[jg2977]

Colin Cowherd:
“This game is why October baseball is different. You can do almost everything right… and still lose if you can’t finish. Milwaukee scored twelve runs, got eighteen hits, and still walked out of Oracle Park stunned. Because in the postseason, leads don’t matter — nerve does.”
Milwaukee came in hot, swinging early, dictating tempo. Up 5–0. Up 9–6. Up 12–11 late. And every single time, San Francisco said the same thing: not yet.
That’s not luck. That’s identity.
The Giants didn’t panic. They absorbed punches, waited for mistakes, and trusted their lineup depth. Cesar Vazquez was relentless — four hits, three RBIs, driving rallies instead of chasing hero swings. And then the moment that defines October: bottom of the ninth, tie game, season pressure creeping in… Guillermo Barela delivers.
That’s what playoff teams do. They don’t flinch.
Mike Francesa:
“Look, this was a crazy game, alright? Crazy. Back and forth all afternoon. But let’s call it what it was — Milwaukee had chances to put this game away three or four different times and they just didn’t do it.
You score twelve runs, you get eighteen hits, you can’t lose that game. You just can’t. That’s on the pitching and it’s on the defense. Two errors, bad sequencing out of the bullpen, and you let San Francisco hang around. That’s deadly in October.”
And give the Giants credit — they took advantage of every opening. Vazquez was terrific, Hernandez had huge extra-base hits, and Barela did exactly what you ask your shortstop to do in that spot. Put the ball in play, win the game.
“But from Milwaukee’s standpoint,” Francesa continues, “this one hurts. This isn’t just a loss — this is the kind of loss that can linger. You had control. You let it go.”
Cowherd (closing):
“And here’s the bigger takeaway: San Francisco doesn’t need perfection. They need proximity. Keep the game close long enough, and they believe they’re going to win it — and now Milwaukee knows that too.
Game 1 doesn’t decide the series, but it defines the psychology of it. And right now, the Giants own that edge.”