Marty Lurie Talks San Francisco Giants Baseball
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Playoffs Underway for Seattle and Others in the Race


Seattle won a game they absolutely had to have Friday night and now get to face the A’s two untested rookies on Saturday and Sunday.

The Mariners still cannot afford to lose a single game in this series and remain a longshot to do that, but like the playoffs you play these games one at a time.

Tim Hudson hasn’t been the same since his 127 pitch effort against the Angels. At the end of that game his arm was hanging by his side. If anyone can benefit from some rest, I think it is Hudson, a gritty, gutty competitor who is maximum effort on every pitch he throws.

Seattle’s problem is lack of consistent offense, they can pitch as Ryan Franklin showed last night. If they play some small ball and get a few clutch hits they can make today’s game interesting because Justin Duchscherer won’t have the fastball to blow the tired Mariner bats away.

The Phillies are now on top in the wild card by virtue of Randy Wolf’s six inning effort and Mike Lieberthal’s four RBI’s.

Today it is Amaury Telemaco still looking for the stuff he had in his first start against St. Louis this year against Todd Van Poppel and his straight as a string fastball.

Marlins better hope they wake their bats up in Atlanta and have to be a little concerned about the health of pitcher Brad Penny who left his last start with a sore elbow.

Click below for more!It’s tough to win two. Just ask the Cubs who saw the Pirates chew up their bullpen Friday. Luckily, the Cubs got one win and now can go back to playing them one at a time.

Pittsburgh as I said yesterday is no pushover. Today, the Cubs need Matt Clement and his sore groin and strong right arm to give them seven strong innings. You don’t need another slugfest if you are a Cubs rooter. Ryan Vogelsong with one win and arm surgery in his recent past, goes for Pittsburgh.

Houston pounded St. Louis and Matt Morris behind Roy Oswalt. Houston has that bullpen, but they hit the ball very well too and seem to be getting better each series.

Tim Redding, a pitcher who they say needs to grow up on the mound (still loses concentration when something bad happens) faces Brett Tomko another headcase. These are games that the Cubs hoped to see the Cards win, but in St. Louis they already have said they prefer to see the Astros win instead of their rivals in Chicago, so watch the lineups that the Cards put on the field now that they are out of the race.

Minnesota got an incredible performance from Eric Milton Friday night. The Twins are cooking and face Detroit again this morning with Johann Santana on the hill. How about the season AJ Pierzynski is having, four hits last night and a season average of .311 with 72 RBI’s?

Boston now has Derek Lowe on the hill today after John Burkett did his job Friday very well. Nomar broke out of his deep slump with three hits as he went back to the three spot in the batting order.

No Johnny Damon, Trot Nixon or Bill Mueller last night, but Kevin Millar is back in the lineup. David Ortiz has been quiet lately if you haven’t noticed.

White Sox are still praying for a miracle. They did win last night behind Mark Buehrle to keep the pressure on the Twins. Frank Thomas another big night, he is the team leader on this squad, no doubt should get serious MVP consideration.

Kevin Brown continues his struggles against the Giants, sinking the Dodgers last night. Hideo Nomo is a current Giant killer if healthy and that is a big if these days, he pitches today.

Randy Johnson homered last night, but more significantly he pitched six innings and struck out ten, even if they were ten Brewers. Giving up ten hits in the game makes me wonder what he will have next season for Arizona.

The ghosts of pennant races of the past are dancing all over the major league landscape today. Great stretch runs (O’s ’82, three down with four to go) and fades as well (Phils ’64, up by 6 1/2 with 10 to go).

Let’s see if Seattle can keep it going today in Oakland.

What do you think?

0 comments

1 Ed { 09.20.03 at 11:00 am }

Marty: Rueter today against the Dodgers. He may be pitching for a place in the playoffs.

2 Anonymous { 09.20.03 at 11:23 am }

Hey Marty,
Hudson pitched pretty well last night. Had some control issues with his fastball and made some mistakes. Olerud hit one of them. I don’t know why he threw a 1-2 fastball to Wilson at the beginning of that inning after Wilson looked bad on 2 sliders. The M’s just caught some breaks and the A’s bats couldn’t generate. These next two games should go either way. Although the M’s hit last night, they’re struggling offensively. They’ve been pressing. The rookies should be able to contain them for 6 innings. Hopefully, the A’s can score some runs. Hatteberg is killing the lineup right now. How about Koonce getting some playing time against the M’s?
-Mike

3 marty { 09.20.03 at 11:32 am }

Mike,
Hudson is usually much sharper than he looked last night. The A’s played a lethargic game, I would expect they will come out today and treat this game as if it is a playoff game. Sometimes, having a big lead can make one complacent, I think that is part of what happened Friday. I wouldn’t expect any tinkering with Hatteberg’s spot, it’s a little late in the game to experiment. After the A’s clinch something Koonce will play for sure, so the A’s can see how he reacts to major league pitching. More important, how is Keith Foulke?

Ed, Rueter is a lock for this playoff rotation unless he completely falls on his face tonight, high salaried players don’t sit them out in October unless there is a compelling reason to take them out of the lineup (injury).
Marty

4 Anonymous { 09.20.03 at 11:34 am }

I can’t get too upset about last night’s loss, though I well remember the 64 Phillies. I just don’t see that kind of fall happening to the A’s. Last night may be a wake up call for them, and the bats may come alive today.

Yes, Hudson was trying to do everything. It would be nice to clinch soon so he can rest. And, same goes for Foulke. Losing him is too big a loss to even imagine.

Love all the talk about maybe signing Miggy. Has Schott woken up to his value? Or is his mother getting to him (heard she is a huge Tejeda fan)?

5 Anonymous { 09.22.07 at 1:14 pm }

6 Anonymous { 09.22.07 at 1:51 pm }

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