The Giants are somehow in the National League Championship Series, even though they’ve hit like an especially unclutch utility infielder throughout the playoffs. Before the start of Game 3, they’d hit 10 extra-base hits in eight postseason games. Against John Lackey, though, they matched their best team mark for extra-base hits, and they did it in the first inning, jumping out to a 4-0 lead.
Giants pound John Lackey in first, lead 4-0
With two outs and no one on, Buster Posey took an errant Lackey fastball to the opposite field. With an 0-2 count, Pablo Sandoval did the same, tying Barry Bonds’ Giants postseason record of reaching base in 21 consecutive postseason games. Because when you think about players getting on base by any means necessary, you think of Bonds and Sandoval.
Hunter Pence followed with yet another opposite-field hit, this one a double, to score a run. After an intentional walk to Brandon Belt, emergency roster fodder and human duct tape Travis Ishikawa cleared the bases with a double off the right-center wall.
It was probably a ball that Randal Grichuk could have caught, too:
John Lackey was ... less than happy with Grichuk on the mound. There was plenty of blame to go around, though.
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