That’s a retrospectively-applied cliche that is ignored the moment someone hits a good pitcher -- like, say, Cliff Lee, who certainly qualifies as “good pitching” -- but check out what Giants pitchers did to these guys in the playoffs:
- Jason Heyward: 2 for 16, 0 RBI
- Ryan Howard: 7 for 25, 0 RBI
- Chase Utley: 4 for 22, 1 RBI
- Josh Hamilton: 2 for 20, a homer and one RBI
- Vladimir Guerrero: 1 for 14, two RBI
Howard got some hits, but basically, if you could swing a bat, you didn’t do any damage against the Giants in the playoffs. As the winter goes on you’ll hear a lot about whether the Giants should re-sign Aubrey Huff, Juan Uribe and all of their free agent hitters, but the way I see it, they’re gonna be just fine with Lincecum, Cain, Bumgarner and that pen.