Jake Peavy dazzles, Giants gain a game

Edwin Escobar might turn into Corey Kluber*. In a year or two or five, we might look at the Red Sox, spoiled with riches and young players, with more than a touch of envy. Escobar might be more than a mid-rotation guy, something might click, and in 20 years, some young Giants fan is going to stumble across his page on Space-Baseball-Reference.space and say, "Dang. What a bad trade."

You weren't here, future person. You didn't see. You didn't see how Jake Peavy helped save the Giants. Dang. What a great trade.

The Giants won their fourth straight game started by Jake Peavy, their sixth win in his last seven starts. He hasn't allowed more than a run in his last five starts. He hasn't allowed more than two runs in his last seven starts. He is the Matt Cain the Giants were hoping for with Matt Cain, and the Matt Cain the Giants needed when the real Matt Cain had to have surgery. Jake Peavy, you magnificent bastard.

Hold on to the excitement hose, though. Don't go spraying that all over the place. It's good to remember what the Giants were hoping for with Peavy:

Sabean mentioned twice how eight different scouts believed Peavy would be a valuable fourth starter for the Giants, with all eight recommending that the Giants acquire him from Boston.

"A valuable fourth starter for the Giants." This is still the likeliest outcome in a season simulated 1,000 times. Peavy would be a valuable fourth starter. He would be that for the Red Sox, instead of the weirdness he dealt with there, and he would be that for the Giants after coming over at the deadline. At this point in their careers, I'm not sure how different Peavy is from Ryan Vogelsong, for example.

He's the right starter at the right time for the Giants, though. Remember when Tim Hudson was pretending he was 25-year-old Tim Hudson back in April and May? That was the right starter at the right time, a reason for celebration. That's Peavy right now. It doesn't mean that he's figured something out, or that he's going to be a perennial Cy Young candidate if he stays in AT&T Park. He's just the right pitcher at the right time, and the right time happens to be the rightest of times.

There were so, so many ways the Giants could have screwed the deadline up.

"GET ME CLIFF LEE," the spoiled, hyperactive owner yells. "GET ME CLIFF LEE, REGARDLESS OF THE COST."

Gadzooks. There were so many ways to mortgage the future and chase mirages. Chase Utley is basically Joaquin Arias without the power now. John Lackey cost four times what Peavy did, and he's a nightmare. Instead, the Giants traded for a guy who was supposed to be a valuable fourth starter, and they lucked into a temporary ace.

Considering the franchise's recent history of turning midseason acquisitions into something glorious, it's okay to let your hair down a bit. This is a good thing. Jake Peavy is a good thing, maybe the best of things.

★★★

I asked Peavy if he's amped for next start at LA: "I won't lie. I was just in the shower thinking about Dee Gordon."

— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) September 17, 2014

★★★

When the Giants temporarily followed Virgil around Cocytus in June and July, taking notes on exactly how baseball's three mouths were gushing bloody foam and weeping eternally, here's something that wouldn't have happened: Sergio Romo hanging a slider to a hot hitter and getting away with it.

It happened in the bottom of the eighth. Romo pitched well, for the most part, barely missing with two pitches to get behind A.J. Pollock. He came back, and on a two-strike pitch, he stopped time, Evie-style, as the pitch was heading toward home plate.

"Hold on."

Romo built a little stand for the slider. Not much, but effective. It was a thin wooden pedestal, atop the middle of the plate, thigh-high. It was a sacrifice to the old gods, just sitting there.

Pollock flied out to right.

The bad days are mostly over for Romo. The miserable streak that cost him his job (and millions upon millions of dollars) is long gone. Did you know he's allowed two earned runs since July 6? That he didn't allow an earned run in August? Since giving up two runs to the Marlins in July, Romo's struck out 20 and walked three in 15⅔ innings, with a 1.15 ERA. He's been good again, probably good enough to reclaim his job.

That pitch was an abomination, though. And he got away with it. Good. He deserves to get away with a couple of those. He went a month without getting away with anything.

★★★

That brilliant man was 2-for-3 with a sac fly, too.

Welcome back, Brandon Crawford. You are appreciated.

★★★

Everyone here agrees that Josh Collmenter was incredibly hittable tonight, and that a Giants lost would have forced a recap that was filled with stupid crutches like "BABIP" and "the baseball gods" and "poopy luck", right?

Good, good. This should have been an 8-1 game, by my count. In June, it would have been a 1-0 game, and teeth would have gnashed, garments would have been rended. In September, it's amusing filler at the bottom of a recap.

★★★

UPDATE.

Gimme the 5-6 Dodgers finish and the 8-3 Giants finish. That leads to a one-game playoff for the division that means the loser has to play a wild card game where the winner goes straight to the winner of the NL West. Sounds fun. SOUNDS FUN.

I don't not believe.

*^{Please note that the Padres gave Kluber away to acquire Ryan Ludwick for the 2010 pennant race. Please note it and roll around in it.}