Giants are scrappy and that gives this ballclub a chance at October
If the Giants weren’t scrappy, I don’t know what they’dbe.
I do know it wouldn’t be good.
So it’s a good thing this team has a never-say-die attitude.
Tuesday night in Houston, that scrappiness was on full display, as the Giants won a game they had no business taking, 7-6 over the Astros in extra innings after being down 6-2 going into the seventh and 6-5 going into the top of the ninth inning.
It’s not too early to say that this team has a character about them. And luckily for San Francisco, that kind of character can go a long way in a 60-game season.
Because they don’t have much else.
Let’s be real about these Giants. They’re unquestionably the worst defensive team in the majors. Their offense is average at best, and that’s really being nice. And depending on how you feel about first-year manager Gabe Kapler, the Giants’ pitching is either poorly talented or incompetently managed.
And yet this team, at 8-12 on the year and with an abysmal run differential of minus-29, is one game back of a playoff spot. They have a better record than those cheating but unquestionably more talented Astros.
And don’t hold me to those standings. Things are wacky thanks to there being not one, but two team-wide COVID outbreaks in the National League.
The classic rule in baseball is that you win 54 games, you lose 54 games, and it’s the other 54 games that determine if you are a good or a bad team. Obviously, in a 60-game season, those numbers are smaller — 20, 20, and 20.
Maybe the Giants have chipped into those 20 wins a bit early. Maybe a few of these wins are gravy. Only time will tell. But I can say that Tuesday night’s win felt big for San Francisco. There was catharsis in Hunter Pence hitting a three-run homer to make the game interesting and then following it up with a big base hit in the top of the ninth. Pence was 2-for-32 on the season before that homer.
And when Brandon Crawford, who had been struggling at the plate, too (though not as badly as Pence), came through with an incredibly professional at-bat that resulted in the game-winning RBI, you could almost feel the weight being lifted off his shoulders.
And when Tyler Rogers, he of the long leash and a longer ERA was chosen by Kapler to close the game and he fulfilled the request, both the submarine pitcher and his manager surely breathed sighs of relief.
With Tuesday’s clutch performance, the Giants have been given another chance to make something out of this season. That game felt that pivotal.
I doubt it’ll loom large in the history of this team. I don’t think anyone will be telling the story of the night in Houston where it all turned around for this team of destiny.
But so long as they can keep things interesting until the trade deadline on Aug. 31, it really doesn’t matter. The only goal should be to bridge the gap between the start of this baseball season and the real start of 49ers season. Oh, and giving people a reason to think the rebuild is on the right track. Make Farhan Zaidi’s life difficult at the deadline.
There are 17 scheduled games between now and then. This is defining time.
Can the Giants scrap their way to .500?
I doubt it. But then again, I didn’t think there was a chance in Houston, Texas (aka hell) that they’d win Tuesday.