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5 keys heading into big Cards-Giants matchup
- Updated: September 15, 2016
Some of us have wondered what to make of the Cardinals and Giants almost since Opening Day. At various times, both teams have looked plenty good enough to play deep into October. At other times, not so much.
That’s what makes this four-game Cardinals-Giants series beginning Thursday night at AT&T Park so interesting. Three National League teams — Giants (77-68), Mets (77-69), Cardinals (76-69) — are a game apart in the race for two NL Wild Card berths. Those stakes will give this series a postseason vibe.
Here are five things to watch for:
1. The Giants hoping to get their mojo back.
If you caught them at certain points this season, you’d swear you were watching baseball’s best team. This wasn’t a snapshot of a couple of weeks or even a couple of months. The Giants won 57 of their first 90 games.
Their offense scored 4.7 runs per game. Their pitching staff had a 3.55 ERA. This being an even-numbered year, lots of people went ahead and penciled them in to win their fourth World Series in seven years.
And then the lights went out, dramatically and inexplicably. Their 20-35 record is baseball’s worst since the All-Star break, and they’ve lost 11 games in the NL West standings, a 6 1/2-game lead over the Dodgers morphing into a five-game deficit with 17 to play.
They return home having been swept by the Padres in a three-game series in San Diego.
2. This is Matt Moore’s time.
Everything the Giants have done these last few seasons begins with the starting rotation. Down the stretch, it’s the rotation that hasn’t been good enough.
Even after the addition of Moore at the non-waiver Trade Deadline, Giants starters have a 4.24 ERA this month. That’s middle of the pack (13th of 30 teams) and probably not good enough to get the Giants …
