Monday, August 10, 2009

Big Series, Giants/Dodgers matchup

Coming into this season, most so called "experts" picked the Giants to finish between last and might as well be last in the "miserable" NL West and the Dodgers with Manny Ramirez to run away with the Division. Much has happened between then and now but one thing hasn't changed much... The Dodgers are still supposed to run away with things.

It's now August 10th and the Giants are 61-50, 11 games over .500, and only 5 1/2 games back of the mighty Dodgers. Plus they own a tie atop the Wildcard standings with the Rockies.

With the complete lack of offense and only 2 "solid starters" it's apparently a wonder the Giants are this close to the chosen team. What with the rash of injuries they've had, and inconsistent play, the Dodgers ought to be 15 games ahead.

But they're not!

Think back to May 8th when the Ramirez story broke. The Giants were 6 games back of the baby blue boys when the 50 game suspension took effect. The Dodgers extended their lead to 8 games by early July when ManRoid returned. At the most since then, they got out to an 11 game lead. But somehow, some way, the Giants are only 5.5 back today.

Closer than in early May.

The Dodgers are suffering, have a sputtering offense (although capable of scoring MANY runs), inconsistent relief, and a VERY injured pitching staff. Perfect timing for a team 5.5 games back to overcome that deficit. Especially if they play three games against each other.

The Giants throw out Jonathan Sanchez, Joe Martinez, and Tim Lincecum vs, Hiroki Kuroda, Randy Wolf, and PTBN (Chad Billingsly's day but he's nursing a sore hammy). Advantage Giants. The key will be Martinez overcoming his emotions, first start at home.

A three game sweep sends the league a serious message. A three game sweep puts the Giants 2.5 games back of the Reigning NL West Chumps with 6 more head to head games.

First things first, one game at a time.

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