Kuzul

When the San Francisco Giants topped the Atlanta Braves 3-2 last night, they earned their first trip to the NLCS since 2002.

Waiting for them, of course, is the Philadelphia Phillies–the two-time defending champions of the National League.

The Phillies, based on both their success the last few years and the strength of their position players, are considered the favorites by most baseball fans and pundits.  But what of those Giants, a franchise that has not yet won a World Series since moving to the Bay?

Do they have a chance?

What are five ways that the Giants can win this series?

First, let’s take a brief look at how the teams match up.

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As the 2010 post-season delves further into October, the San Francisco Giants and the Philadelphia Phillies are the last two National League teams standing.

The National League Championship Series between these two clubs will begin on Saturday, October 16th – in Philadelphia.

The Phillies jumped all over Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds, sweeping Dusty Baker and company right out of the playoffs. While it may be tee time in Cincinnati, the Phillies are resting, laying in wait for the Giants.

In San Francisco there lies another brand of baseball. The Giants secured their NLCS ticket in four games, sending Atlanta home for good in 2010. Shipping off Bobby Cox was no easy task, each game being decided by a single run.

On paper and before your eyes, the Phillies have been the team to beat coming into the playoffs. They feature top notch pitching, a fearsome lineup, and oodles of playoff knowledge in the dugout.

One thing is for certain with the Giants, they can pitch. It is the other things like hitting, and oh maybe more hitting that are less certain.

The Giants squeaked by the Braves, getting just enough runs to win by the narrowest of margins. This will not fly against the Phillies. If the Giants want to have a chance against a true juggernaut like Phillie, they will need certain players to step up and deliver big time.

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It’s been too long, but the Giants have won their first NLDS since 2002, when they beat these very same Braves in five. The series was tight, emotional, ugly and brutal. Of course, the fourth and final game was a great reflection of the series in an almost poetic fashion.

All of the games were decided by one run, three of the four games were won in a comeback fashion. All of the games featured superb pitching, maybe with the exception of Sergio Romo. And all of the games featured questionable defense and officiating.

With three lead changes, a 3-2 ending and a crucial call made at second base, this game lived up to all the hype, and set an unofficial record for grey hairs induced. With all that, lets take a look at each component of this game.

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We knew the Giants were not going to make it easy against the Braves. We knew postseason baseball for the Giants had to resemble the regular season—torturous.

San Francisco won their NL Divisional Series against Atlanta 3-1 and will face the Philadelphia Phillies starting on Saturday.

There were many things the Giants did well.

Starting pitching

What more could the starting pitchers have done? None of them had been to the postseason before and all of them pitched like it was just another game.

Between Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez and Madison Bumgarner, the starting pitchers threw 28.2 innings, allowing four runs while striking out 36.

They absolutely shut down Jason Heyward and Derrek Lee. The Braves were only able to muster a .175 batting average in the series.

Ability to come back

Three times in the series, the Giants came back from deficits to win.

In Game 3, the Giants scored twice in the ninth to take a 3-2 lead and win. In Game 4, San Francisco came back twice.

With the Giants trailing 1-0 in the sixth inning, Cody Ross unloaded on a Derek Lowe pitch and planted it in the left field bleachers. The Braves tied the game the following inning on a Brian McCann home run. In the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases and tied the game on a fielder’s choice by Juan Uribe.

The Giants would retake the lead on a Ross single to left.

San Francisco never quit and showed great poise, not to just come back, but to do so on the road twice.

Now, we know the Giants still have some issues to workout.

Offense as a whole

Despite winning the series 3-1, the Giants only scored 11 runs in four games. The game in which they scored the most (Game 2), the Giants lost.

They were very good about taking pitches and running up pitch counts during this series but it has been uncharacteristic of them and may not suit them well against the Phillies.

Sergio Romo

What do the Giants do with Sergio Romo?

He had two bad outings against the Braves but I do not expect that to cost him a roster spot for the NLCS. The question is, when do you use him?

He was not used in the series clinching Game 4. Instead, Santiago Casilla and Javier Lopez were used in the eighth. This could show a lack of confidence in Romo or it could be a way to let him regroup and collect himself before the NLCS.

Whatever the case, it has to be solved before Saturday.

This brings us to the matchup itself. Phillies vs. Giants. The following are the projected pitching matchups:

Game 1: Tim Lincecum (SF) vs. Roy Halladay (PHI)

Game 2: Matt Cain (SF) vs. Roy Oswalt (PHI)

Game 3: Cole Hamels (PHI) vs. Jonathan Sanchez (SF)

Game 4: Roy Halladay (PHI) vs. TBD (SF)

Game 5*: Roy Oswalt (PHI) vs. TBD (SF)

Game 6*: TBD (SF) vs. Cole Hamels (PHI)

Game 7*: TBD (SF) vs. Roy Halladay (PHI)

The Giants starting staff will face a much more daunting task with the Phillies lineup, although this is a Phillies lineup that has scuffled most of the year, mainly because of injuries.

Philadelphia’s lineup is much more susceptible to striking out and that may play a huge factor in this series. The Braves are a much more patient team (634 BB to 560 BB).

Atlanta was fourth in Major League Baseball in on-base percentage. Philadelphia was 11th.

I left the pitching probables for the Giants blank for games 4-7 because it may depend on how the Giants are faring in the series. It may also depend on who is on the roster.

Over the next couple of days, Barry Zito and Jose Guillen’s names will come up and it has to be decided whether to leave them off or put them back on.

With a longer series, an additional pitcher may provide useful for the Giants but is that pitcher Zito?

Could it be Chris Ray?

Ray and Guillen have been battling injuries and that was one of the main reasons Guillen did not make the NLDS roster. Guillen’s health may determine his spot on the roster.

But if Guillen is on, who is off?

Aaron Rowand did not contribute in the NLDS but playing against his former team may breathe some life into him. Edgar Renteria dropped what could have been a crucial pop up in the eighth inning of Game 4. Luckily it did not make a difference but defensive concerns were apparent in the series with Atlanta (See: Brooks Conrad).

Most of these questions will be answered over the next week. The NLCS is nothing new to the Phillies and the Giants will be playing the role of underdogs.

But watching the Giants this season, I don’t think they’d have it any other way.

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The San Francisco Giants battled back from what would’ve been a catastrophic loss at the hands of the Atlanta Braves on Sunday afternoon and now head into Game 4 of the National League Division Series with a two-games-to-one advantage.

Clutch at-bats from Travis Ishikawa, Freddy Sanchez, Aubrey Huff, Buster Posey, and a major assist from Atlanta second baseman Brooks Conrad made up for another rough trip to the bump for Sergio Romo.

The increasingly suspect big-spot, late-inning option gave up a sickening home run to journeyman pinch-hitter Eric Hinske in the bottom of the eighth inning and almost blew a Giant starter’s gem for the second consecutive NLDS game.

Thankfully, Conrad got the last crack at the postseason-goat pinata and broke that sucker wide open with his fourth “erruh” (to quote Dick Stockton) in three games. Yet another E-4 accounted for San Francisco’s winning margin, which makes it 2-for-2 in the five-gamer thus far.

Consequently, you won’t find this comeback on the list of greatest playoff moments in franchise history. The rebound from Hinske’s crushing blow was another magical moment in 2010, but the fact that it required help keeps it off this illustrious list.

As I think you will agree…

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The Giants have been torturing the San Francisco faithful all year and this game was no different. This game had two blown saves, two lead changes, and a crucial error all within one inning.

Bottom line is, they won 3-2 and have a 2-1 series lead going into Monday’s Game 4.

Pablo didn’t play. Jonathan Sanchez’s stellar performance. How does Brooks Conrad fit in?

Starting pitching, bullpen, offense, and managerial decisions. All to be analyzed.

Let’s see how the Giants fared after Game 3 of their series with the Atlanta Braves.

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San Francisco Giants Vs. Atlanta Braves: Game 3 Live Blog

Bennett Spector here, live-blogging all of the action from today’s NLDS Game 3. Join me for 9 innings of playoff baseball LIVE from the ATL. Hummmmm baby!

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It seemed all but over. The Giants were leading 4-1 with two innings to go.

San Francisco has one of the best bullpens in baseball, but there came the Atlanta Braves, and in the blink of an eye, the game was tied.

It marked the second time that night a team came back from a 4-0 deficit to win the game, as the Braves eventually won 5-4 in 11 innings thanks to a home run by Rick Ankiel.

Now the series moves back to Georgia tied at one.

The Braves are one of the best teams at home in baseball, and the Giants will need at least one win there in order to bring the DivisionSseries right back to San Fran for a Game 5 showdown.

Here are the grades for the San Francisco Giants. 

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Game Two between the San Francisco Giants and the Atlanta Braves is set to begin in less than an hour. The Giants are coming off of a big win last night in Game One, led by a dominant Tim Lincecum. The two-time Cy Young Award winner struck out 14 Braves hitters to give the Giants a 1-0 victory. Tonight, the Giants send Matt Cain to the mound. He’ll face another great young pitcher, Tommy Hanson. In case you haven’t seen it, here are the starting lineups for tonight:

If you’d like to do some reading prior to or during the game, check out this piece I wrote earlier today. I take a look at the possibility of the Giants trading for Milwaukee Brewer first baseman Prince Fielder this winter. 

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With a gem of a shutout by Tim Lincecum, it’s hard to look at game one of the NLDS through anything but rose colored glasses for Giants fans.

The Incredible Hulk (Lincecum) pitched a two hitter, struck out 14, broke a Giants postseason record for Ks in a game, and tied a major league record for most Ks in a postseason debut.

But as great as Lincecum was, Lady Luck was even greater because Atlanta Braves starter Derek Lowe was also dealing.

Buster Posey led off the 4th inning with a single.Then, Pat Burrell swung and missed for strike three on a hit and run.

Posey slid into second base and tried to dodge the tag of 2B Brooks Conrad. Posey joked after the game, “I’m glad we don’t have instant replay.”

It was his first stolen base at the Major League level. And probably his last.

After Uribe struck out, Braves Manager Bobby Cox intentionally walked Pablo Sandoval so Derek Lowe could square off against Cody Ross.

Lowe would try to dance around Ross with Lincecum on deck and an open base.

But Lowe made a mistake and threw a 2-0 pitch too close to the plate.Ross smashed it to the left of third baseman Omar Infante.

Lady luck took over as Infante misplayed the ball.

Even though it was scored a single, anyone watching the game could see it was a misplay and should have been ruled an error.

So the Giants tripled up on luck in the inning to score the only run of the game: Posey’s stolen base, Lowe’s mistake, Infante’s error and Cox’s gamble in not intentionally walking Ross.

You may recall the reverse happened to the Giants earlier in the year versus Colorado when Bochy let Lincecum nibble at Clint Barmes.

Barmes got a hit and Colorado won the game, so maybe the Giants were owed one.

In any event, this game was decided in the tiniest details.

Most of the Giants postseason games probably will be.

Which makes the other managerial blunder so hard to take.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Posey led off with a double and got to third on a fielding error.

After Burrell struck out, Juan Uribe walked to give the Giants runners on first and third with one out.

This was the nail in the coffin moment. If the Giants put another run or two on the board, that was it.

Cox knew it, so decided to turn Pablo Sandoval around by making a pitching change to lefty Jonny Venters.

It was Bochy’s turn to return serve.

He could have pinch hit Aaron Rowand or Edgar Renteria, and in case Cox fired back he had lefties Fontenot, Ishikawa, and Schierholtz ready as well.

But with several options, he just let Cox’s serve go right by him.

Giants fans all knew what the most probable outcome was: Pablo Sandoval would ground into a double play. It would probably be a first pitch swing, and out of the strike zone.

It doesn’t take any statistical analysis or a PhD in probability theory to know it was a terrible, terrible move by Bochy.

It was like torturous slow motion as the exact thought in the back of every Giants fan manifested itself on the field.

So on a night that might inspire cautious optimism, it’s important to remember reality.

Thank Lady Luck and hope the Braves keep playing bad defense.

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