NLDS Game 1 - Schmidt v Beckett and what a duel it was. Each team mustered just 3 hits on the day. Schmidt kept the Marlins top four in the lineup 1 for 16. SF got run number one in the fourth after Aurilia and Bonds walked, and Alfonzo hit a bunt single that was fielded badly, and Richie-poo scored. Then in the eighth, Bonds was walked again. He stole second, and Alfonzo then doubled off of the wall in deep center, and Bonds scored the insurance run. Schmidt gets the complete game, a 3-hitter, to squash Florda, 2-0. SF up 1 game to nil...NLDS Game 2 - Wednesday afternoon saw Florida knot the series at 1 game each with a pair of three run innings, and poor play in the field from the Giants. SF was ahead 5-4 after five innings, but to open the sixth, Ponson was taken out, and the relievers allowed three runs that inning and one each in the 7th and 8th, and Florida wins it 9-5. Juan Pierre was 4-5 with 3 RBI for the Fish, while Alfonzo was 2-4 with 2 RBI for SF. Now tied at 1 game apiece, game three is in Florida on Friday afternoon...
NLDS Game 3 - Friday in Miami, Florida pushed SF to the brink of elimination with an 11 inning 4-3 victory. The Fish got a 2-run homer in the first from Pudge Rodriguez, and SF didn't counter until the sixth, when they were able to get two across to tie it. Into extra innings the game went. Rich Aurilia walked to open the 11th, and he would eventually score, making it 3-2 SF. The bottom of the inning was tough, as Worrell allowed the bases to load, but with some 'help' from a Jose Cruz dropped fly ball. With two outs, and a 1-2 count, Pudge came through for Florida, with a single to right, and two Fish scored to win 4-3 and to put Florida up 2 games to 1 over the Giants...
NLDS Game 4 - Saturday afternoon in Miami, SF took an early 1-0 lead. But the SF's defense kept hurting the Giants, and soon it was 5-1 Marlins, chasing starter Jerome Williams after 2+ innings. SF tied it in the top of the sixth, with four runs, chasing Dontrelle Willis from the game. Bottom Eight, Florida scores two on a Cabrera single, to go up 7-5. In the top nine, Perez doubled, and Snow brings him home on a single to make it 7-6 Florida. With two out, and Snow on second, and Durham on first, Hammonds hit a single to shallow left, and Snow tried to go home from second and was cut down at home, and the Giants season ends, losing to the Fish 7-6. The battle of the old managers is over, and the oldest man wins. Props to the Marlins...
Postseason recap: Well, not to cast stones, but SF didn't play well enough to earn any more play in the postseason.
Batting: Jose Cruz was 0-11, Rich Aurilia was 2-15, and Grissom was 2-14. Defensively, SF committed six errors in four games. Worrell blew a save, with help from a Cruz dropped ball, and the relievers simply gave up too much, and overall, SF didn't look sharp in the series. Felipe Alou did a good job with the staff throughout the season, but in the end, the machine was worn down, and couldn't produce any more. 'Twas not to be this year...
