Jake Peavy... nuff said...
ogc thoughts
Ugh, exactly what I was afraid of, Peavy implosion. Any interest I had in re-signing Peavy is pretty much gone. Once I found out that Peavy had his hand injury, I was hoping that Bochy would be shelved and that Petit would start instead.
I know Petit didn't do well, but I think he does better coming into an inning clean, he does not really have a lot of experience coming in with runners on and the need to stifle a rally. He could have been ampped up and that could have accounted for this result (not that he's world beating all the time, but he didn't sound like his normal self today). I would have preferred Lopez coming in at that point, he was warming up anyway and used to such pressures.
I think we could have won this game had Peavy been a good teammate and took one for the team and gave up his start so that Petit could start. Even better, I wish Bochy would have done what he had done previously and just sat Peavy down for the good of the team, and started Petit instead. I don't think we lose 10-0 with Petit starting, thought probably still lose, but you don't know how the offense was affected being down 7-0 like that so early.
And there was not really anything positive in this massacre shutout. All the relievers gave up at least a run, this was almost as bad as the Royals Game 4, except for Vogelsong, who actually contributed a shutout inning, Petit was finally hit against and Strickland gave up another homer. Hopefully Strickland's confidence didn't take too big a hit with this post-season, I still think he can do amazing things for us in the future, but this was a pretty big bump in the road for him.
The offense was shutdown, but, again, Ventura survived his wildness and the BABIP gods looked down on him nicely. He walked 5 and only struck out 4 in his 7 innings, so the Giants made a lot of contact, but once again they weren't falling in.
Game 7
This is why I advocate having multiple aces as an optimal way to advance in the playoffs. I thought Peavy could be that guy, but while he's that in the regular season, he's never been in the playoffs and still hasn't. Had Cain been his normal self, we would have him in Game 2 and 6, and instead of two losses, at least one would have been a win and we would be champions right now. Or had Lincecum decided that a $35M contract was reason enough for him to reconcile with his father and get his mechanics back to where it was when he was winning Cy Youngs, I could not believe the news when this was reported. We needed another pitcher to step up with Bumgarner and so far, in the World Series, nobody has.
So it's up to Hudson to step up where nobody else had. He has actually pitched well this post-season, the second best to Bumgarner. He had DOM starts in the NLDS and NLCS, and probably could have had one in the first World Series game except that he was ampped up in the early innings but then settled down for an OK 3 PQS start, but unfortunately, that was not enough to beat the Royals. If I had to bet, I would bet that he would deliver.
But as the Philliers learned in 2011, just because you have a DOM start does not mean that you will win.
Luckily (and Eric Byrnes said on the radio that he felt good about game 7, but not game 6), Guthrie is the opposing pitcher, and while he's been good at delivering DOM starts in the regular season, he has had two straight 2 PQS starts, and in both cases, he hardly struck out anyone. So I don't think he's likely to deliver a DOM start, though perhaps nerves got to him in his first World Series start and he'll deliver. In any case, he's also been able to limit the damage so far in the playoffs, so even if he don't deliver a DOM, if he can pitch like he has and just get to HDH, that could be good enough for them to win.
This is for all the marbles, and things are too much in the air to make a good guess at the results. Both starting pitchers could do well, or maybe not. Both bullpens have plenty of rest. Both lineups are dangerous. We just need the men in orange and black to perform and deliver.
Who will step forward for the Giants? Perhaps Posey can step up? Perhaps another Giants hitter can take over?
Ideally, Hudson will deliver a great DOM start, much like he did early in the season and early in the playoffs, and then I'll take my chances.
But if we are to win, we'll need someone to deliver a special moment of some sort, whether it be like Renteria's homerun or Sandoval's three homer game, or Ishikawa's three-run walk-off homer, some sort of lifting of his teammates to the finish line, to the World Championship. Or perhaps a Hudson special delivery.
That's what I'm hoping for.
Go Giants! Get us our third trophy in five years! #ThreeIsAGoodNumber
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