NLDS - Bitter Dodger/Giants rivalry goes 5 with Tinsel-town barely holding on for the win

Dodger Stadium
GAME 1
Blue vs Singer
Dodgers 3, Giants 2

The "Singer Throwing Machine" needed a little help from his friend Jim Brewer to get the final out in this nail biting series opener.  LA jumped out to a 2-0 lead on a 2 run / 2 out RBI single by Maury Wills in the bottom of the 2nd.  Both teams exchanged solo runs in the 4th with Chili Davis doubling home a run and Tom Haller hitting a solo shot.  It remained 3-1 until the top of the 9th when the Giants threatened to steal this one away from Singer, who was cruising along.  Kutcher led off the 9th with a single that turned into a triple when centerfielder Willie Davis made an ill advised dive that wound up rolling to the wall.  On Robby Thompson's grounder to third Kutcher scored to make it a one run game.  After Spilman singled and Davis doubled the Jints had runners at 2nd and 3rd with just one out and Bob Brenly at the plate.  Singer fanned Brenly for out #2, but was replaced by Jim Brewer who was ready to go in the pen.  On a 1-0 pitch Candy Maldonado lined a bullet to Sudakis at 3rd for the final out.
LA leads series 1-0

GAME 2

LaCoss vs Osteen
Giants 7, Dodgers 3

Cy Young hopeful Claude Osteen (8-2, 2.35) did not have his best stuff today and the Giants rang up the cash register on his behalf.  With LA up 2-0 after the first 2 inning it was Osteen's counterpart, Mike LaCoss, who looked to be on the ropes.  LaCoss settled down nicely to give up just 2 earned runs (3 total) in 7 innings before yielding to the pen.  Osteen, who looked to be the safe bet up 3-2 after 4 had a blow up inning in the top of the 5th where he was tagged for 4 unanswered runs.  RBI Doubles by Wil Clark and Bob Melvin sandwiched an RBI single by Chili Davis.  Jeff Leonard's 2 out knock yielded the final run of the inning.  The Jints would add 2 more solo runs to finish off LA 7-3.  Melvin (3-5, 2R, RBI) had 3 of SF's 10 hits.  Clark and Thompson chipped in 2 apiece.
Series tied 1-1

Candlestick Park
GAME 3
Sutton vs Krukow
Giants 5, Dodgers 1

In a cool 2 hours and 24 minutes the Jints dispatched the Dodgers 5-1 behind a 4 hit 1 run performance from the right arm of the "Polish Prince" Mike Krukow.  The Baysiders jumped out to a 2-0 lead and never looked back.  Krukow was in total command throughout the day.  Robby Thompson (3-4) scored a run and knocked in one as well.  The "other" 2/3 of the Giants top of the order:  Kutcher (2-4) and Spilman (2-4) created havoc for LA's embattled starter Don Sutton.
Giants lead series 2-1

GAME 4
Bunning vs Garrelts
Dodgers 4, Giants 1

With ace Bill Singer not yet at full rest LA's manager had a huge dilemma on his hands.  Start Singer with the hope of forcing a game 5 without a game 5 starter or go back into the past and try to catch lighting in a bottle with future HOF'er Jim Bunning, who was in the twilight of his great career.  Option #2 was the choice and to say that Bunning pitched like it was 1964 was no understatement.  Without a dominant fastball the future senator from Kentucky mustered up all the guile he could find with 7 shutout innings of ball.  LA got greedy and trotted Bunning out for the 8th, but after loading the bases he was replaced by the fireman of SoCal Jim Brewer.  Chili Davis stepped up to the plate with the bases loaded and his team down 4-0 with a chance to ruin all that Bunning had done to this point.  Davis hit a blast off Brewer that 3-Dog tracked down near the track to plate Kutcher and make it 4-1.  Bob Brenly struck out on 4 pitches and Maldonado lifted a weak fly to center for the 3rd out.  LA dodged (all puns) a bullet.  Brewer allowed just one hit in the 9th to save the game for Bunning and force a game 5.  With all the focus on pitching Andy Kosco's (2-4) 2 run shot and 3 RBI day flew under the radar as did the 3-4 day by Wes Parker who chipped in with 2 doubles.
Series tied 2-2

Dodger Stadium
Game 5
Blue vs Singer
Dodgers 2, Giants 1

Game 5's, like game 7's come with a boat load of hype and very little drama.  In a see-saw series like this vs two franchises that are bitter rivals across 4 cities and 3,000 miles nothing short of a one run affair would do.  Both managers went chalk and sent their game 1 starters back out to the bump.  The Jints went with lefty Vida Blue, who certainly wasn't vintage Blue of the early 70's when he wore green and yellow and toiled across the bay.  LA went with the man who was aptly nicknamed "The Singer throwing Machine", who was at the height of his powers having been tagged "the next Koufax".  While Singer would never reach those lofty heights, who would?, he strung together a number of dominant years at the end of the 60's and into the 70's.  On full rest both men were sharp and the the men with the lumber knew it just wasn't going to be their day.  After Teddy Sizemore led off the home half of the 2nd with a single surprising slugger Bill Sudakis blasted a 1-2 Blue offering 343 feet into the pavilion in left center for his 10th clout of the season, which handed Singer a 2-0 lead.  Five consecutive innings worth of bagels on the board kept LA's 2-0 lead in tact until the top of the 8th when San Fran scratched together 3 consecutive knocks to make it 2-1.  After Spilman hit a shot to the track everyone in Chavez Ravine was able to breathe a

collective sigh of relief.  When Davis walked to load the bases with one out everyone looked toward Singer and thought, "it's your game to win or lose big boy".  Singer fanned Brenly, which seemed to be a common theme throughout the series for the Jints catcher.  Maldonado followed with a pop up to shallow left to end the threat.  Singer left the mound a tired, but certainly not a beaten man.  The Top of the 9th saw Pete Mikkelsen make his first appearance in the series.  The be-speckled righthanded sinkerballer looked sharp setting the Giants down one, two, three to clinch the series in a finale that lived up to all expectations for those who love drama and being on the edge of their seat.
Dodgers win series 3-2.

Editor's note:  Great season for the Jints and manager Fred Falzone who made some gutsy calls that were against the so called "book".  Fred's hunches paid off time and time again and had SF on the brink of upsetting their hated divisional rival.  A bounce this way or that way and a different outcome could easily have occurred.  This was Fred's first season behind the bench in the Bay area replacing the ever so popular Larry Reeves at the helm.  Fred managed the Giants to a 22-16 regular season record and the #3 seed in the NL.  Great job buddy !