The greatest offense the MLB had to offer in 2012 has been
completely shut down through the first two games of the World Series.
They’ve
been shut down not by the top pitching staff in all of baseball, but by a team
whose biggest weakness heading into the World Series was arguably their
starting pitching.
A
left-for-dead Barry Zito and a struggling Madison Bumgarner have sent the
favored Detroit Tigers into a 2-0 hole to start the World Series.
After a
start against the Cardinals that left many wondering whether or not he would be
given the nod in the World Series, Bumgarner torched the very lethal Tigers
lineup for just two hits allowed in seven innings.
It turned
out Bumgarner’s recent woes were simply mechanical, and not because of the
tired and over-worked arm of a 23-year-old.
However,
with Bumgarner locked in, the Giants’ offense still needed to get to Tigers’
starter Doug Fister -- something easier said than done on Thursday night.
Even after
a line drive taken off the head, Fister did not miss a step, battling Bumgarner
inning for inning and creating an old-fashioned pitchers’ duel in the World
Series.
It took a
managerial misstep, in hindsight, for the either team to score their first runs
of the game.
After a
Hunter Pence single off Fister to lead-off the seventh inning, Fister and his
114 pitches were relieved by Drew Smyly, who walked Brandon Belt right away to
put runners at first and second base.
Gregor
Blanco’s near perfect bunt down the third base line, intended to move the
runners over, stayed fair despite Miguel Cabrera, Alex Avila and Smyly’s baffled
glares.
So with the
bases loaded and no outs, Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland decided to push the
infield back and play for the double play -- a move that was rather American
League-esque in afterthought.
Brandon
Crawford gave them what they wanted, a 4-6-3 tailor-made double play that
scored Pence and gave the Giants a 1-0 lead.
Was Leyland
playing his cards right on that one?
The
defensive set-up suggested Leyland had more faith in the Tigers scoring a run
in the final two innings off San Francisco’s shut-down bullpen than getting out
of the seventh inning with limited damage.
It turned
out Detroit never got those runs off the Giants’ bullpen, and San Francisco’s
one run was all they needed on Thursday night to secure the win, 2-0.
The Giants
did add another run of insurance in the eighth inning off a Pence sacrifice fly
to score Angel Pagan, but Leyland seemed to miss the importance of every pitch
and every run in the World Series with that play in the seventh inning -- a
play the Tigers may look back on and regret wholeheartedly.
And so the
Giants head on the road to Detroit with a 2-0 series lead and a rather high
success rate on the road.
Their most recent roadtrip supplied
them with a Zito gem and all the momentum in the world to sweep the Cardinals
at home in the NLCS.
The roadtrip
before that supplied them with three straight wins over the Reds to advance to
the NLCS.
The Giants
thrive on the road, based on the fact any ballpark is bigger than AT&T Park,
and the simple peace and calm they get from being on their own at the home
team’s venue.
Even more,
the Giants’ undoubted best pitcher Ryan Vogelsong will be on the mound, coming
off a two-win performance in the NLCS.
Detroit has
their hands full with the Giants in the World Series at the moment, and it will
take all the body mass in their lineup to stop the Giants’ freight train in
their tracks the rest of this series.
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