Thursday we saw two game fives, and two game fours that lead to game fives yesterday. One team made history and one did not.
Thursday the San Francisco Giants made history with their 6-4 win over the Cincinnati Reds. Never before in National League history had a team come back from being down 0-2 in a series to win. Giants did just that. With ace Matt Cain on the mound for the Giants, they were in a position to shock the Reds and put themselves into the baseball history books. Deadlocked at zero going into the 5th inning, the Giants bats came alive, highlighted by the grand slam off the bat of Buster Posey. The Reds did their best to come back, including a run in the 9th inning, but in the end, came up short. So while the Reds are out, they should be proud of what they did this season. They went from being near the bottom of their division to fighting with the Nationals for the best record in all of baseball. They played amazing baseball this season and I’m very proud of what they did. I can’t wait to see what they go next season. Congratulations to the team across the bay, the Giants.
This side of the bay, things didn’t go as well. Going into Tuesday’s games, the Giants and the Oakland A’s (my beloved A’s) were both down 0-2, and both teams battled back to play in game fives. Sadly, the A’s weren’t able to do what the Giants did, and the Detroit Tigers are moving on to the ALCS. After game four, I thought, as did many A’s fan, the A’s were going to win. The magic in winning in game three bled into game four and we all thought it would continue to bleed into game five. Justin Verlander, however, pitched like, well, Justin Verlander. The issue I had was the strike zone. I had pretty good seats last night and you could see pitch locations extremely well. Verlander had a rather large strike zone and Parker did not. Pitches that were being called balls when the Tigers were batting, were strikes when the A’s were batting. I get that Verlander is going to get some of the close calls, but every call is hard to watch. This was a huge playoff game, the umpire needed to be a little better with his ball/strike calls. And yes, I do realize that I sound like I’m whining about things not going my way. All that said, the A’s struggled in the batter’s box all series long. It’s hard to score runs when you’re not hitting, but it’s not helpful when you’re allowing runs to score. The A’s on Thursday played sloppy in the field. Derek Norris, I can’t even begin to understand what happened. There was three stolen bases with throws that were nowhere near getting the runner out. Then being the plate, he seemed lost and like he had never caught before. He wasn’t blocking balls in the dirt properly, and at times had no clue where the ball was, when it was at his feet. It was painful to watch. Going into the top half of the 7th inning, the A’s still had a shot at winning. Then everything went downhill. The Tigers put four runs on the board and suddenly the A’s found themselves on the wrong side of a 6-0 score. Congratulations to the Detroit Tigers.
However, the best thing happened when the game ended. While the Tigers celebrated on the field, the A’s fan showed their love. The stadium erupted into chants of “Let’s Go Oakland” and it was amazing. The players came out of the dugout and embraced each other and tipped their caps to the fans. I was moved, and still am. Yesterday was a hard day for me. The realization that the season, this amazing and magically season, was over. I still can’t believe it.
In New York yesterday the other storybook story in baseball met the same fate at the A’s. The New York Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-1 with C.C. Sabathia going the distance for his first post season complete game. The O’s forced a game five after winning in 13 innings on Thursday night, but last night their magic fell short. Much like the A’s, the O’s bats struggled with only one regular, Nate McLouth, hit over .215 in the series. In the final three games of the series, the Orioles were 3 for 22 with runners in scoring position. Another big development in game five was who wasn’t in the line up- Alex Rodriguez. A-Rod had been struggling all series and in game three was pitch hit for by Raul Ibanez, which ended up being a rather good thing considering the outcome of his at bats. The Orioles should be extremely proud of themselves. After fourteen consecutive losing seasons, the Orioles not only put together a winning season, they went to the playoffs after battling with the Yankees for first place in their division. That is something to be proud of, no matter how the season ended. Congratulations to the New York Yankees.
With so many surprises this season, last night held yet another surprise, and it was a big one. Owners of the best record in baseball, the Washington Nationals pulled of a win on Thursday to force a game five against the wild card winners, and reigning World Champs, the St. Louis Cardinals. I can’t believe what I saw. After adding an insurance run in the 8th inning, it seemed that the Nats were moving on to the next round, but if the A’s taught me anything this season, it’s that the game isn’t over until the final out if made. Carlos Beltran lead off the inning with a double before Storen would get two quick outs. However, things took a turn for the worst when Storen couldn’t find the strike zone. Before you knew it, the Cards had the bases loaded before a shot up the middle hit off the glove of Ian Desmond, plating two runs to tie the game. The next batter, hit a ball to right field scoring two more runs to put the Cardinals up by two. I couldn’t believe it. The Nationals lost the game and the series. After having the best record in baseball, including a 21 game winner in Gio Gonzalez, and making the post season for the first time in Nationals history and first time in D.C. since 1937, their season is over. The Cardinals are moving on to the NLCS to take on the Giants and are looking to be the first team since the Yankees in 2000 to win back to back World Series. Congratulations to the Cardinals, and first time manager Mike Mathney.