These Giants are special

This is what the season comes down to for the San Francisco Giants and the San Diego Padres. Final 3 games of the season is going to determine who wins the NL West crown and heads into the postseason. For the Giants, the magic number is 1. If the Giants win just one game this series, they clinch the NL West. For the Padres, they need to sweep the Giants in this three game series in San Francisco, plus beat them in a tiebreaker. The Padres have played well most of the season but they have struggled down the stretch and I just dont think a sweep of the Giants is possible especially in San Francisco. I like the killer instinct the Giants have by putting Matt Cain on the mound tonight. Cain is 12-10 with a 2.95 ERA this season and he is easily the Giants hottest pitcher right now. The Giants want to finish the Padres off tonight and not give them any hope. I am confident the Giants will take care of this series and win the NL West, but I’m not going to stop there. I feel these Giants are special and can make a deep playoff run as the Bay Area faithful rally around them.

The Giants may have more to celebrate about by the end of this weekend. Picture courtesy of http://padres.gearupforsports.com

Granted, the Giants don’t have the offensive power like the Yankees, Rays, Rangers, or Phillies but the Giants arguably have the best starting rotation in all of the MLB. A rotation featuring Lincecum, Cain, Sanchez, and Bumgarner is sure to give opposing hitters a nightmare. If the offense manages to put up runs early in the game, the Giants become almost unbeatable. In games when they score the first run the Giants are 62-19, this shows the pitching staff can hold onto a lead once they get some run support. In the playoffs there aren’t gonna be many high scoring games, games are won by great pitching and it doesn’t get much better than the Giants pitching.  This pitching staff has allowed 3 runs or less in 90 games this season. The Giants have also been in many high pressure situations all year long, in games that were decide by 1 run the Giants are 27-22 this season and they are 16-8 in 1 run games in the latter half of the season. This Giant team is loaded with veterans like Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, Andres Torres, Jose Guillen,and Freddy Sanchez.  They also have good young talent in Buster Posey (possible ROTY), Pablo Sandoval, Tim Lincecum, Cain, and Madison Bumgarner.While not a power team, the Giants have gone deep in 91 different games this season. In fact, when the Giants hit a home run they are 62-29 this season. The Giants are armed with strong pitchers and an offense that can get the job done. And let’s not forget about manager Bruce Bochy doing a great coaching job with this team. The Giants have the makeup of a team that be dangerous in October.

Don't be surprised to see many more of these celebrations throughout October. Picture courtesy of http://padres.gearupforsports.com

This is just an opinion..so please Pardon My Bias.