'66 Giants sweep '07 Padres to force play in game

Needing a sweep to even have the remotest of hope the '66 SF Giants pulled off a minor miracle and swept the '07 Padres. Manager Joey Scigiliano of SD said, "I'm not surprised this happened...this team suuuukkkks !". Joey managed the heck out of a team that doesn't hit and has limited pitching.

SD's ace Jake Peavey was in a grove in game one, when he rubbed up a huge blister on his pitching hand and had to be removed from the game. This upset the balance of power and seemed to give Juan Marichal some confidence as the the Giants scored 3 runs off of Peavey's successor (Ledezma). Ollie Brown had the big blow with a 3 run Double down the line in left. Dandy gave up 2 runs in a complete game win to increase his record to 3-4.

In game 2 the Giants were forced to go with spot starter Joe Gibbon, who responded by pitching into the 7th and giving up only 1 earned run. Catcher Tom Haller hit 2 homers and Jesus Alou banged out 3 hits en route to victory. Frank Linzy came on to get the final 2 outs in the 9th to nail down the game and notch his 5th save of the season. Lindy McDaniel did well in the setup role.

Game 3 was a HOF treated the fans to a HOF caliber matchup. Gaylord Perry took the hill for the Giants and Greg Maddux did the same for SD. Maddux did not have it and gave up 5 runs on 12 hits during his 8 inning stint. Perry vaselin'ed himself to a 5 hit shutout. McCovey had 3 hits including his 8th homer of the season. Jesus Alou again had the hot bat with 4 hits, which led to 2 runs being scored.

Game 4 was the pressure game. If the Giants lost this one the incredible ride of the first 3 wins would all be for naught. Pressure tests the true mettle of men. The Giants responded by sending Bobby Bolin to the mound. Bolin was near perfect going the distance and yielding 1 run thanks to his manager's mistake. Instead of pulling in the corners and playing for a bunt with no out by the pitcher, Bolin's manager played the infield a normal depth. On the ensuing play the lead runner scored on a Sac Fly. Other than that Bolin was hard to touch yielding on 2 hits on the day. San Fran scored 2 in the second as seldom used utility outfielder Cap Peterson homered to deep left to plate Ollie Brown and himself. Brown turned around and homered in the 4th to make the score 3 to 1. The Giants added an insurance run in the 7th as Bolin helped his own cause by singling and stealing 2nd as Tito Fuentes missed the hit and run sign. Atoning for his sin, Tito singled home Bolin on the next pitch to make it 4 to 1 and drive the Giants to an improbable matchup vs their heated rivals the Dodgers in a play in game.

After the game the press interviewed the Giants manager who said, "This team never quit all year. They were dead and buried a number of times, but forgot to lay down. Bring on the Dodgers, we've got some business to take care of with them".