August 12, 200521 yr You never want to say that you NEED to sweep a team- as hard as that is. But if we can sweep any team not named the D-Rays, then the Giants are that team. Moises Alou is banged up and their pitching is worthless in this series (not facing Schmidt). With Beckett, Burnett, and Willis pitching- a sweep against a bad Giants team is NOT a must. But 2 out of 3 is a must. A sweep would be very nice. Let's take it game by game. Tonight is on you D-Train! LETS DO THIS, MARLINS!
August 12, 200521 yr A sweep is a real possibility. Let's hope they can come through. With Willis, Beckett, and Burnett all pitching we certainly have a realistic shot.
August 12, 200521 yr I hope they just keep winning series at the least. Until we get all our bats back in the lineup I don't want to get ahead of ourselves. However with the losses in Colorado, winning 2 of 3 vs SF would still only put the team at 4-4 over these last 3 series. That's not really enough. Plus I think Schmidt just pitched so the Marlins won't have to face him.
August 12, 200521 yr Winning series is where it's at. I'll take a series win and be happy with it. No need to press for a sweep.
August 12, 200521 yr Until we prove that we can win, with consistency, when someone other than Beckett, Willis or Burnett is pitching, it's tough to not call one of their starts "must win." So, in a round about way, I guess this is a "must sweep."
August 12, 200521 yr Willingham could of made this so much easier. We could of rode him like a ford, filling in for Lo Duca full time. It would of put a big bat back in the lineup. Would of made our lineup something along the lines of: CF-Pierre 2B-Castillo/Easley C-Willingham LF-Cabrera 1B-Conine RF-Aguila SS-Gonzalez/Easley 3B-Lowell That lineup would of had alot more pop than the Treanor/Jorgenson combination that forces Lowell and Gonzo further up. I feel comfortable batting Easley anywhere except the 3-4-5 spots, and I have supreme confidence in Aguila(you prob all know that by now), and I think Willingham would of done a superb job batting 3rd with plenty of RBI opportunites, plus he'd be getting alot of good looks with Cabs batting behind him. Thanks alot Ish.
August 12, 200521 yr Author Willingham could of made this so much easier. We could of rode him like a ford, filling in for Lo Duca full time. It would of put a big bat back in the lineup. Would of made our lineup something along the lines of: CF-Pierre 2B-Castillo/Easley C-Willingham LF-Cabrera 1B-Conine RF-Aguila SS-Gonzalez/Easley 3B-Lowell That lineup would of had alot more pop than the Treanor/Jorgenson combination that forces Lowell and Gonzo further up. I feel comfortable batting Easley anywhere except the 3-4-5 spots, and I have supreme confidence in Aguila(you prob all know that by now), and I think Willingham would of done a superb job batting 3rd with plenty of RBI opportunites, plus he'd be getting alot of good looks with Cabs batting behind him. Thanks alot Ish. 899711[/snapback] Rode Willingham like a ford? Gimme a break- he is less proven than Aguila and Treanor. We just need to get healthy and take care of business.
August 12, 200521 yr Willingham could of made this so much easier.? We could of rode him like a ford, filling in for Lo Duca full time.? It would of put a big bat back in the lineup.? Would of made our lineup something along the lines of: CF-Pierre 2B-Castillo/Easley C-Willingham LF-Cabrera 1B-Conine RF-Aguila SS-Gonzalez/Easley 3B-Lowell That lineup would of had alot more pop than the Treanor/Jorgenson combination that forces Lowell and Gonzo further up.? I feel comfortable batting Easley anywhere except the 3-4-5 spots, and I have supreme confidence in Aguila(you prob all know that by now), and I think Willingham would of done a superb job batting 3rd with plenty of RBI opportunites, plus he'd be getting alot of good looks with Cabs batting behind him.? Thanks alot Ish. 899711[/snapback] Rode Willingham like a ford? Gimme a break- he is less proven than Aguila and Treanor. We just need to get healthy and take care of business. 899715[/snapback] Dude there is massive man-love for Willy on this board and I am not kidding...one out of every 2 or 3 male members has a huge man crush on the guy lol. And I want Aguila in the lineup, but I'd rather have Willy's bat than Treanors. And so you know, he is the guy everyone wants in LF next year if we trade Mikey, I'd rather have Aguila because I think he will put up the same #'s with better defense but everyone on here, like I said, loves J-Will. So you are prob the only person to disagree with my post.
August 12, 200521 yr Author Willingham at catcher means passed balls, errors, and steals galore. Treanor is better defensively.
August 12, 200521 yr Willingham at catcher means passed balls, errors, and steals galore. Treanor is better defensively. 899726[/snapback] But I'll take the superior bat anyday(well, not anyday, only when we are missing 3 big bats). And I dont know about "steals galore", kid was a SS, then 3B, then corner outfielder, he has a nice strong arm, probably strong enough to keep casual base-stealers at bay. Plus, I am sure he was worked with extensively on how to block balls in the dirt, something not alot of catchers do that great nowadays anyway. I'd be more worried about his ability to call a good game on a consistent basis than any of the things you mentioned.
August 12, 200521 yr Now, I'm not taking sides here, but I have to play devil's advocate. I'm a Giants fan first, but I want to see the Marlins take this series, cause I know the Giants are out of it... Having that said, the Marlins are facing 3 pretty good pitchers this weekend. Noah Lowry threw 7 innings of 1-hit ball his last time out. Brett Tomko is known for his second half dominance, and Brad Hennessey is a good young pitcher... As for the Giants offense, within the past 4 days, they have beaten Andy Pettite, Roy Oswalt, Tim Hudson and scored 4 against Smoltz in a great 9th inning comeback. Don't think this series will be that easy for the Marlins.
August 12, 200521 yr Now, I'm not taking sides here, but I have to play devil's advocate. I'm a Giants fan first, but I want to see the Marlins take this series, cause I know the Giants are out of it... Having that said, the Marlins are facing 3 pretty good pitchers this weekend. Noah Lowry threw 7 innings of 1-hit ball his last time out. Brett Tomko is known for his second half dominance, and Brad Hennessey is a good young pitcher... As for the Giants offense, within the past 4 days, they have beaten Andy Pettite, Roy Oswalt, Tim Hudson and scored 4 against Smoltz in a great 9th inning comeback. Don't think this series will be that easy for the Marlins. 899733[/snapback] Doesn't Tomko usually pitch really well against us too?
August 12, 200521 yr Doesn't Tomko usually pitch really well against us too? 899750[/snapback] Yeah.. I think he's 6-0 lifetime against the Marlins.
August 12, 200521 yr I remember Tomko sucking so bad for the Cardinals, then they replaced garbage in Tomko with worse garbage in Maruis.
August 12, 200521 yr For the last 2 months I've been saying, "let's just win the series". But that time was done when this homestand started against Arizona. IMO we need AT LEAST 9 out of these 13 games. I'd rather not win 2 out 3 from Arizona, Giants, and Padres...thus forcing us to take 3 of 4 from the Dodgers just to make the minimum. The time is now. We do need to sweep either this series against the Giants or the one agianst the Padres.
August 12, 200521 yr pierremvp1...should I do my rally song tonight on the game thread? Or was that even you that was the only one who noticed that?
August 12, 200521 yr Well...of course a team never NEEDS a sweep. Unless without it they would be mathematically out of the playoff race. However, the Marlins can't go on forever like this. If they're going to make a push passed the Astros then they're going to need to play some spectacular ball like the Astros did to get into their position on top of the WC. We don't need to play like the A's, but we need to go on some kind of winning streak of more than 2 games a few times. In every single 3 game series since the All-Star Break we've won 2 out of 3. No more and no less. Sure, that's great. But for how long can we keep doing that? We need to bring the broom out of the closet sometime...Just because were not playing the Devil Rays doesn't mean we can't do it... So, IMO. Even though we keep winning 2/3 against teams, and that would get us into the playoffs, we can't do that forever. And once we stop winning 2/3 from teams, if the change isn't for a sweep, then I'm going to be bored during my break in October.
August 12, 200521 yr And the title of this thread should read "going down like Paris Hilton"...it might help to avoid a jynx.
August 12, 200521 yr Don't forget this little tidbit. Willis is 0-2 with an 11.40 ERA in four career starts against San Francisco. The ERA represents his highest against any team in the majors. He also pitched twice against the Giants in the 2003 NL Division Series, allowing five runs and seven hits over 5 2-3 innings in two appearances, including one start.
August 12, 200521 yr If we can't sweep the Giants with our Big 3, then... well... I won't say anything.
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