So, go figure, we lose 2 of 3 to the Killers who are playing with 8 mil less than the rest of us and then we sweep the Badgers. Weird. I'll try to get started on the ratings soon.
Here's my WS post. Warning, it's long. I'm a wannabe sport writer so....
The Giants got revenge for last year’s World Series. A Series where in which they lost a game seven extra inning affair with Oakland. This year, the Giants used outstanding starting pitching, only needing seven IP from the bullpen, timely hitting, and took advantage of multiple Oakland miscues to win the 2019 SOM World Series. The A’s made 4 errors, had 3 wild pitches, and had at least three catchable balls fall for hits. (Read, the Giants were lucky as He** in this series, especially on the X-chart)
Game oneIn a pitcher’s duel between Jacob deGrom and John Gant, the Giants took advantage of a tiring Gant and a big blast by Juan Soto off of Josh Hader to post a 5-1 win to start the World Series.
With Verlander not available until game three (he pitched in game six against the Red Sox), the A’s selected Gant to start against deGrom. Gant proved up to the task for five innings, matching the Giants ace zero for zero .
Setting a trend for the series, in the bottom of the sixth, the Giants took advantage of an Oakland misplay. With one out, Yelich hit a soft liner to LF which Brantley got a late break on and then dove for too late. The ball got by Brantley and rolled to the wall. Yelich ended up on third (lfx 3e1). Wilson Ramos followed with a single to bring Yelich home and, after a walk to McNeil, A’s Manager Dave Melvin went to the pen for Josh Hader to replace the tiring Gant. “Gant gave us all he had, he was a little gassed,” said Melvin. “I thought Hader was a good matchup, but Soto hit a good pitch.” Soto did indeed hit a good pitch, a low and in fastball but he dropped the head on the ball and blasted it into the bay for a no doubt homerun. The blast extended the lead to 4-0. “Boy did that hit give us a lift,” said Giants Manager Joe Bochy. “4-0 versus 1-0 is a big difference. I liked Soto there, he’s got good power v LHP so, no, I didn’t think about pinch hitting for him. He also got a big HR versus LA for us.”
The game didn’t start so auspiciously for the Giants as deGrom, showing some World Series jitters walked Laureano and Judge to start the game and then hit O’Hearn with a pitch to load the bases. Bochy visited the mound to settle his ace down and, despite lineouts by Voit (1-3) and Wynns (1-7), deGrom got out of the inning when Chapman popped out to end the threat. “Boy, I can’t say enough about how he battled there” said Bochy.
The HBP forced O’Hearn out of the game and brought Brantley in. “I don’t think it’s serious, said Melvin, “but he will probably miss the next game. We’ll know more after the x-rays are in.”
With the Giants ahead and deGrom dealing, it was lights out for Oakland. Iglesias hit a two out double in the bottom of the 8th for an insurance run to make it 5-0. Things got a little interesting when deGrom had to leave the game with an injury after eight innings. He had allowed only four hits and had seven K's. Dominguez game up a run in relief on a Wendle Double, but struck out Laureano with two on to end the game. "I think Grommer will be fine," said Bochy. "Just a little tweak in the quad. I'm sure he'll make his next start. We just wanted to play it cautiously."
Game two
In a back and forth game, the A’s got an amazing 21 batters on base and withstood a furious San Francisco charge to even the series with a 6-4 win.
Oakland took the lead against Zack Wheeler in the second on a two out run scoring single by Wendle obut saw the Giants go ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third on a wild pitch and a double by Machado.
The Giants threatened to extend their lead in the bottom of the fourth when Iglesias hit a two out double and Wheeler followed with a single to left, but Brantley made strong throw to the plate to get Iglesias (1-14).
In the top of the next inning, Laureano hit a two run homer (1-14, 3b the rest) to put the A’s back on top. The A’s padded their lead to 5-2 in the 7th with two out singles by Chapman and Wendle, but the Giants got back in the game in the bottom of the frame. Soto walked, Iglesias singled and Winker, pinch hitting, brought a run home with a base hit. Eaton then walked to load the bases with no outs against Jordan Hicks.
The game was on the line, but the big right-hander proved up to the challenge. After allowing a run on a Votto sac fly, he struck out Machado and retired Yelich on a fly to end the threat. “Boy was Hicks money there,” said Melvin. “he gets the 2-3-4 hitters with the bases loaded. Man we needed that.”
With the score 5-4, Oakland added an insurance run in the top of the 8th on a two out single by Wynns. Treinen recorded a two inning save, allowing only a single hit.
Bochy after the game. “That’s a tough loss for us. I really liked Wheeler against that lineup, but he just didn’t have it tonight. Now we have to go face Verlander at their place. We’ll need to be on our game.”
Game threeThe series traveled across the Bay Bridge to Oakland for game three where the Giants came out of nowhere, with a sudden rally for three runs in the top of the 9th, to top the A’s 3-2.
The game was a pitcher’s duel with Verlander and Patrick Corbin both on their game. Oakland got to Corbin in the bottom of the second when Chad Pinder hit a two run homer (1-12, double the rest) to give the A’s the lead, but did little else against the stalwart left-hander.
Both pitches were dealing, Corbin allowed four runners after the second and Verlander retired the last 16 batters before turning the game over to Treinen to start the ninth.
The ninth started inauspiciously for Oakland when Pinder got a late break on McCutchen’s soft liner to left and it fell for a single (lfx 2e3, rolled a 3). Pinder said “He took a big swing and got it off the end of the bat. I figured I better not dive for it and have it go to the wall.” The ace closer seemed a bit shaken after the misplay and, after Votto hit into a force play, he walked Aguilar,with deGrom pinch running, and Machado followed with a double (1-6, single the rest) to get the Giants on the board, 2-1. The hit put the go ahead run at second. Melvin walked Yelich to load the bases and Bochy countered by pinch hitting Winker for Ramos. Melvin then went to the mound and contemplated bringing in Hader or Perez, both warm in the Oakland pen, but, in the end, stuck with Treinen. “He’s our guy.” said Melvin.
This time, however, Winker got the best of the ace, serving up a single to right-center (2-7 straight single**). The hit brought in Machado from second and suddenly, the Giants were ahead 3-2. Treinen got out of the inning, but the damage was done.
The game wasn’t over however. Hughes came on to face Brantley (who hit .375 in the series) and he singled. Dominguez then replaced Hughes with the winning run at the plate, but he retired Judge, Pinder, and O’Hearn to end the game.
“Boy, what a big win for us.” Said a jubilant Bochy after the game. “I can’t say enough about Winker’s hit there. Man what a clutch swing against a tough pitcher and Dominguez. Wow, he rose to the occasion.”
Melvin wasn’t quite so sanguine. “We spit the bit on that one. I’m not going to lie, it hurts. Winker just got enough of that sinker to get it over the infield. It was a good pitch. It happens. Maybe I should have left Verlander in. He was rolling, but Treinen has been our guy so…I have no regrets. Well, we’ll have to battle back tomorrow.”
Game FourIn a matchup of the number four starters for each squad, Urena got the better of Brad Keller, throwing a two hit, two walk, eight strikeout, shutout as the Giants cruised to a 6-0 win. The victory gave the Giants a dominating 3-1 lead in the series.
The Giants opened the game with a single by Winker, but he was still at first with two outs when Yelich hit a blast to right-center that just missed being a homerun (1-10). The ball kicked past Laureano and by the time Judge tracked it down, Yelich was at third with a triple and the Giants had a 1-0 lead.
The A’s immediately threatened when Brantley led off the bottom of the inning with a double, but deGrom got out of the jam by striking out Judge and O’Hearn before getting Voit to ground to short.
San Francisco padded their lead in the top of the third with the help of two Oakland errors. With Soto on first after a single, Wendle (e8) booted an inning ending grounder. Keller then nicked Winker with a pitch to load the bases. Eaton followed with a fly to right that Judge misjudged into an error and two runs scored. “I don’t think he saw that clearly off the bat in the early inning twilight,” said Eaton. “I know I was having some trouble out there in the early innings.”
With a 3-0 lead, Urena got double plays in the second and the third to quash potential Oakland rallies. He would go on to face the minimum over the last 6 1/3 innings seeming to get stronger as the game progressed. “I was ready to go to the pen if needed,” said Bochy, “but Urena had it going tonight.”
The Giants added a pair of insurance runs in the fourth on Machado’s two out, two run triple (1-5, single the rest off of Keller’s card). Machado’s second triple of the game (1-3, single the rest) drove in a run and capped the scoring in the top of the 8th.
With their backs against the wall, Melvin put on a brave face. “deGrom is tough, but they found a way to win when Verlander started, we’ll have to find a way to beat their ace. I like our chances if we can get back to Verlander in game 7. Just got to take it one game at a time.”
“It’s not over yet.” Said Bochy “we know it, they know it, it’s who gets to four wins first, not three. We like having Grommer going for us tomorrow, but we’re not taking anything for granted.”
Game FiveJose Iglesias’ two out, three run home run (1-8, double the rest) in the top of the second ignited a Giants offense and San Francisco went on to score three runs in the 5th and 6th, two in the 7th and a final run in the 8th to turn the World Series finale into a game long Giants celebration at the Coliseum. The A’s made some noise late to chase deGrom, but it was too little, too late. The final score, Giants 12, Oakland 4.
Unlike game one, deGrom was dealing from the start, getting seven strikeouts through the first four innings.
“Jose’s homer made it easier to relax and go after guys.” Said deGrom “After the fifth, I just had to not screw things up.”
Oakland had a chance to make things interesting in the bottom of the fourth when Judge walked and, after an out, Voit was hit by a pitch, putting two on in a 3-0 game. However, deGrom buckled down and struck out Wynns and Chapman to end the threat. Voit had to leave the game with a hand injury after getting hit.
The Giants effectively put the game away in the fifth with an RBI double by Eaton and a two run single by McNeil. McNeil’s hit made the score 6-0, and they added three more in the sixth with the help of an infield single and an error by Pinder, subbing for Voit at first base. Votto and Eaton followed with RBI singles to make it 9-0.
The A’s got on the board on a homerun by Brantley in the bottom of the sixth, only to see the Giants get a two run homer from Aguilar in the top of the 7th.
Oakland hit three doubles in the 7th to chase deGrom and scored another run on an O’Hearn HR in the 8th off of Dominguez, but the champagne was already on ice in the Giants’ clubhouse and it was just matter of time before it would be popped.
Dominguez ended the game with a double play hit by Brantley and the celebration began.
“Boy, did Iggy come up big in this series or what?” said deGrom. “He made several tough plays in the field and that blast tonight really set the tone.”
“Well, after we spit the bit in game three, we really put ourselves in a tough position,” said Melvin. “Congrats to the Giants. We got them last year, but this year was their year. Just seemed meant to be (read, they got many, many, many splits)”
“Happy to be on this side, the one with the champagne, this year,” said Bochy. “I’m not going to lie, last year was brutal, but it made this year that much sweeter. We had a lot of things go our way this series. We know it, they know it, but you have to take advantage of the breaks and I think we did that. If we’re done here, give me a bottle of champagne, let’s get this party started!”
Jose Iglesias was named MVP of the series. He hit .353 with a .647 slugging that included two doubles and a home run. He had four RBI and score three runs. In addition, he made several sterling plays in the field to start double plays. The HR in game five was a dagger for the A’s.
Not to be dismissed were Eaton who also posted a .353 average and a .421 OB with three doubles and Jesse Winker who only had seven plate appearances, but reached every time with five singles, a walk, and a hit by pitch. He had the huge go ahead single in game three, scored three times, and had three RBI. deGrom was also money for the Giants. He allowed only three runs over 15 innings, striking out 17, and recorded two of the wins.
After being sprayed with some champagne, Bochy paid tribute to the A’s. “That’s a very good team over there, we got a lot of breaks to beat them. I have to say that Dave Melvin and his squad handled the adversity with class and grace and I tip my hat to them.”
Counting the postseason, the Giants went 25-9 for the season. The World Series win is the first for the Giants since 2008. They lost the series in 2009 to the Red Sox and last year to the A’s.
Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:05 pm
