The San Francisco Giants failed to solidify their postseason chances in a series split with the St. Louis Cardinals this weekend, but have an opportunity to gain ground in both the Wild Card and the NL West division race starting tonight, in game one of a three game set with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
San Francisco actually lost ground in the NL Wild Card standings this weekend, falling into second place, a game behind the New York Mets who won three straight in a sweep of the lowly Twins. Most frustratingly, the Giants had plenty of opportunities in the back-to-back losses to close the series, with a blown save on Saturday and an 0-for-6 performance with runners in scoring position on Sunday helping hand the stumbling Cardinals two victories they hardly earned.
Each game was a microcosm of the frustrations that have plagued the Giants since the fateful All-Star break, and were especially disappointing after an apparent rejuvenation in the series’ first two games.
Despite everything, the Giants still control their postseason fate, clinging to a one game lead over St. Louis in the Wild Card standings. What’s more, the Giants can jump back into the division race starting tonight, in the first of six opportunities to make up the five game deficit behind Los Angeles for the division lead.
To win tonight’s game against the recently returned Clayton Kershaw (11-3 1.81 ERA), the Giants will have to bring all the energy they showed on Friday and Saturday (and then some) to have a chance, even with fellow ace Madison Bumgarner (14-9 2.66 ERA) taking the hill for San Francisco.
Though it may surprise some, this series features two of the best pitching staffs in Major League Baseball. Despite San Francisco’s second half woes (and the season long woes at the end of games) they still hold the fourth best team ERA in the majors (3.70) with the Dodgers sitting one spot behind at 3.71. For the Giants, most of that comes from the starting pitching, also ranked fourth in MLB, but the bullpen hasn’t been nearly as bad as they’ve seemed.
Blowing a league-leading 28 saves will effect that perception, something that spoiled yet another potential victory on Saturday. While many will argue it should’ve happened weeks ago, Saturday marked the official end of Santiago Casilla as a ninth inning option for Bruce Bochy, who even admitted that the veteran was rattled after receiving boos in his ninth blown save of the season.
Bochy says a combination of Hunter Strickland and Derek Law will be the options moving forward, but it’ll be a safe guess that the rookie Law will be trotted out in the next save situation, after two stellar relief outings since returning from the disabled list last Wednesday. If he is, and if he performs as he has throughout 2016, that potential solution could go a long way to deciding where San Francisco ends up 13 games from now.
As far as the starter’s are concerned, Kershaw has the edge over Bumgarner recently, winning both of their previous matchups this season, posting a 2.40 ERA against Bumgarner’s 4.09 ERA. Kershaw was especially dominant in his last outing against the Giants, striking out 13 without a walk in a 3-2 victory.
Tonight marks the first of two games that will feature elite starting pitching, with Johnny Cueto (16-5 2.86) and Rich Hill (12-4 2.06) facing off tomorrow evening. As far as the division race is concerned, the Giants aren’t really in a position to settle, but they must at least split the battle of aces, or head into the series finale seven games behind LA for the division lead.
It all starts with an impressive showing tonight. The Giants are back to holding batting practice after taking four days off during the St. Louis series. The bats lit up following that dramatic change, and if they are to have any success against the dominant Kershaw and Hill, and continue to control their own postseason fate, they better hope the switch back is just as successful.