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To the surprise of some - Rajon Rondo played the season opener for the Boston Celtics - and played well. He collected 13 points, 12 assists and 7 rebounds, running a balanced offence that put up a surprising 121 points. Was this game a sign of a new Rondo, more committed to team play than in past years or just a blip on the radar? It's early yet and nothing much can be gleaned from one game. However, the Celtics looked better than expected.
Rondo can be a star when he wants. The question remains - does he really want it? Madison Bumgarner Throws 5 Shut-out Innings to Propel #SFGiants to 3rd World Series in 5 Years10/29/2014 In a series for the ages, Madison Bumgarner put on an historic performance, throwing 5 shut-out innings in relief and closing out the Kansas City Royals to lead the San Francisco Giants to their third World Series Title in 5 Years. Bumgarner only yielded two hits in those five innings and was in complete control of the Royal's line-up, mowing them down one after the next.
All told in this Series - Bumgarner threw 21 innings and only yielded 1 run. Add to that 3 big wins and he was the clear and run-away MVP of the Series and indeed, the entire playoffs. Truly, this was the greatest single performance I've ever seen in a Word Series. In the playoffs - Bumgarner went 5-1 with a 1.03 ERA. Batters hit .152 against him. You won't lose many games with a pitcher dealing like that. Simply put- one of the greatest postseason performances ever. A true Champion. This game was over in the second inning as Jake Peavy imploded in a big way, going only 1 1/3 innings and yielding 5 earned runs. He couldn't locate his pitches and when he did, those pitches got hit. He left with the bases loaded and the bullpen couldn't save him - 7 runs crossed the plate in the second inning - effectively rendering the game over.
Tomorrow night is game 7, which favors the Royals at home. The road team hasn't won a game 7 in almost 40 years. The Giants have a tall task in front of them. The Washington Football Team went into Dallas with a 2-5 record against the 6-1 Cowboys and nobody game them a chance. The Cowboys offensive line had looked bruising of late and the Washington team was starting a third string quarterback in Colt McCoy. However, sometimes in division games all you need is a little heart, a healthy blitzing style against Romo and of course terrible play calling by Dallas.
Washington Blitzed Tony Romo into oblivion last night, literally, routinely sending 6 and 7 rushers in all out jail break assaults on the offensive line. And it clearly worked, for it threw Tony Romo off his game and made the Cowboys make critical mistakes down the stretch play calling and otherwise. Romo was knocked from the game for 21 minutes of game time by a particularly vicious sack and knee in the back, but returned. Don't get me wrong - Washington played spirited defensive football for the entire game and towards the end, 3rd Stringer McCoy started making plays to beat the Cowboys. However, Dallas only gave Murray - who gained 141 yards- 19 carries and on a key overtime drive, after Murray gashed Washington for 8 yards easily on first down - Romo then threw the ball three times to lose the game. Murray is the best part of the Cowboy's offense and at times Romo doesn't realize it. It's not his combination with Dez Bryant. Yes, at times the two can combine for explosive plays. However, this team will only go where Murray carries them. Naturally, the internet exploded. Here are some of the best. Enjoy your day. For these entire baseball Playoffs, the story has been Madison Bumgarner of the San Francisco Giants. He has simply dominated, pitching at least 7 innings in all of his starts.
He began the playoffs in the one-off Wild Card game against Pittsburgh and threw a complete game shut-out to ensure the Giants survived to play another day. Against the Nationals, he proved to be human and lost a game - though not with his pitching - it was his own throwing error late in the game that led to 2 runs. However, he was still dominant in that game, going 7 innings, allowing only 2 earned runs. In the series with the Cardinals, he was outstanding. He went 8 innings in a no-decision, giving up 3 earned runs, which qualifies as his worst performance of the post-season. Yes, you read that - he went 8 full innings and gave up 3 - worst performance. His second start against the Cardinals was masterful - 7 2/3's innings of shutout ball to help move the Giants into the World Series. And in this World Series - he's been other worldly. 2 Starts - One earned run in 16 innings. Just take a moment to think on that stat. One earned run. His lifetime dominance in the World Series is listed on the picture below. What jumps at me, the most ABSURD stat - batters are hitting .120 against him. That's almost un-imaginable. Teams that make the series are supposed to be the best and they flail against him like boys playing a man. .120 - Simply - WOW. Madison Bumgarner - Postseason Demon. Six starts this post-season - 4-1 record - 1.13 ERA. Every start went 7 innings. Pitched second most innings in Post-season history (Curt Schilling the only one with more). He is the MVP of the Post-Season - no matter if the Royals end up winning the Series. Truly, a playoff run for the ages. Madison Bumgarner must have read my last post suggesting Hunter Pence had a shot at MVP if he kept hitting. I was wrong. In a game for the ages, Madison shut out the Royals on 4 hits, throwing a complete game of utter dominance to lead the Giants to a 3-2 lead in the World Series. Bumgarner has been almost untouchable all post-season, but especially in this Series. He's only yielded one run in 16 innings of work. He now owns the record for lowest ERA in World Series history with at least 4 games started.
Other things happened in this game, such as Shields finally showing up in a big game, though his effort wasn't enough to match the complete dominance of Bumgarner. The Royals fielding let them down and several spots in this game, it looked as if the moment of game 5 of the World Series proved too much for them. In the end, the Giants opened the game up in the bottom of the 8th inning, stretching the lead to 5-0, which was the final. Madison Bumgarner - Tip of the Cap - Player of the Playoffs, MVP of the World Series, no matter who wins honestly, even though I know it doesn't work that way. An historic performance. Tom Brady played almost perfect football, literally. His stat line for the day - 30 for 35, 354 Yards and 5 Touchdowns, with no interceptions. However, sprinkled in those 5 misses were a few drops by suddenly not so sure handed Julian Edelman. In reality, Tom Brady did whatever he wanted to the hapless Bears Defense. The Bears chose to single cover Patriots receivers, instead loading the box with 8 men to stop the run and Tom Brady ripped them apart all day long. I can't even conceive of what the Defensive Coordinator for the Bears was thinking drawing up this game-plan. He chose to cover Gronk one-on-one - on PURPOSE.
Gronk caught 9 balls for almost 150 yards and 3 scores. The Bears D Coordinator should be fired. End of story for this game that never really was a contest. Obviously, there is a lot of baseball yet to be played and the World Series is up for grabs, but if the Giants prevail, Hunter Pence is starting to look like their MVP. He is batting .447 in the series with 5 RBI's. The question to Royal's manager Yost - Why do you keep walking Posey to face Pence? Posey is batting .188 with no extra base hits. A curious strategy to say the least.
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