This is Do or Die

Game 7, here we are. With little to nothing from the duo of Pence and Posey offensively, the Giants have been the definition of a great team in this NLCS. The pitching has stepped up and the Giants series MVP has been the scrappy and tough Marco Scutaro. Now, after trailing 3-1, the Giants are one step away from a second trip to the fall classic in 3 years. This is how I think they need to try to get there.

1) Attack Strikes from Lohse
In game 3, Lohse and the pen held the Giants to just 1 run despite many great scoring threats. I don't think the Giants should try to do anything differently this time around. Create opportunities for the middle of the order and get Posey and Pence swinging at strikes. The zone for our run producers has expanded as the series has gone on and it needs to shrink back now. Lohse will give you something to hit, you just have to wait for it and do some damage.

2) Another Quality Start
 The pitching has been stellar this series. All the fox announcers wanted to talk about was how dangerous the Cardinal lineup was. After 6 games, the Cardinals have produced just 19 runs and 14 of those came in two games. There bats are dangerous but so are our arms.  Cain is more than capable of continuing the trend of great starting performances and we just need to see the same guy we did in game 3. Throw strikes, trust the defense and stay out of the middle of the plate.

3) Score First
 In a do or die game like this, as the home team, you want to ride the emotion as long as possible. The crowd will be crazy early and you want to ride that energy throughout the game.  Cain is a fly ball pitcher going against a powerful lineup. If you can get a couple of runs early on, suddenly that power can only do so much. Let Cain relax and not worry about a solo homer because he is pitching with a lead.

Those are my big three keys, let's hear yours.