Red Sox Make Offer To Sandoval

The Boston Red Sox have offered Pablo Sandoval, of the World Champion San Francisco Giants, a 5 year 95 million dollar contract.

Sandoval would immediately solve the third base problems for the Sox. Pablo hit 16 home runs and drove in 73 for the Giants in 2014. The hitter friendly Fenway Park would suit Sandoval's line drive spray hitting style. The Sox have offered a 5 year deal while Sandoval and his agent would prefer a 6 year contract.

They Giants have said they would love to keep Sandoval but they let him explore free agency without making him an offer. The team most likely wanted to know what the market would see as an appropriate price for Sandoval. Now the Giants see approximately what it will take to keep Pablo on the Giants roster in 2015.

The Blue Jays and the Padres have both shown interest in the career .294 hitter.

Post World Series Teams Free Agent Market

As the 2014 World Series comes to a conclusion, what would baseball be if we didn't start looking at who might change teams after it's over. MLB hasn't even handed out the award let alone given the shine time to fade.

The Giants seem to have the most to lose with Pablo Sandoval, Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Sergio Romo and Michael Morse all eligible for free agency. Without knowing the intent of management it can be assumed that the Giants would most like to have Sandoval and Romo back along with Vogelsong...at the right price.

The Royals, on the other hand, have James Shields, Josh Willingham, Norichika Aoki, Raul Ibanez and possibly Billy Butler, who may be too rich for the Royals to pick up his option for 2015. Willingham and Ibanez were in season pickups that haven't contributed much to the postseason and with the play of Jarrod Dyson in center and Lorenzo Cain's outstanding play in right, Aoki may very well not be offered a contract.

That leaves James Shields. Shields is a very valuable piece of the Royals team that made the playoffs this season, but there are a number of teams that need pitching and have deep pockets. The Royals may not be able to afford Shields either.

Dave Skretta of the AP, writing for Yahoo Sports has an interesting take on both team's free agency woes with this article.

Giants Take 3-2 Series Lead On Bumgarner's Shutout

The San Francisco Giants head to Kansas City with a 3-2 lead in the World Series. Madison Bumgarner threw a beauty of a game, a complete game 4 hit shutout.

This was the first World Series complete game shutout since Josh Beckett, pitching for the Florida Marlins in 2003, shutout the NY Yankees in the series clinching 6th game.

Hunter Pence got things going for the Giants in the bottom of the 2nd with a lead off single. Brandon Belt's sacrifice bunt got past James Shields for an infield single that put runners at first and second with no outs. Travis Ishakawa flew out to center to move the runners up a base. Brandon Crawford grounded out to second as Pence scored. The Giants had all the runs they would need with Bumgarner on the mound, a 1-0 lead.

With Shields still pitching for the Royals in the 4th, Pablo Sandoval singled to lead off the inning. Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt both struck out, but Travis Ishakawa singled to get Sandoval to second and Brandon Crawford singled to drive in Sandoval for the 2-0 Giants lead.

The Giants broke the game open in the bottom of the 8th. Kelvin Herrera, on in relief, gave up consecutive singles to Pablo Sandoval and Hunter Pence. Wade Davis relieved Herrera. Juan Perez greeted Davis with a full count double that scored Sandoval and Pence. Perez went to third on a throwing error by Alcides Escobar. Brandon Crawford's single plated Perez and the Giants' lead grew to 5-0.

Bumgarner set the Royals down in order in the top of the 9th to pick up his second win of this World Series. In his last 4 World Series starts, Bumgarner is 4-0 with a 0.29 ERA.

The number 7 and 8 hitters in the San Francisco lineup went 5 for 8 with 5 RBIs and a run scored last night.

Game 6 of the 2014 will be in Kansas City on Tuesday night.

Royals Down Giants 7-2 in Game 2

The Kansas City Royals answered the Giants' offensive outburst in game 1 of the World Series with one of their own in game 2.

Game 2 looked as though it might be a continuation of game 1 when Gregor Blanco sent a 3-2 pitch from Yorlando Ventura over the wall in right to lead off the game and give the Giants a quick 1-0 lead. Ventura settled down and got the next three outs to get out of the inning.

The Royals responded in their half of the 1st inning. Alcides Escobar reached on a ball hit deep in the hole to short. Norichika Aoki flied out to center. Escobar was caught trying to steal second for the second out. Lorenzo Cain then doubled to left center and Eric Hosmer walked. Billy Butler followed with a single to score Cain and the Royals had tied the game at 1.

Kansas City scored another run in the 2nd on doubles by Omar Infante and Alcides Escobar that gave the Royals a 2-1 lead.

The Giants would tie the score in the top of the 4th on a double by Pablo Sandoval to lead off the inning, and a double by Brandon Belt one out later that scored Sandoval.

Jake Peavy started the bottom of the 6th for the Giants and gave up a single to Lorenzo Cain and walked Eric Hosmer. Jean Machi relieved Peavy and gave up a 2-0 single to Billy Butler that scored Cain with Hosmer stopping at second. Kansas City had retaken the lead 3-2. Terrance Gore ran for Butler. Javier Lopez relieved Machi and got Alex Gordon to fly out to left for the first out. Hunter Strickland relieved Lopez and threw a wild pitch that moved both runners into scoring position. Hosmer and Gore scored on a double by Salvador Perez. Perez came around to score on a 2 run home run by Omar Infante and the Royals led 7-2. Neither team would score again and the Royals had taken game 2.

Billy Butler was 2 for 3 with 2 RBIs for the Royals while Omar Infante went 2 for 3 with the home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored. Lorenzo Cain was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored.

Gregor Blanco was 1 for 4 with the home run and a run scored for the Giants and Brandon Belt was 1 for 4 with the other RBI.

Jake Peavy was saddled with the loss allowing 4 earned runs on 6 hits with 2 walks while striking out 1 in 5 innings of work. Kelvin Herrera picked up the win in relief of Yorlando Ventura.

The series now shifts to San Francisco on Friday with games 3, 4 and 5 to be played at AT&T Park. Games 6 and 7, if necessary will be played in Kansas City.

Giants Take Game 1 of World Series 7-1

Madison Bumgarner held the Kansas City Royals to 3 hits and 1 run over 7 innings as the Giants overpowered the Royals 7-1 to take game one of the 2014 World Series.

Hunter Pence was 2 for 3 with a home run, 2 RBIs and 2 runs scored while Pablo Sandoval went 2 for 5 with 2 RBIs for the Giants.

Read the ESPN recap here.

Giants Up 2-1 In NLCS On Throwing Error

A throwing error by Cardinal pitcher Randy Choate allowed Brandon Crawford to score the winning run in the Giants 5-4 victory in Game 3 of the NLCS.

The Giants scored four times in the bottom of the 1st. After two outs, Buster Posey singled to right. Pablo Sandoval followed with a single to center and San Francisco had runners at 1st and 2nd. Hunter Pence doubled to right scoring Posey and moving Sandoval to third. Brandon Belt was intentionally walked to load the bases.Travis Ishikawa doubled to deep right field to clear the bases and the Giants were up 4-0.

The Cardinals got two runs back in the 4th. Jon Jay singled as did Matt Holliday. After Tim Hudson got two outs, he gave up a triple to Kolten Wong that scored Jay and Holliday.

In the top of the 6th, The Redbird's Jon Jay singled. He went to second on a ground out by Matt Holliday and to third on a ground out to first by Matt Adams. Jay scored on a Jhonny Peralta single to left and the Cardinals had cut the Giants lead to 4-3.

Randel Gruchik, rookie right fielder for the Cardinals, tied the game at 4 all in the top of the 7th with a solo home run off of the first pitch he saw from Tim Hudson.

That was all the scoring until the bottom of the 10th. Randy Choate was on in relief of Seth Maness. Brandon Crawford worked an 8 pitch walk to lead off the inning. Juan Perez, after fouling off two bunt attempts, singled to left with Crawford stopping at second. Gregor Blanco bunted down the third base line attempting to move the runners along but Choate threw the ball away at first and Crawford scored.

The Giants won on a walk off error and lead the NLCS 2 games to 1.

Giants Swat 'Nats with 3-2 Win To Advance to NLCS

The San Francisco Giants are moving on to face the St. Louis Cardinals in the 2014 NLCS Series. The winning run in last night's game, that gave the Giants the series win against the Nationals 3-2, scored on a wild pitch. Fitting that the wild card Giants advance on a wild pitch.

As a result of that pitch, thrown by rookie Aaron Barrett, the Giants start their quest for another even-year World Series win. They became the fourth team in MLB postseason history to win a post season series game on a wild pitch. The '27 Yankees, '72 Reds and the '04 Yankees were the other teams to accomplish this. Only the '27 Yankees won the World Series.

Giants pitchers held the Nationals hitters not named Anthony Rendon or Bryce Harper, to a paltry .113 batting average with just 14 hits in 123 at bats. Harper, by the way, joins Miguel Cabrera as the only players to hit 3 playoff series home runs before the age of 22.

Although the final score was 3-2, the Giants could have, and should have, scored more runs. They left 10 men on base and had the bases loaded twice with one out and failed to score.

The Giants scored the first runs of the game in the bottom of the second. With one out, Brandon Crawford singled. Juan Perez followed with a hard hit ball back to the pitcher that Gio Gonzalez misplayed for an error. Ryan Vogelsong then laid down a bunt toward third that Gonzalez overran and Anthony Rendon couldn't get to. Gonzalez walked Gregor Blanco to force in Crawford and Perez scored when Joe Panik hit a slow roller to first.

The Nationals scored a run in the 5th on a single by Ian Desmond and a double by Bryce Harper to narrow the gap to 2-1.

San Francisco loaded the bases again in the bottom of the 5th when, with runners on 1st and 3rd, Hunter Pence hit a ground ball to first. Adam Laroche fielded the ball and threw home in an attempt to cut down the runner from third. But, Gregor Blanco had taken two or three steps towards home and retreated to third. All runners were safe. Fortunately for the Nationals, Pablo Sandoval popped up to first and Brandon Belt struck out to end the inning with no damage.

Bryce Harper launched 3-1 pitch for a home run to right off of Hunter Strickland in the top of the 7th that landed in McCovey Cove and tied the score at two all. Wilson Ramos followed with a single but the Nationals would not score again.

The bottom of the 7th was a wild one. With one out, Joe Panik singled. Buster Posey, who would hit .389 for the series, singled and Hunter Pence worked an 8 pitch walk to load the bases. Aaron Barrett, in relief of Matt Thornton, uncorked a wild pitch to Pablo Sandoval that scored Panik. With a 3-1 count to Sandoval, the Nationals decided to walk him. The pitch went over the head of catcher Wilson Ramos but Posey was out at the plate. Giants manager, Bruce Bochy, challenged the play claiming Barrett blocked the plate. The call on the field was upheld and after Brandon Belt flew out to left the inning was over.

The Nationals would threaten no more and the Giants won the game 3-2 and the NLDS Series 3 games to 1.

San Francisco will travel to St. Louis on Saturday the 11th of October to take on the Cardinals in the 2014 NLCS, with the winner of that series taking on the winner of the Royals/Orioles ALCS Championship in the 2014 World Series.

Here are the top 10 videos of the NLDS final games from Gordon Dixon at Larry Brown sports.

Nationals Avoid Sweep Take 3rd game 4-1 over Giants

Madison Bumgarner made one mistake in last night's game. It wasn't a pitching mistake, it was a throwing error. With runners on 1st and 2nd, Wilson Ramos laid down a sacrifice bunt between the mound and first base. Bumgarner fielded the ball and threw wide to third trying to get the lead runner. Two runs scored on the error and Asdrubal Cabrera followed with an RBI single that scored Ramos to make the score 3-0 Nationals.

Bryce Harper added a solo home run in the top of the ninth for a 4-0 Nationals lead.

Brandon Crawford hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Pablo Sandoval with the lone Giant run in the bottom of the 9th.

Read the ESPN story here.

Giants Beat Nationals 2-1 in 18 Innings

The San Francisco Giants and the Washington Nationals played an 18 inning game last night that lasted for 6 hours and 23 minutes. It was the longest game in MLB Playoff history by time and tied the record for the longest game by innings played.

The Houston Astros and the Atlanta Braves played an 18 inning affair in the 2005 NLDS that the Astros would win 5-4 on a walkoff home run by Chris Burke. Roger Clemens picked up the win in relief in that game.

Tim Hudson started both of those games, for the Braves in 2005 and for the Giants in 2014. Adam LaRoche, of the Nationals played first base in both of those games.

Wilson Ramos, Nationals, and Buster Posey, Giants, each caught the entire 18 inning game. Tanner Roark, losing pitcher for the Nationals, was 27 when he gave up the home run to Brandon Belt in the top of the 18th but turned 28 before the Nationals would lose the game.

The Nationals 3 through 6 hitters, Jason Werth, Adam Laroche, Ian Desmond and Bryce Harper were 2 for 28 with 9 Ks. The Giants 3 through 6 hitters, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt were 7 for 27 with 2 RBIs and 7 Ks.

Read the full ESPN story here

Giants Advance to NLDS With 8-0 Win Over Pirates

Madison Bumgarner pitched the Giants into the NLDS last night with an extraordinary performance over the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

Bumgarner tossed a 4 hit complete game shutout, striking out 10 and walking one. He threw 109 pitches over those 9 innings for an average of 12.1 pitches per inning. Only once did he face 5 batters in an inning. Only once did a Pirate runner reach third base. The Pirates got two runners on base in an inning just once and the Giants committed two errors to make that happen.

The Giant starter faced 33 batters and threw an average of 3.3 pitches to each of them. The Pirates popped up to the infield 5 times and flew out to the outfield 8 times. Only two of those fly balls reached the warning track.

The left handed Bumgarner struck out at least one batter in every inning but the 7th. A majority of those strikeouts came on his sweeping curveballs. He had good command of that curve and wasn't afraid to throw it ahead or behind in the count.

The pitching for the Giants was magnificant but the offense was very productive as they took advantage of every opportunity to score runs. Edinson Volquez of the Pirates came into the game with a 13-7 record and a 3.04 ERA. Volquez held the Giant bats in check for 3 innings on 2 hits and one walk.

Hitters are known to make adjustments after seeing a pitcher for the first time. The Giants adjusted to Volquez in the fourth. Pablo Sandoval led off the inning with a hard single against the shift used against him by the Pirates. Hunter Pence followed with a single to left. Brandon Belt waited out a walk, his second of the night, which loaded the bases for Brandon Crawford. There wasn't a person at the stadium, listening on the radio or watching on TV who predicted what would happen next. 

The left handed hitting Crawford lifted a high fly ball to right that kept going and landed in the first row of seats just beyond the short right field fence for a grand slam.

Crawford hit the 1 ball 2 strike curveball out of the park and into history, becoming the 1st shortstop to hit a grand slam, in any playoff game, in MLB history.

Those four runs were plenty enough for Bumgarner, but the Giants were not through with the Pirates pitching staff. They scored again in the 6th when Hunter Pence led off with a single, advanced to second on a wild pitch and scored on a single by Brandon Belt for a 5-0 Giants lead.

Pittsburgh led the NL in come from behind victories in 2014. 41 times this season they rallied to win games. The largest margin they overcame was 5 runs, so the Pirates weren't out of this game yet.

In the seventh, the Giants loaded the bases again with no outs. Pirate reliever, Jared Hughes got Hunter Pence to hit into a 4-2 fielder's choice that cut down Joe Panik at the plate but Brandon Belt singled to drive in 2 and the Giant lead was now 7-0.

The Giants added another run in the eighth when Gregor Blanco walked, Joe Panik singled and Buster Posey drove in Blanco with a single, giving the Giants an 8-0 lead.

The only Pirate threat of the night came in the bottom of the eighth. After Bumgarner got Brent Morel to foul out to right, Jose Tabata hit a ground ball to short that Crawford misplayed. Josh Harrison then hit a grounder to third. Joaquin Arias, in for Pablo Sandoval, threw too late and too wide to first. The ball got by the first baseman and the Pirates had runners at 1st and 3rd with one out. 

Bumgarner struck out Jordy Mercer and got Andrew McCutchen to ground into a 6-4 fielder's choice to end the threat.

It's on to Washington, DC for the Giants for a best-of-five NLDS series with the Nationals, beginning tomorrow, the 3rd of October.