Posted By Jeff Fletcher on September 28, 2010 10:45 pm

I’m not writing anything off tonight’s game for FanHouse. I’m just here collecting stuff for playoff stories and “babysitting,” which means coming here just in case there is some big news.

Anyway, I have to wait out the traffic before leaving, so here is a little of what’s kicking around in my head after this game.

The Giants are suddenly in a great spot. Their magic number is four, and they have an 87 percent chance to win the division and a 90 percent chance to go to the playoffs, according to coolstandings.com. They are two games up on the Padres with five to play. If they can just hold serve over the next two days, remaining two up, the Padres would have to sweep them here over the weekend. If the Giants are only one up going into that series, then it gets a little more dicey. That would also bring the Braves more into the picture.

I really like Bruce Bochy’s use of Brian Wilson for four- and five-out saves in the past week. This is the time of year when you do that. That’s the way it’s going to be in the playoffs. Might as well get him used to it. Wilson has been really good in the second half (the first half, too). As I said before, I think he doesn’t get enough credit because people have the unrealistic expectation that a closer should pitch a 1-2-3 inning every time. He’s as good as any closer going in the majors right now.

Wilson did get a huge break in the eighth inning when first base ump Mike Reilly rung up Chris Young on a check swing, with one out and a runner at third. It was not a swing. You know how every check swing looks like the hitter went around in slow mo? Well, this one didn’t. Bad call.

I also liked that Bochy pulled Aubrey Huff for defense, putting in Travis Ishikawa. Seems to me that he has left Huff out there a lot, even though Ishikawa is much better than him defensively.

Finally, the decision to pinch-hit for Jonathan Sanchez in the sixth was a good one. If it was May 28 instead of Sept. 28, you can bet he’d have left Sanchez out there. He’d been pitching well (retired 11 of 12) and there were two outs, so the odds of the pinch-hitter getting a hit aren’t great. A couple things make this different, though. Obviously, there is the significance of the game at this time of year. But also there is the fact that the Giants have expanded rosters now, so there’s no need to worry about running out of relievers.

And by the way, thumbs up to Sanchez for getting through six innings. He looked pretty awful in the first three innings, and I thought he had no chance of even seeing the sixth. Sanchez said after the game he just had to stay on top of the ball.

Some other random stuff:

• That’s 20 out of 21 games allowing three runs or fewer.
• Pablo Sandoval said he opened up his stance a little on both sides, which seems to have helped.
• The Padres are in trouble, and not just because of their spot in the standings, but because Mat Latos, the guy who has been their best pitcher all year, has clearly run out of gas. Latos has now had four bad starts in a row, and he’s the guy in line to start the final game of the season in San Francisco.
• The Padres are suddenly in the worst position of the three teams. Looks like maybe red-eye to Atlanta next week after Game 2. I’d actually prefer the Giants start on the road, because that’s easier for me travel-wise. Then the extra travel day (Monday) comes when going West to East. Also means when I leave I’ll know I’m coming home. See, these are the kind of issues that are important when you are a baseball writer.
• The Cubs have certainly done all you could expect as a non-contender. They gave the Giants all they could handle in two of three games last week in Chicago and now they’ve beaten the Padres twice in a row in San Diego. Aside from my personal interest in the Giants making the playoffs (so I can sleep in my own bed a little this October), I want to see the Cubs do well because I’d like to see Mike Quade get the manager job. Quade, who I know from his days as an A’s coach, is one of the really good people in baseball.
• I was so proud of myself for digging up this stat, which I tweeted: Tulowitzki, since 9/3: In the #Rockies 14 wins: .431 (25-58) 15 HRs; In their 10 losses .095 (4-42) 1 HR. Went 0-5 tonight. K to end it.

OK, traffic’s probably gone now.