San Francisco Giants fans may be depressed after the St. Louis Cardinals won Game 1 of the National League Championship Series on Sunday, but they do not have long to dwell on one loss.
Although taking Game 1 of any series is important, the Giants are not done. Let's take a look at the last few League Championship Series from years past. Here are some breakdowns according to Baseball-Reference.com.
•2011 NLCS, St. Louis Cardinals vs. Milwaukee Brewers: After losing Game 1 to the Brewers 9-6, the Cardinals won the next three-out-of-four to take that series in six games.
•2010 ALCS, New York Yankees vs. Texas Rangers: The Yankees defeated the Rangers 6-5 in Texas to start the series, but the Rangers went on to win three-in-a-row, two of them in New York. Texas eventually won the series in six games and took on the Giants in the World Series.
•2006 NLCS, St. Louis Cardinals vs. New York Mets: The Mets shutout St. Louis 2-0 in Game 1 in New York, but the Cardinals battled back to force a Game 7. St. Louis won that winner-take-all game 3-1.
What did the above series have in common? All three teams who lost the first game of a League Championship Series came back and won the second game.
The Giants had to make National League history by winning three straight in Cincinnati to take the best-of-five National League Division Series. No National League team has ever won a division series after falling behind 2-0.
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The Giants may have come back from a 2-0 series deficit in the 2012 NLDS, but it is not something they want to get in the habit of doing.
"We can't get ourselves behind the 8-ball," pitcher Ryan Vogelsong, who will start Game 2 of the NLCS, told Comcast Sportsnet. "It was tremendous that we did it once. I think it would be asking a lot for us to do it again."
Momentum can shift in a playoff series fast--from game-to-game or pitch-to-pitch. Falling behind one game in a playoff series can be negated by winning the next day.
The Giants will try to bounce back Monday night in Game 2 at AT&T Park before heading to St. Louis for Game 3 on Wednesday.
Follow Vince Cestone @vintalkingiants and check out his blog at Talking Giants Baseball
