Hello. The Giants need to win three straight games against the best team in baseball if they want to advance in the postseason. That seems bad. Is that bad? That’s probably bad.
However! Of all the teams in baseball, all the collections of players and coaching staffs and fans, the Giants are uniquely equipped to ignore reality. It’s fun to live in this artificial wonderland, where everything is possible, even if it’s stupid and unlikely. The Giants have turned stupid and unlikely into an art form.
Let’s look back at the stupid and unlikely from the last three postseason runs, then. How many times did the Giants win three games in a row?
2010
Nope. They never trailed in a series, though, so they didn’t need to mount the big comeback. Have we all reflected on what a treat that was? To have the Giants win the first game of every series, limiting the panic that we were used to in ... well, every Giants-related moment of our lives up to that point.
The 2010 Giants were a very, very polite team.
2012
THE 2012 GIANTS WERE JERKS, THOUGH. In the best possible way.
NLDS vs. Reds
The Giants lost the first two games of the NLDS at home, which required them to win three in Cincinnati. The Reds were really, really good that year, with one of the better rotations (statistically) of the last 15 years or so.
Starting pitchers faced
Homer Bailey, Mike Leake, Mat Latos
Degree of difficulty
High. Again, all road games because of a scheduling quirk (home-field advantage was the final three games of the series) to fit in the new Wild Card Game.
Amount of even-year nonsense required
High. The Giants got three hits in Game 3 and won the game on an error. If that’s their plan against Jake Arrieta, well, it’s silly. But I wouldn’t be against it actually happening.
Isn’t there a GIF that you should put here?
Yes.
NLCS vs. Cardinals
The Giants were roundly humiliated in three out of the first four games of the series, losing by a combined 17-8 score in the losses. Game 4 was particularly tough, as it was the last time Tim Linecum started a postseason game, and it made us all think, "Boy, that’s probably the last time Tim Lincecum will start in a postseason game."
Starting pitchers faced
Lance Lynn, Chris Carpenter, Kyle Lohse
Degree of difficulty
Medium. It’s hard to beat any team three games in a row, but the Giants have always matched up well with Lynn, Carpenter wasn’t healthy, and Lohse was Lohse, even if he dominated the Giants earlier in the series.
Plus, the final two games of the series were at AT&T Park, which makes a huge difference.
Amount of even-year nonsense required
High, but maybe not as much as you think. The Cardinals got a runner in the scoring position within five pitches in the first inning against Barry Zito in Game 5, and they runners on second and third with no outs in the second. A single from Daniel Descalso would have changed everything, I’ll gather. He struck out. That was peak nonsense.
After that, though, the Giants kind of womped them. Hunter Pence’s three-contact single aside, they outscored the Cardinals 20-1 over the final three games. That’s ... not even-year nonsense, at least not in its purest form.
World Series vs. Tigers
No comebacks required. Just the kind of pummeling that make a fella say "Wow."
Starting pitchers faced
Justin Verlander, Doug Fister, Anibal Sanchez, Max Scherzer
Degree of difficulty
High. While the pressure was all on the Tigers after the Giants won the first game, the Giants still had to go through four very talented starting pitchers. Matt Cain was the only starter in the rotation who would have had a better adjusted ERA than any of the pitchers in the Tigers’ rotation.
Amount of even-year nonsense required
Medium. The players who did well were generally good at what they did. Zito’s start against Verlander qualifies, though, as does Ryan Vogelsong pitching out of a bases loaded jam against Miguel Cabrera that still wakes me up from a deep sleep.
2014
NLCS vs. Cardinals
The series was tied, 1-1, after Kolten Wong’s walk-off homer in Game 2. That was the last win the Cardinals would get, and I’m okay with that.
Starting pitchers faced
John Lackey, Shelby Miller, Adam Wainwright
Degree of difficulty
Medium. After winning Game 3 on an error, and with Madison Bumgarner looming, the pressure was on the Cardinals.
Amount of even-year nonsense required
High. I mean ...
But it was more than that. It was Randy Choate throwing the ball down the line. It was Randal Grichuk not really knowing where the wall was in the first inning of Game 3. It was the Giants getting to face a rookie with a year of professional experience in the sixth inning of Game 4. It was Mike Matheny deciding to use poor Michael Wacha for the first time in a month.
It took a lot of nonsense, even if the Giants never trailed in the series.
Still, all four of the above series suggest that it’s possible to beat good teams and good pitchers three games in a row. It might not be likely, but we’ve seen stupid and unlikely before. And it’s glorious.
In four out of their last six postseason series, the Giants have won three games in a row. This situation isn’t, uh, ideal. But I don’t see why it’s so silly to hope for one more game. It's only moderately silly.