Since the epic rain storm in the 9th inning of Game 7 of the NLCS, momentum was on the Giants’ side. They hadn’t lost. They hadn’t even trailed in a game. They won Game 1 of the 2012 World Series by a score of 8-3, and Games 2 and 3 were both 2-0 victories. Zito, Bumgarner, and Vogelsong had all done their job by getting the W. Now, as the Giants were on the brink of their second World Championship in three years, the ball was given to their horse, Matt Cain.

2012 was Matt Cain’s year. Not only would he throw a perfect game in June, but the Giants won 9 straight Cain starts in the first half and by the All Star Break he was 11-6 with a 2.62 ERA and was chosen to be the NL starter in Kansas City. He got the win in that game too as the NL jumped all over Verlander for a 5 run 1st. More than enough for Cain who would pitch 2 innings giving up 1 hit and striking out Jose Bautista. Also, you may recall that Pablo Sandoval had a huge 3 run triple in that first inning. Cain would then start every clinching game in the postseason (Reds G5, Cards G7) for the Giants and was now starting a possible clincher in Detroit. Let us unravel Game 4 of the 2012 World Series.

The Most Important Inning – Defensively

Let’s fast forward all the way to the bottom of the 8th. Matt Cain’s night is done and Jeremy Affeldt is in to face the thump: Garcia, Cabrera, Fielder, and Young. The game is tied at 3 and if the Tigers score here, they’ll only be 3 outs away from sending this series to Game 5. Garcia came in to pinch hit for the righty lefty match up and had a hell of an at bat to start the inning. Despite a frigid night in Detroit, Affeldt had his stuff working but ultimately walked Garcia on 8 pitches. That put the go ahead run on 1st and brought the first Triple Crown winner since 1967 to the plate: Miguel Cabrera. Scary.

He digs in the box as Tigers fans start to get loud and wave their white surrender towels. Affeldt leans in, necklace hanging down off his neck and gets Posey’s sign. First pitch is a big old curveball at 78 mph taken for a strike. The fans now start to chant “MVP! MVP! MVP!” Affeldt’s next pitch is a fastball fouled away, strike two. That shuts the fans up quickly as their big guy is down 0-2. Affeldt is working quickly, almost paying no attention to Garcia on first. The third pitch to Cabrera is a slider on the inside swung on and missed and he’s gone on three pitches! Cabrera was way out in front of that one and looked way overmatched.

With one away, here’s the big lefty Prince Fielder who takes the first pitch for a ball up and in. Fielder was shut down entirely by the Giants in this series as he started this at bat 1-13 with 4 strike outs and no RBI. Affeldt’s second pitch to him is a 92 mph fastball on the inside corner for a strike, 1-1. The next pitch is a big curveball that makes Prince flinch and it easily drops in the zone for strike 2. Affeldt’s really got it working now. Lifetime, Prince has 2 homers off Affeldt but October is a different beast. The 1-2 pitch to Fielder is swung on and missed! Affeldt just reared back and blew 92 right by him and there’s 2 away! The Tigers’ 2 biggest guys looked completely lost up there. But Affeldt was not out of the woods yet as Delmon Young, who homered already in this game, steps in the box.

Affeldt starts him with a ball, then Young fouls away the second pitch and it’s 1-1 with Garcia still on first. Fighting the cold and trying to help their team, Tigers’ fans try to get loud here and get some momentum going. Affeldt misses with a ball and it’s 2-1. The fourth pitch is fouled away and Young breaks his bat. After grabbing new lumber he digs back in the box. A lot of time goes by here. Now Affeldt checks on Garcia at first and is quickly booed by Tiger fans. Young never leaves the box, anxious to find a gap here. Affeldt, back on the mound, deals. The 2-2 to Young is a slider that’s swung on and missed strike three! Three strike outs with three swings and misses after the leadoff walk. Huge! Jeremy Affeldt is clutch and he gets the Giants into the 9th with the game still tied. That was important because if he gave up a run right there, the Giants were NOT going to touch Phil Coke as he struck out the side in the 9th. But Affeldt was brilliant in the 8th.

The Most Important Inning – Offensively

Game 4 of the 2012 World Series was the first extra inning World Series game the Giants had played since Game 1 in 1954, when they beat Cleveland 5-2 in 10 innings. Now here they were in Detroit in the 10th inning (it was all different guys) of a 3-3 ballgame. Jeremy Affeldt and Santiago Casilla just combined to get the Giants through the 9th and push this game into extras. Forever Giant and DH Ryan Theriot lead off this inning against Phil Coke who just struck out 3 Giants on 14 pitches in the top of the 9th. Theriot was 0-3 in this game so far and was looking to get things going. Coke’s first pitch was way outside ball one. The second pitch is a fastball on the outside and Theriot swings, hitting the ball off the end of the bat for a little flare into shallow right field that falls for a leadoff single! Huge for Theriot to poke a hole in Coke’s armor. Now we’ll see how Coke does out of the stretch for the first time. Here’s Crawford who’s 1-3 in this game and it’s lefty vs. lefty. Coke comes set and holds it, holds it, holds it, and finally steps off, perhaps trying to see if Craw would tip his bat and giveaway the possible bunt. But Craw never flinched and he steps out of the box to reset. Theriot takes a lead as Coke comes set. He quickly pitches to Crawford this time and Craw gets the bunt down and it’s a beauty! Coke fields it about halfway between the mound and first base and flips it to Fielder without even looking at 2nd. So Craw gets the job done on the first pitch and keeps the momentum alive. He only had 2 sacrifices in the regular season and here gets it done in the World Series. Way to be, Craw!

In comes Angel Pagan with thoughts of driving in the winning run of the World Series. He’s 0-4 and due for a big hit. He checks his swing on the first pitch but goes too far and it’s called a strike. A lot of time between pitches now with the go ahead run on 2nd that could end the Tigers’ season. The 0-1 is a breaking ball in the dirt, nice play by catcher Gerald Laird to scoop it and keep Theriot where he was. Cokes third pitch is chopped foul off the glove of Cabrera at 3rd, 1-2. Coke gets a new ball and paces around the mound rubbing it up. As he comes set for the next pitch, Pagan calls time and steps out, making Coke think about it a little longer. Fans start to get loud again. The next pitch is swung at and missed by Pagan and his backswing hits Laird in the helmet. Laird’s a tough guy and would be ok, but Pagan apologizes and heads back to the dugout. 2 outs now, World Series winning run still standing on 2nd base and here comes Marco Scutaro who’s probably still wet from NLCS Game 7.

Scutaro is 1-3 tonight and 3-15 in the series as the Tigers, or the weather in Detroit, have cooled him off from the Cardinals series. Scutaro looks at a fastball right down the middle for strike one, taking all the way. Coke is at 22 pitches now since he came in in the 9th. Next pitch is 93 way outside, ball one. You don’t have to pitch to him here but if you walk him, you’ve got to face Sandoval who is red hot. Theriot leads off 2nd and the 1-1 is low for ball two. The fourth pitch is just a tad high for ball 3 and Coke doesn’t like it and he snaps the ball back from Laird, wiping his forehead. Scutaro’s in a good count now and can look for a fastball. Coke comes set. The 3-1 is a fastball at 93 and Marco puts his trademark flat swing on it and lines one into center field! Every Giants fan watching the flight of this ball is now shouting “Drop! Drop! Drop!” as Austin Jackson comes charging in on it and it does drop! He plays it on a hop and comes up firing to home but the throw is wide and late, Theriot scores, and the Giants have a 4-3 lead in the 10th! Theriot slides feet first and starts celebrating with clenched fists, about 10 feet away from Coke who was backing up home on the play.

Theriot disappears into a mob of teammates slapping his helmet and high fiving him. A moment Theriot, Scutaro, and Phil Coke will never forget. Scutaro ends up taking 2nd base on the throw home and was now in scoring position himself. However, Sandoval grounded out on the first pitch, ending the inning. Can’t that guy ever just hit a home run? Sheesh. But the damage was done. Now the Giants just needed to get 3 outs.

The Bottom Of The 10th

Sergio Romo was solid in the postseason, appearing 7 times and throwing 10.2 innings giving up only 1 run while striking out 9. Now he was on the mound to close it all out but he would have to face the top of the Tigers’ order: Jackson, Kelly, and Miggy. Romo’s first pitch is a slider (duh) strike one. Two sliders later it’s 1-2 on Jackson. Breaking balls all day to these righties. The 1-2 is swung a missed badly by Jackson, a perfect 1-2 slider and there’s one away.

The very dangerous Don Kelly now comes to the plate, pinch hitting for Avisail Garcia. The first at bat in the postseason for him and it’s against Romo in the 10th, trying to save their season! A tough spot for a guy who only played 75 games and batted .186 in 2012. He swings and misses at the first pitch and it’s 0-1. Kelly will actually see five pitches from Romo but will swing and miss 3 times for the second strikeout of the inning. One more out to go for Romo but now he has to deal with the most feared hitter in all of baseball with just a 1 run lead.

If you’re a Tigers fan, THIS is the guy you want at the plate. But Romo doesn’t have to give him anything good to hit here and you have a struggling Prince Fielder on deck. But you want Romo to pitch to righties because of his no-dot slider. So here we go. Cabrera digs in, there will be no intentional walk. Romo’s first pitch is a slider right there at the knees, strike one. Going right after him. Cabrera gauges it and digs back in, bat waving back and forth as Romo gets the sign from Buster. Romo deals and it’s a slider way outside, ball 1. Two pitches, two sliders. Cabrera backs out, tapping his cleats with his bat and adjusting his batting gloves thinking that those balls don’t look like sliders. On deck, Prince Fielder’s hoping for a chance to hit again this season. Romo looks in and shakes Buster twice before throwing a third slider that bends just off the plate and Cabrera swings and misses, trying to put that one in the right field seats. Romo slaps his glove, pumped up by that pitch. Cabrera, tapping his cleats again, looks bewildered. No idea what he’s going to get from Romo. Sergio tucks her jersey in the front of his pants and blows into his fist. The fourth pitch is another slider but it dips way below the zone and Cabrera takes for ball 2. Four pitches, four sliders. Miggy’s got a good look at them by now. The next pitch is fouled sharply away towards the Giants dugout. Another slider. This one didn’t bend as much and Romo might have gotten away with one. It’s 2-2. Romo walks up the mound, adjusting his hat, taking his time. Fox cameras show frightened Tiger fans, hands clasped together, praying for Cabrera to keep this game and their season alive. Romo, hat down low, shakes Buster again before coming set, glove high up, away from his body.

Buster sets up on the outside corner. Romo exhales and deals. The sixth pitch of the at bat was unlike the previous five, as this one was straight, and it was straight down the middle. Buster frames it just above the knees as Cabrera checks his swing, expecting the slider. Home plate umpire Brian O’Nora punches him out as Buster jumps out of the crouch, Romo shouting skyward does his little Romo dance as Posey rushes the mound.

Brandon Belt is the next one to join them and then it’s a sea of black jackets dancing on the mound as the dugout empties. Series MVP Sandoval was the first out of the dugout to meet Arias behind the mound who took over for him at 3rd, a common occurrence in the late innings. Brandon Belt threw his glove up so high that it might still be up there above Detroit. The Giants had won their second World Series in three years and this party was just getting started.

A Great At Bat

Marco Scutaro’s at bat in the 10th inning is easily tonight’s winner. We have already discussed this at bat so you know it’s significance. He got himself in a great hitter’s count by being patient and didn’t miss his pitch. A true veteran AB. It was really important for the Giants to win that game because Game 5 would have been against Verlander in Detroit where he only lost twice all year. It could have been a much different series but Scutaro’s RBI in the 10th prevented any kind of comeback the Tigers would try to cookup.

Odd Stats

The 2012 Tigers were only shutout in the regular season twice and only once at home. The Giants shut them out twice in consecutive games in the World Series and held them to 6 runs over the 4 games. Giants pitching shut them out for 20 consecutive innings.

Miguel Cabrera won the Triple Crown this year for the first time since 1967. However, he batted .231 in the WS going 3-13 with only 1 HR. On the other hand, Series MVP Pablo Sandoval batted .500 (8-16) with 3 HR.

Buster Posey’s HR in this game was only his second HR in a WS game. His first was 2010 Game 4.

Phil Coke only blew 2 saves in the regular season. Then he did it in Game 4 of the World Series.

This was the 57th extra inning World Series game ever. Ever!

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Next Blog: 2014 Wild Card Game – February 14, 2020

The 2012 World Series was the 108th in baseball history and the first time the Giants matched up with the Tigers in the Fall Classic. The Tigers were not the best team in the AL that year as they got into the playoffs with only 88 wins. They knocked out the 94 win A’s in 5 games in the ALDS, thanks to a Verlander complete game shutout in the clincher. In the other series, the Yankees were pushed to the brink by Baltimore but CC pitched a gem in that game 5 to send them into the ALCS.

Unlike the NLCS, the ALCS was over rather quickly due to an awesome Tigers’ pitching staff. It wasn’t just Verlander. They had Max Scherzer and Anibal Sanchez to back him up. The bullpen got the win in Game 1 in New York, followed by an Anibal Sanchez lead shutout the following night. Verlander held them to 3 hits over 8.1 IP in Game 3 and the offense was allover CC with 11 hits in 3.2 IP in the Game 4 clincher. A rare sweep of the Yankees to end their season.

The Tigers had a lot of momentum, but they also had a lot of time. When you’re hot you want to play everyday, not sit on your hands and lose your timing. The ALCS ended on October 18 and Game 1 of the World Series wasn’t until October 24, so they had 6 days to cool off. Meanwhile, the Giants were heating up as they won 3 elimination games in a row to close out the Cardinals, dancing in the rain after a Game 7 win at home. That series ended on October 22nd, only 2 days before the World Series. The red hot Giants would be back on the field in 48 hours.

48 hours later…

The Giants were back on the field. It was the World Series. Their second time in three years and just like in 2010, the opposing pitcher seemed to be coming down from a higher league to play this game. Justin Verlander was 17-8 with a 2.64 ERA in 2012. He lead the league in strike outs (239), ERA+ (161) and innings pitched (238.1). He beat the A’s twice and dominated the Yankees already in the postseason, showing up at AT&T with a 3-0 record, allowing only 10 hits, 2 runs, 5 walks, 25 K, and a .74 ERA! This dude was no joke. There was no way for Verlander to know it, but he was about to learn he has a fear of pandas.

Panda HR #1

If you created a poll before Game 1 and asked people who they thought was the most likely player to hit 3 home runs in this game, you’d probably hear Miguel Cabrera’s name the most. He lead the AL in average, home runs, RBI, slugging, extra base hits, multi-hit games, and total bases. In fact he won the triple crown this year and was easily the MVP. With 44 big flies, he was a threat for sure. Just not tonight. Tonight belonged to Pablo Sandoval (#ForeverGiant).

Panda’s first at bat came in the bottom of the first inning. Pagan lead off with a groundout to first base, then Scutaro grounded out to short. Verlander seemed to be dealing. Enter Panda. Sandoval is a great fastball hitter and a bad ball hitter. The fans knew this by now and so did the entire league. Verlander likes to work quickly and deals a fastball for strike one to Pablo. The second pitch is a low fastball he fouls away. 0-2 now. It was at this point in the at bat, that yours truly thought to himself, “You know, if Verlander tries to throw a high fastball by him right here, Panda’s gonna take him deep.” I regret not saying it out loud now, but, then you risk jinxing it. Panda adjusts his batting gloves and then slowly gets back in the box. Verlander standing tall on the mound, looking in for the sign: fastball. Catcher Alex Avila sets up low and away, but Verlander’s pitch is up and right down the middle. If there’s anything I’ve learned growing up it’s that the panda’s main diet consists of bamboo and high fastballs. If statcast existed at the time, it would probably tell us that the ball left Sandoval’s bat at about 108 mph. He smoked this ball on a line and it got out in the first row of the centerfield bleachers in about 3 seconds. A true laser beam. It was 1-0 Giants.

Panda HR #2

Two innings later it was still 1-0 Giants and Verlander was at 32 pitches so he was almost warmed up. Crawford lead off with a line out to center field, then Zito struck out swinging. Not a great start to the inning. Back to the top of the order for Pagan who saw 6 pitches in his first at bat, and would see 8 more this time. On the final pitch, Pagan chops a fastball down the third base line. Cabrera, moving to his right just behind third base sets up to play it, but the ball hits the bag and ricochets into shallow left field! Talk about catching a break! Pagan easily glides into second base with a double and salutes the dugout. All right, a little 2 out rally maybe?

Here’s Scutaro with a chance to add on. The Giants were making Verlander work. Like, work really hard. As previously stated, he came into the 3rd inning at 32 pitches, now he was at 50. Scutaro refused to go down quickly as he squeezed 8 more pitches out of Verlander before lining a curveball right back up him into center field. Forever Giant Austin Jackson booted it allowing Pagan to score easily and it was 2-0 Giants. Enter Panda.

First pitch to Panda is in the dirt, an easy take for ball one. Sandoval backs out of the box as a new ball is thrown out to Verlander. The fans are shouting a mix of “Let’s go, Giants” and “Let’s go, Pablo” as he digs back into the box. Verlander comes set, deals. Another ball in the dirt. Panda spits on it. It’s 2-0. Verlander’s now at 60 pitches so he’s warm now. Then, to the displeasure of Giants fans, Tigers pitching coach makes a late appearance and jogs out to the mound. Verlander watches him the whole way like, “What are you doing out here?”

They chat briefly and then we’re back to baseball. It’s 2-0 on Panda and Verlander needs to throw a strike. With Scutaro taking his lead off first, Verlander comes set. Avila sets up outside again, calling for the heater. Verlander deals. Panda sees it well and puts a hack on it, sending it to deep left field. Delmon Young races back to the warning track and the ball clears the fence for a two run homer! Panda has done it again and it’s 4-0 Giants! Both homers came on fastballs on the 3rd pitch of each at bat, and they were both at 95 mph. Stop trying to throw cheese past a rat! Replays showed Verlander staring in disbelief as he mouths, “Wow”.

Buster follows with a single of his own, then Pence grounds out to end the inning. Justin Verlander would throw 38 pitches in the inning, giving up 4 consecutive hits with 2 outs.

Panda HR #3

It’s the bottom of the 5th now and the Giants are up 5-0. NLCS MVP Marco Scutaro leads off with a groundout to second and there’s one away. Enter Panda. At this point Verlander has been knocked out after giving up 6 hits, 5 ER, 2 HR, while throwing 98 pitches in 4 innings for a game score of 33 (his 3rd lowest of the year). In comes longest last name in baseball history contender Al Alburquerque. His first pitch to Pablo is a fastball that Panda swings and misses on, losing his bat in the process! Not his home run hitting bat! Bad luck! A new bat is brought out to him and Alburquerque’s next pitch is way in the dirt, ball one. So far, both of Sandoval’s homers have come on the third pitch of the at bat and Alburquerque is about to throw number three right here. This time it’s not a 95 mph fastball, but an 84 mph curveball that Panda has to reach for a bit, but he catches barrel and sends it soaring out to center field. Center fielder Austin Jackson, playing on the other side of second base, has a long way to run for this one. However, he can stop running because this ball’s going over the fence for Sandoval’s third homer of the game! The dugout goes berserk as Panda jogs around the bases, kissing his fist and pumping it in the air. This homer landed about 25 feet to the left of the first one into the empty space in center field. Pablo receives a hero’s welcome in the dugout and it’s 6-0 Giants here in Game 1.

Panda would end up going 4-4 in that game, adding an RBI single in his final at bat. A truly amazing game to kick off the World Series.

Odd Stats

In the regular season Panda only hit 12 home runs so a quarter of his homers came tonight. These three big flies also doubled his total in the postseason bringing it up to 6. The last time he hit 2 homers in a game was actually not too long ago on September 20, 2012 against Colorado. In 2011 he had 2 multi-homer games coming against Padres and Rockies. Sandoval became the 4th member of the 3 Home Run Club in a World Series Game: Ruth in 1926, 1928, Jackson in 1977, and Pujols in 2011. Panda, however, is the first to do it in his first 3 at bats of a World Series. What a night for the big fella!

Including the postseason, Verlander threw over 100 pitches in every start except for two: a September 8th loss to Angels (97 pitches) and Game 1 of the World Series against the Giants (98 pitches). The most he threw in a game was 132 against Yankees on August 6th. Verlander also threw 5 innings or more in every game in 2012 except one: Game 1 of the World Series.

Zito singled in Brandon Belt in the bottom of the 4th making it the 4th game in a row Giants pitcher’s had an RBI. Tim Lincecum relieved Barry Zito in the top of the 6th. It was a Cy Young winner relieving a Cy Young winner in a World Series game. I can’t tell you when the last time that happened was or even if it’s happened before, but that’s still pretty cool. By the way, The Freak faced 7 batters and struck out 5.

In the last two World Series runs, in Game 1 the Giants have outscored opponents 19-10. Also the Giants 8 runs in this game would be more than the Tigers would score the entire series. Think about that. The Giants held the Tigers scoreless from the beginning of Game 2 through the 2nd inning of Game 4.

A Great At Bat

The Giants put up a lot of great at bats against Verlander in Game 1, especially in that 38 pitch 3rd inning. Because of the stunning heroics of Pablo Sandoval, fans might forget that Barry Zito had an RBI of his own that came in the 4th inning. Let’s talk about the Zito at bat!

Verlander was at 85 pitches when Zito came to the plate with Belt on 2nd and 2 outs. His first pitch to Zito misses inside, could have been called either way but home plate umpire Gerry Davis calls it a ball. Zito backs out of the box, probably not thinking about bunting here. The next pitch is 95 outside 2-0. Verlander’s lost it. He’s gotta come in to him now. Can’t walk the pitcher to get to the top of the order. The next pitch is a fastball right down the middle and Zito fouls it off. A good swing for him, but an emergency swing for any position player. The 2-1 is a fastball at the knees, strike 2. Zito takes all the way. Not a bad pitch to take. Now you have his fastball measured. Verlander working quickly here. The 5th pitch of the at bat is a 97 mph fastball that Zito just lines past Cabrera at 3rd through the 5.5 hole. Miggy dove for it but never came close. With 2 outs, Belt doesn’t have to freeze and is moving on contact. Flannery’s waving him as Delmon Young gets to the ball. Young fields it and unleashes a big throw but he spikes it into the outfield grass and it rolls almost 20 feet towards the Giants dugout away from home plate. Belt scores easily and it’s 5-0 Giants. Now a slam can’t tie it and Zito has helped his own cause. Huge hit for the Giants, a real gut punch for Verlander and Detroit.

And if you want to feel sorry for Verlander, remember he wakes up next to Kate Upton everyday.

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Next Blog: 2012 World Series Game 4 – February 7, 2020

October 22, 2012 was the first time since 2002 the Giants played in a Game 7. That year the Giants were up three games to two in the World Series but lost Games 6 and 7 in Anaheim. Before that, the most recent Game 7 in Giants history was in 1987 when they lost to the Cardinals in St. Louis after being up three games to two, also losing the final two in St. Louis, getting shut out twice. In fact, as of 2012, the Cardinals were the best team in postseason history all time in Game 7’s with an 11-4 record. The Giants, on the other hand, were 0-5. It was also the first time in 50 years the Giants played in a Game 7 in San Francisco, so this was a pretty major game in Giants history. The night before the Giants won their 5th elimination game in a row, beating the Cards 6-1 behind a dominant 7 inning start by Vogey. The final game of the 2012 NLCS would be a rematch of Game 3 as Matt Cain would go up against Kyle Lohse. Lohse was 16-3 in the regular season and beat the Giants in Game 3, holding them to 1 run over 5.2 innings. But that was in St. Louis. Now, the stage was set for a Game 7 on the shores of San Francisco Bay for the first time since 1962, and the Giants were due for a Game 7 victory.

The Most Important Inning – Defensively

The most important inning for Matt Cain came quickly in the top of the 2nd. Much like the Game 5 Zito start, Cain was due to face Molina, Freese, and Descalso. Also similar to the Zito start, Molina and Freese both got on base to start the inning. In the Zito game, however, those 2 hits came on the first 2 pitches of their at bats. Here against Cain in Game 7, Molina singled to left on the 7th pitch, and Freese walked on the 8th pitch. They were grinding. Just trying to wear down Cainer. But they forgot one thing: Matt Cain is a horse. Descalso helped Cain out as he swung at a first pitch slider, chopping it to Belt who made a nice diving stop and throw to Crawford at 2nd base to force out Freese. With no chance for the DP, the Cards now had guys on 1st and 3rd with 1 out and Pete Kozma coming to the plate. Kozma only played 26 games with the Cardinals during the regular season, filling in for Rafael Furcal who was suffering an elbow injury. However, in those 26 games, Kozma batted .333 (24-72) with 8 extra base hits. In the NLCS the Giants’ pitching slowed him down to a .263 average to this point, but an extra base hit right here might make him a St. Louis Game 7 hero. As Cain started to deliver the first pitch, he stepped off and did that check on 3rd, check on 1st move real quick (which is now illegal), trying to catch Freese on first base sleeping. But, like every other time in the history of baseball, the move didn’t work. The true first pitch to Kozma was high fastball. Second pitch was a swing and a miss on a lazy slider that could have been smashed. Cain was lucky to get away with that one. The third pitch was the same slider just a bit higher called for a ball. 2-1 now to Kozma. Not the end of the world if you walk him here. Kozma swings and misses on a fastball inside for strike 2. Now Giants fans rise out of their seats, waving their orange rally towels, smelling a garlic fry covered strikeout. Cain looks in to Posey for too long and Kozma steps out. Big pitch coming. Once Buster and Cain are on the same page, Cain delivers and the 2-2 pitch is a ball in the dirt. Full count now.

On the next pitch a lot of stuff happens. Firstly, Descalso runs on the pitch with a good jump. Secondly, Kozma strikes out swinging on an 87 mph slider. Third, Posey jumps out of the crouch faking a throw to second base. Anticipating a throw to second, Molina takes a small step towards home plate. Without breaking stride, Posey fires to third base and throws a gem right to Sandoval covering. Molina dives back into third just before Panda slaps the tag on him. Sandoval, Cain, Buster, and 43,000 Giants fans all think Yadier’s out but third base umpire Greg Gibson emphatically raises his arms calling him safe. That was close! Buster almost Molina’d Molina.

Now the Cards had guys on 2nd and 3rd with 2 outs but pitcher Kyle Lohse was batting now. Should be an easy out for Cain, right? First pitch to Lohse is a slider that he chops foul past Panda, 0-1. Lohse steps out of the box like a hitter, thinking about this AB. Cain’s just trying to end this inning. Next pitch is a fastball blown right by him, strike 2. Fans get loud now. The third pitch is a fastball taken on the outside, but Lohse wanted to swing really bad. 1-2 now. Cain might be able to throw anything now. On the 4th pitch, Lohse hits a soft liner towards Crawford. Off the bat this looks like trouble. I remember watching the ball leave the bat and thinking “Oh no. That’s 2 runs” as it approached Crawford at deep short. Brandon, using every centimeter of his height, jumps straight up and snags it, stopping it from landing in the outfield grass and preventing a Cardinals lead. What a play from the Giants’ short stop (who wouldn’t win a Gold Glove until 2015). A single cheerio fewer for breakfast and that ball’s over his head. Craw’s catch might have made a difference in this game and helped decide which team would represent the NL in the World Series. Obviously the Giants scored 9 runs in this game so 2 runs in that spot for the Cardinals wouldn’t have changed the final score of the game, but it definitely cut the Cards’ momentum and pumped the Giants up.

The Most Important Inning – Offensively

Game 7’s are scary. So much rides on every pitch. Watching these games as a fan was a real work out. Having a 2-0 lead was great, but, in a game like this, you really want to stomp on them early to calm the nerves. The bottom of the 3rd inning started with the Giants up 2-0, scoring every inning so far and Lohse was at 38 pitches. Leading off the inning was the soon-to-be-named series MVP Marco Scutaro. So of course he singles to right field on the first pitch of the inning. On the next pitch Panda doubled down the left field line and the Giants were in business with Buster Posey coming to the plate. Buster would work a 6 pitch walk (great at bat candidate) to load the bases for Pence, and that’s all for Kyle Lohse.

In comes Joe Kelly who’s about to throw one the most famous pitches in Giants history. Hunter Pence digs into the box as only Hunter Pence does. The bases are loaded and he can really break the game open here with a homer, ball in the gap, base hit, or, as it turns out, a little broken bat grounder right at short stop. Kelly greets Pence with 94 mph in on the hands. It’s a great pitch and it breaks Hunter Pence’s bat. But this bat will not go gently into that good night. In fact, no human could have known this, but the super slow motion replay showed his bat hitting the ball 3 times! The ball essentially “rolled” off his bat which put some unearthly spin on the ball. Initially it appears the trajectory of this ball will take it to the right of Pete Kozma, but the english the broken bat put on the ball makes it curve to the right and Kozma never touches it! It rolls into shallow right center field scoring Scutaro and Panda easily. The ball almost stops rolling by the time Jay gets to it, and he over runs it allowing Posey to come all the way around from first base! Duane Kuiper may have said, “They all score!”.

It was now 5-0 Giants and Pence was on 2nd with nooooobody out. Belt swings at the first pitch and chops it over the mound. Kelly jumps for it with his barehand and it glances off, continuing up the middle. By the time Descalsco gets it, Belt reaches 1st with no play. It’s all Giants now. Gregor Blanco is up next and will eventually work a 7 pitch walk (great at bat candidate). The bases are now loaded up again for Crawford. Giants hitters must have had a talk and decided to attack early this inning because Crawford is the 5th guy to put the first pitch of the at bat in play this inning. This time, Craw hits a chopper over the mound that Kozma cuts off and comes home with it. With Pence’s speed, Kozma has no chance to get him at home and he scored well ahead of the throw making it 6-0 Giants. Man, are we having fun now!

Here’s Cain, batting with a six run lead. He will quickly strike out on 4 pitches for the 1st out of the inning (it took 22 pitches to get the first out). Back to the top of the order and it’s Angel Pagan with the bases still loaded. Like Blanco, Pagan puts up a hell of an at bat that ends on the 7th pitch as he rolls one right at Kozma. Kozma fields it but underhands it very high to Descalso at 2nd who has to reach way up to grab it, slowing down his ability to turn the double play. He gets a throw off to first but it’s late and in the dirt, Belt scores and it’s 7-0 San Francisco. What a half inning! Scutaro comes up again and works a walk and that’s all for Joe Kelly as he comes in and faces 7 guys giving up 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 runs (the other 3R belonged to Lohse). Matheny would bring in Edwin Mujica and he’d get Panda to lineout to first to end the inning, but by that time this ballgame was over.

The 9th

Although the final 18 innings of this NLCS were all Giants, it was a battle to get here. There were one loss away from going home 5 times throughout the postseason already, and now they were 3 outs away from winning their 6th. An incredible journey for this team. The 9th inning started with Javy Lopez on the mound who came in to end the 8th inning by striking out Tony Cruz. As the inning started, so did the rain. It had been a perfect night at the yard, but now a huge downpour was expected. Hopefully Javy can make this a quick inning. Well, Kozma lead off and drew a long 7 pitch walk. Then it was Skip Shumaker who quickly went to 2-0. This inning was not moving quickly. Now it’s RAINING and there’s still no outs. Lopez eventually evens the count on him to 2-2, and on the 5th pitch gets Skip to chop one to Scutaro right near 2nd base who flips to Craw for the force out, 1 away. Now Jon Jay steps in the box as it starts to absolutely pour. Any other game would have gone into a delay, but not Game 7 with a 9 run lead.

As a fan, the 2010 postseason was a grind but it wasn’t like what we went through in 2012. Not only did the Giants have to play in so many elimination games but they lost the first two games of the postseason and had their backs up against the wall on the road immediately. But they kept finding ways to win. In both series’ against the Reds and Cards, I was preparing myself for the inevitable loss and end to our season but it never came. Giants fans were a mess by the time we got to Game 7. So when it started to rain in the 9th, it was as if 43,000 fans were cleansed of the blood, sweat, and tears they were covered in over the last 12 games. A shower to end all showers. The rain that fell that inning was the hardest I had ever seen it in any baseball game ever, but I also didn’t really care. No one did. 43,000 people were completely soaked but there were also 43,000 orange towels in the stadium so they were covered.

Is Jon Jay still batting? Lopez gets him looking on a ball right on the outside corner. I don’t know how anyone can hit a big league pitch in this deluge. Now Carlos Beltran digs into the swimming pool. Water up to his knees. Lopez starts him with 2 balls not close. Must be hard to get a good grip now. He’s thrown 22 pitches already, a lot for a lefty specialist, but Bochy really wants him out there for the final out. On a 3-1 count Javy misses way outside again and there’s 2 on and 2 out. That’s it for Lopez who now doesn’t need to hit the showers as he could have washed his hair out there if pitchers were allowed to have shampoo on them.

After another long commercial break while it continues to pour buckets we’re back with Romo on the mound to face Matt Holliday. Romo must have been able to grip the baseball because he gets a quick 0-2 on Holliday. The fans are loud now, drowning out the sound of the rain. The third pitch to Holliday is spiked into the dirt and goes all the way to the backstop moving the runners up. No matter. Let’s just get Holliday here. Romo comes set and throws a little slider on the inside that Holliday pops up. Romo turns and points at it while jumping in excitement. Scutaro waving his arms calling for it, backing up towards the grass, peering through giant drops of rain trying to lock onto the ball. Seconds later the ball falls into his glove and the Giants have won the pennant! They break into different jumping celebrations: one around Romo near the mound and another out near 2nd base with Scutaro as “Woohoo!” plays over the PA. Have you ever seen fireworks in the rain? Probably not unless you were there.

Odd Stats

Through the first 4 games of this series the Cardinals had outscored the Giants 18-15, but in games 5-7, the Giants outscored them 20-1 and 35-19 overall!

The Giants had finally won a Game 7 to boost their franchise record to 1-5 in Game 7s (they would do it again 2 years later). Kyle Lohse’s start was his worst of the year with a game score of only 24. He had only given up 5ER four other times all year and the Cards won all but one of those. The last time the Giants had won a game 9-0 was July 17, 2012 in a Zito start against the Braves.

Series MVP Marco Scutaro was on absolute fire those 7 games. His final NLCS line:

7 Games, 14-28 (.500), 6R, 4RBI, 3 2B, 2BB, 17TB, 1.140 OPS

In the NLDS agains the Reds he was only 3-20 (.150) and in the World Series he was held to just 4 hits in 16 at bats for a .250 average. He was seeing beach balls in the NLCS.

In this game when Cardinals’ batters put the ball in play on the first pitch they went 1-5. The Giants went 4-6 on the first pitch and all 4 hits came in the 3rd. In fact, 4 of the the first 5 Giants to bat in the bottom of the 3rd got a hit on the first pitch.

A Great At Bat

The bottom of the 3rd could have been far less fun without a great at bat from MVP Buster Posey. Buster came up with guys on 2nd and 3rd and nobody out (my favorite scenario). It would be very easy for a guy to come to the plate in this situation and try to do too much and end up striking out. But not Buster. This at bat started with a meeting on the mound about how to approach the Giants catcher. First pitch too him was low and away for a ball. Easy take for Buster and a gift. Buster has a big swing and miss on the 2nd pitch and fouls it off, 1-1. He was just under that one. The 1-1 is an offspeed pitch outside for ball 2. The 4th pitch of the at bat is the same pitch as the 3rd and the count runs to 3-1. Not giving in to a fastball, Lohse throws another offspeed pitch is fouled away. The final pitch of the at bat is a fastball way outside for the walk, loading the bases for Pence. It doesn’t seem like a great at bat in the scheme of things, but a younger or more aggressive batter might have swung at a couple balls right there and struck out or popped up. The fact that Buster only swung at strikes and was patient in such a huge spot really shows his intelligence in the box. You have Pence on deck, these runs aren’t up to you. Just keep the line moving. Although the Pence at bat is what everyone will remember, Buster allowed it to be as huge as it was. Plus Pence’s AB was only 1 pitch while Buster saw 6. Way to be, Bust!

Other Notables

This game was also notable for me as the woman who always sat behind us asked to take a photo of me and my dad after the Giants had won. To this day it’s my favorite photo of me and the old man as we soaked up another National League championship.

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Next Blog: 2012 World Series Game 1 – January 31, 2020

On December 29, 2006, Barry Zito was signed by the Giants to a 7 year $126 million contract, the highest ever paid to a pitcher at the time. Zito won the AL Cy Young in 2002 and was a 3 time All Star before coming across the bay. As he was 29 in his first year as a Giant, many fans thought he was past his prime and it was silly to give him so much money over almost a decade. As the 2007 season started, it seemed the fans were right as he went 11-13, under .500 for the first time in his career. In 2008, he lead the league in losses with 17 posting a 5.15 ERA. Over the next 3 seasons he would go 22-31 with a 4.31 ERA and gave up a HR once every 9 innings.

Entering 2012 a now 34 year old Zito was trying to prove he could still pitch. His first start came in Colorado, the scariest yard to play in if you’re a Giant. But Zito came in and threw a complete game shutout on 114 pitches for an 83 GSc (it would be his highest GSc of the year). He would win 3 of his first 4 starts. Then in the second half of 2012 he was on fire as he went 12-3, beating the Dodgers twice. From August 7th on he didn’t lose a game winning 11 straight decisions for a final record of 15-8, the most wins for him (16) since his final season with the A’s. This is what the $126 million was for. Now he just needed to replicate his regular season performance in October. Easy right? In his first start agains the Reds in NLDS Game 4 he was only able to get through 2.2 innings allowing 4 hits, 2 runs, and 4 walks on 76 pitches! The Reds made him work. That was an elimination game and now, 9 days later, he was on the mound for the Giants trying to save their season in their next elimination game: NLCS Game 5 in St. Louis. Let’s talk about that one.

The Most Important Inning – Defensively

Unlike every game in Cincinnati, the first inning in Game 5 in St. Louis was not very stressful as Zito got through it on 16 pitches. But the scariest inning for him was right around the corner. This Cardinals lineup featured guys like Yadier Molina, Matt Holliday, Carlos Beltran, and 2011 World Series hero David Freese. Molina and Freese were due up to start the bottom of the 2nd and after 2 pitches the Cards had guys on 2nd and 3rd and no one was even close to out. Yadi, with some 6-16 career ownage on Zito, singled to center, and Freese hit a bloop down the right field line that a diving Pence just couldn’t reach. With anyone else running it would be 1-0 Cards but Yadi had none speed. It was time to dig deep. Being down 2-0 in this elimination game wasn’t in the script and Bochy was pacing around early. Daniel Descalso was coming to the plate and he could smell RBIs and a trip to the World Series. It was lefty vs. lefty and Zito’s first pitch missed outside, ball 1. Then he drops a curve ball that just nicks the bottom of the zone for a strike. Zito clearly not trying to give him anything good to hit. Descalso fouls off the 1-1 and is now behind in the count on a well placed fastball on the outside. Zito, working rather quickly, shakes Buster twice then they agree. Another curve ball is fouled away, this one in the dirt. A good job by Descalso to even get a piece of that one. Zito’s got him right where he wants him now. The next 1-2 is a fastball that Descalso has to lean out of the way of as it was way high. A bit of an overthrow by Barry. The crowd gets on Zito for that one. 2-2 now, don’t let him get away here. On the 6th pitch of the AB Zito blows an 84 mph fastball by Descalso who was just under it. A scary pitch as it was up in the zone, but it was just too up for the Cardinals second baseman. One out.

The Giants then walk Pete Kozma to load the bases for starting pitcher Lance Lynn. Zito drops a little slider on the outside for strike one. Then on a big curveball Lynn breaks his bat as he hits a chopper right at Crawford who easily turns 2 with Scutaro to get Zito out of the inning. Kozma came in hard at second but Scutaro was too slippery and made a good throw to Belt. You gotta think that Matheny should have told Lynn to not even swing in that scenario. Bases loaded 1 out with your pitcher up in a playoff game? Make him strikeout so you can have your leadoff guy go up with a chance to drive in a couple. Don’t let your pitcher end the inning like that! Come on, Matheny! That’s why we hired Kapler! From the end of the 2nd through the 8th, Zito never faced more than 4 batters an inning. Quite the performance.

The Most Important Inning – Offensively

Entering the top of the 4th inning, Lance Lynn was dealing. He was at 38 pitches and had struck out 4 Giants in a row and had yet to give up a hit. But that was all about to change and it was started with the series MVP Marco Scutaro. On a 1-2 count Scutaro lined one into right field for the Giants first hit of the game. Then came the soon to be World Series MVP Pablo Sandoval and he rips the 2nd pitch of the at bat into right field as well and it’s 2 on and nobody out for the season MVP Buster Posey. What could be better? Well, Posey would strike out on 3 pitches, Lynn’s 6th strike out. Now, Hunter Pence has never been an MVP, but he was about to good things regardless! Hunter takes ball 1 and Molina jogs out to the mound. After a chat, Lynn throws another sharp breaking ball that Pence drills foul down the left field line. Pence looks hitterish, ready to go. The 50th pitch of the game is a swing and a miss by Pence on a slider that was 6 inches outside. Now it’s 1-2. Lynn fires a fastball right in the same spot as the slider but Pence takes and it’s a ball, 2-2. Then something magical happened. It was on the very next pitch that the rest of the postseason went the Giants way. It’s not often you can pinpoint these things, but when I look back on it, this was the play where it all changed. Lynn, always looking really sweaty had 2 strikes on Pence and on the 5th pitch of the at bat, Pence hits a soft little chopper that Lynn comes off the mound and makes a play on. With Panda’s speed at first, he’s got time to throw to second base and that’s exactly what he does: throws the ball right at second base. The base. And no one’s there! The ball bounces off the base and rolls into shallow center field. Scutaro scores easily, and Panda, after colliding with Kozma, takes third and it’s 1-0 Giants. A bizarre play you may never see again.

Belt would make a quick appearance in this inning as he hit a little tiny pop up to 2nd base on the first pitch. Now back to the action. Gregor Blanco is up now with guys on 2nd and 3rd. Blanco puts up a great AB as he eventually walks on 5 pitches. Lynn seemed to have lost his stuff when his throw hit the bag as several of those pitches to Blanco weren’t even close. Matheny starts to stir as Crawford digs in with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Lynn’s now at 58 pitches as the Giants have made him throw 20 this inning. Crawford takes a ball low and Molina goes out to have another talk. Big moment in this game now as the Cardinal bullpen gets throwing. Craw takes the second pitch for a strike, then the next two are outside to make it 3-1 now. More easy takes on balls. Lynn’s lost it and Craw’s in a great hitter’s count. Next pitch, Crawford fouls off a fastball right down the middle, full count. The crowd gets up and gets loud, also waving white surrender towels just like the Reds fans! Crazy! On the full count pitch to Crawford, Lynn leaves a slider up that catches a little too much of the zone and Craw hits a low liner right back up him into center. Panda scores, Pence scores, and Blanco takes 3rd! A huge 2 strike, 2 out, 2 RBI rap for Craw to put the Giants up 3-0. Those 3 runs would be more than the Cardinals would score the rest of the series! This brought up Zito (#RallyZito) who was not content to just go up and strike out. He swings and misses on the first pitch, wanting RBIs of his own. Or maybe that was his plan. Swing at the first pitch so they don’t think you’re going to bunt. He’s clearly going to see strikes. As Zito gets back in the box, a very observant fan may have noticed him checking out where Freese was playing at 3rd. Freese was way deep, not expecting the bunt. On the second pitch from Lynn, Zito turns around to bunt at the last moment and drops down a gem right down the third baseline! Freese picks it barehanded and throws to first but it’s late and high, pulling Craig off the base, and Blanco scores making it 4-0!

That was it for Lynn and he cannot get through 4 innings again as the Giants tagged him for 4 runs in the 4th in Game 2 back in San Francisco. It’s not often a pitcher knocks out another pitcher in the postseason but Zito did it tonight and it was the last time Lynn pitched in 2012.

The Biggest Hit

The biggest hit in this game came in the 4th inning we just talked about as Brandon Crawford drove in 2 runs with his base hit to center. That was huge for Craw as he had just gone 2-11 in the NLDS against Cincinnati and was at this point 3-14 against the Cards. He was grinding, seeing a lot of pitches, and finally came through with guys on base. Although they weren’t the winning runs of this game (technically) they did make it much easier on Zito and Bochy the rest of the way. Plus it’s huge mentally for a guy struggling like that. Way to come through, Craw.

Odd Stats

This was the 4th elimination game the Giants had won in a row. Over this wonderful six year run of Giants baseball (2010-2016), they won 9 consecutive elimination games out scoring opponents by 39 runs! That doesn’t sound like the Giants. Don’t we win every game by 1 run? In that stint Giants pitching shut out opponents 4 times!

In Game 4 of this series the Cardinals scored off Jeremy Affeldt in bottom of the 7th, and then over the next 19.1 innings scored only a single run off Giants’ pitching (Allen Craig RBI single off Vogey in T6 of G6). Meanwhile, the Giants were crushing as they scored 21 runs in that same span! That’s how you win a pennant. The Cardinals were only shutout at home twice all year: a 4-0 loss to the Phillies on May 26, and they took a 15-0 pounding by Vogey and the Giants on August 8. Zito’s Game Score of 72 was his highest of his final 17 starts of the year, including his brilliant start against the Tigers in Game 1 of the World Series.

A Great At Bat

Pablo Sandoval was hot in the postseason. He tallied 7 hits against the Reds batting .333 and had 5 more hits in the NLCS already. He had homered late in Game 4 the night before in an 8-3 loss and was looking to make another impact tonight. By the 8th inning of Game 5 he was 1-3 and set to lead off against Mitchell Boggs. On the first pitch Boggs snuck a slider that just scraped the outside for strike one. Panda backs out of the box grimacing about the call, already down 0-1. The second pitch was an easy take outside to even the count. Then Panda fouls 95 from Boggs right off Molina’s glove for strike two. On the 4th pitch, Sandoval lines one passed Craig at first base but it lands foul. He must have hit that one 105 miles an hour. Regardless, it’s a foul ball. Still 2 strikes on the Panda. Boggs kicks and deals a ball in the dirt, easy take, 2-2. Panda steps out and adjusts himself as a new baseball is tossed to Boggs. Ball 3 is an easy take outside to bring the count full. Panda being patient here, not like him. He digs in, waiting on Boggs. Wanting this at bat to end Boggs just throws 95 up and in over Sandoval’s hands but the Kung Fu Panda is too quick for that and won’t have it. Panda hacks at it like he’s been taking lumberjack lessons from Bumgarner and sneaks it around the foul pole and over the right field fence for a home run! Two homers in two games for the big fella. A great 7 pitch at bat from a guy who’s not known to take a lot of pitches. In this NLCS Panda batted .310 with 2 HR, and 6 RBI. He was on fire just in time to face Justin Verlander 5 days later. But the Giants would have to win 2 more games to do that and now they were coming home to AT&T Park.

Other Notable

I would like to note that as I was leaving work before Game 5 started, one of my coworkers was laughing and sarcastically said, “Good luck with Zito tonight!”. Without breaking stride I turned and said, “Zito’s gonna go out and throw the best game of his life tonight.” I felt bad calling it out loud because I’m superstitious like that, but it was the prediction of the year.

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Next Blog: 2012 NLCS Game 7 – January 24, 2020

On July 31, 2012 the Giants acquired Hunter Pence from the Phillies and the newest member of the #ForeverGiant club had arrived. Pence was a last minute trade deadline guy who instantly became a fan favorite. It wasn’t long before you saw number 8 jerseys around the yard. But Pence underperformed through the end of the year going 48-219 (.219), 7HR, 28R, 45RBI, and 60SO. But the Giants went 38-21 in that span finishing 1st in the NL West with 94 wins, 8 games ahead of the Bums. Hunter Pence meant more than just a bat and a glove. He’s a rare mix of on field talent and cheerleader. A great “clubhouse guy” as they say. Always positive, always optimistic, if not a bit quirky. One of the best descriptions I ever heard of Pence running was “he looks like a toaster falling down stairs”. No one will remember Pence struggling to end the regular season, but they will always recall his pregame speech before Game 3 of the NLDS in Cincinnati. The Giants, despite being home for the first two games of this series (odd because the Reds had more wins than them and started on the road), were flat. Almost like they forgot how to play baseball. Johnny Cueto started Game 1 against us and only threw 6 pitches before coming out of the game with an injury. I thought for sure the Giants would beat up the Reds pen on short notice, but Sam LeCure threw 1.2 innings and 27 pitches and got the W! Sam LeCure! The Giants were held to 7 hits by 6 different Reds pitchers. The most important part of this game was Posey taking Mat Latos deep to lead off the 6th (a little foreshadowing) but they ultimately lost 5-2 as Matt Cain took a rare L. Game 2 is hardly worth mentioning as the Giants suffered the worst lost (9-0) of their three magical postseason runs. We’re here to talk about Game 3 anyway so let’s play ball.

The Most Important Play

Boy if you were nervous before this game started the bottom of the 1st must have cut your life expectancy by 3 years. Remember, this was the Division Series and the Giants were one loss away from being eliminated. The Reds just destroyed us at home and now here we are in Cincinnati trying to win three in a row. The Reds never lost 3 consecutinve games at home all year and Homer Bailey, the Giant slayer, was on the mound. He had just thrown a no hitter against the Pirates (and would no hit the Giants the following year) and he almost threw another one in Game 3! The Giants didn’t get their first hit until the 6th and only had 1 through 9 innings. But we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s talk about this play in the 1st inning. Brandon Phillips lead off with a great 5 pitch at bat that ended with a single off Vogelsong. Vogey was 14-9 in 2012 with a 3.37 ERA and was 7-5 on the road. This was a break out year for him and he was as good as anyone to get a W for us. But this inning was stressful immediately as he was in the stretch. Zack Cozart came to the plate and Vogey eventually got him to 2-2. On the 6th pitch of the at bat, Phillips attempts to steal 2nd base as Vogelsong throws a terrible curveball in the dirt that Posey doesn’t even touch and it rolls all the way to the backstop. Phillips hardly broke his stride as he reached 2nd as Posey hadn’t even got to the ball yet. When Buster finally reaches it, he’s on the dirt warning track about 50 feet behind home plate and Brandon Phillips is sprinting to 3rd! Buster takes one step and fires an absolute bullet to Panda at 3rd. The ball beats Phillips by plenty as Sandoval swipes the tag all over him.

An incredible play from Buster Posey to hustle to that ball and put a perfect throw on it. So the first out was made at 3rd base which was too bad for the Reds because Cozart walked 2 pitches later, bringing up Joey Votto. Votto would fly out but then Ludwick and Jay Bruce both singled to score Cozart before Vogey eventually struck out Scott Rolen on 8 pitches. The final score of this game was 2-1 Giants. If Brandon Phillips stops at 2nd base and is never tagged out at 3rd, the Reds would have scored twice in the 1st preventing the tenth inning, where the Giants took the lead, from ever happening. Buster’s throw basically saved the season (at least for one game). Vogelsong threw 30 pitches in that 1st inning but only gave up the one run. His final line was 5 IP, 3H, 1ER, 3BB, 5SO, 95 pitches for a GSc of 59. He battled.

The Most Important Hit

Well, there are only 3 hits to choose from and only 1 came in the first 9 innings (Scutaro 2 out single in T6). But the other 66% of our hits came in the 10th! I’m going to talk about one of those. Tonight it’s Hunter Pence. Pence, as you may recall, became famous for his pregame dugout speeches to fire up the boys. Game 3 of the NLDS was the first time he did this as the Giants were a game away from elimination. Looking at the offensive totals, it would seem his rally cry didn’t get the bats going as he hoped. But it sure fired up any pitchers who were listening. The Giants pitching was the only reason we were still playing in the 10th. The Reds scored 1 in the 1st and then nothing since. Vogey went 5, Affeldt 2, Casilla and Lopez split the 8th, and Romo the 9th. They had held the 97 win Reds to 1 hit from the 2nd inning on! So here we are in the 10th inning in Ohio, and Buster Posey had just singled off big old Jonathan Broxton to lead it off. Now here’s Pence who’s struck out twice and lined out to right. He digs in, bat waving back and forth, body all jittery. Broxton throws a high fastball but Pence turns around to bunt and like, hacks at it, fouling it off. That looked bad. Let’s not try that again. The 0-1 pitch was a fastball inside, no bunt attempt this time. Bochy clearly changing his mind. The 3rd pitch was a slider just low for ball two, a great take. 2-1 now to Hunter. After Pence fouls off the 4th pitch he starts limping around the batter’s box in discomfort. Trainer and Bochy come out and look at him, clearly looking at his left leg. Looks like a cramp in his calf that tightened up on the swing. The game stops for about 90 seconds as Pence stretches his leg. He slowly gets back in the box and Broxton is ready to go. The 2-2 pitch is low and Pence does a good job to lay off to bring the count full. Would be easy for a lot of guys to get hurt and then just swing and miss at the next pitch to get it over with. But not Pence. Not in this game. You can’t give a pregame speech like he did and then bow out. Set an example. Broxton steps and throws the 3-2 pitch and Pence shoots one just passed Rolen into left field and hobbles his way down to 1st base, clearly still in pain.

TBS showed a shot of the Giants dugout of Bumgarner holding a helmet as if he might pinch run for Pence. However, Hunter stayed in and it was now guys on 1st and 2nd with nobody out. So an injured Pence got the hit that put Buster in scoring position who would come around to score the winning run. If he doesn’t move Buster to 2nd the Giants don’t score and who knows how many more hitless innings those two teams would have played that night.

The Most Important E5

2012 was Scott Rolen’s final season. He had a hell of a career being the 1997 Rookie of the Year, 8 time Gold Glove winner, 7 time All Star, and finished 4th for MVP in 2004. In his last three seasons he was stellar with the glove, winning his final Gold Glove in 2010. With only 10 errors in 2012, he was due for a bad hop. We just talked about how the top of the 10th inning started so let’s jump back in where we left off. Belt was up after Pence and had never had a sacrifice bunt in his career plus he had some good swings earlier so Bochy elected to not bunt with him. Well, Belt struck out swinging for the first out. That brought up Forever Giant Xavier Nady who promptly struck out swinging on 3 fastballs. Ugly. Now with 2 outs here comes Joaquin Arias with Buster still out on 2nd. It’s gonna have to take a ball in the gap to score him with his speed. But when you win in the postseason sometimes you need the ball to bounce your way. You need a little bit of luck. The San Francisco Giants were due for some of that. On Broxton’s first pitch to Arias, catcher Ryan Hanigan botches the fastball inside and it rolls away allowing Buster and Hunter to move up! Now a base hit can score Posey easily. Or another passed ball! Or an error! A lot of pressure is on the defense now. Arias fouls away the next pitch to make it 1-1. Broxton has now slowed it way down. 20 seconds or more between pitches. Arias fouls off another one. 1-2 now. This is tense. Another big long break between pitches as the crowd waves their white towels (a sign of surrender?). On the 4th pitch Broxton throws 95 that runs in on Arias a bit. He swings, chopping it in the dirt with a big high bounce slightly towards Rolen’s left. With Arias’ speed Rolen is forced to play the short hop. But the ball came up on him and hit him in the chest, falling in front of him.

He barehands it after once bounce and fires to first late and Arias beats it out! Buster scores and the Giants take the lead! Seeing the safe call at first base Arias pumped his fists in celebration, the dugout fired up. For Rolen there was no other way to play that ball. He couldn’t wait back on it because of Arias’ speed. The only play was to charge it and hope the short hop doesn’t eat you up. It was just a perfectly placed little dinker that ended up winning a playoff game. Fans will forget that the next batter was Sergio Romo who struck out on 4 pitches, the only postseason plate appearance of his career. But Arias’ little dink saved the day and Hunter Pence got to play another game with Angel Pagan and saw what Ryan Theriot wore the next day.

Odd Stat

The Giants won Game 3 of the NLDS with 3 hits. In their 94 wins in 2012, they were only held to 3 hits or less five times. In those games they were 0-5. In fact when the Giants tallied 5 hits or less they were 4-19. Between Games 2 and 3 of the NLDS the Giants had a total of 5 hits and still managed to win a game. Incredible. The last time the Giants won a game while only getting 3 hits was on Sep 24, 2010 in Colorado when they also won 2-1 behind Lincecum. From 2010-2012 the Giants were held to 3 hits or fewer 22 times and were 1-21. Then they win a postseason elimination game on the road with 3 hits. Baseball is crazy.

In Game 4 of the NLDS the Giants had their 3rd hit before the top of the 2nd inning was over. I guess Homer Bailey was good that night.

A Great At Bat

I really want to give this award to Hunter Pence as well for his 10th inning AB, but I’m going to try real hard and not. Because there was so little offense in this game, I’m going to give it to Angel Pagan who had a huge situational plate appearance in the top of the 3rd. The Giants were down 1-0 and Homer Bailey gave the Giants a gift by hitting Blanco to start the inning. It must have thrown Bailey off because then he walked Brandon Crawford to put 2 on and 0 out. This brings up Vogey who of course puts a perfect bunt down on the first pitch to move the runners up. First pitch sac bunts are great momentum builders. So here’s Pagan with guys on 2nd and 3rd and 1 out. You cannot strike out. You cannot hit a tapper back to the pitcher. You cannot pop up. But you can hit a sac fly, and that’s exactly what he did. On the first pitch. It was the old fashioned move ’em over, move ’em in on 2 pitches technique. This ties the game and ultimately sends it into extras. If Pagan doesn’t come through then there’s 2 outs and you need a hit to score Blanco. If we don’t score that inning and that could have been the ballgame. So a really good job by Pagan to not miss a pitch he could drive. Great at bat.

Hunter Pence’s Speech

This is what Pence said in the clubhouse according to 3rd base coach Tim Flannery,

“Get in here, everyone get in here… look into each other’s eyes… now! Look into each other’s eyes. I want one more day with you. It’s the most fun, the best team I have ever been on, and no matter what happens we must not give in. We owe it to each other. Play for each other. I need one more day with you guys. I need to see what Theriot will wear tomorrow, I want to play defense behind Vogelsong because he’s never been to the playoffs… play for each other not yourself. Win each moment, win each inning. It’s all we have left.”

– Hunter Pence before 2012 NLDS Game 3

Other Notables

There were two guys named Xavier that played in this game: Nady and Paul.

The visiting team won every game of the 5 game series.

If you’re wondering, from 2013-2019 the Giants record in games where they got 3 hits or less is 10-46.

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Next Blog: NLDS Game 5 – January 13, 2020