

(John McDonnell/The Washington Post)

For the final two weeks of September, Steve Balboni watched the Nationals more closely than any evaluator in baseball. The Giants assigned Balboni, the former Royals slugger who is now one of their top advance scouts, to cover the Nationals, to gather detailed information in case the Nationals and Giants met in the first round.

Once they did face off in the NLDS, Balboni’s scouting report helped the Giants win a tight, 3-1 series and knock top-seeded Nationals out of the playoffs. When he studied the Nationals, Balboni mostly saw a team to fear, a team capable of reaching the World Series perch the Giants currently occupy.

“Watching them down the stretch, to me, they were the best team in baseball,” Balboni said. “The depth of their starting pitching and bullpen, their lineup, their bench – they pretty much had it all.”

Even two weeks after the series ended, Balboni still seems baffled that the 88-win Giants were able to topple the Nationals.

“How we beat them, I don’t know,” Balboni said. “These guys, [the Giants] just know how to play in this situation. They play with high energy, high adrenaline and relax at the same time. They perform to their very best. It’s pretty amazing to watch. You look at them during the season, it’s not the same.”

Balboni said the Giants’ pitching staff developed a clear plan for Nationals hitters and executed it to perfection, but the attack came from coaches, not his reports, which contained more specific details about tendencies and how players looked heading into October. He knew that command from San Francisco’s pitchers may decide the series. “If you make a lot of mistakes against Washington,” he said, “it’s a lopsided game.”

While the Giants upped their performance in the playoffs, the Nationals’ lineup slumped. Balboni credited the Giants and pointed the breaks of a short series.

“I don’t think it was that they played bad or anything,” Balboni said. “It’s just kind of the way things go. It’s not always the best team that wins. It’s who plays the best that day or the best that series. But they have a lot to be proud of. They were a good team.”

http://www.washingtonpost.com/posttv/sports/nationals/giants-take-1-0-world-series-lead-over-royals/2014/10/22/a2dd6e56-7659-47a2-a2c7-275deadaee8d_video.html