Post-Season Fever Soaring Among San Francisco Giants Fans
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- Moments after the San Francisco Giants won their historic 106th game Friday night, the massive screen of Oracle Park's centerfield scoreboard was switched to the final moments of the Los Angeles Dodgers-Milwaukee Brewers game.
Fans stayed in their seats and became Brewers fans. The Giants and the Dodgers are locked in one of the most epic battles for the NL West division crown since both teams moved to the West Coast in the 1950s.
Despite chants of 'Beat LA' echoing inside Oracle Park, the Dodgers rallied to win 8-6. The champagne went back on ice in the Giants lockerroom, the fans celebration would need to wait another day. The 106th win did tie a franchise record dating back to baseball's early days.
With two regular season games remaining, San Francisco's record stands at 106-54. The Dodgers are at 104-56. If the Giants win one of their two remaining home games against the San Diego Padres, they will be the NL West champs. If they lose both and Los Angeles wins its final two games, there will be an extra game played at Oracle on Monday to determine who will be the division champs and who will host the wild card play-in game.
San Francisco wants to avoid a one-and-done playin game with the red-hot St. Louis Cardinals.
"Kind of unbelievable...We're big Giants fans. They can do it," said Ann Hughes of Alamo who was among the team faithful at the park. "They just have to keep the Dodgers out."
"So excited this is my 30th game this year," said Alan Scott of San Francisco added. "I can't believe the Giants have had a season like this, this is the best season."
After going 29-31 during the coronavirus-shortened 2020 season in Gabe Kapler's first year as manager to becoming contenders again at last, the Giants have delivered a stunning turnaround this season.
The pundits predicted the squad would struggle to win 75 games and would be living in the shadows of the star-studded lineups of the Padres and the Dodgers.
"It's pretty simple just doing what we've done all year, getting quality at-bats from everyone in the lineup, getting really quality outings out of our starters and our bullpen's been amazing and playing good defense outside of that first inning yesterday," said Darin Ruf, a baseball journeyman who is enjoying a remarkable season and hit a first-inning home run Friday night, "It's just the recipe we've used all year."
Kapler, who was run out of Philadelphia as manager amid team disappointment and fan unhappiness, credits an everyday approach.
"We're a pretty workmanlike group, we've demonstrated that consistently," he said. "We don't get too high or too low, focus on the step right in front of us."
As for Saturday's game?
"We're just expecting to play a meaningful game tomorrow," Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. "It's pretty simple, straightforward for us. That was our expectation all along and we'll be prepared for that