Bay Area Buzz 10/4: Giants Win Game 1, 49ers Injury Updates
Bay Area Topics
Giants Win Game 1
"Losing to the San Francisco Giants in October is like being beaten to death with wet noodles. Or, more literally, being drowned in singles slapped to center field and sound execution of every basic, boring fundamental play in baseball. Against the Giants, you get to do most of the fun stuff, like hit a third-deck home run. They focus on what’s boring. If something flashy happens by accident, they’ll take that, too.When the score is added up, you lose, 3-2, as the Washington Nationals did Friday in this opening game of the National League Division Series. For San Francisco, that makes 23 wins in its past 31 postseason games. And the Nats, like many of their previous foes, only seem to grasp a fraction of what’s happening to them.Tom Boswell is a Washington Post sports columnist. View ArchiveRSSWhat was the margin of the Nats defeat? One unearned run came thanks to a misjudgment on a San Francisco sacrifice bunt attempt, plus a passed ball. Another run was scored by a Giant who wasn’t quite erased on a double-play ball. A third run was tallied by a batter who reached base on a wind-blown flyball that outfielder Denard Span admits will “haunt” him.Like so many Giants victims, the Nats got to do the dramatic athletic deeds, like two long solo home runs in the seventh inning, one of them a monstrous third-deck blast by Bryce Harper and the other a rocket shot off the back of the Nats’ bullpen by Asdrubal Cabrera. Sometimes a Giant will hit three homers in a World Series game. But mostly they’re dull. They never forget to take out the trash. With you in it.“That’s a Giants postseason win,” said Nats reliever Jerry Blevins. who observed them in their world title runs in ’10 and ’12 , when he pitched across the Bay for the Oakland A’s. How do you beat ‘em? “Ignore them,” Blevins said. “Focus on what you do well. And execute.” Because you know they will."
–Thomas Boswell, Washington Post
49ers Injury Updates
"It appears a pair of Pro Bowlers, 49ers tight end Vernon Davis and Chiefs safety Eric Berry, will be sidelined when San Francisco hosts Kansas City at Levi’s Stadium.Berry, a three-time Pro Bowler, has been ruled out of his second straight game with a high ankle sprain. Meanwhile, Davis did not practice this week because of a back injury he sustained in last week’s 26-21 win over the Eagles and is officially listed as questionable. Players typically don’t play if they fail to practice during the week. On Friday, Davis there is a “small chance” he could play.In addition, right tackle Anthony Davis (ankle, knee) didn’t practice this week and is listed as questionable. Jonathan Martin figures to start his fourth game in place of Davis, who missed the first three games of the season with a hamstring injury.Martin will see plenty of outside linebacker Justin Houston, who leads the NFL with five sacks and ranks sixth in the league in that category with 26 since 2012."