SAN FRANCISCO – Game 1 was a tone setter. A letter of intent.
These Giants are not outsiders.
Not in this series. Not against this opponent.
And not if they have that kind of lineup. Or when they play at home, in front of these fans.
And certainly not when their new ace is on the hill.
Las Vegas bookmakers might have expected the NL West Dodgers runner-up to beat the first-placed Giants in this best-of-five series, but I can imagine those odds would be down after the impressive 4-0 win the Giants turned around on Friday night at Oracle Park.
The October baseball spotlight highlights every single mistake made by a team.
It also shows greatness.
It shouldn’t be said – the Giants won 107 games in the regular season, more than any other team in baseball – but since they are the bookmakers’ underdogs in this series, it’s important to reiterate that the Giants are a great team.
Friday night was nine innings of the replay.
The bright lights showed off San Francisco’s best.
The moment was anything but too great for them. They not only rose to it, they raised it.
They were laid back and confident, and played with appropriate bragging rights.
Is it any surprise that the Giants with rings on their fingers – Brandon Crawford, Buster Posey, Kris Bryant – who came through big for San Francisco?
Posey’s homer in the first inning – a shot in the opposing field at the arcade in the right field – ensured that the anticipation that pervaded the ball park at the beginning of the game did not turn into fear. It’s always easier to start over. Posey knows he’s swinging 3-0.
There wasn’t another offensive attack like there was in Game 162 on Sunday, but the excitement in the ballpark reached a new level in the fourth game.
Crawford was gold glove at age 34, but a week between the regular season finale and the playoff opener made him look like his 24-year-old on Friday. The double-play he, Tommy La Stella and first baseman Wilmer Flores made in the fourth inning was something no one else would dare to do in such an important game.
LaStella’s quick flip of the glove nearly airmailed Crawford, who was in second place, but the Giants shortstop and MVP candidate was able to grab the relay, wind it up, and fire a missile to target Justin Turner defeat.
The play was so daring – everyone at Oracle Park was so sure it would only be an outfield player’s choice – that the crowd of 41,934 spectators was delayed to give their approval.
When it came it was rightly deafening.
Bryant came through three innings later. Taking on the Giants’ big trading deadlines had been at a dead end in recent weeks, going with a terrible .576 OPS 10-for-49, but Dodgers starter Walker Buehler tossed him a 3-2 fastball in the middle of the plate and Bryant didn’t miss it. His homer to left midfield was without a doubt, given the insurance run the Giants had longed for since the first.
Crawford – who else? – added another in the eighth.
Meanwhile, Logan Webb threw the game of his life.
Webb doesn’t have a Posey, Crawford, or Bryant pedigree, but he was the star of the game on Friday, walking 7.2 innings, hitting 10, and allowing zero runs.
So delete that earlier statement – he not have the family tree.
Webb’s Bulldog feat, mowing its way through line-up of Dodgers, throwing sandbags, and throwing sliders and bills off the table with ease, was the stuff of legend.
At the age of 24, Webb’s back-to-back performance – Game 162 and Game 1 on Friday – guarantees that he will never have to pay for a drink again in Northern California.
Remember: the Dodgers lineup is supposed to be relentless. Webb made players worth more than a billion dollars look like double-A partners. LA had a couple of stabbing singles, a couple of dribblers, and a double – a byproduct of a hanging slider to Will Smith on the seventh.
Signs of trouble? A crack in the foundation? Of course not.
Webb plunged down, throwing a string of the worst breakballs you will ever see to take on outs # 2 and 3 with strikeouts.
If San Francisco was to win this series, Webb had to start off with a strong start. There aren’t many points of separation between these two teams, so the starting pitcher who had the best start in Game 1 – keeping the bullpen intact and not putting much pressure on their offensive – would not just give their team a 1-0 lead, but an advantage that could well continue throughout the series.
You took advantage of this advantage – both mentally and physically – on Friday.
Tyler Rodgers spelled Webb and took the two-pitch finale from eighth, and the iceman, Camilo Doval, mopped up the rest on ninth to sing “Beat LA”.
It was the Dodgers who seemed to be on the back for the whole game. They were the ones who missed the strike zone, the grounders wobbled and complained to the umpires. They should be the team that peaked on the way to the playoffs.
After eight years of division titles and rare heat, they are finally facing a worthy opponent.
They don’t seem to like it.
The good news is that if the Giants continue to play as they did on Friday, the Dodgers won’t have to put up with it for long.
