Simulated Series: Giants take Game 1 in extra innings
Pablo Sandoval's RBI triple in the bottom of the 10th inning plated Marco Scutaro with the winning run as the San Francisco Giants defeated the Detroit Tigers in the opener of USA TODAY's Simulated World Series.
Giants starter Barry Zito had a no-hitter through 6 2/3 innings as he outpitched Tigers ace Justin Verlander, but the Tigers scratched and clawed for single runs in the seventh and the eighth to tie things up.
San Francisco built an early lead behind Zito on a second-inning home run from Hunter Pence and an RBI single in the bottom of the third by Buster Posey. The key hits from Pence and Posey were encouraging signs for the Giants after both hit under .200 during the first two rounds of the playoffs.
But the key to the game may have been the performance of Zito, who silenced the Tigers bats through the first six innings and only allowed a two-out RBI single by rookie Avasail Garcia in his seven innings of work. Detroit tied the game in the eighth when Quinton Berry reached on an error by Sandoval, stole second and third, then came home on a groundout by Ramon Santiago.
Tim Lincecum (1-0) pitched the 10th for San Francisco and got the win. Joaquin Benoit (0-1) worked out of trouble in the ninth, but surrendered a one-out single to Marco Scutaro and Sandoval's game-winner into Triples Alley in the tenth.
The Giants will take their 1-0 lead in the Series into tomorrow's Game 2 with left-hander Madison Bumgarner on the mound against the Tigers' Doug Fister.
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This is the fourth season that USA TODAY has teamed up with Dynasty League Baseball to pre-play the World Series using the simulation game's online engine. While the simulated game isn't meant to be a prediction of the actual outcome, it can help reveal some of the strategies and important things to watch in the actual World Series. For example:
-- San Francisco was able to mount several solid scoring threats when leadoff man Angel Pagan was able to get on base. He stole a pair of bases off Verlander and scored San Francisco's second run of the game. Look for Pagan to try to ignite the Giants offense.
-- For all their offensive punch, the Tigers were rather ordinary (.253) against left-handed pitching during the regular season. Although Miguel Cabrera hit a league-leading 44 home runs, only four of them came against southpaws. And Prince Fielder had an OPS of just .808 against lefties, over 200 points lower than his OPS against right-handers. No wonder Giants manager Bruce Bochy has back-to-back left-handers on the mound to start the World Series.
-- The Giants' bench could be a liability if games are close. Even though San Francisco ended up winning this extra-inning affair, they didn't have a good pinch-hitting option in the late innings when the Tigers brought in lefty Phil Coke to face Brandon Belt, Gregor Blanco and Brandon Crawford. (Hmmm ... wonder if Melky Cabrera could have helped this team?)
Dynasty League Baseball, from the designer of Pursue the Pennant, is available in both the original Board version and a new Online version featuring "Series," Greatest Team bracket tournaments and continuous draft leagues.
This season, you can have your own 2012 World Series pre-play by signing up at Dynasty League Baseball.com and selecting "Series."
Special thanks to Baseball Info Solutions for their statistical analysis