On the final day of the regular season, the San Francisco Giants clinched the NL West with a decisive 11-4 victory over the San Diego Padres. It is their first playoff berth since 2016 and first NL West title since 2012 ending the Los Angeles Dodgers' streak of 8 consecutive NL West titles. More on the Dodgers later.
In winning today, the Giants set a franchise record with 107 wins eclipsing the 1904 New York Giants who won 106 games under John McGraw. Ironically, despite their 106 wins, McGraw would chicken out of a World Series matchup against the defending champion Boston Americans.
Needless to say, no one expected the Giants to contend much less set a franchise record for victories in 2021. But the Giants played .600 ball or better every single month of the season and managed to save their best for September/October winning 23 of their final 30 games. The Giants, under the stewardship of Gabe Kapler, have been in first place or have had a share for first place since April 26th.
What is remarkable about the Giants is that they did all this without anyone hitting 30 HR or driving in 100 runs. Rather their offense was spread out with 10 players hitting 10 or more HR. It would have been 11 if Kris Bryant had been with the team for a full season. Somehow Brandon Crawford, at the age of 34, put together his best offensive season of his career hitting .298 with 24 HR and 90 RBI.
The Giants pitching was also steady with four starting pitchers in double digits in wins (Kevin Gausman, Anthony DeSclafini, Logan Webb and Alex Wood) and 35-year old veteran Johnny Cueto at the back of the rotation. Tyler Rogers and Jake McGee proved an effective one-two punch in the bullpen.
The Giants will host the NLDS this coming Friday against either the Los Angeles Dodgers or the St. Louis Cardinals. The Dodgers and Cardinals will face off in the NL Wild Card match on Wednesday at Dodger Stadium.
The defending World Series champions clinched the first seed of the NL Wild Card with a decisive 10-3 victory over the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers. With 106 wins (tying their franchise record of wins set in 2019) would be considered heavy favorites. But the Cardinals' recent 17 game winning streak and Adam Wainwright on the mound make this match up a big task for the Dodgers.
Still, the Dodgers have an All-Star Team from top to bottom with the likes of Mookie Betts, Max Muncy, Justin Turner, Will Smith, Corey Seager as well as Trea Turner acquired from the Washington Nationals in the Max Scherzer deal. You know you're good when Albert Pujols is a bench player. You also know you're good when your team can survive 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger hitting .165.
You further know you're good when you can survive both not having Clayton Kershaw in the post-season, Trevor Bauer in your rotation and David Price is an afterthought. Julio Urias had a breakout season with 20 wins while Walker Buehler was steady with 15 wins. Oh yeah, Max Scherzer went 7-0 with a 1.98 ERA in 11 starts with the Dodgers. Kenley Jansen is a mainstay in the bullpen and is ably accompanied by Blake Treinen, Joe Kelly and Phil Bickford.
Nevertheless, the Dodgers must be grateful for the Wild Card otherwise they would be watching from home despite their 106 wins.
No comments:
Post a Comment