reCAP: World Series Game 4 – San Francisco Giants vs. Detroit Tigers

10/29/12

First off, I would like to congratulate the San Francisco Giants for winning the World Series. They earned that trophy with all of their hard work and determination. They had to overcome adversity throughout the first two rounds of their playoff run. In the NLDS, they had to come behind from a 2-0 deficit in the series to win the series 3-2 to advance to the NLCS. Following the division win, in the NLCS, they had to come from behind from a 3-1 deficit in the series to win the series 4-3 and advance to the World Series. At the end of the day, the World Series was the easiest playoff round the Giants had this year sweeping the Tigers 4-0.

In my Game 3 entry I predicted that this would be a low scoring pitchers’ duel. This game was not as low scoring as it was for the past 2 games. Last night’s final game of the series had offense.

Max Scherzer pitched a solid game. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, gave up 7 hits, 3 runs, 1 walk, and struck out 8 hitters. He only gave up a few mistakes in his outing. One mistake was leaving a fastball tailing towards the inner half of the plate to Hunter Pence. He shot a rocket into left centerfield for a ground rule double. You would think Scherzer would learn from that mistake not to throw anything inside towards the next hitter, which was Brandon Belt right? Guess what, he didn’t learn from his mistake. Belt hit a line drive into right field that almost cleared the wall for an RBI triple which made it 1-0 Giants.  The pitch was an inside fastball that tailed towards the middle of the plate. The last mistake that Scherzer had was hanging a slider over the middle of the plate to Buster Posey for a 2-run homer in the sixth inning that had the Giants take a 3-2 lead. The Tigers bullpen pitched well for most of this game until Phil Coke allowed, which turned out to be, the game-winning RBI single by Marco Scutaro in the 10^th inning to make it a 4-3 game.

Matt Cain pitched well in this game. He pitched 7 innings, gave up 5 hits, 3 runs, 2 walks, and struck out 5 hitters. I don’t think Matt Cain made too many mistake pitches like Scherzer did. All of the Tigers runs came on homeruns by Miguel Cabrera and Delmon Young. In the third inning, Cabrera hit a 2-run opposite field homerun that just cleared the fence in right field that was aided by the wind. The sixth inning looked more like a game of anything-you-can-do-I-can-do-better. When Buster Posey hit his 2-run homer, Delmon Young answered back with a solo homerun of his own to tie the game at 3 apiece. The Giants bullpen once again pitched brilliantly for 3 innings and left the Tigers hitless. They had only two more base runners in the game, which happened on a walk by Jeremy Affeldt and a hit batter by Santiago Casilla. Omar Infante was hit on the hand in the ninth inning and had to leave the game. He fractured his hand according to the MRI scan. In the end, Sergio Romo pitched the final inning of the World Series and threw the gutsiest pitch he’s ever thrown to the best hitter in the game, which is Cabrera. Romo threw a fastball down the middle of the plate that caught Cabrera looking to end the World Series.

Pablo Sandoval got the World Series MVP, which he rightfully deserved. He had a .500 batting average with 3 homeruns and 4 RBI’s in the World Series.

Prince Fielders gets the LVP (least valuable player) in my book. The highest paid hitter in the World Series could only muster one hit in 12 at bats.

Did the Giants deserve winning the World Series or was it simply luck? Sound off and have a nice offseason. I’ll be back with Phillies recaps on April 1, 2013. In the meantime, stay tuned for my football blogs and other interesting sports reCAPS.

reCAP: Week 8 – Atlanta Falcons vs. Philadelphia Eagles

10/28/12

This is my first Eagles blog entry and what a disappointment it was to watch that game. Atlanta came in with a 6-0 record and Philadelphia came in with a 3-3 record. Since 1999, under Andy Reid’s direction, the Eagles have had a 13-0 record following a bye week. Today that perfect record was broken. Could the blustery winds and the rainy condition put a dink on the Falcons perfect season? Could the bad weather give the Eagles an edge knowing that the Falcons play their home games in a dome? Would the running game be utilized more?

At the start of the game, the Falcons got the ball first and they had a long nine minute drive to start the game. The Falcons got a little help from the Eagles in which Jason Babin had a costly penalty that would have had the Falcons to punt. Babin got called for holding which is an automatic first down and kept the Falcons first drive alive. The Eagles bit on the screen pass that was intended for Julio Jones and forgot all about Drew Davis, who was replacing the injured Harry Douglas at wide receiver, as he scored on a 15 yard wide open touchdown pass thrown by Matt Ryan. The Eagles got the ball on offense only once in the first quarter and they had a three-and-out possession. The Eagles punt the ball and gave the Falcons good field position at their own 49 yard line. It seemed like the Eagles were getting stops on defense, but they could not stop the Falcons on third down plays and would commit costly penalties. On the Falcons second drive, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie committed two pass interference penalties that were costly and would eventually lead to a Falcons touchdown on a shovel pass from Ryan to Jason Snelling to make it 14-0.

It seemed like the Eagles were getting into a rhythm in the second quarter. They cut the lead to 14-7 on a LeSean McCoy 2 yard touchdown run. That didn’t help much when the Falcons on their first drive in the second quarter had a quick three play drive that resulted in a 63 yard touchdown pass by Ryan to Julio Jones to make it 21-7. The Eagles didn’t generate much on offense after that Falcons score. To end the half, the Falcons tacked on a field goal from 43 yards by Matt Bryant to make it 24-7.

When the third quarter started, the Eagles opened with a good drive that eventually led to a field goal from 33 yards by Alex Henery to make it 24-10. The big play on that drive came on a 32 yard reception from DeSean Jackson. After that field goal by the Eagles, the Falcons tacked on another field goal on their first drive of the quarter, this time from 29 yards to make it 27-10. The big play on that drive came from Julio Jones on a 37 yard reception. Also on that drive the Eagles finally recorded a sack by Cedric Thornton. It was the Eagles first sack since week 3.

The Falcons first drive in the fourth quarter was a long drive that resulted once again in a field goal from 30 yards to make it 30-10. The big play in that drive was a 43 yard run by Jacquizz Rodgers that put the Falcons in field goal range. The Eagles had close to an eight minute drive that resulted in a LeSean McCoy seven yard touchdown reception thrown by Michael Vick to make the score and ultimately the final score 30-17. The Eagles were making stops on the Falcons offense late in the quarter causing them to have two three-and-out drives, but it was too late and the Eagles did not execute on offense from those defensive stops.

In conclusion to what I said at the top of this entry, the weather seemed to have no ill effect on the Falcons and they utilized the running game a lot more than the Eagles did. As Andy Reid said after the game, it was an “embarrassing performance” by the Eagles.

I ask you all this, is the Eagles season finished? How long will the Falcons keep their perfect season? Sound off and stay tuned to my next Eagles entry when they play the New Orleans Saints on Monday Night Football.

reCAP: World Series Game 3 – San Francisco Giants vs. Detroit Tigers

10/27/12

Game 3 was the same story as Game 2. Just as I expected it would be a pitching duel. I said in my last entry that both Anibal Sanchez and Ryan Vogelsong were having strong postseasons this year and it would be a pitching duel with very little offense. In this game all it took was one bad inning for Sanchez to get the Giants on the scoreboard. All two runs tonight were scored in the second inning.

As much as Sanchez pitched a solid game there were questions after the second inning as he went into the Tigers clubhouse in disgust whether he was injured or not. Turns out he was angry at how he performed in the second inning. After he released his anger, he pitched five shutout innings and pitched seven innings in total. He gave up 6 hits, 2 runs, 1 walk and 8 strikeouts. The bullpen surprisingly pitched well by Joaquin Benoit and Phil Coke. Both pitchers combined pitched 2 innings, allowed 1 hit, and struck out 4 hitters. The Tigers had their chances tonight against Vogelsong, but would ground into double plays or strike out in pivotal moments in the game. In the first inning the Tigers had runners on first and second base with one out and Prince Fielder, the team’s highest paid hitter, grounded into a critical double play that ended the inning. In the third inning it was the same situation as the first inning and light hitting Quintin Berry grounded into a critical double play. Lastly, in the fifth inning the Tigers had the bases loaded with 1 out and Quintin Berry struck out and Miguel Cabrera, who won the Triple Crown Award (led the AL in batting average, homeruns, and RBI’s), hit a weak pop out to shortstop to end the inning. That was the last hope the Tigers had before the Giants relievers shut them down for 3 1/3 innings. If the Tigers want to win just one game in this World Series, they need to start hitting because the pitching has been showing up.

Ryan Vogelsong has been having quite a wonderful postseason ride. However this game he pitched he was not as sharp as he was in the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals. He pitched 5 2/3 shutout innings, allowed 5 hits, 4 walks, and struck out 3 hitters. As I said before, he escaped danger in three of the 5 2/3 innings he pitched. You know who has been a surprise out of the bullpen for the Giants? Tim Lincecum. He and Sergio Romo combined to pitch 3 1/3 shutout innings, walked 1 hitter and struck out 4 hitters and did not allow a hit. The scoring in the second inning happened when Hunter Pence got a single into left field. Pence stole second base after Brandon Belt struck out and, when Gregor Blanco was hitting, Pence went to third base on a passed ball by Tigers catcher Alex Avila. Gregor Blanco hit a rocket into right field that hit off the giant wall and got an RBI triple. After Hector Sanchez struck out, Brandon Crawford laced an RBI single into centerfield that scored Gregor Blanco. I said in Game 1 that the Giants needed the bottom of the lineup to contribute with the top of the lineup to have a balanced offense. Well, the exact opposite happened. The bottom of the Giants lineup had five of their seven hits in the game.

Game 4 is on Sunday in Detroit. The pitching matchup is Matt Cain vs. Max Scherzer. This should be another one of those low scoring pitchers’ duels like we have seen in the past 2 games.

Will Detroit’s postseason run end tomorrow or will they live another day? Sound off and stay tuned for my reCAP of Game 4.

I will also be writing about the Philadelphia Eagles game against the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow.

reCAP: World Series Game 2 – Detroit Tigers vs. San Francisco Giants

10/25/12

Game 2 was very different than Game 1. Game 1 had a surprising performance at the plate by Pablo Sandoval hitting 3 homeruns in the game. Justin Verlander got taken out of the game after pitching 4 innings. Did you expect Game 2 to be the same offensive outburst the Giants had last night? Did you expect the Tigers pitching to be horrendous? I did not think that. I said coming into Game 2 that Doug Fister was having a strong postseason this year and the Tigers had to expect the same results that Fister gave the Tigers throughout the entire postseason. I did question Madison Bumgarner’s ability to pitch successfully in the postseason and albeit he pitched phenomenally in 2010 for the Giants in the World Series he was having the opposite outlook this postseason. Last thing I said about the Giants was that the bottom of the lineup had to contribute to go along with the success that the top of the lineup was having in Game 1.

If you like pitching, this was your kinda game. If you like a game that has a lot of runs scored, this was not your cup of tea. The starters in this game were fantastic. Doug Fister pitched 6 shutout innings of baseball before he got into trouble in the 7^th inning. Fister’s box score line was 6 plus innings, 4 hits, 1 run, 1 walk and 3 strikeouts. What you won’t see in the box score is that he got hit in the head on a line drive hit in the 3^rd inning and stayed in the game. The bullpen of the Tigers was once again troubling. Drew Smyly relieved Fister in the 7^th and had a shaky game. Smyly’s box score line was 1 1/3 innings pitched, 1 hit, 1 run, 3 walks and 2 strikeouts. Octavio Dotel pitched 1 out in the 8^th inning. Phil Coke pitched the last out of the game for the Giants in the 8^th.

The Giants had better plate discipline than the Tigers and swung at “their” pitch. They got a break in the game when Gregor Blanco got a bunt base hit in the 7^th inning that loaded the bases with no outs. They scored all of their runs on outs. They scored a run on a double play which does not count as an RBI in the box score. I had a problem with how the Tigers’ fielders were aligned which I will discuss later. The only RBI in the game was from Hunter Pence and that was from a sacrifice fly in the 8^th inning. Madison Bumgarner was fantastic in Game 2. He had great command with his pitches. He pitched 7 shutout innings and gave up 2 hits and 2 walks with 8 strikeouts on his box score line. Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo pitched great out of the bullpen in the 8^th and 9^th inning.

I do have a gripe with Tigers manager Jim Leyland and 3^rd base coach Gene Lamont. First off, when Prince Fielder got hit by a pitch in the 2^nd inning and was on first base and Delmon Young hit a double into left field, why did Lamont send Fielder, a heavy-set player from first base to home to score a run? They should have had 2 runners on second and third base with no outs in the inning. Lastly, in the 7^th inning, why would Leyland align his infielders in a double play depth and not move his infielders in when the Giants had the bases loaded with no outs? If they had the infield in, they could have gotten a double play (which they did at second and first base) at home and first base.

Game 3 is on Saturday in Detroit. The pitching matchup is Ryan Vogelsong vs Anibal Sanchez. Both pitchers have had an incredible postseason so I expect another pitching duel with very little offense.

Do you guys agree that Jim Leyland and Gene Lamont ruined the chances of the Tigers winning Game 2? Sound off and stay tuned for my reCAP of Game 3.

reCAP: World Series Game 1 – Detroit Tigers vs. San Francisco Giants

 10/24/12

Tonight was a world of surprise. The surprise for the Tigers: Who would have thought Justin Verlander would have a lackluster performance in the World Series? The last time he looked this bad was in the all-star game to give the NL home field advantage in the World Series. Tonight, Verlander’s box score was 4 innings pitched, 6 hits allowed, 5 runs (all earned runs), 2 homeruns allowed, 1 walk, and 4 strikeouts. This is not a typical box score we are use to seeing in Verlander.  His velocity was there in his pitches, but his location and command were lost in Detroit. The excuse that will be thrown out there is that he had a long layoff and could not get into a rhythm that he’s accustomed to.

The Tigers bullpen made matters worse when Verlander was pulled from the game.  Al Albuquerque pitched stellar even though he allowed 1 homerun which I will talk about later in this piece. Jose Valverde was absolutely horrendous. He only pitched 1 out of an inning and gave up 4 hits and 2 runs and his only strikeout came against the pitcher. 

The positive out of all of this for the Tigers going into Game 2 is what they did in the 9^th inning when they tried to rally from an 8-1 deficit.  Jhonny Peralta hit a lucky 2-run homerun that glanced off Angel Pagan’s glove to make the score and ultimately the final 8-3. Maybe this could fuel the momentum in the Tigers favor if they build off on something that could bring them confidence in finding ways to win. Their pitching needs to step up as well with their hitting.

The surprise for the Giants was: Did anyone expect Pablo Sandoval to hit 3 homeruns in the World Series? Also, did anyone expect Barry Zito to pitch a stellar game? Pablo Sandoval, a notorious free swinger, has been in the zone this postseason with a .370 batting average with 6 homeruns and 13 RBI’s. This performance from Sandoval is coming from a guy who rode the bench in the 2010 playoffs due to his free swinging ways. 2 of Pablo’s homeruns were against Verlander who is arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball. His last homerun was against Albuquerque. The last time any player hit 3 homeruns in a game was in 2011 by Albert Pujols against the Texas Rangers.

10 of the Giants 11 hits came from the first 4 hitters in the Giants lineup in Angel Pagan, Marco Scutaro, Pablo Sandoval, and Buster Posey. The rest of the Giants lineup was dormant. The rest of the Giants lineup are aggressive free swingers. If they want to keep winning, they need contributions from the bottom of the lineup to not put too much pressure on the guys hitting at the top of the lineup.

The Giants pitching has been fantastic. Barry Zito has been on a hot streak and has not lost in his last 14 games counting the postseason. Tim Lincecum was a big surprise coming out of the bullpen pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings with no hits allowed and 5 strikeouts. The only blip from the bullpen was George Kontos pitching 1 out of an inning and allowed the Jhonny Peralta lucky 2-run homerun and allowed 2 hits and 1 walk. Otherwise, Jose Mijares and Jeremy Affeldt pitched well from the bullpen although I felt Bruce Bochy did not need to use 3 pitchers in the 9^th inning of a game that was already determined.  That reminded me of what Tony LaRussa would do with his pitchers.

Game 2’s starting pitching matchup will be Doug Fister (yes laugh at the last name) against Madison Bumgarner. Madison has not had a good postseason this year and had to be skipped in the rotation during the NLCS against the St. Louis Cardinals due to a bad performance in Game 1. Doug Fister has had a great postseason and the Tigers are looking for him to continue his postseason success in a must win in San Francisco.

Do you agree or disagree with my thoughts? Sound off and stay tuned for my reCAP of Game 2.