Because they let them in. The Dodgers let the Giants waltz into the playoffs and now I think we all know how this postseason is going to go. The Dodgers deemed the final three games of the regular season unimportant so they folded up like a beach chair. The Giants swept the Dodgers and limited them to just 4 runs scored as they squeaked into the playoffs as the second wild card. Now they’re going to the division series to play the Cubs after their predictable 3-0 win over the Mets in the NL wild card game. Do any of us really trust the rookie cursed Cubs to beat them?
This is why I was so aggravated that the Dodgers were pathetically swept in the final series of the regular season. It wasn’t because of home field advantage. As we’ve seen tonight home field actually means nothing. I was upset because the Dodgers could have knocked the Giants out of the postseason picture by just winning two out of those three games. Now the Pandora ’s Box has been opened in an even year and there may be no way to shut it.
This is what the Dodgers allowed, and it’s disgusting.
Madison Bumgarner is a freak of nature. Coming into tonight’s game he had allowed just a .60 ERA on the road in the postseason. He’s some kind of unhittable pitching force in October. This was his second time pitching a complete game shutout in a wild card game. It’s almost unfathomable. So when he shut out the Mets’ weak ass lineup it came as no surprise to me. The only chance the Mets had was if opposing starter Noah Syndergaard pitched a 9-inning shutout. Unfortunately he only pitched a 7-inning shutout. Utility man Conner Gillaspie hit a three-run home run in the top of the ninth inning off of Mets star closer Jeurys Familia.
The Dodgers could have prevented this from happening. That’s why I partially blame them for this. This was a Giants club that had the best record in baseball in the first half and then the worst record in the second half. After falling out of first place they stabilized in September finishing 15-15 after winning the final four games to get into the playoffs.
This isn’t a great club by any means, but they’ve been through this before. They have Bumgarner, Johnny Cueto, and a punchless contact hitting lineup that scratched and claws for runs. I can’t even believe they made it in and that this is happening all over again.
The fascinating thing about all of this is for the first time ever this may setup a Dodgers/Giants NLCS if the boys in blue can get past the Nationals. The Dodgers would have home field advantage if it goes that way. Somehow the Giants have figured out a way to win in October and all you have to do is get in. Bumgarner made around 120 pitches and the Giants never had to use their bullpen.
If the Giants win a fourth championship then the Dodgers have themselves to blame. It’s probably happening again and I blame the Dodgers for this.
Wild Card baseball:
Last night the closer doesn’t get in when the game is tied and the team loses. Tonight the closer gets into a tie game and the team still loses.
Were the Mets using SABRmetrics? Familia is RH, Gallaspie is a lefty batter. He hits RH pitching significantly better than lefties. OTOH, Familia was the top closer in the league. Damn if you do and damn if you don’t. Cookie crumbled. Giants love the post season and they love the Dodgers for putting them there.
Familia must be experiencing deja vu. The Cubs are a much better team than the Mets. But you can’t count the Giants out, especially if Cueto can make his starts. They keep finding these unlikely heroes and one bad pitch–boom! But Dodgers can’t worry about anything right now but the Nats.
Scott,
While I share some of your disappointment with how the Dodgers handled the Giants, what perplexes me is this: If the Dodgers deemed the series unimportant, they were obviously not playing competitive baseball. This is all mental and is either the result of poor management for allowing the players to even think like this, or management making poor decisions before and during the game, ‘to experiment’ with possible lineups and substitutions and minimize the chance of winning. Now, why would a team do this or act this way? Momentum is an intangible that cannot be disregarded. It is some of the magic that goes on with any competitive sport. That space called ‘The Zone’ is related to momentum. To let momentum get away from you cannot be a positive thing.
OTOH, momentum can be regained. It is not lost forever, but remains a bit more difficult to regain because of the memory of the loss of it. It is all mental and this point has to be understood by players and management alike because either one can destroy it. The real question for me is who destroyed it in the Giants series, the players or the management?
The wild card is Bochy. He is a great manager and loves the post season. I would not be surprised if SF beats the Cubs. I would rather face the Cubs than SF.
But many here believe the Dodgers are the better team than the Giants. Clearly, the Cubs are the cream of the crop. And, wouldn’t the Dodgers like to show the Giants who is really the boss? If I were the Dodgers, and really had the confidence in my club, I’d say bring on the Giants and let’s finish this once and for all.
But, for now, it’s the Nats, and we hope they are the Nots.
Idahoal
Bochy didn’t have to do a thing last night, because Bumgarner made his night quite easy.
But maybe we are getting a little carried away, because Bumgarner wasn’t facing an offensive juggernaut, last night either.
A complete game shutout by Snotrocket McButtgrabber.
Anyone really surprised?
I don’t know how seriously the Dodgers took those last games in SF but I do know how determined the Giants were then and are now. I don’t want to play them. It would mean they just beat the Cubs. And any team that can beat the Cubs can sure as hell beat the Dodgers.
I believe there are eight rookies on the Dodger team. They are Seager, Maeta, Barnes, Avilan, Toles, Dayton, Urias, and Stripling. A good mix of veterans and rookies. I am not sure Avilan is a rookie.
7. Avilan has been in the league since 2012.
I believe it might rain in Washington this weekend. How will that effect Blister Rich? He says all is ok, and Roberts says it’s time to “stretch him out”. It’s the playoffs. Yeah, now would be a good time to see if he can go more than 5. He hasn’t thrown more than 93 pitches since he’s been here. 77 and 82 the last two times out. 105 would be a good thing. That might get him 7.
Badger
The guy on the Giants last night that hit that HR, was traded with only six games left in the season, if this is the guy I think.
At the time of this trade on the MLB show, they said he wasn’t eligible for the post season.
I don’t blame Roberts for those last few games in SF.
Friedman was in SF and as we know, he helped Roberts make the post season roster decisions.
After Roberts brought McCarthy into the game, he didn’t pull him very fast after he started to get hit like a drumb.
And he also didn’t have anyone up in the bullpen either.
And that was unlike Roberts, so I think he wanted to make sure that McCarthy wasn’t on the post season roster.
After being hit like that, McCarthy said that the Giants just kept hitting him so violently.
That is not words, from a gamer.
The question is why did Anderson and McCarthy, even get chances to start, and Wood didn’t.
Wood at least pitched this year, and he was pitching well, right before he went out.
He was only having trouble pitching the third time through the order.
But that isn’t a problem on this team, because most of the pitchers, don’t pitch past five innings, except for Kershaw.
I just hope the Cubs sweep the Giants, because I have heard and seen enough about the Giants.
And don’t want to hear anything about the Giants, so I hope the Cubs can take care of them fast.
That umpire last night made it an easy night for Bumgarner, because the umpire was giving Bumgarner pretty high strikes.
And that was the reason that Cespedes was swinging at those high pitches.
Bumgarner did the same thing against the Dodgers in LA.
But in that first game in SF, we had got the lead on Bumgarner, until McCarthy was put into the game.
At least the Cubs have a much better closer then the Mets, and that will allow them, to shorten the game.
And the Cubs have a much better offense then the Mets too.
You are confusing Gillaspe, who has been a Giant all year with Beckham who was traded with 6 days left in the season and was and is ineligible for the post season. The normal 3rd baseman would have been Nunez, but he is out with an injury. Look, the Dodgers need to take care of their own business and not keep one eye on the SF-Chicago games. They need to concentrate on beating DC, and then beating who ever emerges from the other side, be it the Cubs, or the Giants. What is done is done. No use crying over the fact that if they would have won 1 of those games in SF they would have forced the Giants to have to beat both St Louis and the Mets to get to the NLDS> They did what they did, now it is time to play ball for keeps and keep their eye on the prize, not the scoreboard.
Michael
Thanks I couldn’t remember that guys name, but I knew Nunez would be playing, if he didn’t get hurt.
Let’s call him Mister Blister.
Hey Wondering!
About Hill, the problem with Hill has been keeping a happy medium with Hill.
It is hard to find out how many innings Hill needs to throw, and how often, he needs to throw, to stay sharp enough to pitch a great game, without losing him for the rest of the post season.
And Hill hasn’t been quite as sharp in his last few games, as he was, in his first couple of games.
And I also read what Badger read, about there being rain in that second game of the series against the Nationals, and that sounds like a nightmare when it comes to Hill too.
I just hope it isn’t, but that has to be a big worry right now for Roberts and Honeycutt.
And right at this point of the post season, it really does feel like the same nightmare is happening to Dodger fans once again, like Scott has written about here.
I just hope what we are feeling, is not going to happen, or there will be a lot of very disappointed Dodger fans.
This is the playoffs. They cannot afford to baby the guy now, besides, he is a free agent after the season, so if he develops a blister during the first round, and they make it to the second round, they can always slide Urias or Wood into the 3 spot and move Maeda to #2. Stripling will be available too. The Giants did what they had to do. Now it is time for the Dodgers to show how much grit they really have and kick some ass….
Gillaspie was not traded for by the Giants – that was Gordon Beckham. He was not on the roster.
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best (generally). Quit being a bunch of Nervous Nellies. This is what they play for. I think both NL series will be very interesting. Ar least there are no lefty starters for the Nats. That bodes well. I will be shocked if we don’t beat Washington.
The question is why did Anderson and McCarthy, even get chances to start, and Wood didn’t.
The answer is very simple – While Anderson and McCarthy have been oft injured, they started their rehab much earlier that Wood and had numerous innings between DL stints in the minor and majors. Alex Wood pitched ZERO minor league innings. Like he said himself “I did not have enough time to get stretched out as as starter.” Anderson and McCarthy had been stretched out several times, both in the majors and minors. Now do you understand?
And right at this point of the post season, it really does feel like the same nightmare is happening to Dodger fans once again, like Scott has written about here.
That’s all in your head – it doesn’t feel like that to me!
Gio Gonzalez???
I heard that they were going to use Scherzer, Roark and Strasburg and skip Gio, but I read one today that Gio would start game 3, so I guess no one is for sure.
Strasburg has been declared out for the series by the Nats because of his arm problems.
Mark
I didn’t know that Wood didn’t do any rehab in the minor leagues, so that makes a little more sense now.
I want to feel confident, but it is kind of hard, with our record in the post season.
I still can’t believe that Bumgarner, has never given up a hit, with a runner in scoring position, in the post season.
That is a pretty lofty record, but I guess records are also made to be broken, so I hope that happens soon.
“Stretch him out”???
Ala the bloody sock guy…Curt Schilling?
We shall see.
Stretching Hill out should have been done on Friday night instead of watching the Brandon McCarthy meltdown. First, they should stepped on their supposed rival when they had a chance. Second, they’re taking it for granted that they can throw Hill so infrequently and maintain his sharpness.
Before I jumped on the site this a.m. I was thinking almost verbatim what Scott said today. This team can only pray that the Cubs beat the giants, because if the giants beat the Cubs, the only team standing in the way of an even numbered title is the Red Sox. Only the Red Sox have the fire power to beat the giants’ starters. For 3 days 2 weekends ago, this team played like it has the last ……..years. This is not condemnation of Robert’s leadership because this one is on the players, who were drunk from the never ending Vin Scully party. All of you celebrating Vin Scully probably didn’t realize what a distraction it was for the players. I hope I am wrong, but this team has no chance of advancing past the NLDS, and I blame it on the attitude the team brought to San Francisco 2 weekends ago. The playoffs should have begun for the Dodgers then; instead the team sat back and let its arch rivals snatch all momentum from it. If it hits reset, it will be the biggest feather in the cap of Roberts in a season full of them. At this point, I’m more concerned about the giants winning than the Dodgers losing, and I don’t feel good about it at all. If the team loses game 1, it could be a sweep for the Nats.
Well, he was out for 9-10 weeks and came back sharp as ever.
I’m sure they wanted to limit his exposure on the blister until the playoffs.
B17 – you just summed up what I’ve been saying about this team since last year’s deadline. Move after move, dozens of them, for the last year and a half have been the same bargain basement high risk maybe reward type moves time after time. I said all along – it might work. I saw enough talent already here to win 90, but not enough to bring it all home.
And now we’re here. Right where I thought we would be. In the playoffs against marginally superior talent. But, as has been pointed out – once in the playoffs it’s a crapshoot. Anything can happen, including an umpire like Winters who wouldn’t know a strike if it crawled up his ass and nested. Stand by. It’s about to get very interesting.
Badger
I read that this same umpire Winters, was suspended earlier in his career, for taunting a player.
And this is the same umpire that told AJ, that AJ’s pitcher wasn’t getting his pitches called strikes, because AJ was a bad framer.
Badger if Synderguard would have threw his fastball, right where Bumgarner was throwng his balls, that were called strikes, it wouldn’t have even been a contest.
Bobby
I haven’t seen a post by you lately, but I just read something that reminded me of you.
This Dodger fan said the reason the Giants won last night, and will beat the Cubs, is to set up a National League pennant series, that the Dodgers will eventually win over the Giants.
And every Dodger fan, is going to call this series, the all time Xanax poping series!
I grew up, and stil am to some extent, a Red Sox fan.
I remember hating the Yankees, but never fearing the Yankees.
THis board seems to be an odd assembly of people who are fearing the Giants.
I mean that was a great game last night. Why not enjoy the baseball and hope the Dodgers win?
I’m on TrueBlueLA quite a bit and don’t get that pessimistic sentiment there. Of course, there’s a lot more joking over there.
There used to be more humor here bluto. You can help bring it back. Say something funny.
I don’t sense any fear. It’s more like “oh crap, not again”. That’s not fear, it’s frustration. I would think it would be common that fans of one team do not like it at all when their rivals walk over them to a World Championship – not once but 3 times. You don’t mind when the rival Yankees celebrate winning a World Series? Ok. Good for you. I think I can state with some certainty Yankee fans don’t like it when Boston wins.
Bluto
A lot of people joke to deal with pain.
That is funny, because I was taking a look at TrueBlueLA today, and they shared about the same sentiment, that you are seeing on here today.
And I am talking about there commentors.
I first went to see Dodgers Digest, to see how they would respond to the Giants winning last night, and I wasn’t suprised.
They did there best to revive the Dodgers, after the Giants won that game last night.
With there article about the reasons, that the Dodgers could win the World Series this year.
And that is not the exact title.
And I am not so sure that we fear the Giants, maybe we just fear some bad fate lately.
Take a look at Dodger Insider today, to see what I am talking about.
And by the way, I wish Mookie Betts was on the Dodgers.
He is one exciting player.
I just wish we could have gave Toles the playing time, that the Nationals gave Trea Turner.
In order to get Toles even more adjusted, and to see what Toles could do, playing on a everyday basis.
We don’t want to fall short of of TrueBlue, so….. a little levity for our friend bluto:
I tried calling MadBum this morning. He picked up after 3 rings.
Badger
That sounds like good news, because it wasn’t four rings!
I am really excited for tomorrow. Nervous, obviously, but excited. I don’t fear the Nats like I did the Cards in 13 and 14. I’m still shocked we lost last year to the Mets, especially with a game 5 at home. Then again, in game 5’s in NLDS, the road team wins most of the time. Go figure.
Meanwhile, I tempted fate and bought tic for home games 1, 3, and 4 for the NLCS. Yes, if we take SF to 6 and 7, I’ll be there. Or, I’ll have passed on via heart attack already, but somebody will be there in my seats!
This is a Giant-Dodger NLCS. It’s our year!
Bobby
You are going to need some Mother’s little helpers, to get through that series!
I would love to hear, The Dodgers win the pennant, The Dodgers win the pennant!
I DIDNT read everyone’s response but:
The “even year” thing is meaningless. Quit being a ninny.
The “best team” doesnt necessarily win in the post season so the Cubs are guaranteed nothing. Against the Giants, Dodgers or anyone.
Being the hottest team; however defined, probably has more to do with winning in the post season. But so does luck, good fortune, etc. That come backer that Bum snagged gets through last night and the Mets score first. That’s “momentum” to whatever degree you believe in it.
I really think the Dodgers have the best chance to advance further this year than any of the past three. Why with Kershaw coming off the DL? Fewer I innings on his arm, Urias, Seager, Toles, a more motivated Puig, Ethier likely knowing this is his last shot. Nothing is guaranteed but I ROOT ROOT ROOT for the Dodgers!