Sunday, August 16, 2009

A Hypothetical Scenario

As you may be aware, the National League Wild Card race is tight. The Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants and Florida Marlins could go neck and neck all year right to the bitter end. It wouldn't be farfetched to assume it could even come down to a game or two.

The Giants, prior to Saturday's game, had struggled against the Mets, going 1-4 while getting pummeled by David Wright to the tune of a 1.340 OPS. Matt Cain, a fine pitcher in his own right -though overshadowed by Tim Lincecum of course- must have simply twitched or slipped when throwing a four seam fastball, because it fired straight towards Wright's batting helmet, knocking him down cold. The Mets, already missing three of their top five players had now lost another, and while they mounted an exciting rally to tie the game in the eighth inning, ultimately ran out of gas and lost 5-4. So what if the Giants win the next two games in the series against a team fielding Daniel Murphy, Anderson Hernandez and Fernando Tatis in the infield and the likes of Corey Sullivan in the outfield? Those two games could be the difference in the race, and if they are, I hope the Giants perform one of their classic postseason gag jobs - hey it could give Chris 'Mad Dog' Russo another chance for a classic tirade.

On that note, while Johan Santana's attempt at knocking Giants' third baseman Pablo Sandoval on his feet was admirable, it invariably turned into another embarrassing moment for the Mets, as Johan laid a spicy meatball right over the middle of the plate that landed over the newly placed pennants in left field. It's going to be really difficult putting up with Santana's declining stuff over the next five years, isn't it? How do you give up four straight hits to the Giants lineup anyway?

EDIT: All rendered meaningless by LUIS' COMET (second year in a row I witness one in person) and a Murphy frozen rope -good things happen when you can pull the ball hard!