Tag: 2010 MLB Playoffs (Page 5 of 6)

      Plenty of blame to go around for Giants’ collapse in Game 2 of NLDS

      October 9, 2010 /
      San Francisco Giants relief pitcher Brian Wilson (38) reacts to making an out in the 9th inning against the Atlanta Braves during Game 2 of their MLB National League Division Series baseball playoff game in San Francisco, California October 8, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      There’s no shortage of blame for the Giants’ collapse Friday night in Game 2 of the NLDS.

      Had Pat Burrell not turned Derrek Lee’s sixth inning single into a double by kicking the ball in left field, maybe the Braves don’t score on the next play to cut the Giants’ 4-0 lead to 4-1.

      Had Sergio Romo not allowed the only two batters he faced in the eighth to reach base, maybe Brian Wilson allow three runs to tie the game at 4-4.

      Had Pablo Sandoval honed his craft at third base during the regular season, he wouldn’t have helped Wilson give up those three runs by making a throwing error in that fatal eighth inning.

      Had Andres Torres played fundamental baseball and lifted a sac fly into the outfield instead of striking out with runners at first and third with one out in the seventh, the Giants would have finished with five runs instead of four.

      And had sensational rookie Buster Posey not grounded into a double play in the bottom of the 10th with bases loaded and only one out, the Giants would be up two-games-to-none in their best of seven series with the Braves.

      But alas, things didn’t go the Giants’ way last night and they only have themselves to blame for their 5-4 collapse. Like so many times throughout his career, they wasted another fine performance by Matt Cain and once again like so many times throughout the past couple of years, their offense couldn’t step up when the club needed it to.

      Give credit to the Braves, who never gave up despite trailing 4-0 after only two innings. Starter Tommy Hanson settled in after giving up a 3-run dinger to Burrell in the first and the bullpen was absolutely outstanding the entire night. Kyle Farnsworth stepped up enormously in extra innings when Billy Wagner went down, and got the double play in the bottom of the 10th that allowed Rick Ankiel to hit the game-winning homer in the 11th (which was an absolute moon shot into McCovey Cove).

      Now the series shifts to Atlanta for two games, where the Braves finished with a NL-best 56-25 home record. They’ve also seized all the momentum and can close out the series at home on Monday if they can scoop up two more wins.

      We’ll see what the Giants are made of over these next three days, because they’ve definitely put their backs against it.

      External Sports, MLB

      Tim Lincecum strikes out 14 vs. Braves, but only because the game ended

      October 7, 2010 /
      San Francisco Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum throws a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the third inning of their MLB National League baseball game in San Francisco, California August 10, 2010. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      The first batter Tim Lincecum faced on Thursday night lined a double into the left field gap and you could feel the panic set in from San Francisco.

      Giant fans knew what kind of pitcher Lincecum was in August. He got behind hitters. He couldn’t locate his pitches. He hung his breaking stuff. He didn’t re-stock the toilet paper in the clubhouse when he finished a roll.

      He was bad.

      Thankfully, the September Tim Lincecum arrived about a millisecond after Omar Infante doubled in the first. The Giants’ ace went on to pitch nine innings of scoreless baseball, yielding just two hits and striking out 14, which set a Giants postseason record. Cody Ross’ single in the fourth inning was all the runs Lincecum needed, as San Fran took Game 1 of the NDLS, 1-0.

      The back half of the Braves’ lineup is about as frightening as a box of kittens, but their one through four of Infante, Jason Heyward, Derrek Lee and Brian McCann is no joke. Lincecum wasn’t fazed, however, as he held the top of Atlanta’s lineup to just two hits while compiling seven strikeouts (including three of Lee, one of which ended the game).

      Derek Lowe was awfully impressive himself, but he wound up being the hard-luck loser after giving up one run on four hits over 5.1 innings of work. Truth be told, he shouldn’t have even given up the one run.

      Second base umpire Paul Emmel called Buster Posey (who had two hits in his postseason debut) safe on a steal attempt in the fourth inning, but replays showed that he was tagged out a split second before his foot hit the bag. Posey eventually went on to score on Ross’ single, which should have been gloved by Infante at third base. (It wasn’t an error because Infante never got his glove on the ball, but it’s a play Chipper Jones or even a slightly above average third baseman could have made.)

      That said, I’m thoroughly convinced that had Lincecum pitched 62 innings tonight, he wouldn’t have given up a run. He was absolutely sensational in his postseason debut and even though it was a tight game throughout, it felt as though the Giants were playing with a 10-run lead. Also, give manager Bruce Bochy credit for recognizing how special Lincecum was and allowed him to finish the game. That couldn’t have been easy with his ace already over 100 pitches and Brian Wilson sitting in the bullpen.

      What an outing by “The Freak.”

      External Sports, MLB

      What happened to the Rays’ offense?

      October 7, 2010 /
      Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher David Price reacts after he was taken from the game against the Texas Rangers during their American League Division Series MLB baseball game in St. Petersburg, Florida October 6, 2010. REUTERS/Scott Audette (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      The above picture is not of an offensive player for the Rays – it’s of pitcher David Price. But if it were a picture of an offensive player, he’d have the same expression on his face.

      In the regular season, only the Yankees and Red Sox scored more runs than the Rays, who crossed home plate 802 times this year.

      In their last two games, they’ve scored just one, which is a problem considering their last two games have come in the postseason. Following their 6-0 loss to the Rangers on Sunday, the Rays now trail Texas 2-0 in the best-of-five ALDS. Oh, and now they have to go on the road for their next two games, if they make it to Game 4, that is.

      The Rangers’ pitching staff has been good this season (great even, if you factor in the struggles its had over the years), but they’re not that good are they? Are they good enough to hold the third best run-scoring offense in the league to only one run the past two games? In Tampa no less?

      This in no way is meant to be a put down to Texas. C.J. Wilson pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings today and was outstanding all season. He’s made a successful jump from being a setup man to a full-time starter and he’s one of the many reasons the Rangers may go deep into the postseason this year.

      But one run? One run in two games? I figured when the Rays got that albatross Carlos Pena (who batted .169 against lefties during the regular season) out of the lineup that they’d generate some offense. But they actually produced less runs in Game 2 today than they did in Game 1, which was hard to do considering they only scored one yesterday.

      This Rays team is in trouble and nobody wants to face the Rangers right now. Those bankrupt bastards are on a mission.

      External Sports, MLB

      Yankees’ postseason experience shines in Game 1 of ALDS

      October 7, 2010 /
      New York Yankees' Mark Teixeira hits a two-run home run against the Minnesota Twins during the seventh inning of Game 1 of their MLB American League Divison Series baseball playoffs in Minneapolis, Minnesota, October 6, 2010. REUTERS/Andy King (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      The Yankees entered the playoffs losers of eight of their last 11 games. But no matter how much they’ve struggled or how many chinks in the armor they may have shown, this is still their time of year.

      For five innings Wednesday night, the Yankees were making Twins’ starter Francisco Liriano look like Cy Young. They trailed 3-0 in the top of the sixth, but after Nick Swisher struck out swinging to start the inning, Mark Teixeira doubled to deep left, Alex Rodriguez walked and then Teixeira scored on a Robinson Cano single to right.

      After Marcus Thames struck out, Jorge Posada lined a single to right to score A-Rod and move Cano to second. Curtis Granderson delivered the big blow by tripling off the wall in deep right center to score Cano and Posada to give the Yankees a 4-3 lead.

      They never trailed after that.

      The Twins scratched across a run in their half of the inning, but Teixeira blasted a 355-foot home run in the top of 7th to give the Yankees a 6-4 lead. After allowing two base runners to reach in the ninth, Mariano Rivera got Jim Thome to pop out to third to end the game and give New York a 6-4 victory.

      This is the time of year when the Yankees are never out of any game. They may have showed their age throughout the regular season, but there’s no replacement for postseason experience. When the stakes are high, this is when the Bombers are at their best.

      Of course, this is still a team that’s going to struggle to win it all. Their pitching is a major concern and Joe Girardi’s stomach must have been in knots watching his ace C.C. Sabathia struggle in the early innings last night before finally settling in. He’s supposed to be the rock of the rotation and if he struggles, then the Yanks are doomed.

      Game 2 is set for tonight at 6:07PM ET, as Andy Pettitte will take on former Yankee Carl Pavano.

      External Sports, MLB

      Roy Halladay wanted to impress in his first postseason game, so he didn’t allow a hit

      October 6, 2010 /
      Philadelphia Phillies starting pitcher Roy Halladay delivers a pitch to the Cincinnati Reds during the first inning in Game 1 of the MLB National League Division Series baseball playoffs in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 6, 2010. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer (UNITED STATESSPORT - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL)

      Roy Halladay had never pitched in a playoff game before Wednesday evening in Philadelphia.

      Apparently he wasn’t nervous.

      In the Phillies’ 4-0 win over the Reds in Game 1 of the NLDS, Halladay threw a no-hitter in the postseason for only the second time in baseball history. It was his second no-hitter of the season and he now joins Don Larsen, who is the only other pitcher to throw a no-no in the playoffs

      Halladay’s only blemish on the night came in the top of the 5th when he walked Jay Bruce with two outs (the audacity!). Otherwise he was perfect while striking out eight hitters on just 104 pitches. And because he only threw 104 pitches, he could probably pitch again in Game 4 if the Phillies get into trouble in these next two games.

      He also got into the act at the plate by singling home Carlos Ruiz in the second inning to make the game 2-0. He scored on a Shane Victorino single later that inning as the Phillies built a 4-0 lead, which was all the scoring they would need thanks to Halladay.

      This isn’t exactly the start the Reds or their fan base envisioned when the club made the postseason for the first time since 500 B.C. Everyone knew Cincinnati would have trouble with Philadelphia’s pitching, but to get no-hit in the first game is a little appalling given some of the hitters the Reds have in their lineup.

      They’ll try to pick up the pieces on Friday when they take on Roy Oswalt.

      External Sports, MLB

      « Older posts Newer posts »

      © 2026 The Scores Report – The National Sports Blog

      Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑