NLCS – Giants 4 Cardinals 6 (Cardinals 1-0)
The San Francisco Giants find themselves in another hole, and the reasons behind it are as similar against the Cardinals as they were in the division series against the Reds.
Their starting pitching has been downright terrible, and against a Cardinals team that are above and beyond the team that finished 88-74 in the regular season, is bad news for their hopes of reaching the World Series.
Last night in their 6-4 loss to the Red Birds, Madison Bumgarner had to be pulled even before four innings were up having given up eight hits and six runs which included home runs from David Freese and Carlos Beltran.
Lance Lynn was the Cardinals’ starter and despite giving up four runs himself in the bottom of the inning, Bumgarner had already done enough to make the game redundant.
The Cards bullpen was staggering, protecting Lynn with 5 1/3 scoreless innings in which they gave up just four hits. On the other side of the dugout, the Giants’ bullpen was even better; it was so good, in fact, that it didn’t give up a single hit after Bumgarner was lifted. Even so, four runs were all the bats could muster.
Tim Lincecum has pitched well from the bullpen this post season having been omitted from the starting rotation, and after two more hitless innings yesterday manager Bruce Bochy is likely to start the two-time Cy Young winner in game four.
Matt Cain seems to be Bochy’s only reliable starter after this latest collapse by Bumgarner. Although he cannot pinpoint the reasons why he has slumped recently, the numbers tell their own story. Over his final seven regular season outings, Bumgarner’s ERA was 5.89 and against him batters produced a batting average of .304. Pitching to Cincinnati in the NLDS, he didn’t fare much better, going 4 1/3 innings while yielding four runs on seven hits.
It is now likely that Bumgarner will take a seat in the bullpen while Lincecum is promoted. Bochy’s decision to omit Lincecum was a genuinely acceptable one considering his regular season performance, but the young pitcher has thrown in big games before and surely knows more than anyone in that rotation what it takes to win in big situations.
Amazingly, San Francisco still hasn’t won a home game in the 2012 post season having won three straight at Great American Ballpark to overcome a 2-0 deficit in the division series.
This current Cardinals crop are the best team in baseball at staying alive until the final out is made, and now the Giants will have to learn from their opponents if they are to overcome this 1-0 deficit. First things first, their pitching must improve. Without that, there isn’t much hope against the defending world champions.
