Programming
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SAN FRANCISCO ? Madison Bumgarner had gotten henpecked for more than a month.
His stuff had turned flat and stale, his delivery stretched out like jeans after a fourth wearing and fewer and fewer baseballs found their way into Buster Posey?s mitt.
But Giants pitching coach Dave Righetti was confident that three side sessions gave Bumgarner enough twine to hold together his mechanics. And in Game 2 of the World Series, Bumgarner was able to rope all the Big Bossies in the Detroit Tigers lineup.
He allowed two hits in seven shutout innings while striking out eight in the Giants? 2-0 victory. And he was the same ol? Bumgarner when asked to compare his outing with his previous two, in which he had an 11.25 ERA.
[BAGGS' INSTANT REPLAY: Giants ride Bumgarner to 2-0 win in Game 2]
?I went into the seventh inning instead of getting took out in the third,? he said, busting up the assembly in the interview room.
Bumgarner didn?t seem to have two-hit stuff. Some fastballs over the plate were fouled off, others were hit hard for outs and one off the bat of Miguel Cabrera probably came close to breaking the sound barrier before it nearly vaporized Pablo Sandoval's glove at third base.
But Bumgarner had the most finish on his slider in a month, he kept throwing them to various locations, and that was enough to keep the Tigers off their game. It was the kind of outing that was familiar for Bumgarner during the regular season, when he allowed just five home runs over 15 starts at AT&T Park.
In his first two playoff starts, he'd gotten tagged for three home runs.
?The only difference was being able to make pitches,? Bumgarner said. ?I hadn?t been able to do that and tonight, Buster (Posey) caught a great game and the defense did great. They hit some balls hard and it happened to be in the right spot.?
Once again, Giants manager Bruce Bochy?s confidence in a core player was rewarded. Game 2 was supposed to be the "scramble game" for a Giants rotation that had been pushed to the brink in the NLCS while the Tigers played tiddlywinks with prospects. The Tigers set everything up to their liking. The Giants used the only rested pitcher they had.
The Tigers managed two hits -- the fewest allowed by the Giants in their 107 World Series games in franchise history.
?He?s done such a great job for us,? said Bochy of Bumgarner, who had been pulled from the NLCS rotation after Game 1. ?I really thought he needed a break, and I thought he benefited from it mentally and physically, and he went out there and pitched like we know he can.
?His delivery was simpler, it was more compact and I think he was able to get the ball where he wanted tonight because of that.?
Was he really that good?
?Well, I think he just had a pretty determined look on his face tonight,? Tigers manager Jim Leyand said. ?He made some good pitches when he had to. He probably got pumped up a little bit, but he ended up pitching a good game and we didn?t do very much with him. I tip my hat to him as well.?
[RELATED: Tigers tip their caps to Giants' pitching]
If the Tigers really can't hit lefties, the rest of this series shapes up well for the Giants. Barry Zito and Bumgarner have allowed just one run over 12 2/3 innings in two World Series starts. And they?d be lined up to pitch again in Games 5 and 6, should this affair get that far.
--
Baseball has a sense of humor, or irony, or something.
Ever since reporting day in spring training, we?ve asked about and wondered how Buster Posey would handle plays at the plate. Bumgarner was on record early saying he wouldn?t mind giving away a few runs as a devil?s bargain to keep Posey from getting obliterated, as he did last season by the Florida Marlins? Scott Cousins.
Sure enough, Posey has set up so far in front of the plate that he?s probably cost the Giants somewhere on the order of a half-dozen runs during the regular season.
But what about a World Series game? What about a stage important enough where it?s worth it to risk a collision to save a run? I asked Posey before the postseason began if he?d modify his positioning for plays at the plate. He said it wouldn?t make any sense to change the way he?s done something all season. He didn't think it would be a big deal, really.
So what happens in Game 2? Not only does Posey get a play at the plate, but it involves Prince Fielder ? who collided with Eli Whiteside just a couple days after the Posey play last May. Fielder blew up former Giant Todd Greene in a home-plate collision a few years before that, too.
Given the principal participants alone, it set up for complete and utter disaster.
But Marco Scutaro?s throw didn?t carry Posey into the baseline, and Posey was able to reach back and apply his swipe tag at the last instant before Fielder?s cleats touched the plate. Posey executed that play just as he practiced it, and emerged none the worse for wear.
[RELATED: Posey avoids collision as 'perfect' relay sparks Giants win]
In the end, Posey was right. He played the way he practiced, and something good happened for the Giants.
--
Credit umpire Dan Iassogna with a terrific call at the
plate on Fielder, by the way. Good umpires are not noticed, but it?s important to note that Iassogna
was in great position and made the right call on a tough play.
First base umpire Fieldin Culbreath blew a call on Scutaro, though, when he tried to dive headfirst to beat out an infield single. Scutaro was called out; he was clearly safe on the replay.
There are repercussions. Denied his rightful hit, Scutaro?s postseason hitting streak ended at 11, tying him with Irish Meusel atop the Giants franchise list.
--
Gregor Blanco wasn?t shocked by Pablo Sandoval?s three-homer
performance in Game 1. Blanco watched a few years ago when Sandoval crushed
pitch after pitch to win the Pepsi Home Run Derby as part of the Venezuelan
winter league.
Sandoval beat Miguel Cabrera in the finals.
--
I finally got 20 seconds with Sandoval (which is no
easy task these days!) and asked him what he writes in the dirt just prior to
the first pitch, then wipes away with his hand before tossing the dirt in the
air.
?God,? he said.
--
I told Brian Wilson that the Giants need to lose two of
three in Detroit for his midsummer prediction ? a clinching Game 6 victory on
Halloween night ? to come true.
?We can move it up,? he said. ?We?ll have the parade on Halloween.?
--
Zito and Bumgarner are the first lefty
teammates to start and win the first two games of a World Series since 1981,
when Ron Guidry and Tommy John did so for the Yankees.
--
The very best news of the night is that Tigers right-hander Doug Fister appears
to be OK. Let?s not laud anyone?s ?toughness? for playing after sustaining head
trauma of any kind. Let?s just be glad he?s all right, by all accounts.
[RELATED: Doug Fister overcomes terrifying moment]
--
The last eight teams to go up 2-0 in the World Series have
gone on to win the championship. In fact, 14 of the last 15 teams to meet that
criteria have emerged with the flag-studded trophy.
The lone exception is the 1996 Atlanta Braves, who dropped their next four to the Yankees.
--
The Giants, in case you were wondering, have gone up 2-0
four times in franchise history. They won the World Series all four times: 1922
vs. the Yankees, 1933 vs. the Senators, 1954 vs. the Indians and 2010 vs. the
Rangers.
--
The Tigers, meanwhile, are down 0-2 in the World Series for
the first time since 1908. The Chicago Cubs went on to beat them that season.
It?s been a rough 104 years for Cubs fans since then.
--
Last word, Tim Flannery?
?As the great Carlos Santana ? the guitar player, not the catcher ? said in 2010, sometimes you need to know when to get out of the way of yourself,? Flannery said. ?And tonight was one of those moments.?
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