Giants Show World They Can Win One Of Three Games At Home (Given Three Chances)

Whoop de frickin' doo.

Oh yeah, and David Eckstein went 0-for-3 to end the game--and the season--with a .267 batting average. So much for grit and intangibles and scrappiness, eh TIm Sullivan?

Game 162 Thread: October 3 vs. D'backs, 1p

Ted Lilly (9-12, 3.71) vs. Rodrigo Lopez (7-15, 5.03).

COMMENTS: Like a teetering opponent on Mortal Kombat waiting to be finished, the Dodgers enter today's final game of the season eagerly anticipating their dispatch for the winter break. And while the hearty Dodger fan might be heading out to the Stadium for Fan Appreciation Day, hoping to bag one of "15,000 giveaways and special prizes" (you know, like like a Dr. Phil Prize Basket or 4 tickets to the special "Petros and Money Show" at Medieval Times), most baseball fans will want to be close to a television or reliable wireless connection to keep tabs on the Padres @ Giants game (Mat Latos vs. Jonathan Sanchez), which could decide the NL playoff teams (the other important game, Phillies @ Braves (Cole Hamels vs. Tim Hudson), should be starting right about now, funk soul brother).

So enjoy Fan Appreciation Day if you're going to the Stadium, and enjoy Scoreboard Watching if you're not. Either way, the Dodgers' 2010 season comes to a full and complete stop today. And then, feel free to exit the freefall ride.

Scoreboard Watching: NL West Game (Oct 2)

Wow, that was quite a party last night at Orel's house... Padres/Giants are already in the fifth and it's 4-0 Padres, who chased Barry Zito after three innings. These Giants are scrappy, however...I am glad I awoke for the second half of this game! Now, where's that aspirin...ARGH! Who the fuck had a Sharpie last night?!?!

Scoreboard Watching: NL West Race Games (Sept 30, Part 2)

Game 2 for your afternoon viewing pleasure is Cubs @ Padres, with San Diego throwing Jon Garland (14-12, 3.58) vs. Tom Gorzelanny (7-9, 4.28). The Padres' 5-5 record in their last 10 (relative to the Giants' 7-3 record, excluding today's game) gives them a 17.3% chance of making the postseason. On the flipside, the Giants and Padres swapped first and second place seven times between Sept 15 and 26--the most since 1901 in that span (according to WSJ/Stats Inc.). Can the Padres stop their freefall now that they've hit terminal velocity on their fall from grace?

First pitch, 3.30p PT.

Scoreboard Watching: NL West Race Games (Sept 30, Part 1)

While the Dodgers are idle like Billy, NL West games of interest continue! San Francisco hosts the Diamondbacks this afternoon, with Madison Bumgarner (6-6, 3.06) dueling against Barry Enright (6-6, 3.73). I'd like to pick which one of these pitchers I'd prefer to prevail and improve his record, but it's six of one and a half-dozen of the other. Literally.

But I do hate the Giants. So there's that.

First pitch, 12:45p PT.

Scoreboard Watching: NL West Games of Note (Sept 29)

The Padres are two back of the Giants in the NL West, with five games left to play, and they send recently-returned-from-the-DL Chris Young (1-0, 1.20) vs. Randy Wells (8-13, 4.28). Good luck with that.

The Giants on the other hand send Timmah Lincecum (15-10, 3.51) against Ian Kennedy (9-9, 3.76). San Francisco plays all of the rest of its games at home, including the season-ending series against the Padres.

(cries)

UPDATE 7:24p: Mr F graded me poorly on this Scoreboard Watching post because I didn't mention the Padres play the Cubs and the Giants play the Snakes. I suppose he has a point.

(cries)

Scoreboard Watching (Sept 25): Reds @ Padres, 1p

The Dodgers are out of it and the Giants have a half-game lead on the Padres in the NL West race, so it would be great to see Jon Garland (14-12, 3.55) defeat the Reds' Travis Wood (5-4, 3.43) and move into a tie pending the Giants @ Rockies game later today. Stay thirsty, my friends!

Scoreboard Watching: Sept 18 Games of Note

The Padres are leading 8-4 over the Cardinals in the ninth; assuming they win, they will be back tied with Frisco pending its game later today. Yovani Gallardo of the Brewers squares off against SF beanstalk Tim Lincecum (5p first pitch). Let's go, Milwaukee!

Scoreboard Watching: Sept 15 NL West Game of Note

Holy smokes, there's an early game going on in Denver, as the Padres look for the sweep against the Rockies. Clayton Richard is pitching against Jorge De La Rosa and it's already 1-0 Rockies in the bottom of the second. Let's go, Padres!

Scoreboard Watching: Sept 13 Game of Note

The Giants are idle like us, but the Padres are squaring off against the Rockies at Coors Field. It's now 2-0 Padres in the fourth, off a first-inning Miguel Tejada two-run HR off of Jeff Francis (who only lasted three innings, and is already out). No lead is safe at Coors, however, so don't get too comfortable there, Cory Luebke.

(Late) Scoreboard Watching: September 2 Game of Note

Sorry this is late!

The only game worth watching, the one with wild card implications, is Phillies @ Rockies, which is already in play. Joe Blanton has gone 4.1 IP and given up five runs, three which were earned. Jhoulys Chacin of the Rockies has given up two runs, neither being earned. We're in the bottom of the fifth with the Rockies up 5-2. A Rockies win would trim the Phillies' Wild Card lead to a single game over the Giants--so as much as it hurts to say it, we should cheer on Philly. Or at least hope for a meteor to strike Coors Field.

Scoreboard Watching: August 23 NL WC Games of Note

On this Dodgers off-day, the most important other MLB game is Reds @ Giants, 7p first pitch. Edinson Volquez (3-1, 4.98) takes the mound against Matt Cain (9-10, 3.11). Accuscore published in the WSJ today said the Giants should win 6.2 runs to 4; Giants fans are chilling their chardonnay glasses as I write this.

The Giants trail NL Wild Card leader Philadelphia by two games, sharing the second-place WC slot with the Cardinals. The Cards play the Pirates (Lohse vs. Ohlendorf) and the Phillies host the Astros (Blanton vs. Myers), with both games starting at 4p PT, so the Giants will know how their competitors are doing as they take the field.

Let’s go, Reds!

Scoreboard Watching: August 18, 2010

It's not like the campers over in Assassin's Circle are very action-oriented today. So to help us "kill" the afternoon, might I suggest keeping an eye on San Diego @ Chicago Cubs, which just started? Clayton Richard vs. Casey Coleman, with the latter having just loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first. Come on, Cubbies.

Scoreboard Watching: August 12 NL West Games

Let me get this straight. We play back east against Philadelphia, and then have to fly to Atlanta for a Friday game, and we play a regular night game at 4p PT / 7p ET? And the Giants play at home against the Cubs at an early 12:45p PT / 3:45 ET time, just so they can sit around and wait for another home game Friday against the Padres? Those frickin' scheduling bastards, once again stacking the deck against the Dodgers...

Giants throw Matt Cain (9-9, 3.06) vs. Randy Wells (5-10, 4.37). Yeah, that will go well. 12:45p first pitch.

Padres host the Pirates (yet another scheduling boon!), with Jon Garland (10-8, 3.55) facing off against Zach Duke (5-10, 5.32). Why do our main NL West opponents only face 5-10 pitchers? I don't know. But I'm sure glad the Padres are ALSO playing their home game early (3.30p PT first pitch) so that they too can have plenty of time to rest before heading a stone's throw away up north to San Francisco.

It's a conspiracy, I tell you. (Our GT goes up at 1p.)

Scoreboard Watching: August 9 NL West Games

There's only one game of interest to NL West fans, and that's Cubs @ Giants; Carlos Zambrano (3-6, 5.61) vs. Madison Bumgarner (4-4, 3.20). Let's go, Z! First pitch, 7p.

Scoreboard Watching: August 5 NL West Games

Jeff Francis (4-3, 4.44) of the Rockies, a team 1/2 game ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West and NL Wild Card standings, goes against this strange kid named James McDonald in Pittsburgh. McDonald, 0-1/8.22, seems really familiar... First pitch 4:05p.

The Giants' Timmah Lincecum (11-4, 3.10) goes against Jair Jurrjens (3-4, 4.62) of the Braves in the first of four games at Turner Field. So it's the hair vs. the Jair. Try not to stair. Accuscore in the WSJ says the Braves will win, 3.6 runs to 3.5; I'm pretty confident that that won't be the final score. First pitch 4:10p.

Scoreboard Watching: August 4 NL West Games

The Giants, one game out of first, throw Madison Bumgarner (4-3, 2.70) out there to face Ubaldo Jimenez (16-2, 2.67) of the Rockies at Coors Field. 12:10p PT first pitch. Let's go, Rox!

Scoreboard Watching: NL West Games of Note (July 1)

Another Dodgers off-day, what is there to occupy us?

The Giants kickoff against the Rockies at 5.40p, with "Ashley" Madison Bumgarner (0-1, 5.14) up against Aaron Cook (2-5, 4.69). The Rockies are two games behind us in third place; the Giants are 2.5 GB us in fourth place.

The real game of interest, however, kicks off at 7p, when the Astros play the Padres at the big pooch bowl. Brian Moehler (1-4, 5.63) duels Clayton Richard (5-4, 2.75). With the Padres three games ahead of us in first place, sporting the NL's best record, and the 'Stros 17 games below .500 with the league's second-to-worst record, I'm not hopeful about this one. But I'll probably watch anyway.

Scoreboard Watching: NL West Games of Interest (June 10)

The second-place Padres may have been idle yesterday (ppd-rain), but their 4-2 victory over the Mets this morning slots them a scant half game back of the Dodgers for the NL West lead, going into tonight's game. In a battle of the H-less Jons, former Dodger Jon Garland (6-3, 2.68) duels Jon Niese (2-2, 4.28); first pitch 4p PT. (Go ahead and watch a couple of innings before Game 4 of the NBA finals tips off; we'll have a separate GT for that.)

The Giants already lost to the Reds this morning, with former Dodger Guillermo Mota taking the loss after giving up three runs in the eighth inning, turning a 6-4 SF lead into a 7-6 Cincinnati loss. Giants fall 3.5 GB the Dodgers. Oh, and the Giants lost starter Todd Wellemeyer to a leg injury after he tried to beat out a double play. Wellemeyer left the game with a 4-0 lead in the third but did not get the win; he has not recorded a win on the road since May 2009.

Rockies lost 5-4 to the Astros. Diamondbacks lost 11-7 to the Braves.

Scoreboard Watching: There Is Nothing To Watch Today (May 24)

I don't like two-game "series", and I don't like days where there are only four games playing (almost 75% of MLB teams are idle today), there is only one NL game playing, and it doesn't involve an NL West team anyway. (Plus, the Lakers aren't playing tonight.)

I hate interleague play.

If you're really desperate, you can watch an epic battle of third-place teams, Bluejays at Angels, at 7p. Brett Cecil (3-2, 4.98) takes on "Colonel" Joe Saunders (3-5, 4.42). I'd suggest going to the game, but why waste gas money today, when going to the game tomorrow nets you an Angels Garden Gnome? Cancel all my meetings, I'm taking tomorrow afternoon off!