Movin’ On Up

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.

Champagne Thursday

Today is Champagne Thursday, and I’m stoked.  My boyfriend and I started a Thursday tradition of having champagne from the movie “Failure to Launch” and like the movie, Thursday sometimes comes twice.  This week, champagne might come twice, or it’s all today.  There is two game fives scheduled, with the first getting started shortly, and two game fours.

The San Francisco Giants.  Oh man, can you believe it?  After being dominated by the Reds in the first two games in San Francisco, the Giants went into Cincinnati and have won the last two games to force a game five.  It’s like the 2010 season all over again.  The Giants were able to knock out teams that everybody picked to go all the way before winning it all themselves.  The Giants have their ace, Matt Cain, Mr. Perfect on the mound for them this morning in a win or go home game.  The last two games have been win or go home for the Giants, but this is it for the Reds.  After winning the first two games with shutout pitching, the Reds have allowed the Giants to get back into this series and tie it up.  Momentum swings are huge and the Giants just might be able to pull off the upset.  *OMG Buster Posey just hit a grand slam to put the Giants up 6-0 in the 5th inning.  WOW!

Across the bay from the Giants we have the Oakland Athletics, home of the walk off pie, the Bernie and comeback wins.  I’m still in shock about last night.  I was annoyed to see people leaving in the 8th inning when they were down 3-1 and even had a guy next to me leave before that saying he’d see me in April.  The A’s are never done until that 27th out is recorded.  You can’t count them out, even if you have a lead.  Look at what they did against Texas in the final game of the season.  I can not wait for tonight.  My throat is killing me, and tired as hell, but there’s no way I’m missing this.  I didn’t want to turn off the TV last night with the highlights.  I’ve never seen anything like that in my life and I have no words to describe how I’m feeling.  Tonight, is huge.  Justin Verlander is on the mound for the Tigers, and that guy is an amazing pitcher.  Verlander got the win in game one of the series 3-1 with the only run coming off a lead off home run by Coco Crisp to start the game.  However, for as good as Verlander is, he can also struggle, case in point, the All Star Game.  He looked like he was throwing batting practice in the mid-summer classic and I’m hoping that Verlander is the one that shows up tonight.  I know it’s highly, highly unlikely, but I can dream!  I think the A’s might have the edge in the game, just because of what happened last night, and being at home.  The fans have been amazing and it’s nice to finally see people coming out to the games to support the green and gold.

The Yankees last night came back to beat the Orioles.  Correction, Raul Ibanez came back to beat the Orioles last night.  While we all know I’m not a Yankees fan at all, you have to give credit where credit is due, and credit is due there.  He set three, that’s right THREE, records last night with his two home runs.  It was amazing to see the highlights afterwards.  Those two home runs lifted the Yankees to a 2-1 series lead over the Orioles and tonight is a must win for the O’s if they want to keep playing.  But if we’ve learned anything from these playoffs so far, it’s that you’re not out until you’re out.  The O’s bounced back in game two for the W, so I expect them to come out strong today.  Joe Saunders is pitching for the Orioles, and he’s much better than his numbers show.  Saunders spent part of the season with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who despite getting off to a good start, struggled as the season progressed.  I’m hoping there is a game five in this series because I’m not done watching these two teams go at it.

The World Champion St. Louis Cardinals are doing it again.  After the wild, wild card game last week, the Cards seem to be feeding off of that victory and playing fabulously.  The Washington Nationals, the owners of the best record in all of baseball, got blanked last night by the Cardinals while allowing eight runs.  I’m shocked.  I thought that the Nats would come in and dominate the Cards or the Braves, but they’ve struggled.  It’s hard to watch.  If the Nationals lose tonight, I don’t think anybody can stop the Cardinals.  Manager Mike Mathney came into this season with some large shoes to fill with Tony LaRussa retiring after the 2011 season.  I had my doubts if he would be able to get them to the post season, but I’m happy to see myself proven wrong.  Even with the Cardinals losing Albert Pujols they haven’t missed a beat so far in the NLDS.  However, when all is said and done, I really would like to see the Nationals come back and win this series.  It’s great to have baseball back in our nations capital, and I think it would be amazing for them to advance.

No matter how today goes, it’s been an amazing season and I’m so lucky to have seen so many great things.  There’s going to be two teams moving on today and two going home for sure with the chance for more.  How insane would it be for all the games to be clinching games?

Look for me at the Tigers vs. A’s game tonight- I’ll be a couple of rows back from the A’s dugout.  Go A’s!!

Down, But Not Out

Today, there are two big games in the playoffs.  This afternoon the Giants take on the Reds and tonight the Tigers face the A’s.  Both Bay Area teams are down 0-2 after many people here had hoped for another Battle of the Bay, this time without the earthquake.

The San Francisco Giants.  I’m not a fan, clearly, as they are the A’s cross town/bay rivals that get all the glamour and attention while the A’s have been their weird cousin nobody talks about.  Things have gotten better this season with the A’s having a great season, but still not equal.  This morning on the radio, they were all about the Giants, and nothing about the A’s other than that they were down 0-2 and playing tonight.  I never thought that the Giants stood a chance against the Cincinnati Reds, and with the first two games going the Reds way, the Giants are looking at a steep hill up.  Needing to win all three games on the road against the second best record in all of baseball is not exactly ideal for any team, but the fans in Cincinnati are pretty hard-core, look at the Buckeyes games.  The Giants offense is not scoring a lot of runs, which would be fine, if their pitching was pitching like they are capable of.  Matt Cain is a lights out pitcher, but in Game Two of this series, the Reds dominated.  In the first two games of the series, the Reds have scored 14 runs, while the Giants have scored 2.  You are not going to win games with two runs.  They didn’t even score in game two, while allowing nine.  If the Giants can pitch the way they have all season, and can get their bats to heat up, they have a solid chance of winning tonight, otherwise, the Reds are the first team to move on to the NLCS.

Across the bay, we have the Oakland A’s.  The Detroit Tigers have been a thorn in the A’s playoff side since the 2006 ALCS, in which the Tigers swept the A’s before losing to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.  The A’s have won their last six games at home, including those three glorious games against the Rangers, including game 162 when they clinched the division.  The battle back is going to be tough, but if anybody can do it, it would be this A’s team.  They have shown all season that they are the comeback kids, and seem to relish in the moments when everybody counts them out.  Being back home, for the final three, if it goes that far (fingers crossed!), is a major advantage.  Manager, Bob Melvin, stated that last week with the packed coliseum, that the players seemed to thrive off of the fans energy, and the game tonight is a sell out.  35,000 people cheering you on is a major motivator.  Another advantage, I’m going to the game.  Of all the games I’ve gone to this season at the O.co Coliseum, the A’s have won them all- I hope I didn’t just jinks us there. This will be my second ALDS game in my life, the first being in 2006 when the A’s won game three to sweep the Minnesota Twins before being swept by the Tigers, for which I was at the first two games.  The Tigers are a good team, with some of the top pitchers in the game.  If the A’s win tonight, they face Max Scherzer, who is number two in strike outs in all of baseball, behind Justin Verlander who would pitch game five.  No pressure or anything though.

No matter how these two game threes go, it’s been an incredible season, and us Bay Area folks are extremely lucky that both teams got this far.  Still, I’m hoping for some game fours and fives!

Are You Kidding Me?!

Friday night in Washington, D.C. that must have been what everybody was thinking.  The Atlanta Braves were down by 9 runs going into the 6th inning and WON the game in 11 innings by the score of 11-10.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! The Braves scored 4 runs in the 6th inning, 4 more in the 8th, 2 in the 9th and 1 in the 11th to win the game.  That’s amazing and what is so great about baseball.  You never know what’s going to happen and you can never count somebody out.  The last time the Braves pulled this same feat off was June 7, 1987 to beat the San Diego Padres.  To top it off, the Braves won 4-0 in the first game of their double-header today, giving Ben Sheets his second win in as many games this season.

Tonight, the Astros were in Phoenix and got killed by the Diamondbacks, 12-3.  Mainly by Jason Kubel who hit 3 home runs, for 6 RBI on the night.  Kubel hit a 2-run shot in the first inning with Aaron Hill on, a 3-run bomb in the fourth inning with Aaron Hill and Pitcher (always nice to see a pitcher help out by getting on base) Wade Miley on, and then a solo shot in the 6th inning to cap off his monster night.  If he had managed to hit a grand slam, he would have hit for the home run cycle, which would have been highly impressive, and unforgettable to see.

Also, the A’s beat the Yankees again tonight giving them a series win and will go for the SWEEP(!!) tomorrow.  Going into Thursday, the Yankees had taken the last 9 games in Oakland, so for the A’s to come out strong like this has been impressive and quite the confidence builder.  Look out Rangers!  A fun thing that happened in the game was while Coco Crisp was attempted to steal 2nd.  The pitcher threw to first, and had him in a run down.  Coco avoided the tag and slide back into first safe!

In Philadelphia, the Giants were taking on the Phillies and something happened that hadn’t happened in 51 years.  Both starting pitchers, Matt Cain for San Francisco and Cole Hamels for Philadelphia, hit home runs in the same inning off each other.  Another prime example of a pitcher going out there and helping his team get the “W”.

The kicker on the night however was in St. Louis.  Are you kidding me doesn’t even begin to describe that game.  The Cardinals put up 12 runs in the 7th inning on 7 doubles and 10 hits against the Chicago Cubs.  The seven doubles tied a MLB record, and the 12 run inning tied a franchise record for most runs scored in an inning set on September 15, 1926 in the third inning.

I don’t know about you, but I can’t wait for tomorrow!!