From long ball to small ball, Giants doing it all
SAN FRANCISCO – The bunt just wouldn’t go foul, despite the best efforts of the Detroit players who gathered around it and tried to will it across the chalk down the third base line.
It couldn’t go foul, because that might have ruined the whole aura the San Francisco Giants spent two games creating on their way toward taking command of this World Series.
Gregor Blanco thought he had pulled it too much but ran anyway, as hard as he could toward first. Hunter Pence had no such doubt as he watched the ball die on the dirt from his prime vantage point heading for third.
“One of the most beautiful bunts you’ll ever see,” said Pence, who moments later would come home with the only run the Giants would need in a 2- 0 win in Game 2.
Three home runs by the Panda the night before in a most improbable win against Tigers ace Justin Verlander. Small ball on this night, the way the Giants played it all year long in the National League.
And now a trip to Detroit with their two best pitchers lined up for the weekend and their second World Series title in three years suddenly squarely in their sights.
“It seems like the game is on our side right now,” Blanco said.
Who needs a Triple Crown winner and a slugger lured from the National League just for these kinds of games, when a double play ground ball was good enough to put the Giants in the lead in the seventh and a sacrifice fly scored another an inning later without the benefit of one hit?
Superstars can turn games around, but how about Marco Scutaro keeping this one on check when he raced from second base to back up a relay throw and fire to home in the second inning just in time to get Prince Fielder sliding in while trying to score from first?
And say what you want about Pablo Sandoval’s body type, but he managed to get airborne enough at third base to spear a line drive by Miguel Cabrera in the fourth inning that could have easily gone for a double and scored Omar Infante from first.
“I don’t know about baseball gods, but I’ll tell you one thing: I hope the ball keeps bouncing our way,” Giants lefty Jeremy Affeldt said.
Just as huge is the Giants’ pitching. First it was Barry Zito coming back from nowhere to beat Verlander in Game 1. On Thursday night it was Madison Bumgarner finding something with his delivery to throw seven innings of two- hit ball after being dropped from the rotation in the NLCS. To throw Ryan Vogelsong in Game 3 on Saturday and follow him with staff ace Matt Cain almost seems unfair.
“Having Vogelsong and Cain to pitch means so much to us in big games,” Affeldt said. “It’s not a bad thing to say we’re in a good spot right now up 2- 0.”