Pennant primer: Giants-Dodgers clash could decide NL West, MVP
SAN FRANCISCO – The "MVP! MVP!'' chants that rang throughout AT&T Park two years ago haven't started yet this season.
They might return this weekend, and there will be several players who could deserve them.
First place in the National League West will be at stake when the San Francisco Giants host the division-leading Los Angeles Dodgers in the first of two critical series the clubs will play in the final 2½ weeks of the season, with tonight's opener pitting Madison Bumgarner against Hyun-Jin Ryu.
The outcome of those six games – and the performance of some of the teams' protagonists – could also steer the direction of a wide-open race for league MVP honors.
Another magnificent season by Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, who will bring an 18-3 record and majors-leading 1.67 ERA into his Sunday start, has rekindled the debate over whether pitchers should be eligible for baseball's top award.
He's not the only Dodger who merits consideration. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez has ridden a torrid second half and a .341 batting average with runners in scoring position to the second spot among NL RBI leaders with 102, making a case for himself.
The Giants counter with catcher Buster Posey, the 2012 MVP who has enjoyed an even hotter second half than Gonzalez, and indefatigable right fielder Hunter Pence, the league leader in hits and its second most prolific run scorer.
The MVP discussion is not one Pence wants any part of, saying he's embarrassed for his name to even be brought up, especially in light of Posey's contributions.
"If you look at what he's done and what he's meant to the team, it's night and day,'' Pence said. "His hits, his timing, he's had so many big home runs this year. Don't just look at a collection of stats. Yeah, I've had some clutch hits and I've done my small part throughout the way, but Buster's by far had huge impacts on games at critical moments time and time again. There's not even a debate in my mind.''
Posey has indeed been a driving force behind the Giants' resurgence after a brutal two-month stretch in the middle of the season.
Taking a more aggressive offensive approach that he'd rather not analyze publicly – "It's just the mind-set of being ready to go from the get-go,'' he said – Posey is batting .359 with 10 homers and 36 RBI since the break, raising his season average to .309 with a team-leading 82 RBI.
His offensive exploits and the return of catalyst Angel Pagan have revived the Giants, who lead the majors in runs per game (4.74) since the All-Star break and have won their last nine home games, their longest such streak since 2011.
But Pence might be selling himself short. For the second year in a row, Pence has played in every one of the Giants' games, and he's driven in 71 runs despite batting first or second in 123 of his 146 games. He also has been the club's most consistent producer, batting better than .270 in every full month.
"You hate to say, 'This guy is your MVP,' or whatever, but certainly you have to start with Hunter Pence and the fact he's out there every day, gives you versatility in the lineup, he's tireless, and what he's done as far as scoring runs,'' manager Bruce Bochy said.
If you're the Dodgers, you'd to start with Kershaw's mastery.
L.A. is 20-4 when Kershaw takes the ball, 63-59 when anybody else starts. They have lost one of his 18 outings since the beginning of June, a major reason they have the NL's second-best record and a two-game lead over San Francisco.
Just like they did in late July, when they swept the Giants at AT&T Park, the Dodgers have adjusted their rotation to make sure their top three starters – Kershaw, Zack Greinke and Ryu – will face San Francisco not just this weekend, but also in the three-game set at Dodger Stadium on Sept. 22-24.
"Obviously, they've been marked on our calendar for a while,'' said Kershaw, who has gone 12-5 with a 1.40 ERA in his career against the Giants, including a 1.69 ERA in two outings this season. "It's nice to know they're my next start. I don't have to keep it in the back of my mind now.''
Yet for all his brilliance, an impartial observer like Arizona Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero said he would lean toward Posey in an MVP race that also includes outfielders Giancarlo Stanton of the Miami Marlins, Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves and Andrew McCutchen of the Pittsburgh Pirates as leading candidates.
Montero knows all about their accomplishments and insists he's not biased toward a fellow catcher when he says, "Kershaw has impeccable numbers, but he helps his team once or twice a week, whereas Buster is helping the team every day at the plate and either catching or at first.
"When someone like (Kershaw) pitches, there might be a 95 percent chance his team wins. But what happens with the other four days? A guy like Pence might carry the team on his shoulders those other four days.''
These next three days, plus the three on the final week of the season, may determine how many MVP voters agree with Montero.
PENNANT PRIMER
Days left in the season: 17
Thursday's big mover: Cleveland Indians: With their pitchers allowing a total of two runs and one walk in the doubleheader, the Indians gained 1½ games on the AL Central race and a game on the wild-card competition by beating the Minnesota Twins twice, 8-2 and 2-0. Carlos Santana homered twice and drove in a total of four runs on the day for Cleveland, which is part of a six-team scramble for the two AL wild-card spots.
Thursday's big loser: Oakland Athletics. This is getting redundant. The A's played their eighth one-run game in the last nine. They've lost seven of them to fall out of the AL West race and raise serious questions about their morale, not to mention their ability to hold on to their 1½ game lead over the third wild-card contender. Oakland wasted yet another outstanding pitching effort, this one by Scott Kazmir, and its record since Yoenis Cespedes was traded fell to 15-24. The going-nowhere Chicago White Sox took three out of four in the series.
Today's can't-miss game: A's vs. Seattle Mariners. Oakland takes its downtrodden offense into a ballpark, Safeco Field, that's not exactly known for its salutary properties for hitters. For that matter, neither is the Mariners' staff. In the teams' previous meeting last week in Oakland, James Paxton and Felix Hernandez combined to allow three runs in 15 2/3 innings, and both scored victories. They're scheduled to open the first two games, opposing Jason Hammel and Sonny Gray, respectively.