Devils walloped in Washington 6-2

The New Jersey Devils managed to keep things even for a period,down just one goal after two periods before a awful stretch in the third period that resulted in a 6-2 loss in Washington to the Capitals.
The sloppy third period sent Cory Schneider from the game and Scott Clemmensen in to mop up and allow the final goal.
Rookie Damon Severson scored both goals (2 and 3) for the Devils.
New Jersey finally returns home on Saturday for their home opener against the San Jose Sharks.

Hell Raisers

1) Very nice game from Damon Severson with the two goals and he narrowly missed a third.
Put that with his eight shots on net and you have a nice evening despite a loss.
I know I've been called for more playing time for Adam Larsson,but after these four games,Severson is not the guy to take PT from...

2) Cory Schneider had a bad game.
Beaten on an angle by Chris Brown was one bad goal and by a bounce off the glass and then off the back of his leg was simply sloppy.
Even the first goal by Alex Ovechkin was a stoppable shot,although his defense didn't exactly help him.
The point is he was bad,but bad games happen-let's not write him off yet.

3) Blood and guts award to Martin Havlat,who bounced off a Capital shoulder (I think Jason Chimera) and into the referee's elbow,sending Havlat to the ice and out of the game and leaving lots of blood along the way.
Havlat did not return and no word on his status for San Jose.

4) Mike Cammalleri almost continued his goal run and did continue his point streak as he assisted on one of Severson's goals,but he was downright robbed twice on glove saves by Braden Holtby.
Nifty glove work by Holtby,but encouraged by Cammalleri's continued work on the offensive end...

5) Bryce Salvador was bad again,but no matter how much we scream-he is going to play.
Like it or not and I don't,Salvador is here to stay..

6) Wasn't happy with the loss,but I'll take six of eight possible points for a season starting four game swing on the road.
Looking very forward to Saturday night!

Ishikawa blasts Giants to NLCS Gold!

Travis Ishikawa just needed a single to score the winning run from second (pinch runner Joaquin Arias) against Cardinals righthander Michael Wacha.
Instead Ishikawa blasted Wacha's offering over the right field wall for a three run homer,a 6-3 win and a trip to the World Series as the San Francisco Giants are on their way to Kansas City on Tuesday!

Joe Panik homered earlier in the game for the Giants first homer of the series in the victory.
Jeremy Affeldt was the winning pitcher after retiring the only batter he faced-Oscar Taveras with the bases loaded with Cardinals in the top of the ninth.
The Giants will now get some time off to rest until the first game of the world series in Kansas City...

Giant Steps

1) Madison Bumgarner was voted the MVP of the series,but when he left the game,Bumgarner was down 3-2.
Bumgarner deserved better though  as after he allowed the two solo shots to Matt Adams and Tony Cruz in the fourth,he would not allow another hit through the eighth.
Bumgarner allowed Bruce Bochy the flexibility to keep his roster one step ahead of Mike Matheny because he was able to keep it together and keep the Giants in the game in a non-winning effort....

2) I've not always been in step with Bruce Bochy,but I loved his move to yank Santiago Casilla in the ninth,
Casilla has been out of this world in the postseason,but it was clear that he lacked his best command in loading the bases with two out in the ninth.
Many managers (including me at times) would have danced with the pitcher that helped get you there and there would have been a case for doing just that.
Instead,Bochy called for lefty Jeremy Affeldt to face lefty Oscar Taveras,likely expecting Taveras to be pinch hit for.
Mike Matheny stuck with his rookie lefty,who tapped the ball back to Affeldt to end the threat.
Sometimes you have to know your talent and Bochy knew that Casilla was not as sharp as usual.
Great call...

3) More Matheny.
My buddy Derreck has screaming all season about what a bad manager that Mike Matheny is and since I only see the Cardinals against either the Giants or Pirates,I could only take his word for it.
In this series,Matheny mishandled his bullpen on a consistent basis,made questionable strategy moves and seemed to make panicked moves before the game brought those moves to play.
I now can see Derreck's point and have a much better appreciation for Bruce Bochy.

4) Big fan of Joe Panik from his days at Richmond as a nice guy and I spent the early part of this game flipping back and forth between the Giants and the Devils game (recap coming later today),while watching the Giants on the internet stream.
So we see Panik's homer together and I turn to Rachel and say "Joe Panik! Great guy! that should be your favorite Giant".
Quietly,she shook her head no and I asked why not?
She just turned and said softly "Ranger fan"..
Broke me up laughing!

5) So I travel to the road office and after listening to the game on the road,I killed the 10 minutes between shifts until I can flip to the game.
I see that Michael Morse is pinch hitting for Madison Bumgarner against Trevor Rosenthal,hard throwing Cardinal reliever.
Rosenthal in for Adam Wainwright after a gutsy outing from the aching St.Louis Ace.
First pitch that I see-Bang! Morse takes Rosenthal deep for the tying homer!

6) Travis Ishikawa's story has been an interesting one from Pittsburgh to Fresno to left field and the Giants.
Ishikawa botched a flyball in the first inning that made me immediately say '"the Ishikawa Gambit" as Christina Kahrl has been calling the Bruce Bochy decision on Twitter, finally works against the Giants.
Cherie asks me why they would do that to Ishikawa in the playoffs,I explained the lefthanded bat need overweighed the need for the preferred glove.
The homer by Ishikawa made the gambit a success.....

7) If I was a Cardinal fan,I wouldn't have a vitriol at all towards Michael Wacha,who allowed the game winning bomb.
Wacha had not pitched in almost a month (literally) and here was Mike Matheny putting him in the game with the season on the line.
One can not rationally think that this was going to result in a sharp outing and it wasn't,
In any job that you work with people,your entire goal is to put people in a position to succeed.
Matheny did not put Wacha in that position...

8) Travis Ishikawa's walk off homer was the second post-season walkoff in Giants history.
The first? Dusty Rhodes (Not the American Dream) in the Polo Grounds in the 1954 World Series against Cleveland.

9) Underrated play because it happened early in the game? Pablo Sandoval's leaping snare of a Jhonny Peralta drive and resulting double off of Jon Jay at second was what allowed Madison Bumgarner to settle in and get into a groove.
The Panda may not always look the part but he's far from a bad fielder at third.

10) More Panda-Sandoval's dive to get just enough of the ball hit by Kolten Wong that seemed to be a certain hit,to deflect to Brandon Crawford to get a force at second for the second out of the ninth was huge.
If Sandoval doesn't dive,the ball easily goes into left and one run scores for sure .
Who know what happens after that,but it could have ended differently.

11) I've picked against the Giants in the last two series and it resulted in the Giants winning.
I'm very tempted to pick the Royals in order to keep that string going,but that would be superstitious.
I like the Giants in six.....

Back later with a look at the Devils loss in Washington...

Giant rally gives San Francisco Game Four 6-4

The San Francisco Giants rallied from a 4-1 deficit to overwhelm the St.Louis Cardinals in game four of the NLCS with a 6-4 victory in San Francisco.
Two runs in the third for the Giants cut a 4-1 lead to 4-3 before a three run sixth sent the Giants to the lead and a 3-1 lead in the series.
Buster Posey finished the night with three RBI to pace the Giant offense that once again took a little of this and that to pull a win out of the fire..
Yusmeiro Petit earned the win in relief of Ryan Vogelsong with Santiago Casilla firing the ninth for the save.
The Giants could clinch the series with a win tomorrow in game five.
Madison Bumgarner for the Giants against Adam Wainwright for the visiting Cardinals.

Giants Steps

1) The player of the game for the Giants was Matt Adams.
I know Matt Adams plays for the Cardinals,but his errant tosses from first base allowed the tying and eventual winning runs to score.
Adams was off balance after snaring Gregor Blanco's grounder and the result throw to home was in time but not on the money as Juan Perez tied the game.
Adams then made a nice play on Joe Panik's ball and tagged the bag,but his peg to second to complete an inning ending double play pulled Jhonny Peralta off the bag and caused Brandon Crawford to score the run that put the Giants in front for good.

2) Ryan Vogelsong just didn't have it and he was apparently early on.
Vogelsong allowed all four to the Cardinals in his three innings and honestly was fortunate to get away with just that as it took a sterling defensive stab by Pablo Sandoval to start a double play to end the first inning.

3) The relievers made the difference and bought the time that the Giants needed to gather the troops to make the run around the far turn.
Yusmeiro Petit threw the most with three innings,but five other relievers helped to keep the Cardinals off the scoreboard for the last six innings of the game.
Petit has been the surprise of the season on mound as he turned a flagging career that looked to be headed as AAA stalwart with occasional big league appearances and turned it into a strong swingman
that could be used as a 4th or 5th starter or as a workhorse long man....

4) Bruce Bochy is a good manager.
I know that seems like a given,but sometimes his style can be a frustrating one-during the season.
In October,Bochy's moves are thought out and he uses the numbers far more than the "old school" reputation that he has indicates.
For example-runners on second and first and no outs,Bochy pinch hits Matt Duffy for Petit to lay a bunt down.
Earlier in the game,Petit had failed to drop a bunt down in three attempts,so he was done for Duffy.
Bochy has Duffy move the runners over against lefty Marco Gonzales and then allowed lefties Gregor Blanco and Joe Panik both to face Gonzales.
The book move says lefty vs lefty favors the pitcher,but both Blanco (53 pts higher) and Panik (99 pts higher) hit lefties better than righties,so Bochy stood pat and got two more runs to win the game...

5) That's right-the run of runs scores without a hit continued in this game.
The Giants have scored 12 of their last 22 without a hit.
There is a term that goes along with such a stat-Team of Destiny.

6) Best part of this series? I have gotten to talk Giants baseball with Giants fans and find some common ground.
It isn't always easy being a Giants fan in the East (I only have ever met one),but talking the game has been fun with Giants fans ranging from other bloggers to Sacramento meteorologist Kristina Werner to LPGA (among other tour) commentator Kay Cockerill.
It's been really fun and I've enjoyed it.
Twitter can really make anyone the home team even if you are 3,000 miles away.

7) If this series is to end,I like the chances tonight with Madison Bumgarner vs the aching elbow of Adam Wainwright.
Ordinarily,this would be a matchup for the ages,but Wainwright's health puts the Cardinals in a state that that is weaker than normal for a start by their ace.
Hoping to wrap this up tonight and make their next trip to Missouri to the Western half,not the Eastern portion...

Devils trip Tampa 2-1 for third straight win

Mike Cammalleri took a pass at the side of the net and banged the game winning goal (4 power play) halfway through the third period to pick the New Jersey Devils up and carry them to their third consecutive road victory of the young season-in Tampa over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Travis Zajac scored the first goal (1) of the game in the second period for New Jersey,who received 26 saves from Cory Schneider in the victory.
New Jersey finishes the road trip Thursday night in Washington versus the Capitals....

Hell Raisers

1) When I watched the game winning goal by Mike Cammalleri,it looked like Cammalleri scored off a rebound of Patrik Elias.
Actually,it was a pretty slick little pass around the crease for the assist,Either way,it was the type of play that last season's team rarely made-attacking the net and making things happen.
More than just the win,it makes me think that maybe this year's team does have a renewed commitment to the type of hockey that could bode well for a playoff push...

2) Cory Schneider was the star of this game as he allowed just one goal,but as Rich Chere wrote Schneider's stretch across the mouth of the net to stop Nikita Kucherov was not just visually pleasing,it allowed the Devils to settle in rather than play from behind from the first period.
Part of the puck crossed the goal line,but the rules state that the entire puck must cross the line and this one did not.
Also add some credit to Tuomo Ruutu on this play for clamping down the side line of the net with his stick to buy the elongated Schneider time to make his Ralph Dibny style stretch.

3) Ken Daneyko mentioned during the game about the maturation process of Victor Hedman and compared him to his fellow Swede Adam Larsson and his youthful mistakes.
I tweeted the same thought about an hour earlier (and if you aren't following me @thoughtsofrs,why not??) and later "discussed" with Dano the topic.
Daneyko said that Hedman is just now coming into his own and that it takes a few years for a young defenseman to develop.
I agree with all that,but Larsson cannot ripen his game without getting the time on the ice and since being brought to the Devils,he just hasn't seen enough of it.

4) Devils fans often complain about Bryce Salvador being captain.
I don't have concerns about that,but I do have issues with his play on the ice.
A Salvador breakdown gave Tampa their only goal,although there were other blame to pass around as Salvador and his help converged on the player with the puck and failed to cover Alex Killorn,who beat Schneider uncontested.
That bothers me far more about Bryce Salvador than if he wears the C on his jersey or not...

5) The high scoring ran out as most figured that it would and the Devils are going to have nights like these in low scoring games,but I am excited about bagging these early points against Eastern Conference foes.
Getting two points and allowing the opposition can make the difference in playoffs or not.
It sounds like worrying about playoffs after three games is silly-in hockey,every game counts....

Cardinals error lifts Giants to Game 3 win

Please allow me to begin with an apology from not covering game two of the NLCS.
I was exhausted and ran out of energy in the third inning and had to go to bed.
I rarely like to offer thoughts on games that I have not seen.

The San Francisco Giants scored four runs in the first inning and then did next to nothing offensively for the next eight innings.
Fortunately for the Giants in the tenth,a lefthanded (LOOGY) reliever walked a lefty,a light hitting batter couldn't get a bunt down and then drilled a single and then another lefthanded hitter laid down a perfect bunt that said LOOGY fired down the right field line to score the game winning run 5-4.
Sergio Romo was the winning pitcher two days after allowing Kolten Wong's walkoff homer ingame two in St,Louis.
The Giants now lead the series two games to one and will send Ryan Vogelsong on Wednesday against the Cardinals young righthander Shelby Miller.....

Giant Steps

1) Tim Hudson finally got to pitch in a league championship game and he did pretty well for a while.
The Cardinals continued to chip away at the four run lead and Hudson struggled through the sixth with a one run lead.
I thought Hudson looked done,but Bruce Bochy allowed Hudson to return for the seventh and after the first out was retired despite being smoked to Gregor Blanco,Randall Grichuk took Hudson over the wall to tie the game.
Bochy gambled and he lost on that move...

2) In the crazy tenth inning,Give Gregor Blanco credit for putting his bunt attempt right where it needed to be,but the big play was Brandon Crawford working a walk off Randy Choate.
The lefty hitting shortstop against a pitcher that is devastatingly effective against lefties being able to lead off the inning with a walk made a huge difference in giving the Giants the start to the inning that was needed..

3) The winds were causing havoc at AT&T Park on this day and had to be rough on the flychasers.
AT&T Park is not known for the type of winds as the Giants former home-Candlestick Park,but on this day watching outfielders hover under flyballs like hesitant punt returners,it brought back memories of the Stick...

4) An example of the wind was on the ball thumped off the bat of Travis Ishikawa that on almost any other day would have been a grand slam in the first inning.
Instead,the ball got caught up in the wind,hit high off the wall and bounded by Randall Grichuk and cleared the bases.
It didn't seem like a big deal at the time,but had that ball cleared the wall,the Giants wouldn't have needed extra innings and we would have been robbed of the exciting ending...

5) Giants hits in the first inning:4,Rest of the game:2
That needs to rectified and soon...

6) In the history of baseball, postseason series that are tied at 1-the team that wins game three wins the series 70 percent of the time...

Will try to be back later with the Devils win over the Lightning

Browns turn the corner? Pittsburgh pounded 31-10

In a game that might have shown that finally a corner may have been turned,the Cleveland Browns pummeled the Pittsburgh Steelers 31-10 before a maniacal crowd in Cleveland.

Brian Hoyer threw for 217 yards and a touchdown despite throwing just 17 passes and completing a mere eight of them,while Ben Tate rushed for two touchdowns on the ground to go with 78 yards.
The Browns improve to 3-2 and will travel to Jacksonville next week against the winless Jaguars..

Brownie Bits

1) Let's get the two bad news points out of the way,so we can finish up strong.
Alex Mack looks to have his season finished with a broken leg and Armonty Bryant may have his ended with a torn ACL.
Mack had never missed a snap as a Brown and Bryant was beginning to come into his own as a pass rusher.
Mack was replaced by John Greco,who moved over from guard and Paul McQuistan filled in the guard slot from the bench.
McQuistan was signed from Seattle in the off season and should be decent enough,but Mack is a huge loss..

2) Armonty Bryant's injury adds to a injury depleted defensive line that could be a problem until things improve on the health front.
A defensive line that was missing Ahtyba Rubin and Phil Taylor for the Steelers game took a huge hit with the loss of Bryant,that is something interesting to watch next week.

3) Off to the good news-The key play of the game was the mishandled snap by Brad Wing of the Steelers on a second quarter field goal attempt.
In the big picture,it was no big deal,but until that point,the Steelers had controlled the ball and the game.
That snap changed things and it was all Browns from there.

4) Brian Hoyer gets a rap for not having a huge arm and there are times that the ball tends to hang on the deep throws,but the Browns used Hoyer to throw the ball downfield to excellent effectiveness.
Hoyer only completed eight passes,but all were down the field and attacked the Steelers.
The perennial need six yards throw a three yard pass was gone on this day and they can keep it away.

5) The running game! The Steelers just couldn't stop the zone run system and maybe after all these years Dick LeBeau's defense in Pittsburgh has finally shown a flaw.
Pittsburgh just could not stop the end sweep/runs of Ben Tate and Isaiah Crowell and suddenly the Steelers look like an aging giant on the side of the ball that used to dominate.

6) Jordan Cameron caught just three passes for over 100 yards,but he opened up the middle of the field and exposed the Steeler safeties in coverage.
If Cameron is healthy (and early on,he wasn't),he is a difference maker..

7) Joe Haden bounced back a bit against Antonio Brown and despite Brown's total of over 100 yards,Haden was able to keep him away from the big play that Brown has been able to get so often in the past...

8) Another helpful part of being able to run the football is the play action that can be set when the run has to be respected.
Brian Hoyer was able to freeze the Steeler safeties because they had make sure they were in run coverage on Ben Tate and Isaiah Crowell.
One year ago,this was a team that couldn't run the ball,now they are tremendous on the ground.

9) More run game-This is FINALLY how you build a team to win in Cleveland/AFC North!
The running game has to be the focus of the team in cold weather and all of these West Coast offensive guys that came through Lake Erie never got that.
There is no dome here and the weather gets rough in December-You have to pound the ball and the Browns are finally set up to win on their home field...

10) Keep in mind the next three games are against teams that have combined to win one game.
6-2 is not out of the question,but on the same coin-this team is not good enough to take anyone lightly.
I hope that we all aren't for a fall,but win those games and then you are 6-2 with Josh Gordon only gone for two games after that?
Allow me to dream!

11) Finally,this might be the day that we look back on and say "that game changed things for the Browns and Steelers".
It's just one game,but I have that feeling that one team is on their way up and the other is on the slide.
It's a great feeling as Ernie McCracken once said.

Big Game Bum gives Giants NLCS Game One

There may be an argument on who the best big game pitcher in baseball is,but Madison Bumgarner's name had better be involved in that discussion.
Once again Bumgarner came through with a supreme performance in a big game with seven and two thirds of shutout hurling as the San Francisco Giants quieted the St,Louis Cardinals 3-0 in game one of the NLCS in St.Louis.
The Giants scored two runs in the third to give Bumgarner all the runs that he needed on a Travis Ishikawa bloop single and an error by Matt Carpenter on a Gregor Blanco grounder.
San Francisco would add an insurance run on a Brandon Belt sacrifice fly in the third inning.
Santiago Casilla earned the save with a scoreless ninth inning.
The Giants will attempt to take a two game lead back to the bay tonight with Jake Peavy against Lance Lynn....

Giant Steps

1) Madison Bumgarner continues to be the type of shutdown horse that every team lusts for.
MadBum has thrown 23 scoreless innings on the road in postseason games and if not for one errant throw to third against Washington,the number reaches even higher overall.

2) The Cardinals came into the series as a sound defensive team,but defensive miscues dotted the Redbird I in this game.
Matt Carpenter's error allowed Gregor Blanco to score in the second and Kolten Wong's bobble extended an inning and resulted in the Giants lone run in the third.
It's the little things that make a difference in a closely matched game and series.

3) St.Louis did have a case on a balk that should have been called on Bumgarner in the seventh.
Bumgarner clearly stopped before throwing and it should have resulted in a run as Yadier Molina was on third at the time.
Would it have made a difference in the game? No,but still right is right..

4) Fluky thing-Travis Ishikawa had never put a ball in play against Adam Wainwright before his RBI bloop single into short left field.
Five strikeouts and a walk were the previous at bats against the Cardinals ace...

5) Three hits for Pablo Sandoval,but the unusual part of Sandoval's postseason success has been his working the count.
Now,he doesn't do it all the time-this is the Panda after all,but boy,it makes him such a different and more effective hitter....