 to 6 curveball, or even winning twenty games with the latest high-priced New York Yankee offensive machine behind you. Turns out it's all about adapting, adjusting, and executing.

Like Tim Lincecum did when he shutout the Atlanta Braves 1-0 Thursday night in the first game of the 2010 National League Division Series at AT&T Park.

From the first inning, in fact throughout the entire game, Lincecum’s fast ball tended to sail high across home plate, several pitches managing to soar above batter, catcher and umpire. After giving up a double to Braves lead-off hitter Omar Infante in the first inning, Tim Lincecum first went to his off-speed stuff and started to get outs. Then he eased into a pitch he started working on a just month ago: a deathly sick slider.

Lincecum adapted, adjusted, and then executed like few pitchers in the history of the game have executed. The final tally was stunning: 9 innings pitched, 2 hits, 1 walk, and 14 strikeouts. The whiffs set a new Giants franchise record for most strikeouts in a post season game (several Giants pitchers held the previous post season record of 10 punch-outs, the last being Jack Sanford in the 1962 World Series against the Yankees).

Atlanta hitters endured a frustrating evening of alternatively being fooled by Lincecum’s new slider, that tailed low and out of the strike zone, flailing at Lincecum’s fast ball, that buzzed the top of the strike zone, or simply being fooled by Lincecum’s deadly off-speed pitch, that looks like a fat fastball until the bottom falls out as it crosses home plate.

I hesitate to even mention that Atlanta hitters frequently mistook the slider for a Lincecum off-speed pitch, nicely completing the confusing nightmare stew they faced at home plate all night. 

Catcher Buster Posey noted several times after the game that his pitcher’s errantly high fastball actually played into the movement of the slider and off-speed pitches. It’s almost like they planned it that way. The result of Atlanta’s futile attempts at offense were 8 fly ball outs, 4 ground outs, a line-drive out, and 14 strikeouts.

Other relevant numbers to chew on: Lincecum threw 119 pitches, and Manager Bruce Bochy later stated he had no thought of taking his ace out after 8 innings; the Atlanta offense had an amazing 31 swings and misses, which ESPN reported was a career high for Lincecum in a game, and the most for any pitcher in any game this season; FanGraphs PitchFx noted Lincecum threw his fastball 39% of the time during the game, the lowest percentage in his career.

Sure, there was a bad call at second base on Buster Posey’s steal, but last time I checked booted calls have been part of the game for 150 years. In truth, the Braves defense was atrocious, two official errors and one sloppy play at third by Infante that allowed the game’s only run. Giant’s right fielder Cody Ross, who drove in that run, refocused the spotlight where it needed to be. “That,” stated Ross, “was the best pitching performance I’ve ever seen, ever been a part of.”

Those of us fortunate to be at AT&T Park Thursday night and see this Division Series game in person will remember it for a very long time. In the midst of his first post season appearance, and throughout a tense and gut-wrenching one run game, Tim Lincecum executed and defined the measure of a truly great pitching performance.

Let's understand several things about the San Francisco Giants and starter Barry Zito. Whether Zito deserved to be part of the San Francisco Giants twenty-five man roster in the upcoming National League Division Series is, ultimately, not the point. And to be clear, Zito's desultory final start last Saturday against the San Diego Padres, during which he walked two batters with the bases loaded in the first inning, was not the "final straw" that pushed management to leave Zito at the station when the playoff train departed.

This is an organization that spent 15 years and $148.7 million, from 1993 through 2007, devoted to a single high-priced player named Barry Bonds. At first Bonds delivered, with record-breaking excitement, post season play, and a new ballpark. But over time Bonds was allowed to hold the organization hostage, finally focusing a negative national spotlight on the team throughout the worst of the steriod era.

Three years later, the Giants have a rebuilt team backed by a retooled minor league system, and they are flourishing on the verge of making fresh, new franchise history. San Francisco's trip to the 2010 post-season is the final distancing from the Bonds era, the final moving on from the worst of times for the organization. 

And now, with another player making Bondsian money, the Giants have reversed the field. Zito's off the chart $126 million contract will not hold this team hostage to playing him in the post-season because their moving-on mission is too important, their need to put different names in the record books too compelling to field a player simply because he is one of the highest paid in Major League Baseball..

Barry Zito is a proud and talented athlete with a Cy Young Award in his resume. But although Zito started the 2010 season 4-0, his final record this season was 9-14, meaning he went 5-14 after April. In truth Zito, who has a combined 40-57 record in four years as a Giant, has never performed to team expectations. That final game against the Padres is simply a convenient excuse to justify his exile.

The Giants may have been forced to keep Zito on the regular season roster because of his $18.5 million a year salary, but they have demonstrated that will not force the team to play him in the Division Series. This is a team that wants to win, and a franchise that needs to win.

There's a lot I do in this world. I routinely have a great deal of ground to cover, and a large number of tasks to complete on any given day. Great men seek my counsel, beautiful women want to be with me, small children are comforted by my very presence. Somehow, problems seem to find me even in my sleep. But I deal with it... all of it.

And so to the daunting crisis facing the San Francisco Giants on the eve of their post-season challenge to best the Atlanta Braves in the 2010 National League Division Series.

Which Giant players to take to the fight, and which players to leave behind? Emotions run high as Manager Bruce Bochy and General Manager Brian Sabean dread telling players who have been with the team since April they are not going to be chosen to join the group ascending the highest mountain top. Sports-talk radio hosts wince and play along as callers offer wildly illogical scenarios, while fans in bars argue who should stay and who should go over cheap beer that mass advertising has led them to believe is actually served at banquets. It's a damn crazy world.

But, once again, I'll take care of everything. Problem solved, and you're welcome.

The Giants' bus can carry 25 players to the Division Series. Management has wisely stated that 11 of those players shall be pitchers. Let's take a look at the correct selections here:

Four starting pitchers
1. Tim Lincecum
2. Matt Cain
3. Jonathan Sanchez
4. Madison Bumgarner
The top four starters. Barry Zito left off the roster.
Seven relief pitchers
5. Brian Wilson
6. Sergio Romo
7. Santiago Casilla
8. Jeremy Affeldt
9. Javier Lopez
10. Ramon Ramirez
11. Chris Ray
Closer Wilson, set-up man Romo, bridge righties Casilla and Ramirez, bridge lefties Affeldt and Lopez, sinkerball/DP man Ray.
Two catchers
12. Buster Posey
13. Eli Whiteside
Five infielders
14. Aubrey Huff 1B
15. Freddie Sanchez 2B
16. Juan Uribe SS
17. Pablo Sandoval 3B
18. Mike Fontenot 2B/3B/SS back-up
Five outfielders
19. Andres Torres CF
20. Pat Burrell LF
21. Jose Guillen RF
22. Cody Ross (LF/CF, PH)
23. Nate Schierholz (RF, PH)
Two pinch hitters
24. Travis Ishikawa LH
25. Edgar Renteria RH

Well, gotta go now... have to get all the other final post-season rosters out to each of the other teams by late tonight.

The New York Mets have fired General Manager Omar Minaya and Manager Jerry Manuel, ushering in the team's radically new managerial philosophy. "We've decided to test the competency waters to see if that's a good fit for us," Mets owner Fred Wilpon cautiously stated to a group of reporters Monday. 

In announcing the firings, team executives also unveiled the new Mets motto: “Losing with Dignity”, and displayed the newly redesigned team flag for reporters, which shows a turkey with orange and blue feathers falling off the Chrysler Building.

Replacements for Minaya and Manuel have not been announced, but sources close to Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon say that former British Petroleum CEO Tony Hayward is a leading candidate for the GM position, and outgoing New York Governor David Paterson is on the team’s short list for manager. “We need to get better in the front office,” stated a high placed executive with the team, “and there’s no question these candidates would be a dramatic improvement.”

Outgoing GM Minaya was inexplicibly signed to a second long-term contract by the team in 2009, just after the Mets lost 92 games. Minaya, who is still owed some $2.2 million by the team, was offered another position in the Mets organization, but declined when he discovered the job would basically consist of standing in a corner of the Met’s front office with a “Before” sign around his neck. “I’ve decided I need to spend more time with my $2.2 million dollars,” stated Minaya.

The Mets were 70-92 in 2009, and finished the 2010 season with a 79-83 record; the team's 2009 payroll was an incredible $149 million.The Guinness Book of World Records confirmed that, as Mets GM, Omar Minaya set at least one all-time record: Most Idiotic Three-Year MLB Contract: Pitcher Oliver Perez, $36 million.

In a sense, this 2010 Mets team is a perfect fit for their hideous new $800 million ballpark, Citi Field. Like the team, the Met’s ball yard is a situated on a concrete island in the middle of a sea of parking lots, the playing field frequently awash in garbage. “This is us,” stated COO Wilpon, “this is who we are.” Recent team family activities included Mets reliever Francisco Rodriguez's August 11, 2010 assault on his girlfriend’s father outside the Citi Field family lounge.

Plans for the Queens neighborhood surrounding Citi Field include adding more chop-shop corrugated auto repair businesses, and enticing additional unlicensed oil change garages into the immediate area.

Outgoing Mets Manager Jerry Manuel stated he has no immediate plans for the next 15 years, other than to “try and spend more time with Omar Minaya and his $2.2 million dollars.” The two fired Mets managers have tentative plans to contact a major film company and pitch a remake of the 1987 film “Ishtar”.

In the end, San Francisco Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez and five relievers shutout the San Diego Padres 3-0 at home to clinch the National League West. Sanchez got the win, closer Brian Wilson tied the franchise record with his 48th save, and Buster Posey hit a home run in his last at bat of the season.

But the Giants last game of the 2010 regular season on Sunday October 3, 2010, was anything but an easy win. Sanchez had trouble with finding the handle on his pitches, matching his five strike-outs with five walks before he was pulled by Manager Bruce Bochy after five+ innings. The Giants hit Padre starter Mat Latos hard to start the game, but every line drive was a glove magnet. The Giants scored their first two runs in the third the old fashioned way: a triple by pitcher Sanchez, a two-out single by second baseman Freddie Sanchez and a two out double from first-bagger Aubrey Huff.

Along the way five Giants relievers threw four innings, giving up no runs, 1 hit, and no walks. The Padres had a number of scoring chances, leaving nine runners on base, but only managed to hit four singles the entire game.

The Giants used relentless pitching, sharp defense and timely hitting in a game that demanded relentless pitching, sharp defense and timely hitting. To seal the win in the 8th inning, Buster Posey hit his 18th home run of the year, which capped off his historic rookie season as a Giant.

Now the Giants will face the NL Wild Card winning Atlanta Braves in the best of five Division Series:

Games 1 & 2 - at San Francisco
Thu       Oct 7   6:30PM PST  TBS
Fri          Oct 8   6:30PM PST  TBS

Games 3 & 4 - at Atlanta
Sun       Oct 10  1:30PM PST  TBS
Mon       Oct 11  5:30PM PST  TBS

Game 5 - at San Francisco
Wed      Oct 13  6:30PM PST  TBS

no comments

The morning after the Giants lost the first game of the deciding three game weekend series with the San Diego Padres, the Giants clubhouse was anything but quiet or uptight. Reports were that Aubrey Huff was touring the locker room in his signature red thong to the driving sounds of the Bee Gees' "Stayin Alive". This team is loose and this team is having some fun.

Prior to Friday's 6-4 loss, emotions ran high on the field as the San Francisco Giants conducted the 30th annual Willie Mac Awards. Named for Giants icon Willie McCovey, this "most inspirational" award is in a sense the most prestigious award a player can receive because the votes are caste by fellow Giant teammates. It was not surprising that Giants center fielder Andres Torres took the 2010 Willie Mac; Torres fought through personal health problems and years in the minor leagues just to make the Giants team as a back-up outfielder last year. That Torres further emerged as the Giants' 2010 dominant lead-off batter and center fielder is miraculous (16 home runs, 84 runs scored, 63 RBIs).

Most amazing, Andres Torres was knocked down by a September emergency removal of his appendix and somehow returned to the field 13 days later (one day earlier than doctors normally allow the start of minimal activity). The award was presented by the seventy-two year old Willie McCovey from a wheelchair, himself recovering from serious back surgery weeks ago. There was a run on Kleenex in the stands as the whole tableau became the emotional moment of the season for many Giants fans.

After starter Matt Cain's 3-0/2.19 September mojo went up in smoke Friday night, the Giants are looking at a variety of scenarios depending on what happens Saturday and Sunday. If the Pads sweep the Giants, a one game playoff is scheduled for Monday October 4th to determine the NL West victor. If Atlanta also sweeps the Phillies, the loser of the Giants-Pads Monday playoff will play Atlanta in a one game playoff Tuesday October 5th to determine the NL Wildcard winner. Of course, should the Giants win either their Saturday or Sunday game, there will be no one game playoff for anyone.

This is the edge of baseball history for the 2010 Giants; after seven years of not making the National League playoffs, after finally distancing themselves from the Bonds era once and for all, these last two games are everything.

I know there's a better way to do this, but today I'm doing it this way. A live set of commentaries on the Thursday September 30, 2010 MLB game between the San Francisco Giants and the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday September 30, 2010 at 12:45PM PST.
You will need to refresh this page frequently to follow.

After stopping Colorado two out of three last weekeknd, the Giants had six left to play with a one game NL West lead over the San Diego Padres. The Giants beat Arizona Tuesday, and the Padres lost, and both teams won on Wednesday. So the Giants start this game two up over the Pads, and have a magic number of 3.

The big news is that Freddie Sanchez (after injuring his arm last weekend) is back at second base and batting second in the line-up. SF Manager Bruce Bochy continues to play Pablo Sandoval at third, so Mike Fontenot sits. And so does the infield defense. But it must bother the Panda that he's batting 8th in the line-up.

1st inning
Giants starter Madison Bumgarner is looking for his first win at AT&T Park. Lead-off Snake's batter, Stephen Drew, goes down on strikes. Then, whadda know, a great foul pop-up catch by....  Pablo Sandoval. With Chris Young up, a hard grounder to Sandoval, who makes a good throw to Huff at first. OK, ok, Pablo's glove is on today. Arizona 2nd baseman Kelly Johnson has a nice .369 OBP.

Great to have Andres Torres back at lead-off everyday (and playing center). Torres a base hit to right. This Giants line-up is unlike the sub-par line-up of the past six years, and very different from the championship line-ups of the early 2000s. In the first case, every batter (literally every batter) is a threat to hit the ball. In the second case, a line-up not built around one a single superstar (Bonds, of course).

Stolen base Torres. Aubrey Huff a walk. Huff has an amazing .383 OBP-- the man absolutely knows what to do at the plate. Buster Posey up; where would the Giants be right now if they had brought Posey up in April and relagted Bengie Molina to back-up status during his 2010 retirement year? Posey's groundball not a DP because Bochy sent both runners. Second and third, two out, Burrell up. Another great OBP for Burrell - .367. And a strikeout.

2nd inning
The cliche about MLB pitchers applies so well to Bumgarner: he is a strike-thrower. All his pitches are around the plate almost all the time. Adam LaRoche continues his year-long torment of Giant pitchers with a double off the left field wall. See my first blog of 2010-- LaRoche gave up several million dollars and a multi-year deal to sign with Arizona (and not San Francisco). LaRoche will never recoup that money-- there are innumerable free agent first basemen in 2011, and LaRoche will be in the bottom third of that group (.260/.320./464). And we are thankful for that-- because the Giants got Huff and he has proven to be a leader and an RBI creator. More great pitching from Bumgarner, Snakes out, LaRoche does not score.

Home run Pablo Panda!!! Splash hit solo homer, Giants 1-0. I knew they should play him today instead of Fontenot.

Smart play by the Giants not messing with Lincecum's and Cain's pitching routine. When the team gave Lincecum a couple of extra days' rest in August, he got shelled. This weekend against the Pads: Cain Friday, Zito Saturday, Sanchez Sunday-- an absolutely overwhelming pitching attack.

3rd inning
Two hits for Arizona after one out. Now the big boys are up, Kelly Johnson, Chris Young, Adam LaRoche. Strikeout Johnson-- great pitches to a batter trying to hit a bomb. And strikeout Young.... looking! The Arizona braintrust must still be reeling at how badly and quickly this team has fallen apart this season. Not only a new manager and General Manager, they need to come up with a long-term plan to pull this team out of the mudhole. It will not be easy in the extremely competitive NL Western Division.

Arizona's best chips to deal in the off-season are SS Stephen Drew, and baggage carrier 3rd baseman Mark Reynolds. If some hitting coach can increase Reynolds' contact percentage at the plate, he could be a monster RBI machine for some team.

4rd inning
LaRoche a strikeout off Bumgarner's fantastic breaking ball. Six stikeouts in 3.2 innings. Walk to Reynolds, hit by catcher John Hestor, Cole Gillespie hit by a pitch-- bases loaded 1 out. Arizona pitcher Barry Enright is hitting .250! Sacrifice to RF by Enright-- tied at 1-1. SS Drew ground out. Tied 1-1.

Buster Posey now 0-2, and the average is slowly going down the past several weeks-- currently .309. Burrell flyout. Guillen a single. Jose Guillen is a player who could loom huge in the playoffs; if his bat gets hot in a short series, he can absolutely carry a team's offense. Uribe out.

5th inning
This is the 55th anniversay of actor James Dean's 1955 death in a car accident at a solitary crossroads 28 miles east of Paso Robles, CA, where CA 41 and 46 meet at Chalome. It looks pretty much the same today, even though the highway has been slightly rerouted and the crash crossroads has been modernized. Dean was 24 years old, he would have been 79 today.

After Ryal grounded out, Kelly Johnson and Chris Young both singled. A critical point in the game for Bumgarner. Strikeout out LaRoche on another tremendous Bumgarner breaking ball. Mark Reynolds a groundout to Uribe at short. Great comeback by Bumgarner!

After two out, the incredible Andres Torres hits a solo home run to right-center field, 2-1 Giants. Number 16. Hopefully the team goes easy on the hugs/slaps/pummels. Sanchez the third out.

There are a number of myths about Dean's accident, the most popular being that Dean was speeding excessively. A National Geographic reconstruction of the crash determined that Dean was going a reasonable 60-65 MPH as he sped westbound on highway 46. But the other car, going east on 46, stopped on the highway to make a left turn across Dean's lane to go down Highway 41. In the twilight just as the sun was setting, the other driver did not see Dean's car and turned right in front of him.

6th inning
Santiago Casilla relieves Bumgarner. Three quick outs, with a SO. Bumgarner went 5 innings, 7 hits, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 SO. He had hit 85 pitches, which is likely the reason for pulling him.

Aubrey Huff leads off with a tough walk after taking 2 strikes. Posey at 3 balls, 1 strike; Giant batters are working the counts. Strike two as Huff steals his 7th base of the year (no caught stealing). Posey a two-run homer to deep centerfield! He absolutely drove the hell out of that pitch. 4-1 Giants on Posey's 17th homer of the year.

Arizona starter Barry Enright is out, reliever Blaine Boyer in the game. Boyer is 2-2 with a 4.34 ERA. Boyer has 5 holds, and 29 SO and 29 BB in 59 innings pitched. Burrell poped out, Guillen grounded out, Uribe up. You know, the Uribe chants are getting old; and most crowds just don't do the name cheer very well. Uribe grounds out. Good job by Boyer to put out the fire.

7th inning
The 7th inning Giants defense alignment has been put in place: Nate Schierholtz replaces Guillen in right, Cody Ross replaces Pat Burrell in left. All is now right and correct in the defensive world.   

Casilla still pitching. Stephen Drew ground out, left fielder Rusty Ryal strikeout. Next up-- the Snakes big three (K. Johnson, C. Young, A. LaRoche). Johnson, a walk. Young flies out. Maybe the last time to face Arizona's best hitters.

Pablo Panda up. A hot shot to Reynolds at third-- Pablo has been all over the ball all game. Travis Ishikawa pinch hits for Casilla and grounds out. Ishikawa hitting .268. Torres lines out to SS.

8th inning
Sergio Romo starts the 8th. Romo: 2.28 ERA, .99 WHIP, 19 holds, 66 SO in 59 innings, 5-3 record. Wow. Adam LaRoche grounds out-- Giants pitching has really handled LaRoche well this game. Mark Reynolds strikes out-- that's 208 strikeouts this season for Reynolds! Romo strikes out pinch hitter Miguel Montero. 4-1 Giants.

 Leo Rosales comes in to pitch for the Snakes, Miguel Montero stays in at catcher. Freddie Sanchez grounds out quickly. Huff lines out. Buster up......    typically working the count 2-1. Then a base hit. Posey is on top of those pitches again and driving the ball, his average back up to .313. Schierholtz grounds out. Will Wilson come in to close... again?

9th inning
No. Ramon Ramirez comes in to start the ninth inning. Wilson has been worked hard the past week, including a 5 out save Tuesday, and a save last night. A good move by Bochy. Fontenot takes over at second for Freddie Sanchez. Another good move. Great Giant defense on the field right now. Geraldo Parra pinch hits for Gillespie and flies out. Ryan Church pinch hits for the pitcher Rosales. Strikeout. Two out in the 9th. Stephen Drew up...  3-2 count on Drew...  fly out to Andres Torres! 

Giants win 4-1. Winning pitcher: Madison Bumgarner 7-6 with a 3.00 ERA. Ramon Ramirez gets the save. Attendance: 37,261. Three home runs from the Giants, and Pablo's home run is the 55th splash hit in AT&T history.

The Giants pick up 1/2 game on San Diego. Their magic number is now 2! The Padres play the Cubs at San Diego at 3:35pm PST-- in 20 minutes. The Giants sweep Arizona at home as they storm the National League West to take the Division flag.

Live Blog Alert!
The Giants Cove will be conducting a live game blog today at 12:30PM PST, featuring the San Francisco Giants (not surprising) and the Arizona Diamondbacks. I have not done this before, so there's always a possibility of interruptions (a friend comes by with some messy pork ribs and a 2008 Clos Des Ambres Meursault), or distractions (Miss Brazil's limo breaks down in front of the house), or a potential computer failure (17 Mbps?, dammit, I know I paid for the 19 Mbps upgrade).

But, what the hell, we'll take a few of those long-haul truck driver medications and see if we can get that load all the way to Bakersfield on time.

Coveroo Alert!
On another front, I am pleased to announce the first joint venture project between the Giants Cove and Coveroo, Incorporated. You might ask, just who or what is "Coveroo"? Coveroo is an international provider of goods and services you do not have and badly need.

Until I received the Coveroo Platinum Package, I was wandering aimlessly up and down the West Coast desperately seeking answers. Now, I am again allowed to live within 200 yards of any elementary school in America, and the majority of those frivolous stay-away orders have finally been rescinded by the courts.

Coveroo not only manufactures excellent products, their customer service and tech support is outrageously good. When you call Coveroo with a product problem, they do not route you to a crowded call center in mid-town Bombay; they will actually fly you and a friend to Bombay, where your product issue will be discussed with a trained technician over hot curry and gin and tonics. (Coveroo legal disclaimer: Return flight not included; must transport a securly wrapped package for drop-off at a Bombay International Airport unisex restroom; actual product problems rarely resolved to customer's satisfaction).

But back to the alert. All kidding aside, Coveroo is in reality a wonderful company that customizes personal cell phones with a choice of over 2,000 great professional designs, or with custom art work you provide. Coveroo cell phone designs include MLB and NBA teams, The Simpsons, Family Guy and a lot more. And they are awesome.

Check out their site at www.coveroo.com (and at www.coveroo.com/giants).

With Coveroo, you don't need to send your phone anywhere to have it customized. Almost all phones now have a easy to remove faceplate, and Coveroo will mail you the high quality engraved design you choose on a new faceplate. All major phone brands are supported including Blackberry. 

Now, Coveroo is offering loyal Giants Cove readers a great free offer: Send me an email with your name and full mailing address, and tell me what Buster Posey's real first name is. If your email is chosen, you will receive the free Coveroo phone cover of your choice!

Send your emails to: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.  by Monday October 25, 2010 at 12:00pm PST. Tell me Buster's real first name, and you may be a winner (for once). I will number each correct entry, and convince a bikini-clad female friend to use an on-line random number generator to pick two (2) winners. Unless the age of consent laws in West Virginia have changed, I will publish a photo of the actual Giants Cove drawing.


Check out Coveroo and send me your entry, or continue to be an MLB chump.

Two Giants Cove/Coveroo winners will be announced prior to the first 2010 World Series game on Wednesday October 27, 2010. Don't delay, send me your email today!