NL Semi-Finals - Giants (#6) drop Friars (#9) in 6 to head to the finals vs KCR (#1)

GAME 1 – AT&T Park

I.Kennedy vs Heston

Giants 4, Padres 0

Chris Heston shocked the world with his complete game 6 hit shutout.  The Padres thought they were looking at Madbum in a mirror.  Manager Andy Weinrib treated his prodigy as if it was the good ole days by leaving him out there to throw 144 pitches.  In his post game presser he said, “Enough of this baby-sh-t.  Real me finish what they start.  If he doesn’t want to throw 144 pitches let him throw less.”.  All of San Fran’s scoring came via the long ball.  Both Brandon’s:  Crawford (2) and Belt (1) provided all of the fireworks.

Giants lead series 1-0

GAME 2

Shields vs Hudson

Padres 3, Giants 2

The Friars broke up a 1-1 tie with a RBI single from Derick Norris and an RBI double from Wil Venable in the top of the 7^th.  A Joe Panik sac fly in the bottom of the inning made it a one run game, but Benoit (8^th) and Craig Kimbrel (9^th) combined to shut the door on the Jints to tie up the series.

Series tied 1-1

GAME 3 – Petco Park

Bumgarner vs T.Ross

Giants 9, Padres 0

No one better to have on the bump in a pivotal game 3 than Madbum.  San Fran’s lefty workhorse fanned 8 in a 6 hit complete game effort.  The Giant held a narrow 2-0 lead until the 5^th when they started scoring runs in 4 of the next 5 innings.  When the dominant lefty wasn’t striking out batters he was hitting homers (2) and knocking in runs (3).  Brandon Crawford chipped in with a home run of his own as the Giants scored 9 runs on 17 hits.

Giants lead series 2-1

GAME 4

Peavy vs Cashner

Giants 12, Padres 5

San Fran staked Jake Peavy to a nice 8-2 lead after 2, which was enough to chase Padre starter Andrew Cashner from the hill (8 runs in 1 1/3 IP).  That hole was too deep for the Friars to climb out of as the Giants added four more insurance runs along the way.  Buster Posey (4-6) had 2 RBI’s.  Both Brandon’s (Belt and Crawford) homered again, which seems to be their pattern.  Blanco also went yard.  Matt Kemp and Alonso hit solo blasts off Peavy.

Giants lead series 3-1

GAME 5

Heston vs Morrow

Padres 4, Giants 3

“Not in our house” was the rallying cry for the Friars who were determined to not allow the Jints to clinch on their home turf.   After leading 3-1 after 4 the Friars slowly saw their lead evaporate.  When Gregor Blanco’s sac fly in the 7^th tied the game up Padre fans went silent until the home half of the 8^th when Yangervis Solarte hit a one out solo blast to put the home team up 4-3.  Closer Craig Kimbrel came on for a scoreless 9^th to save the game and send the series north on I-5 to the Bay Area.

Giants lead series 3-2

GAME 6 – AT&T Park

Shields vs Vogelson

Giants 3, Padres 0

In a curious decision manager Weinrib tapped 37 year old Ryan Vogelsong  to be his game 6 starter.  Vogelsong, who was 9-11, 4.67 in the regular season hadn’t had a respectable year since he was 14-9 in 2012.  With Madbum in the wings for game 7 and one game to play with the hopes were to get a quality start out of a guy who has a lifetime 3-0, 2.92 post season record.  What the Giants got was 8 innings of 3 hit shutout ball in 108 economical pitches.  How dominant was Vogelsong ?  Not a single Padre baserunner made it past second.  San Fran scored a run in the 1^st on a Posey RBI single and a run in the second on a Blanco single.  A Hunter Pence solo shot in the 5^th was the final tally.  Romo pitched a perfect 9^th for the save as the Jints head to the finals with a rematch of 2014 with the Royals.

Giants win series 4-2