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Thursday, October 28, 2010

SF Gate: Cliff who?

The national press gave the Giants little chance to win this World Series and no chance to beat Cliff Lee on Wednesday. When that was conveyed to Matt Cain, the laconic starter said, “We’ll just have to write a different story.”

If 43,601 had not crammed into AT&T Park to witness the tale the Giants penned in Game 1, few would have believed it. They hounded and pounded Lee off the mound in a six-run fifth inning that shot them to an 11-7 win against the Rangers, the “hitting team” in this series.

What an unexpected score in such an unexpected season.

“If you threw a hundred bucks on it in Vegas, you’d be a millionaire,” Aubrey Huff said.

...Giants hitters did not seem overly impressed by their destruction of Lee, though they must have seen his comments Tuesday in which he dismissed their hitting prowess.

“When all is said and done, we just wanted to be up 1-0,” Ross said. “It didn’t matter if it was Cliff Lee or whoever. He is one of the best pitchers in the postseason, and we beat him.”

Thanks to Peer Gint.

Repoz Posted: October 28, 2010 at 09:14 AM | 17 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: giants, rangers

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1. Shooty: Applying to be Fearless Leader

Posted: October 28, 2010 at 11:53 AM (#3677897)

It was a little surreal watching the Giants beat up Lee.

2. The importance of being Ernest Riles Posted: October 28, 2010 at 11:53 AM (#3677898)

“If you threw a hundred bucks on it in Vegas, you’d be a millionaire,” Aubrey Huff said.
BAN HIM

3. TomH Posted: October 28, 2010 at 12:27 PM (#3677902)

How rare is it to toss a game where the KO/BB looks that good and the H and R are that bad?

4. TerpNats Posted: October 28, 2010 at 12:35 PM (#3677907)

Maybe Cliff Lee is more Frank Lary than Curt Schilling (who had postseason success against teams other than the Yankees).

5. Accent Shallow Posted: October 28, 2010 at 12:47 PM (#3677917)

I enjoy seeing Cliff Lee pitch poorly. He really doesn't look like a guy who should be carving uup the league.

6. Bob Dernier Cri

Posted: October 28, 2010 at 01:01 PM (#3677924)

How rare is it to toss a game where the KO/BB looks that good and the H and R are that bad?

Lee had two games in August (oddly enough against the Yankees and Rays, teams he strangled in October) where his combined line was 14.0 17 10 10 1 21. The Rangers lost both games, and I remember thinking, gee, they could have lost them without Cliff Lee.

It was a harbinger of Lee's September back trouble, which I hope hasn't returned.

7. Morty Causa Posted: October 28, 2010 at 01:08 PM (#3677927)

Where does this myth of Cliff Lee's invincibility come from? And what has he done to deserve it? He's a good pitcher, but after 9 years the guys has a 112 ERA+. He's had exactly one great season--three seasons ago. Yet, everyone seems to talk about him like he should be unbeatable.

8. Repoz

Posted: October 28, 2010 at 01:10 PM (#3677929)

Yet, everyone seems to talk about him like he should be unbeatable.

Francesspool sez (glug-glug) hello.

9. Morty Causa Posted: October 28, 2010 at 01:18 PM (#3677935)

Kind of early in the morning for that, eh?

10. The District Attorney Posted: October 28, 2010 at 01:54 PM (#3677963)

Cliff who?

CLIFF LEE.

Hope that helped.

11. Pat Rapper's Delight Posted: October 28, 2010 at 02:20 PM (#3677992)

Where does this myth of Cliff Lee's invincibility come from?

Because he just knows how to win in the clutch atmosphere of the playoffs. Errr.... until last night, that is.

12. Dale Sams Posted: October 28, 2010 at 02:45 PM (#3678023)

Funny all this Vegas talk...when Lincecum held onto to the ball in the rundown I was ready to start circling names Ring Lardner style. I had to quickly uncircle Freddy Sanchez after a few innings.

13. Never Give an Inge (Dave) Posted: October 28, 2010 at 03:05 PM (#3678048)

Where does this myth of Cliff Lee's invincibility come from?

Probably from the fact that going into last night's game, he had not been beaten in the post-season. He was 7-0 in 8 starts with his team winning all 8 games. Is this really a mystery?

Mariano Rivera was unbeatable in the postseason until he finally got beat in 2001. That's how these things work.

14. Tom Nawrocki Posted: October 28, 2010 at 03:36 PM (#3678084)

I posted in a thread last week that a team like the Giants, who draw very few walks, might have more success against Cliff Lee. If you eliminate the walk as an offensive weapon, like Lee does, that's going to have very little effect on a free-swinging team, as opposed to teams like the Rays and Yankees, who go up there trying to work the count a little bit.

15. Yeaarrgghhhh Posted: October 28, 2010 at 03:38 PM (#3678086)

Lee doesn't have amazing stuff, but when he's on his location is unbelievable. Some of the charts of the ABs in the Yankees series that they showed on screen were amazing. Almost every pitch was either on the bottom or outside edge of the strike zone. But when his command is off and the ball drifts towards the middle of the plate, he's mortal. (I know this isn't exactly breaking news to most of you.)

I'm torn about his pending contract...I could see it being a disaster if his command slips a little b/c of injury or age. At the same time, he doesn't need a 96 MPH fastball or a ridiculous slider to get by, so maybe he'll age well.

16. jwb Posted: October 28, 2010 at 03:47 PM (#3678095)

It was a harbinger of Lee's September back trouble, which I hope hasn't returned.

My concern as well.

17. fhomess Posted: October 28, 2010 at 07:15 PM (#3678320)

Lee really does seem like a perfect fit for the Yankees, doesn't he? He walks a fine line between being a great/dominant pitcher and being a very hittable pitcher. Seems like he ought to sign a huge deal with the Yankees and after anywhere from half a season to 2 seasons of great pitching, he'll be a payroll albatross for the remaining 6 years of the deal.

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Thursday, October 28, 2010

SF Gate: Cliff who?

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