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The crowd at Oracle Park alternated between “Let’s Go Giants!” And “Beat LA!” Chants, even though the Dodgers were 378 miles south, playing in Milwaukee and desperately trying to stay in the NL West race.
The Giants did business on their own, sending the Padres off 3-0. And then the team and their fans had to sit down and wait to see if the Brewers could finish off Los Angeles, which lost starter Clayton Kershaw to injury in the second half. The Dodgers were still in the eighth inning when the closest Camilo Doval finished off the Giants shutout victory at Oracle Park, but Los Angeles held on to beat Milwaukee. And that’s OK with San Francisco. Giants control their own destiny.
A victory on Saturday at Oracle Park would give the Giants their first division title since 2012.
“There is no better way than to win ourselves and celebrate,” said starter Anthony DeSclafani.
What would winning the division mean? A nice and long break for the Giants before the NL Division Series against the winner of the wild-card game, which would pit the Dodgers and Cardinals against Los Angeles on Wednesday. Any combination of a Giants win or a loss for the Dodgers means the NLDS will start Friday at Oracle Park, providing some rest for baseball’s most veteran roster.
“We kind of joked about it, mostly the older guys, that we have so many wins, but every day you come to the park and we still have to win this game – there’s no release, “outfielder Darin Ruf said of the close run with LA
San Francisco’s standout season now includes: a winning tally of 106 – tying the franchise’s all-time best mark, set in 1904 – and the most NL wins in 160 games since that the 1986 Mets also won 106. With two games to go, the Giants stand a chance of winning 108 games, which would tie the 1975 Mets and Reds for most in the league since 1969.
“We have consistently demonstrated that we are neither going too high nor too low,” manager Gabe Kapler said. “We are focused on walking right in front of us. “
Several players would benefit from a four-day hiatus between the end of the regular season on Sunday and the start of the Division Series. These include wide receiver Buster Posey, who has started four straight games for the first time this year, and shortstop Brandon Crawford, who has played all innings of the last 17 games. Posey is two hits under 1,500 for his career.
Friday’s game also showcased DeSclafani’s season, after he went five scoreless innings against the much-vaunted Padres roster and allowed four hits and struck out five strikes. He only threw 71 shots and Kapler said he was tired. But he’s expected to be more than ready for any role in a divisional series, from a game start 3 or 4 to the bullpen exercise.
“It was his best outing in quite some time,” said Kapler, who stressed that he felt confident in the whole starting group.
José Álvarez, Dominic Leone and Tyler Rogers pitched one end each before Doval worked the ninth and struck out two on strikes, getting his third save, all scored this week.
Offensive stars on Friday included Ruf, starting off a right-hander in Pedro Avila – who was only making his second big-league appearance. Ruf scored in the first. Mike Yastrzemski, who has quietly picked up the pace in recent weeks, has also stepped up. Yastrzemski put together an eight-pitch batting in the first that resulted in a simple sorry swing bloop that resulted in a run, and he added two walks. He’s 16-for-55 with 17 RBIs and nine walks in his last 21 games.
“I’m just trying to keep it simple and have a good batsman, outright,” Yastrzemski said, then added of his check-swing bloop that this was a change and, “Fortunately, it has just entered my barrel. We will take them with great pleasure.
Wilmer Flores, who could see more time on first base with Brandon Belt with a broken left thumb, had a hit and two walks, and aMonte Wade Jr. added a sacrifice fly in the sixth to complete the scoring – a late contribution on the night he received the Giants’ Willie Mac Award.
Friday was to be the last game of the regular season behind the plate for one of baseball’s best-known umpires, Joe West, who is retiring after 45 years. Yastrzemski had a good time with him, stopping to congratulate him “and give him a bit of grief. I told him he had a great career, that he is still young, that he still has a lot of it. in the tank. ”He just laughed a little.
Susan Slusser covers the Giants for The San Francisco Chronicle. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @susanslusser
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