San Francisco Giants Take Game Three, Live to Fight Another Day

With elimination potentially just a game away, the San Francisco Giants fought through an off day by their starter to live to fight another day.

With a pair of stud aces taking the mound, Monday’s contest between the San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs figured to be one of those old-fashioned pitcher’s duels. But as is the case time and time again, it just didn’t work out that way. Neither Madison Bumgarner nor Jake Arrieta had their A+ game on the mound, and it turned into an offensive shootout in the late innings.

Bumgarner, normally as formidable as any pitcher under the October lights, faltered early. He worked through a Kris Bryant double in the first, but couldn’t work out of trouble in the second. A hit-by-pitch and a sharp single that was knocked down by third baseman Conor Gillaspie put two on with one out for Arrieta. Then, something happened that Bumgarner had never experienced. The pitcher who owns 14 career home runs surrendered one to his counterpart for the first time ever, as Arrieta blasted a three-run home run.

When all was said and done, Bumgarner threw 37 pitches in the second inning and had 51 total to that point. Despite the struggles, he gritted his teeth and fought through it. He worked through two hits in the third to keep the Cubs off the board any further. In the fourth, a two-out single caused no trouble. In the fifth, Bumgarner’s final inning, he completed his only one-two-three frame of the night.

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After watching the Giants come up small so many times when attempting to score runs, that three-run deficit seemed nearly insurmountable. But Arrieta, who struggled down the stretch this year, wasn’t particularly sharp on the mound either.

The Giants began to chip away in the third inning, when Denard Span connected for a one-out double and Buster Posey cashed him in with a single up the middle. They got to within a run in the fifth, when Span got things started again. He ricocheted a ball off the wall in triple’s alley, and coasted into third so Brandon Belt could bring him home on a sacrifice fly.

That one-run difference remained the same until the eighth inning, when Belt got things started with a leadoff single through the shift. Posey kept the line moving by taking a walk, driving Hector Rondon out of the game and bringing in closer Aroldis Chapman. Hunter Pence couldn’t catch up with Chapman’s heat, but Conor Gillaspie was unafraid.

The hero of the wildcard game did some more of the heavy lifting when the Giants needed him. Gillaspie turned on a 101-mile-per-hour fastball over the heart of the plate and crushed it. The ball soared through the night sky, and despite the best efforts of right fielder Albert Almora, bounced against the turf to allow Belt and Posey to score. After giving the Giants their only lead of the wildcard game, Gillaspie gave them their first lead of the Division Series.

Brandon Crawford added an insurance run, scooting a ball up the middle and through the drawn-in infield. As it turned out, that insurance run was even bigger than Gillaspie’s hit.

Sergio Romo entered the game trying to hold the lead, but was unsuccessful in his endeavor. Dexter Fowler worked Romo hard for a walk, and Bryant followed by proving why he’s the NL MVP frontrunner. Romo hung a slider, and Bryant lofted it way up into the air. The soaring flyball just kept going and going, and left fielder Gregor Blanco kept chasing and chasing. Blanco tried to pull it back, but the Chevron cars were too high and the ball bounced off the top and over the wall for the game-tying shot.

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And on the game went. Romo worked through the rest of the ninth and the 10th cleanly. Will Smith pitched a perfect 11th, his 19th consecutive scoreless appearance dating back to the regular season. Rookie lefty Ty Blach was next, and he worked a perfect 12th before getting into trouble in the 13th. A pair of two-out singles caused some anxiety, but pinch-hitter David Ross grounded into a double play (that was upheld after an absurdly and unnecessarily long replay review).

In their own half of the 13th, the Giants made noise of their own. Facing Mike Montgomery, who was entering his fifth inning of work, Crawford led off with a two-strike double. When Montgomery left a curveball in the middle of the plate, Crawford waited on it beautifully and smacked it into right field.

Joe Panik followed, and got ahead in the count. On a 2-1 count, Montgomery missed hit spot badly with a fastball. Panik stroked the high fastball deep to right field, and it bounced off the high wall and brought Crawford home for the game-winning run. A raucous celebration ensued, as the tired group of men got a sudden shot of adrenaline.

This game had a little bit of everything. There was a pitcher home run, blown saves, slow guys legging out triples, multiple comebacks, a skateboarding dog…wait, was the dog there? Who knows, things got a little fuzzy around the 10th inning.

But the Giants had their backs against the wall, and they fought back by throwing body punches before finally hitting the big blow in the 13th. Their formerly stagnant offense woke up and picked up the pitcher that had picked them up so many times in the past.

Next: Giants Fall in Game of Inches

The Giants still have a long way to go. They still need to beat the Cubs twice more to advance to the LCS, and that will be no easy task by any means. But every comeback has to start at one. Their comeback on Monday started with just one run. Maybe this comeback started with just one game.

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