The Giants
just had a great comeback series where they trailed the Cincinnati Reds two
games to none and came back to win the series in five. It was a definitely a team effort for the
Giants to win this playoff series. It is hard to pick an MVP for this series
because so many players contributed at so many different moments in the series.
However, I am going to tip my cap to the Giants bullpen, which I think played
one of the biggest roles in this series victory if not the biggest.
The old saying goes that pitching
wins baseball games but the Giants starting pitchers did not pitch that great this
series. Matt Cain gave up three runs in five innings in game one including two
homers. Madison Bumgarner gave up four runs and seven hits in 4.1 innings in
game two. Barry Zito didn’t even get past the third inning in game four as he
gave up two runs, four hits, and four walks in 2.2 innings. Matt Cain did pitch
better in game five but he still gave up three runs after his team gave him a
six run lead and was unable to get past the sixth inning. Ryan Vogelsong
probably had the best performance of the starters giving up only one run but he
only lasted five innings as he had to battle throughout the game and raised his
pitch count quickly. Overall, the rotation did not perform as you would expect
on a team that has a reputation of having a great starting staff.
Since the starting pitchers didn’t
pitch deep into their games, the bullpen was used a lot and they did a great
job at shutting down the Reds and giving the Giants a chance to win games. In
many instances, they stopped the bleeding that was caused by the starter
pitchers. There were times when the Giants starting pitchers were giving up
runs and put men on base that could have easily led to high scoring innings.
Instead manager Bruce Bochy was had great timing on when to take out his
starters and bring in his relief pitchers. The relief pitchers responded with a
bang.
In game three when Vogelsong was
taken out, the bullpen did not give up a run in five innings. This kept the
Giants in the game while the score was tied for most of the day. In fact,
reliever Sergio Romo was the winning pitcher for that game. In game four after
Zito was being knocked around by the Reds batters, the game could have easily
turned ugly. Instead Tim Lincecum came in the third inning with the score 3-2
Giants. Lincecum would pitch 4.1 innings
of baseball and gave up only one run which allowed the Giants to keep their
lead over the Reds. Lincecum would be the winning pitcher of that game four
victory.
Then came game five and the Giants
had a six run lead in the fifth inning. Cain, who had been pitching well prior
to that six run output by the giants, started to struggle and gave up three
runs in the next two innings which put the Reds back into the game. Then relievers Kontos, Affeldt, Lopez, and
Casilla put up zeroes on the scoreboard setting up the game for Giants closer
Sergio Romo.
Romo was quick getting the first out
in the ninth inning but then he got into some trouble. He gave up a run and
then put two men on base with just one out, cutting the Red’s deficit to two
runs. I started having bad flashbacks of Romo from the 2010 postseason. I
remember he struggled in finishing an inning because he gave up many hits and
runs that postseason. While he had great pitching abilities, it seemed in 2010
when the game was on the line Romo didn’t respond well to pressure. Then I
started to worry about the current situation Romo got himself into and
wondering if he could close out a game.
That situation made me start to miss Brian Wilson. Wilson I felt
comfortable with as a closer because he proved in 2010 he can close out games
when the pressure was on. Romo didn’t
show that ability in 2010. So I said out loud, “Romo, this is your time to show
whether or not you’re a closer. This is
your time to prove you can get the job done.” Romo would go on to prove that my
worries were for nothing. He would get a
pop-up for the second out of the ninth and then he would strike out the next
batter for the last out of the game.
Romo proved that he is a closer today. He will get more chances to save
games in the next round and hopefully in the World Series too.
It is hard to pick an MVP for the
first round of the playoffs and luckily for the media, there is no official MVP
award given out for the first round of the playoffs. If there was, it would
have been tough to choose just one Giant player. If it was up to me, I would
give out the MVP to the Giants relievers. They kept the Giants in the game
during those three tough wins. Pitching wins games and for the Giants case it
was the relievers that won games. They
are the reason the Giants are moving on.
