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Good morning, baseball fans!
How are your hearts doing this morning? Asking for your cardiologist and mine. My goodness. It’s hard to pick the highlight of the night. Evan Longoria’s home run, Brandon Crawford’s catch, Steven Duggar’s multiple catches, Camilo Doval’s nerves of steel, the Dodgers getting shutout twice in the series. Everything you want in a historic rivalry playoff game.
The Giants now have a chance to clinch the series tonight and finally put to bed their endless battle with the Dodgers, and look ahead to the rest of the field.
It was announced just after last night’s game that Anthony DeSclafani will get the start tonight, which was strongly hinted at earlier in the day and proved almost a certainty with the use of Tyler Rogers and Doval in multiple innings last night. Though Gabe Kapler said that it's all hands on deck tonight.
Some injury updates: Tommy La Stella was pulled from the game last night in what appeared to be a shrewd defensive switch for Donovan Solano that paid off. But unfortunately, it was actually due to left achilles tightness.
There’s also a slight update about Brandon Belt, though nothing has really changed in that regard. He had his two week re-evaluation about the time table for his possible return and it didn’t change. He’s still showing signs of a fracture, despite feeling good.
Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area notes that Belt is working hard to stay ready, noting:
He fielded grounders at Oracle Park several times last week and glove-flipped balls to a coach since he can’t throw. He also has been tracking pitches in the batting cage. Belt has done all of this with a soft brace on his left hand.
The dream scenario continues to be a possible return for the National League Championship Series if the Giants advance.
And finally, Dave Roberts had a lot to say about the factor that the wind played in last night’s game, implying that the Dodgers would have won if the wind hadn’t been so intense. A few Giants agreed with the assessment that the wind definitely played a factor in the game, however everyone had the weather report before the game, with the understanding that it was going to be a particularly difficult night for right handed hitters, but Roberts opted to start an entire line-up of righties. That, combined with the fact that the wind was so bad everywhere yesterday that my backyard is now covered in trash that started out the day in the bins out front, doesn’t leave me much sympathy for his plight.
Old, random MCC article for you to read
This game was on my mind on Friday night and again last night, as I’m sure it was for many of you. So I thought I’d post it today.
Post-game thread: Tim Lincecum. Oh, my. (October 7th, 2010 - Grant Brisbee)
What time do the Giants play today?
The San Francisco Giants look to clinch the series against the Los Angeles Dodgers tonight in Game 4 of the National League Division Series at 6:07 p.m. PT.