Giants manager Bruce Bochy seemed energized ahead of Monday’s do-or-die clash with the Chicago Cubs.
It wasn’t a nervous energy, Bochy doesn’t seem capable of nervousness of any sort, more so a heightened alertness that comes with the knowledge that the Giants season could end tonight with a third loss in Game 3 of the NLDS.
Despite the circumstances, Bochy and the Giants have reason to be confident. Not only because they have Madison Bumgarner, one of the greatest pitchers in postseason history in their corner, but because San Francisco has been in a similar position before, when they came back from an 0-2 deficit in the 2012 NLDS against the Cincinnati Reds, winning three straight on the road en route to another World Series victory.
This circumstance is a little different as we’ve written, namely because these Cubs are on paper, one of the best teams of the last decade, and the Reds were not. But that doesn’t mean the Giants aren’t using the experience of 2012 to try and repeat history.
“Well they’re very much aware of what happened then, and that’s an experience they can draw on,” Bochy said. “You should be able to draw on all your past experience in this game, and it makes it a little bit easier for them to realize that this can be done, it’s not as big an uphill climb as you think, because it’s been done.”
“So it just gives them that sense of belief, I think, that you know what? This can be done. But it starts with tonight. You have to win tonight.”
2012 wasn’t the first time Bochy experienced an 0-2 comeback. He also did so as a player, along with former Giants third-base coach Tim Flannery, when both were members of the 1984 San Diego Padres. Who did they come back against? The Chicago Cubs.
In that series the Padres were fortunate enough to play the last three games at home, something that was not the case in 2012. Should they win tonight, the Giants will get two elimination games in front of the AT&T fans during this go-around, something Bochy says made a huge different for his Padres club in ’84.
“(The fans) played a critical role, I think, in ’84 in that comeback how they..when we got back, how they came out to support us and of course the game itself. It’s always good to be home.”
Bochy’s Giants are 9-0 in elimination games.
– Bochy confirmed that Jeff Smardzija, who had a rough outing in his first ever playoff start in Game 2, will be available out of the bullpen for the remainder of the series starting tonight.
“He’s available to pitch, pinch run, anything. He’ll have his spikes on. And with the day off, he’s good to go.”
– If the Giants win on Monday, lefty Matt Moore is scheduled to make his third ever postseason start in Game 4 on Tuesday. Moore said he will be watching to see how the Cubs approach fellow lefty Bumgarner tonight as prep for his start. Moore has only been a Giant since August 1, being dealt to San Francisco in exchange for fan favorite Matt Duffy. Moore talked about the unique calmness of the Giants clubhouse during such a stressful time, something that comes with three World Series titles.
“I have noticed that just the tone in the overall clubhouse that I don’t feel that panic, the sense of urgency like somebody’s trying to be somebody that they’re not. So I do notice that, and I think that it kind of helps me being new here to kind of just follow suit.”
