The Giants and Dodgers played a three game series, Max Muncy only got one hit, and Walker Buehler gave up six runs
We're through the looking glass now, people
Some baseball players just annoy the shit out of you.
I have written about two certain Cardinals, but all season it’s been Max Muncy and Walker Buehler who have really bedeviled the Giants. Coming into the weekend, Muncy had hit .327/.438/.800 against the Giants in 2021, or maybe I calculated that wrong, but anyway it’s definitely not far off. He had especially tormented the Giants earlier in the year, with 7 homers over 9 games in the two teams’ first three series, but he had an .862 OPS over the next 7 games against the Giants, with his wife having labor induced between the two series just so he wouldn’t miss a shot at San Francisco.
Walker Buehler had made five starts against the Giants in 2021 before this weekend, giving up just 3 earned runs total. In the worst of those starts, he gave up 2 runs (1 earned) over 6 innings, striking out 3 and walking 3. He gave up 3 whole hits! He just didn’t have it that day. On the whole, his ERA against the Giants was 0.74. He came into the series leading the majors in ERA, at 2.05 (it had gone slightly up after he allowed 2 runs in 7 innings against the Braves, which is an excellent start).
My friends, the Giants made both players look extremely bad.
My friends, it was delightful.
Muncy is a capital-N Nemesis, the guy who you circle in the lineup only to later be asked why you drew on the TV in marker. He’s the guy who, when your 8th inning guy walks someone else, you yell at him, “Dammit, now Muncy’s coming up in the 9th!” He’s the late inning matchup you have to plan for, the fly in the ointment, the monkey in the wrench, the pain in the ass.
He did nothing over the weekend. Sure, he walked twice and hit one 32-hopper through the shift in the infield in the 9th on Sunday, but realistically, Max Muncy had no impact on the last Giants-Dodgers series of the year. He struck out 5 times in 14 plate appearances, and cost the Dodgers .116 wins, 1.66 runs, and a sixth of a percent of their shot at a World Series. You barely even noticed he was there; sure, there was the dread of seeing him come to the plate, but once he did he was gone without incident.
It was beautiful.
All season long Max Muncy has been the guy to fear, and in that series, he was neutered. Sure, I could regret writing these words if the Giants and Dodgers meet in the playoffs, but on the other hand, I won’t remember and probably no one else will either, so I’ll have no idea of any hubris-inflicted ass-whooping being my fault, and therefore it would be pointless.
You hear me, universe? Pointless! Better not even try then.
As terrifying as Muncy has been this year, though, Buehler has been worse. Not only had he been an unstoppable force against them this year, but before Sunday, he had a career 1.83 ERA against San Francisco in 64 innings. That’s a full third of a season that he pitched against the Giants at a unanimous-Cy-Young-winner pace. They’d only scored 13 earned runs against him in his career; they tagged him for 6 on Sunday.
The Giants finally getting Max Muncy out was in the realm of possibility before the series started. The Giants manhandling Walker Buehler absolutely was not. He was as imposing as a pitcher can get, a right-handed Clayton Kershaw circa 2013. There was no reason to think that they would have a chance. Coming into the series, I was ferverently hoping they’d win the first game, because I knew the last one was completely out of reach.
But the Giants were better than I expected. Brandon Belt hit a first inning homer, and after the Dodgers tied the game in the top of the second, the team scored three runs, and then added two more in the third. They were making Buehler look bad, and then they made him look worse, and then they gave him a swirlie for good measure.
It was almost incomprehensible, to be honest. It was also a sign that, even when their offense is slumping, this team can beat anyone. That might seem cheesy or trite, but I want to repeat it because it’s true: this team can beat anyone. On any given day, they are fully capable of dominating any pitcher, shutting down any hitter. They could be slumping or soaring, they could be shut down through 7 innings, and they still have a chance.
It’s a remarkable team. Don’t take this to mean that they’re necessarily going to have a deep playoff run, since remarkable teams lose early in October all the time, but what we’re watching now is special. They are absolutely a special team, and this weekend is just the latest proof of that.
The Giants conquered two Dodger, uh, not Goliaths, I guess. Maybe Jacks? Take that, Dodger Jacks. You wanted to break into the Giants’ castle and steal their gold and their goose that lays golden eggs and their magic golden harp and then cut down the beanstalk and make the Giants fall to their deaths, but they didn’t. You’re a dick, and your shit didn’t work.
The Giants won. They won because they can always win, no matter the opponent. They certainly have flaws — a lack of depth at starting pitcher stands out right now — but they’re completely capable of overcoming them. I’ve seen Giants teams before that finally beat their tormenters, but I don’t know if I’ve seen one where after they were done, I thought, This is who they are.
But this is who they are. This is what they’re capable of, every day. More than a decade ago now — ha ha, we’re all old — Giants people used to say, “Happy Timmy Day!” to each other when Tim Lincecum was starting because that was their win day. No matter what else was going on, when Lincecum started, they thought the team was going to win.
This team is the same way, but every day. They beat Walker Buehler on a day when they threw out their second bullpen game in a row. They shut down Max Muncy. They’re really good, a better team than any of the World Series winners. That doesn’t mean they’re going all the way, but it does mean you shouldn’t take it for granted. They beat Walker Buehler. They shut down Max Muncy. They’re really good. Don’t take it for granted.