The Los Angeles Dodgers were eliminated from playoff contention, their wild-card hopes dashed Tuesday night with a 4-3 loss to Barry Zito and the Giants.
The defeat left the Dodgers two games behind St. Louis with only one game left in the regular season. Los Angeles had won six in a row to stay in the race for the second NL wild-card spot, but Mark Ellis lined out to center field with a runner on second base to end it.
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Barry Zito may have pitched his way into the playoff rotation Thursday as the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-3 behind six solid innings from their starter.
The Giants have now won his past 10 starts, a streak not accomplished since Bill Swift started 11 straight wins in 1992.
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By:
The Sports Xchange
09/24/12 6:57 PM
Based on numbers alone, especially September numbers, manager Bruce Bochy would be hard-pressed to leave Barry Zito out of the playoff rotation.
Presumably, we know the top three: Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum. Then comes the tougher choice: the left-handed Zito or the right-handed Ryan Vogelsong.
Bochy already said all five starters would likely make the roster. That doesn’t mean it’ll be a five-man rotation. That simply means one will be in the bullpen.
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Manager Bruce Bochy’s decision-making will be vital to the Giants’ chances in the playoffs.
That starts with his decisions on starting pitching because, except for Matt Cain, the starters have all had woeful periods. Cain had his own mini-slump, but he’s come out of it and, given decent run support for the first time in his Giants career, he’s won 15 games, one of them a perfect game. It’s a no-brainer to say he should pitch the first game.
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If the Giants make the playoffs, Tim Lincecum will be in the their starting rotation. Don’t kid yourself. If he’s not hurt, “The Freak” will be getting the ball in October.
His 2010 postseason run, combined with the few flashes of brilliance we’ve seen this season, are all the team needs to justify such a decision.
And be sure that they’ll use it.
And be equally sure that they won’t be using Lincecum as a reliever.
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By:
SportsDirect
08/24/12 12:03 AM
Barry Zito took a shutout into the ninth inning in a dominating performance as the Giants dropped the Braves 5-2 at AT&T Park for their fourth straight victory on Thursday.
Hector Sanchez hit a two-run double during a four-run fifth inning as the Giants increased their National League West lead to three games over the Los Angeles
Dodgers.
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The Giants pulled off an amazing sweep of the Dodgers in Los Angeles this week, which was a compliment both to their resiliency and the ability of manager Bruce Bochy to make the right decisions.
The first decision came Tuesday night, when Tim Lincecum started struggling in the sixth inning. Bochy has always stayed with his top starters and let them work out of trouble, but Lincecum is not in that category this year.
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I don’t want to get dragged into the whole, “Is he or isn’t he back?” conversation about the Giants’ Tim Lincecum. What’s “back” when you’ve won a pair of NL Cy Young awards? Is Matt Cain “gone” now that he’s 3-3 with a 4.18 ERA since his perfect game?
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The Giants finished a dismal homestand with a 9-1 loss to the New York Mets on Thursday, and, strange as it may sound, will look to getting away from AT&T Park to spark a team that has lost seven of its past eight games.
Despite the recent slide, the Giants remain a half-game ahead of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers, who were idle Thursday. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said it’s time the team started acting like it.
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Jimmy Rollins still believes the Philadelphia Phillies can make a run at a playoff spot.
The Encinal High School product helped his team’s cause by lining an RBI single in the 12th inning to lead the Phillies over the Giants 4-3 on Sunday.
The five-time defending NL East champions are 10½ games behind Atlanta for the second wild-card spot. They snapped a seven-game home losing streak with the win and improved to 5-4 since the All-Star break.
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