Gamethread: 2012 NLCS Game 7

Due to the coronavirus outbreak suspending the 2020 MLB season, we’re rewatching the three San Francisco Giants postseason runs, game-by-game, on Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday nights at 6 p.m. PT, with a gamethread for each.

The San Francisco Giants did what they needed to do in Game 6, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 6-1. They’ve now tied the series 3-3 after trailing 3-1, and they’ve won five consecutive elimination games this postseason.

They’ll need to make it six if they want to punch a ticket back to the World Series. It’s time for the best thing in sports: A winner-take-all game. And it’s in San Francisco.

With the season yet again on the line, the Giants are sending out Matt Cain, who finished the year with a 16-5 record, a 2.79 ERA, a 3.40 FIP, and 193 strikeouts in 219.1 innings. He was an All-Star, and finished sixth in Cy Young voting.

The Cardinals are trying to win their second straight pennant behind the arm of Kyle Lohse, who finished the year with a 16-3 record, a 2.86 ERA, a 3.51 FIP, and 143 strikeouts in 211 innings. He finish seventh in Cy Young voting.

The two also squared off in Game 3, which the Cardinals won 3-1. In that game, Cain pitched 6.2 innings, allowed 6 hits, 1 walk, and 3 earned runs, and struck out 2. Lohse pitched 5.2 innings, allowed 7 hits, 5 walks, and 1 earned run, and struck out 2.

We’re starting this rewatch at the same time as all of the rewatches: 6 p.m. PT. The video isn’t embeddable, but you can find it by clicking here, then you can watch or cast from your browser. Or you can find it on YouTube by searching “Giants 2012 NLCS Game 7” and clicking the first link.

If you want to skip the pregame, come back at 6:08 p.m. and use this link.

Here’s the Cardinals lineup:

1. Jon Jay — CF
2. Carlos Beltran — RF
3. Matt Holliday — LF
4. Allen Craig — 1B
5. Yadier Molina — C
6. David Freese — 3B
7. Daniel Descalso — 2B
8. Pete Kozma — SS
9. Kyle Lohse — P

And the Giants lineup:

1. Angel Pagan — CF
2. Marco Scutaro — 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval — 3B
4. Buster Posey — C
5. Hunter Pence — RF
6. Brandon Belt — 1B
7. Gregor Blanco — LF
8. Brandon Crawford — SS
9. Matt Cain — P