It looks like one writer in St. Louis gets it!
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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/base...cle_d5914062-2455-58bb-9da5-dc3e0eb2586e.html
Giants show why they have best record in baseball
There have once again been questions as to why and how the San Francisco Giants are once again the best team in the National League, once again seemingly without the star or name power of other, flashier clubs.
And once again, they're letting their opponents figure out the answers, if they can. The Cardinals had no clue Friday. They barely had time to think.
How? Why?
The Giants silenced all doubts that their 36-19 record is for real with a very loud beating of maybe the best pitcher in the league and definitely of last year?s NL champions.
The 9-4 victory over the Cardinals ? San Francisco?s fourth straight win and eighth of nine ? showcased all the ways the lethally unassuming team can win.
They grinded out at-bats. They scored with two outs. They launched the occasional home run. They gritted, they battled and they fought to light up the scoreboard, while their starter was lights out. They did it all without their best player for the second night in a row.
And you still might not believe in half the names on the lineup card.
?That's the way it always is with us, it seems like,? said Madison Bumgarner, who held up his end of the supposed pitcher?s duel against Adam Wainwright by fanning 10 over seven scoreless innings. ?Both (World Series) years we didn't get any credit. We?re fine with that. We don't need any credit. We know what kind of team we are. We?re not playing to get credit. We?re playing to win and playing to win championships.?
San Francisco has won two championships in the past four years, in 2010 and 2012, both times with similarly constructed teams. They revolve around excellent, home-grown pitching talent, timely hitting and fundamental play.
Sound like any other team you know?
They now hold the National League?s best record by three games, having played the entire season without starting second baseman Marco Scutaro, the last three weeks without starting first baseman Brandon Belt, and stretches ? like the entirety of this series with the Cardinals ? without catcher and former MVP Buster Posey.
The names in the lineup ? Brandon Hicks, Gregor Blanco, Michael Morse ? may only faintly ring a bell, but they combine to produce a gritty, versatile team that's greater than the sum of its parts.
?We?ve been getting a lot of contributions from everybody,? said Posey. ?That's been the main thing.??
After Friday?s game right fielder Hunter Pence didn't bring up his 447-foot home run into the seats in Big Mac Land, an accomplishment even when it doesn't come against a pitcher like Wainwright.
Pence instead mentioned the 10-pitch at-bat Hicks worked into a two-out walk three batters before him, that started what would become a four-run rally.
?The foul balls, the foul balls, working a walk ? that's big,? Pence said. ?You?re trying to fight, claw and scratch.?
Hicks isn't the only grinder. Blanco saw eight pitches before lining a two-run single in the fifth. Catcher Hector Sanchez, starting in place of Posey, fought through an 11-pitch at-bat. The Giants wore Wainwright down before they ran him over.
?That shows a lot about the team that we are,? Hicks said. ?The way we fight.?
Bumgarner developed into an ace a while ago; his dominant performance Friday made him 7-3 with a 2.85 ERA.
Cleanup hitter Morse may end up being the most valuable offseason signing in the National League. He continued to rip up Cardinals pitching and now has four hits and four RBIs in two games so far at Busch. His 38 RBIs are good for third in the league.
Leadoff hitter Angel Pagan is hitting .326, and Pence has adjusted phenomenally to the No. 2 spot in the order. He?s second in the league in runs scored.
?We have so many big bats right now, my role is kind of to set the table,? said Pence, who hit 27 home runs last year.
Pence has been integral in making, at least so far, the series between last year?s NL champions and this year?s best team almost completely one-sided.
Maybe these last two games will help answer some of those questions.
?This was a big series coming in,? Bumgarner said. ?(The Cardinals) have just as good a chance as anybody to be in the postseason and they probably will be.?