Friday, September 03, 2021

Series Thread (Games 135-137): Sept 3-5 @ Giants

Fri Sep 3 6.45p: Price vs. TBD
Sat Sep 4 6p: Urias vs. TBD
Sun Sep 5 4p: Buehler vs. TBD

After 126 days, we've finally made this a race again. We hadn't tasted first place since April 28. And we were stalled at five games back on August 12. But here we are, back in first place in the NL West following a sweep of the NL East-leading Atlanta Braves, having ascended back to the top thanks to a 16-3 record over the last 19 games taking us back to that August 12 nadir.

And the Giants aren't going away; they took the fourth game of the series to avert the sweep to the Brewers, and make it all tied up at the top, going into this head-to-head series, where we won't have Mad Max Scherzer. Will Mookie Betts, fresh off a four-K night on Wednesday, rise to the occasion yet again?

150 comments:

karen said...

GAME 1

Trea Turner 2B
Max Muncy 1B
Mookie Betts RF
Justin Turner 3B
Corey Seager SS
Will Smith C
Chris Taylor LF
Cody Bellinger CF
Corey Knebel RHP

Steve Sax said...

Hoo boy. No Price for the first

karen said...

David Price battling a sore elbow. Corey Knebel to be tonight's opener followed by a bullpen game.

karen said...

Sax...Hope you don't mind that I posted the lineup. I figured you were at work and couldn't get to it. Sorry :(

karen said...

With just 28 games left Nomar predicts the Dodgers will win the division by 3 games. Ned is saying they'll win by 7 games. Either way it's all good.

Steve Sax said...

This would be a great time for Cody to break out of his slump.

karen said...

Two little stray kittens somehow ended up in my backyard Wednesday night, so of course being the big suckers my daughter and I are for the critters in need, we have been feeding them and giving them fresh, cool water twice a day. We have a really nice (and cute) kid next door. I think he's maybe 21 or 22 now. Anyway Jennifer was just talking to him and he's putting water out for them as well. Good to know Jenn and I aren't the only suckers in the neighborhood.

karen said...

Trea Turner opens up the game with a single. Max Muncy up.




karen said...

No score at the end of one.

Steve Sax said...

Cody Ks in his first AB. Sigh.

Steve Sax said...

Hey karen! Thank you so much for posting the lineup

Steve Sax said...

Posey flies to Bellinger to start the second.

Steve Sax said...

0-0 through 2. McKinstry Ks to lead off the third.

Steve Sax said...

@karen, that’s kind of you and your family about the kittens…. Yikes I couldn’t deal

Steve Sax said...

Excellent one-out AB from Trea Turner here.

Steve Sax said...

Trea works a walk. One out.

Steve Sax said...

Muncy sacrifices Trea to second. WP allows him to take third. Betts flies to center for the third out. Darn it.

Steve Sax said...

Bickford comes in and walks the pitcher, then Ruf. Two on, none out, B3.

Not good, Phil

karen said...

CRAP!! One of Bickford's walks comes in to score. 1-0 Evil.

Steve Sax said...

Giants take the lead on a PH Slater bases-loaded RBI single to left.

1-0, one out in the bottom of the third. Vesia inherits Bickford’s mess, but he needs to get out of it.

Steve Sax said...

Bellinger chases down a fly ball for the third out! 1-0 SF through 3.

That could have been a lot worse. Let’s go, Blue!!!

karen said...

Even though Belli isn't hitting, thankfully his defense is still awesome.

karen said...

Bazooka in hopefully to restore some order.

karen said...

Bazooka gives up a leadoff double to Estrada. Doesn't look like order being restored to me.

Steve Sax said...

Okay it’s 1-0 through six frames.

Seager, first pitch swinging, sort of nubs one up the third base line and reaches first safely. No out.

Can we finally break through now that DeSclafani has been chased?

Steve Sax said...

Smith with a 3-1 count

Steve Sax said...

Bellinger Ks.

Honestly I don’t know why he is playing right now. He is awful.

Steve Sax said...

Mid-7, we don’t score.

karen said...

Going to the eighth still 1-0 Bad Guys.

karen said...

Mid 8 Dodgers have one more chance to score and those horrific people waving their orange towels can smell first place.

karen said...

Mookie, JT and MVP coming up in the ninth.

karen said...

TIED BABY!!!!

Steve Sax said...

Holy cow. CT3 singles as we are down to our last out. Tied at 1.

Steve Sax said...

Pujols, PH for Bellinger, watches strike 1.

karen said...

KJ walks Evil batter on 4 pitches to start B9

Steve Sax said...

Kenley has thrown six straight balls

Steve Sax said...

Orel references the Three Stooges watching Ruf bellyflop and barely make it back to first.

Only one out though.

Steve Sax said...

Kenley walks another one. He can’t find the strike zone with a map right now

karen said...

Kenley walks another one, winning run in scoring position with 1 out. KJ is scaring me really, really bad.

karen said...

I can barely watch this

Steve Sax said...

Jansen is overthrowing

Steve Sax said...

I give a lot of credit to the bullpen for this game, but this is going to be a brutal way to end it.

karen said...

KJ manages to get the second out

Steve Sax said...

I will say: Giants fans aren’t even standing up for this.

Steve Sax said...

Wow. Can’t believe Kenley escaped.

1-1 through 9.

karen said...

KJ gets Pubes to send this mama into extra innings

Steve Sax said...

Oh great, Pujols is our man on second.

We will have to hit a HR.

Steve Sax said...

Pujols BARELY makes it to third on a deep sac fly. Ouch my bones are aching, watching that.

Steve Sax said...

Roberta has seen enough, Walker Buehler PRs for Pujols.

Good job by Pujols to take third there, let’s cash in the chips

Steve Sax said...

Come on, Trea!

karen said...

Butane into score...2-1 Dodger Blue

Steve Sax said...

Trea with a sac fly to score Buehler! Two out. Barnes PH

karen said...

Sax...it looked like Tio was running in slow motion. You're right, it was painful to watch.

Steve Sax said...

Looks like we are warming up Vazquez, who hasn’t pitched in two years.

😬

Steve Sax said...

@karen: I’m pro-Pujols. Love that guy. So glad he is on our team. But man he is creaky

Steve Sax said...

Barnes singles. Here’s 🐄🔑, who hasn’t gotten a hit in September.

Steve Sax said...

Betts flails for strike 1. 1-1 count

Steve Sax said...

Come on, 🐄🔑!!!

Steve Sax said...

🐄🔑 works a walk!

Steve Sax said...

Barnes had advanced to second on a WP during 🐄🔑’s AB.

First and second, two out, JT up.

karen said...

Sax...I remember the day after we got him Jenn and I went to our favorite Mexican restaurant and ran into a guy wearing an Angels cap and I told him how happy we were to have him and the Angels fan was saying he couldn't believe that he had been cut.

karen said...

Going to B10 with the Boys of Summer up by one...

Steve Sax said...

Dodgers only get one. JT grounds to third.

2-1 going to B10. With this crazy guy-starts-on-second thing, I’m not hopeful.

Steve Sax said...

@karen 10:28p: yeah it was a brutal cut by the Angels.

But they are paying most of his salary this year! Thank you Artie!

Steve Sax said...

Sorry for the misspelling: it’s Vasquez. Only one Z.

Steve Sax said...

My god Vasquez does not look sharp

karen said...

The Fresh Prince playing 1B for the first time as a pro. Vasquez into relieve and making his Dodger debut.

Steve Sax said...

He’s only throwing curves

karen said...

Tied again with winning run on second and no outs.

Steve Sax said...

Well, that was quick. Giants tie it. Crawford takes second and still no out.

Steve Sax said...

Vasquez only throwing curves!

karen said...

What is up with Vasquez throwing only curves?????

Steve Sax said...

Also: there’s a lot of empty seats in this park.

Steve Sax said...

Three straight curves Ks Yastrzemski. Two out. Crawford on third.

New pitcher for the Dodgers.

karen said...

2 outs, winning run on third and Phillips coming in to try and send this to the eleventh.

Steve Sax said...

Evan Phillips in to pitch. He’s the last pitcher available for us.

😬

karen said...

Vasquez and Phillips send it to the eleventh.

Steve Sax said...

Sooooooo many empty Giants seats

karen said...

Dodgers on the corners with nobody out.

Steve Sax said...

Seager is heating up at the right time of the season. Fourth hit gets JT to third with none out.

Corey had a green light with a 3-0 count

karen said...

Sax...Joe and Orel were talking earlier about how Giants were having a tough time selling seats at BirdShit Park this year even though the Giants are having a good season.

Steve Sax said...

Not exactly sure why JT came home there—to avoid the DP?—but smith really needed to get that one out of the infield.

Steve Sax said...

@karen: look birdshit park is a beautiful stadium. They have a first-place team. If they can’t sell seats, they are idiots.

Steve Sax said...

Great. CT3 Ks, so now Evan Phillips is up. Dammit.

karen said...

OMG Phillips coming in to hit because we are out of pitchers.

karen said...

Phillips K's, no real surprise there.

Steve Sax said...

Maybe Dave should have double-switched there, though I don’t know what other position players are left.

Meanwhile, we have their top of the order. If somehow we survive the 11th (not likely), it goes back to our top of the order. So let’s see.

Steve Sax said...

Not expecting much but at least we made this a game and had them burn some more arms.

Steve Sax said...

Dear Evan Phillips

karen said...

Well it's over. Back to second place for us.

Steve Sax said...

Hey we held tough. We shouldn’t lose on a walkoff error but it happens.

That was the bullpen game. Let’s get two now.

karen said...

Kersh making a rehab start Tuesday in OKC. Max Sherzer's tight hammy is going in the right direction. His next scheduled start is Monday and Doc says he won't miss that start.

karen said...

Evil Doers have scheduled bullpen games for the next two days. Dodgers have Urias tonight and Butane tomorrow.

karen said...

GAME 2

Trea Turner 2B
Max Muncy 1B
Mookie Betts RF
Justin Turner 3B
Corey Seager SS
AJ Pollock LF
Chris Taylor CF
Will Smith C
Julio Urias LHP

karen said...

Pentone 294 in BirdShit Park tonight and as usual, there are a whole lotta them!

karen said...

STEVE SAX! Are you hanging with me in The Assassins Bar tonight??

karen said...

Belli not in the lineup tonight but Doc says he's working tirelessly. John Hartung, Ned and Nomar say the best 8 hitters the Dodgers have are in the lineup.

karen said...

The Bad Guys have spent almost 100 days in first then the Dodgers. Vegas odds are in favor of Our Boys winning the National League West.

karen said...

T-minus 8 minutes and counting until the LA Dodgers open up a can of whoop ass on the team that currently calls BirdShit Park home.

karen said...

Trea Turner opens the game with a homerun. 1-0 LA.

karen said...

Mookie walks and then steals second.

karen said...

Jay Jackson walks JT. Good Guys have 2 on and 1 out. Gabe Kapler pulls Jackson after he gets just one out.

karen said...

Mookie and JT make a double steal. Boys on second and third with 1 up and 1 out.

karen said...

Mookie scores on a sac fly by MVP. 2-0 LA

karen said...

Turner scores on AJ's double. 3-0 Dodgers.

karen said...

AJ thrown out trying to steal third. Mid One Good Guys 3 - Evil Doers coming up.

karen said...

AJ out of the game after a bad slide in T1. Belli in to CF and CT3 moves to LF.

karen said...

Single for Longoria. Evil on corners with 2 out.

karen said...

Oyster Pubes hits in an Evil Teammate. 3-1 Dodger Blue.

Steve Sax said...

Dammit, come ON julio!!!

I’m in the Bay Area. This is intolerable

karen said...

Julio K's the last Evil Doer, sorry, I don't know who he was. After one Dodgers 3-Evil 1.

karen said...

@SAX...Are you at BirdShit Park?

Steve Sax said...

@karen: no, just at family. 😬

Steve Sax said...

Oh no, is AJ badly hurt? I didn’t see it

Steve Sax said...

@karen: to be clear: it’s married family. The in-laws.

I talk slowly and with mono-syllabic words to some of them (those that are giants fans cavemen), as to not scare them.

karen said...

@Sax......they had to help him off the field

Steve Sax said...

@karen: I hd the opportunity to go to birdshit park this weekend, but chose not to because of Delta (and the fact no one is masked there). Just too much bad shit there, frankly. (And a lot of empty seats.)

karen said...

@Sax...Enjoy ypur family time (even if the neandersols are supporters of the Hated Ones.

Steve Sax said...

@karen thanks. Need some wins here.

Btw weather in the South Bay is really nice today. So there’s that.

Steve Sax said...

AQI in SF is worse than LA, due to the fires ☹️

Steve Sax said...

Huge out there for Urias. 3-1 through 4 full.

We are gonna need more, Blue.

Steve Sax said...

Mookie Betts-wearing fan catches that Will Smith foul ball.

Steve Sax said...

Smith is gonna K here though. 3-2 count.

Steve Sax said...

Smith fouls a couple of 3-2 pitches off

Steve Sax said...

Giants broadcasters said this game is sold out. There are TONS of empty seats.

Steve Sax said...

Smith walks. Good job Will!

Steve Sax said...

Urias with a clean sac bunt. Well done Julio

Steve Sax said...

Max. That was a bad K.

3-1 LA. Mid 5

Steve Sax said...

Cody Ks to end the top of the sixth. He looks lost.

Steve Sax said...

Can we please reboot Cody and put him in a batting cage. I believe in that kid but he is a mess right now. He’s on one knee striking out. That’s not MVP material.

Steve Sax said...

Urias gets a huge K for the first out, after a lead off single by Posey to start the sixth.

Steve Sax said...

Posey is 3-for-3 this game. He advances to second on what is effectively a sac hit (mis-hit).

Steve Sax said...

Urias exits. He’s given up 8 hits

Steve Sax said...

Giants have eight hits and one run.

Dodgers have five hits and four runs.

We are lucky to be ahead 4-1.

Steve Sax said...

Bickford hits the first batter of the seventh. Not good.

Steve Sax said...

Seager!!! HR makes it 5-1

Steve Sax said...

Huge 6-1 win tonight. Let’s go!

karen said...

GAME 3

Trea Turner 2B
Max Muncy 1B
Mookie Betts RF
Justin Turner 3B
Corey Seager SS
Will Smith C
Chris Taylor LF
Cody Bellinger CF
Walker Buhler RHP

karen said...

The Fresh Prince ties it up 1-1.

Pitching change.

karen said...

Walker runs into some trouble. The Hated Ones take the lead 3-1.

karen said...

Now 4-1.

Steve Sax said...

What the heck is happening here

karen said...

End of three 6-1 Evil.

karen said...

I am NOT having fun.

karen said...

Brandon Crawford thrown out trying to steal second. 6-2 end of fifth.

karen said...

AJ Pollock out for 2-3 weeks with pulled hammy.

Steve Sax said...

This is not a good time to be in the Bay Area. ☹️

karen said...

Last chance for Boys of Summer....

karen said...

2 run pinch hit homerun by Tio. 6-4.

karen said...

DAMN. Back to second place for us.