NL West

[Frayed Knot]

SD
SF -2.0
Col -4.5
LA -11.0

San Diego briefly had the best record in the NL and pushed their lead up to 6 full games before going on a teensy-weensy little ten game losing streak and watching most of it wash away.
They've temporarily righted the ship by taking three straight from LA (the Dodgers is dead) but they're in a real race now particularly seeing as how they host SF for a four-game series starting tonight.
Right after this series they then go to Colorado for three and also finish up the season with three at SF.

Game 1 -- Cain vs Garland
Game 2 -- Sanchez vs Richard
Game 3 -- Bumgarner vs Latos
Game 4 -- Lincecum vs Correia

Giants are not only somehow hanging around despite a losing August (13-15) but could be in 1st before the weekend's out. Have three remaining with the Rox in addition to the seven with Sandy Eggo.


Rockies - winners of 6 in a row and 13 of their last 17 - are putting on their seemingly annual late-season push, were 11 games out less than three weeks back. They get Arizona then SD after finishing up this afternoon with Cincy.
Their H/R record is its usual lop-sided self [46-22 vs 29-42] and they play 13 of their final 23 at home.

[Frayed Knot]

- Giants knock out 13 hits and 4 HRs to take game 1 with SD and reduce the lead to just 1 game

- Rox, down 5-0 after 2, come all the way back to win 6-5 and so they're just 3.5 back.
Tulowitski's HR leading off the 8th tied it, then pinch-runner Chris Nelson stole home later in the same inning for the winning run. Cool thing about it was that it was a straight steal, off a Right-hander (can't sneak behind his back) and with a runner also on 1st so the pitcher is still working out of the stretch. Dude just took off somehow without the pitcher seeing him. Someone on the Reds must have barked 'He's going' but the pitcher assumed it was the guy off 1st so turned his attention towards 2B. By the time he realized WHO was going it was too late and the runner easily beat the throw.
That's got to be a ridiculously low pct move but it worked like a charm.

oe: Buster Olney saying that the whole steal thing was apparently a messed-up squeeze play.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Yeah, Masset just plain done fucked up-- the weirdest part is that Nelson runs 15 feet or so before he even reacts; unless his peripheral vision is completely messed up, even the motion should have jarred him to act in some way before then.

Video here.

[Guest attgig]

if you look at the video, the way masset sets up, he puts his glove way up by his face, almost as a blinder so he only focuses on the catcher. The righty batter is covering the catcher's view, so, it seems like masset is only reacting to the crowd noise.

awesome steal. beautiful..

and not even close to being a squeeze play... straight steal.

[Frayed Knot]

... and not even close to being a squeeze play... straight steal.

[Frayed Knot]

Giants now tied w/the Padres in the West (Giants with one more win but also one extra loss) after they somehow needed six pitchers to throw a 1-0, 3-hit shutout last night. Probably didn't help that starter Jonathan Sanchez walked 7 in just 5 innings and therefore got his ass pulled with a one-hitter going.

Rockies romped over Arizona and sit 2.5 out.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Ten in a row now for Colorado. Three teams sit within a game and a half, with the Wild Card still looking like it'll come out of the East.

[Frayed Knot]

You post that just prior to their winning streak getting snapped.
Rox lose 6-4 to SD who jump back into 1st over the idle Giants.
Rox were down 5-0 at one point and looked like they were about to pull out another one (they won on a Giambi PH-walk-off-HR this weekend) as they cut it to 5-4

SD
SF -0.5
Col -2.5

[Guest Edgy DC]

Heath Bell trying to survive a meltdown against the Rockies.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Bam! Eric Young, Jr. GiDPs and the Pads hang on, 7-6.

[metsmarathon]

holy shit. jay payton is still playing ball?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Dodgers lead 1-0 after eight, despite only one hit.

One out in the sixth, Reed Johnson is hit by a pitch, gets sacrificed to second (two out) by pitcher Clayton Kershaw, and comes home when Juan Uribe throws away the third out.

Kershaw has gone the distance for the DJs. Three hits and no walks.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Kershaw closes it out with no help despite a ninth-inning single bringing the winning run to the plate for the Giants.

Go, Torre, go!

[MFS62]

holy shit. jay payton is still playing ball?[/quote:3r170h36]
It gets better.
from last night's Rockies Box score:

"- J. Payton singled to shallow left center, M. Mora scored"

Certainly isn't 1999 anymore around here. Rockies brought Payton up from the minors ~a week ago, he hit .397 in August for their AAA team.
Amazing that he still had anything left in the tank. I guess he likes that mile-high air.

Later

[Benjamin Grimm]

Jay keeping the possibility alive of a three-decade Met representing the 1990's-2000's-2010's period.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Not for nothing, but so is Mel.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Giants-Dodgers playing more scoreless ball tonight, with no runs apiece through the end of the sixth. San Francisco is running into this at the wrong time.

Colorado pulls one out over the Padres, 9-6, and pull within 2.5 of the Pads, 1.5 of the Giants.

[Frayed Knot]

Troy Tulowitski in September -- 26 for 70 with 19 of those hits going for XB including 14 HRs: .371/.421/.1.057 or an OPS of 1.478
IOW, yeah, he's kind of hot.

Not surprisingly, Colorado is 13-4 during that time. They sit 1 game behind SD and 1/2 game in back of SF in the NL West. And 2-1/2 behind Atlanta in the Wild Card

[Frayed Knot]

SF
SD -0.5
Col -2.5

* A combined 2-hitter and a Buster Posey 8th inning HR gives the Giants a 1-0 win in a rain-delayed game in Chicago.
Matt Cain got pulled (PH'd for to lead off an inning) after 6 despite working on a 2-hit shutout. That's the 2nd time Bochy's done that in the last week. He pulled Lincecum after 5 innings and 62 pitches for the same reason on Saturday (down 2-1 at the time) which apparently got young Timmy steamed.


* SD blanks the Dodgers to keep pace but the Rox lost their 2nd straight (and now 4 of 7 since their 10-game win streak) to fall to 2.5 back.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Also...

TEAM GB (Loss column)
Braves -- (--)
Padres 1 (--)
Rockies 3 (2)


On, you huskies! Mush!

[MFS62]

If the Rockies don't make the playoffs, a major reason will be their inability to handle the Snakes. Last I heard, they're at or under .500 against them this year.

Later

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

If the Rockies don't make the playoffs, a major reason will be their inability to handle the Snakes. Last I heard, they're at or under .500 against them this year.

Later[/quote:ic33066g]

Oh, be real. Like ANYONE's ever missed out on the playoffs by a game or two because of their inability to handle their division's bottom-feeding minnows and lesser citizens in a season's waning weeks... or final weekends!

[MFS62]

If the Rockies don't make the playoffs, a major reason will be their inability to handle the Snakes. Last I heard, they're at or under .500 against them this year.

Later[/quote:2lucr2q4]

Oh, be real. Like ANYONE's ever missed out on the playoffs by a game or two because of their inability to handle their division's bottom-feeding minnows and lesser citizens in a season's waning weeks... or final weekends![/quote:2lucr2q4]
Thank you for that attitude adjustment.
I have been duly chastized.
Later

[Frayed Knot]

Not only that but they were up 4-0 in last night's game in the 1st inning but lost 8-4 -- who do the Rox think they are with that scoring early then never again act, the 2007 Mets?


Giants got shut-out by the Cubs 2-0.
SF has kept the opposition to 3 runs or less in [u:7sr7lrmn]16 straight games[/u:7sr7lrmn] now but is a less than inspiring 9-7 over that time.


Pads beat the cashed-it-in-already Dodgers to re-take 1st place


SD
SF -0.5
Rox -3.0

[G-Fafif]

Rockies either produce a last gasp or it's their time of year again. Down 4-2, up 6-4, down 9-6, win 10-9. Tulowitzki doubles in the tying runs in the eighth, winning run in the tenth. Mora and Payton each tripled. Dotel threw a scoreless inning but allowed the ninth Giant run on a wild pitch.

Maybe a little late in Denver, but a typically thrilling Rocktember win.

SD -
SF 1/2
COL 4

And in the Wild Card:

SF -
ATL -
COL 3 1/2

[ashie62]

Troy Tulowitzki update...Unreal..

http://mlb.fanhouse.com/2010/09/26/otherworldly-troy-tulowitzki-keeps-colorado-hanging-on-by-a-thre/?icid=main%7Chtmlws-main-n%7Cdl4%7Csec3_lnk2%7C173288

[Frayed Knot]

When the Giants finally ended their 3-runs-and-under streak they sure did it in style (10-9 was the final).
Tulo's game-winning double was on the ground and really just past the diving SS, but he hit it so hard that the LF had to go into a slide to keep it from going to the wall and the runner was able to score all the way from 1st.


Giant pitching back on track today though.
Cain has a no-no thru 7. 1 walk & 1 error (his own)
4-0 Gints, top 8

Edited September 26, 2010 by Guest

[Frayed Knot]

Cain not able.
No no-no for Matt as Jay Pay breaks it up with an infield single with one out in the 8th, then Mel Mora HRs and the Rox start to party like it's 1999.

4-2 Giants in the 9th

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Off to watch the Fathers and the Jints at the House hGH built.

[Guest The Second Spitter]

Real playoff atmosphere here tonight......and a wind chill to rival Highbury in January.