Bay Baseball Good and Bad News

First, the bad news. After storming back from a two-game deficit, the amazing Oakland A's fell 6-0 to the Detroit Tigers in the deciding game of the divisional playoffs. They had no answer to the superior pitching of last year's Cy Young award winner and league MVP Justin Verlander, who handcuffed them twice during the five-game series. Nevertheless, what they accomplished with one of the lowest payrolls in baseball against resource-rich teams is one of the top baseball stories of 2012.

The good news is that the San Francisco Giants will continue to the next round of the National League playoffs. They faced even more daunting odds than the A's, because the Giants, after playing terribly in two losses at AT&T Park, had to win all three games in Cincinnati (the A's were trying to win three at home), and the Reds had not lost three consecutive games in the Great American ballpark during the regular season.

The Giants scored six runs in the fifth inning of Game 5, then held on through tension-filled later innings to prevail, 6-4, over a strong Reds lineup. The decisive blow was a grand-slam home run by All Star catcher Buster Posey. Go Giants!

Posey talks to Matt Cain's hand (SFGate)

Historical footnote: Buster Posey's homer was the first grand slam by a Giant in a playoff game in 23 years. Will Clark's grand slam in 1989 beat the Cubs but is also notable in that it gave rise to the practice of pitchers and catchers speaking through their gloves.

From Will Clark's Wikipedia bio:

Cubs' catcher Joe Girardi went to the mound to discuss with Greg Maddux how to pitch to Clark. From the on-deck circle, Clark watched the conversation and read Greg Maddux's lips saying "fastball high, inside." The first pitch was a fastball high and inside which Clark sent into the street beyond right field for a grand slam. Following this, pitchers began to cover their mouths with their gloves when having conversations on the pitchers mound.