Vogelsong couldn't get it going, but neither could any of the Royals relievers. Then Petit shut them down, and that was the game. Nobody lost their cool (on the Giants, I'm sure all the fans did), and basically almost every hitter contributed something at some point in the game, or seemingly so. Apparently Sandoval was sick with something and still delivered. Jon Miller noted that the Giants scored more runs with two outs than any other team in the majors, and they delivered again in the playoffs.
I was wondering why Yost didn't go to Herrera in the 6th, but forgot that he had already pitched almost 60 pitches the past two games (though off day in between), so perhaps that was the reason. Whatever the reason, Yost had to go to a bunch of middle relievers, and if Giants fans don't trust Machi or Strickland much (though Hunter had a nice 9th inning), I don't think KC fans trust Frasor, Duffy, Finnegan, Collins much either. Shankbone made the great point on Twitter about Yost leaving in his lefties (Duffy, Finnegan, Collins) to get knocked around like that, couldn't have helped their confidence going forward, something to watch for going forward.
With such a huge lead, Bochy brought in Affeldt in the 7th and Romo in the 8th, and some twitters asked why he would do that. My best guess is that being down 1-2, he really needed to make sure that the Royals don't feel like they could come back in this game, especially with Affeldt with the lead at 7-4, a couple of baserunners and the tying run comes to bat. Romo is the bigger question mark, but there's still 6 more outs, and if they should get 3 runs, then they are only down 4 runs in the 9th.
Bochy went for the kill and I'm OK with that. It's the World Series, got to win the game, especially down 1-2. Then he went to Stickland in the 9th and he got the final 3 outs, and by then, even if they get 3 runs off him, it would still be a 4 run lead and you bring in your closer (but ideally not).
This is fine with me (I would note that I would have taken out Vogelsong sooner) because we got Bumgarner pitching and he's been lasting into the 7th or 8th inning in each start, and so we maybe only need Casilla to close out the game. In addition, there is an off day before game 6, giving our bullpen some rest. At worse, Lincecum can also be used to bridge from the starter to relievers, so he could fill in whatever innings between Bumgarner and Casilla, assuming we are leading.
A-List Affeldt
What a pitcher! Many questioned the signing of him (and the other key relievers) to $5M contracts, hopefully they understand now. He's now at 21 straight appearances without a run given up, only two runs away from Mariano Rivera, who holds the record at 23.
Game 5
Bumgarner has been an ace so far this season, 7+ IP in each start this post-season, lots of great starts, he's been stepping up.
Shields in contrast has not been an ace so far this season, struggling the whole time, with no DOM starts at all, he hasn't been even good at all in the post-season.
We better win this game, as we got Peavy and Hudson going for us in KC. If the Giants can win Game 5, I think we can get one win from Peavy or Hudson, but I don't believe that we can win two with the two in KC. It would be a gut punch if we lose. This is must win, back to the wall again, and I wouldn't want anyone else but Bumgarner starting for us.
And in KC, all hands on deck, particularly Petit, Lincecum, and Bumgarner. I expect to see quick hooks to stop any potential KC scoring opportunities. I expect Petit and Lincecum to come in early before too much damage could be done, could see Lopez really early to take down a lefty or two, Romo for taking down a righty or three.
Go Giants! Go Bumgarner!
No comments:
Post a Comment