It's the Wild Card and the Padres

A 3 and 9 ending season road trip is no way to go into the playoff’s but it’s better than not being there

This has not been a good ten days.  The G-Men got swept by the Padres, lost two out of three to the LA Thugs and won two out of three from the Snakes.. The only good news is that they sewed up a wild card spot because the Brewers and the Pirates were busy beating each other up. Now the test for the next four days is the home field advantage which MAYBE can get if they win out the four games left.

The Pirates and the Cardinals have both sewn up spots so the only question there is which is going to be the wild card and which is going to take the division.  The tie-breaker for even records is head to head competition so the Giants (which have a better record against the Cardinals than the Pirates) would prefer to see the Cardinals take the division by a hair. That would assure that next Wednesday’s play-off game would be at AT&T.  That is what we are playing for now, home field in the wild card game.

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It's the NL West Playoff's - G-Men versus the Snakes and Dodgers

19 games left in the regular season and the playoffs start today

The G-Men are 3.5 games back of the Dodger’s and in the lead for the first wild card in the play-off’s.. These are the times that try fans souls. The remaining games are all against division rivals who would like nothing better than to knock the Giants out of the playoffs.  For some reason 2004 stays fresh in the mind when Steve Finley’s ninth inning grand salami at Chavez Ravine (following a Cody Ransom – may he be damned forever – error that loaded the bases) knocked the G-Men out of the playoffs.  I was at that game and that moment is seared in my mind forever - -  the lesson is: take nothing for granted.

The Giants are playing very well right now. They are the hottest hitting team on MLB since the All-Star break (replicating April and May) and have fought their way back from an historic June and July meltdown.  To say that this has been a roller coaster season is an understatement. This is simply the most exciting time of the year.

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The Rockies and Brewers

The bottom line – now is NOT the time to Panik

The G-Men are 4.5 games back of the Dodger’s and in the lead for the second wild card in the play-off’s. The Giants brain trust is confident but perhaps a bit premature in the requirement to buy playoff tickets by week after next or forfeit them. On the most recent road trip the boys were 3 and 3, won two of three from the Cubs and lost two of three to the Nationals (the best team in the NL, 20 games over .500). As noted last week, this looks like a .500 team.

The good news is that Joe Panik is really starting to look like the 2nd baseman of the future.  Sweet swing, .307 BA (with a  3 run dinger against the Nationals) and solid defense. He looks like a great compliment to Crawford (who has been pressing and is still hovering around.230).  The top of the order is hitting much better and it looks like Buster and Morse are both coming alive – Buster because his hips were treated and Morse because he has decided not to be pull-happy. The Panda is solid in this, his contract year, with the best defense of his career, a .288 BA, 14 HR’s and 59 RBI’s.

Perhaps the biggest surprise is Travis Ishikawa, picked off waivers for bench support.  We have always liked Ishi and he is batting over .300 and hitting homers in his new role.  He can even play left field to spell Morse.

The bad news is that Belt is not getting better from his concussion (although he swears he will be back this season) I didn’t realize that he also had a serious concussion in college and that is very worrisome. On that front, it looks like Sanchez is out for the season (Susac has been capable), Scutaro is not coming back – ever I suspect, Cain is out until the spring and Lincecum is in the middle of his annual late season (lost release point and bad mechanics) melt-down.  He will probably miss his next start and go to the bullpen.

It’s time for September baseball!

On September 1st rosters expand and I don’t who we will see up from the minors (because I don’t know who is left down after all the recent call-up’s). However The Giants MUST win their division games to have a shot at the wild card. Atlanta is breathing down their neck and the Cardinals are fighting the Brewers not only for their division but for the first wild card.

Every game is now a must win game for every team, which is why it was so much fun to see the video of Puig’s bone head run into a triple play today. Puig Is truly the face of the Dodgers.

http://www.cbssports.com/mlb/eye-on-baseball/24678266/video-mets-turn-triple-play-thanks-to-yasiel-puigs-baserunning-gaffe

Ciao, and GO GIANTS!

 

The Czar

Giants v. Dodgers and Pirates

Welcome to the hospital Ward:

The Giants of 2014 are flawed and injury prone but incredibly resilient. The boys are (after losing to Kershaw last night) a half-game out of first and ten games over .500.  They just came off a 5 and 2 road trip to open the second half of the season but have dropped two games at home to the two best Dodgers pitchers in a ball park apparently full of thugs from LA (more about that later).

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