Well, in typical 2012 fashion, the Giants are back home for game 6 of the NLCS against Chris Carpenter and the Cardinals. The trip to St. Louis was not what many of us would have hoped for but the team did what it had to do by winning one game and bringing the Cardinals back west with them. There are a lot of positives that I think Giant fans can take out of the 3 games in St. Louis. The starting pitching looked much more like we would have expected and the bats remained quiet but you have to feel like they are just overdue. So, here we are with the Cardinals up 3 games to 2. Here are my keys to getting to a game 7.
Another Quality Start
The starting pitching struggled for the first 6 games of this postseason but the last four have been much more like we would have expected. In the last four games, Giants starters have averaged 6 and half innings and only allowed a total of 8 runs. It all started with Volgelsong in game 2 and we really need him to continue the trend tomorrow night. If he can go deep in the game it means two things; first it means that you are still in the game or ahead and second it means you can set it up for a very strong bullpen late. Both of those would be very good signs for another back against the wall win.
Attack Carpenter Early in the Count
By now, we have all heard the resume for Chris Carpenter in the postseason and if you aren't impressed you simply aren't paying attention. He is not the guy you want to face in this spot. However, we beat him last time and I still question whether or not he is the same guy physically. Let's hope that he isn't. However, the key to beating Carpenter has always been not falling behind him in counts. He is a strike thrower and he thrives when he gets ahead of hitters. There are guys in our lineup that can feast on this approach. This is the spot where you can see a potential big game from the heart of our order. Sandoval and Pence, in particular, are excellent ambush hitters and they need to be especially aggressive on first pitch fastballs by Carpenter. There are guys in our lineup that can work the count and make sure that you get bullets out of his arsenal and they should continue with that approach but our aggressive hitters need to be extra aggressive against Carp.
Get Buster Going
Buster Posey is our MVP and this team would not be in the playoffs period without him. He had a huge hit against Cincy to put that series away and we have all been waiting patiently for him to break out in this series. This is when we need to see the hitter we all know that he is. Posey is certainly due a break out game and it needs to happen now. If you want a positive sign, he did get a hit in game 5 and he is 3 for 6 lifetime against Carpenter. He needs to settle down and get back into the strike zone. In St. Louis, the signs were there that he is pressing and a veteran pitcher like Carpenter can pick that apart if you don't correct it. When Posey is on he doesn't go outside of the zone unless it is a hanger that he can do some damage with. We desperately need more discipline from our superstar now. If he has a good approach then he will break out but if he is overly aggressive we may go out.
So, those are my keys to game 6, let's hear yours and go Giants!
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