Giants Month in Review - September 2016

And just like that, the San Francisco Giants' regular season is over. With a dominant finish to the first half of the season followed by a troublesome struggle-filled second half which saw the Giants lose their grasp on the NL Western division after having a first place lead over the Dodgers for over two months, Bruce Bochy's ball club at times seemed out of playoff contention but was still very much alive. In need of a strong finish in September to secure a spot in the Postseason, the Giants had both the New York Mets and St. Louis Cardinals to worry about with both NL Wild Card spots up for grabs. Finishing the month of September with a mediocre record of 13-15, the Giants' season hung in the balance with two October affairs against the rival Dodgers who had already clinched the NL West but were still hoping to play spoilers against their most hated rival.

With the Mets clinching the top NL Wild Card spot on the second to last day of the regular season with a road victory over the Phillies and the Cardinals hot on San Francisco's tracks who were hoping to steal the NL's second Wild Card spot, the Giants finished off the regular season at home with a 3-game sweep of the Dodgers to punch their ticket into the Postseason. With the Cardinals winning their final four games of the season, the Giants needed a 4-game win streak of their own in order to avoid a tie with St. Louis. Thankfully, the Giants were able to do just that, winning their final four games while playing possibly their best ball of the second half down the stretch. One win in particular came on Saturday which saw Giants pitcher Ty Blach make only his second career start in which he out-dueled arguably the game's best pitcher in Clayton Kershaw, logging 8 innings of 3-hit ball and allowing one walk while striking out six to notch his first career win as the Giants blanked the Dodgers with a 3-0 victory. Oh yeah, he also collected a pair of hits at the plate, including his first career base knock against Kershaw.

In what was a tale of two halves for San Francisco, will now be a clean slate for the Giants now that they've squeaked into the Postseason by way of the second Wild Card berth, the same route they took to reach and win the World Series in 2014. But unlike the Pirates who the Giants knocked off to win the Wild Card playoff in 2014, the Mets are the reigning National League champions and have some playoff experience under their belt, something Pittsburgh lacked. But still, Bruce Bochy's ball club has shown time and time again that they know how to flip the switch come playoff time, even if the bullpen isn't what it once was. The shifting of the closer spot being given back to Sergio Romo who closed out the 2012 World Series, however, appears to have given the bullpen a slight jolt, having pitched better as of late. And with Giants ace Madison Bumgarner toeing the rubber opposite of New York's hard-throwing Noah Syndergaard on Wednesday, San Francisco is very capable of continuing their pattern of even year success.

The Giants finished the month of September with a record of 13-15, but evened out at 15-wins and 15-losses when factoring in the two October wins against L.A. to closeout the regular season. Losing 3 of 4 in Chicago to the Cubs (all 1-run games), 2 of 3 in Colorado and a 3-game sweep at home at the hands of the Padres ignited a rocky first half of September which saw few highlights aside from a 3-game road sweep of the D-Backs. But even then, the Giants came thru in the clutch with their backs against the wall. In a season in which Buster Posey notched career hit No. 1,000 and Jeff Samardzija achieved his 1,000th career strikeout, Matt Cain, Johnny Cueto and Madison Bumgarner all collected their 100th career wins. But none of them are ready to call it quits just yet in 2016 as the goal remains -- winning their fourth World Series title in seven years.

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