will we ever win?

xfaility

The much-hyped matchup of Cy Young-caliber aces turned into a battle of 8-hole hitters as the Giants took Game 1 of the NLCS 4-3.

Late season, Padres-spiting waiver signee Cody Ross homered twice off Roy Halladay, and the Giants made the most of a two-out rally in the sixth to take the win. The Phillies' 8-hole hitter Carlos Ruiz homered himself, and Jayson Werth got the Phils back into the game with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth, but the lineup couldn't get enough going off lefty reliever Javier Lopez and closer Brian Wilson, who pitched the last inning and a third for the save.

As much as Fox announcers Tim McCarver and Joe Buck made Giants starter Tim Lincecum out to be the greatest pitcher ever, he was far from dominant tonight. Phillies hitters left him off the hook numerous times. It felt like the 2009 lineup would have put up 8 or 9 runs, but this year's lineup just does not string together hits. When they batted around against the Reds, errors were helping their cause.

That said, it looked like they might steal this one anyway. Wilson hit Ruiz with a pitch with one out in the ninth, bringing pinch hitter Lil' Matt Stairs — aka Ross Gload — to the plate. I had visions of Stairs-esque heroics, but Glad struck out, and so did Victorino, and that was that.

NOTES:

— If there was a day off before Game 2, there'd probably a lot of talk about Halladay not getting the 0-2 call against Pat Burrell in the sixth, which resulted in Burrell's RBI double on the next pitch. The pitch was a strike and called low, but the ump was consistently calling that pitch low all night for both teams. And Raul Ibanez probably should have caught the ball, which would have ended the inning with the Phillies only down one run instead of three.

— Fox uses that Fox Track graphic (not a glowing puck) to show where pitches crossed the plate during select replays, but if they should leave it on the screen all the time. The camera angle behind the mound is angled too severely to gauge if pitches are hitting the corners or not.

— If there's some reason Jimmy Rollins isn't batting eighth in the lineup I'd like to hear it.

— Brian Wilson should just go all out and add face paint and a red nose, because he looks like a clown with that beard. Just for Men is a privilege, not a right.