You know that phrase, “It was over before it started?”
Well, that is how I felt when the San Francisco Giants faced off against the San Diego Padres in Game 1 of their crucial four-game series last night in San Diego.
The Giants ripped the Padres 7-3 last night to come within one game of the NL West lead. They took the field as if they owned Petco Park and were the 1927 New York Yankees. They had confidence. They had an extra bounce in their step. They acted as if they were a playoff team.
The Padres looked as if well, they were there 2008 version of the Padres. They looked tentative. They looked as if they weren’t ready for prime time. They had zero energy.
I thought the two pitchers reflected the mindset of both teams. Matt Cain was aggressive and was pounding the strike zone all night with quality fastballs. Jon Garland was tentative and couldn’t put anyone away to save his life.
Garland served up a triple to Andres Torres on the second pitch of the game and the Padres never seemed to recover. That was a body blow and Aubrey Huff‘s two-run moonshot into the sandbox at Petco was the knockout blow.
The Giants ended up hitting three more home runs on the night, but it was Huff’s shot that really put this game away. I also thought the best player on the field last night was Freddy Sanchez.
Sanchez was 3-for-5 with a very well-timed SB, and made a great defensive play on Adrian Gonzalez to rob him of a hit in the fourth. Last night’s game was a microcosm of what Sanchez has been doing for the Giants lately.
Over his last 14 games, Sanchez has a hitting line of .418/.439/.673 with three HR’s and five doubles. He really has turned it on recently.
I am very interested to see how the next three games between these teams plays out. How will the Padres react to losing Game 1 of this series in convincing fashion? Will they be able to recover is the big question I have for the Friars.
Game 2 of this series will feature a pair of lefties going at it as Jonathan Sanchez faces off against Clayton Richard.
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