26 Sunday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
The Rockies won the first game 5-0 and it seemed their recent success against the G-men was going to continue, but the G-men stormed back to score 13 runs in the next two games to win 6-5 and 7-3 behind pitching by Cain that settled in after a mini-freakout.
23 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
Game 1: Giants 8, Nationals 0
Ryan Vogelsong came out of his slump and got the win, but then had his hand broken when hit by a pitch and will be out 6 – 8 weeks. But it was a good outing til then.
Game 2: Giants 4, Nationals 2
Pablo Sandoval’s walkoff two-run homer in the 10th ended this one. Affeldt got the win.
Game 3:Giants 1, Nationals 2
Affeldt took the loss in the 10th. Bumgarner had a great outing but the Giants couldn’t score enough.
20 Monday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
after stealing
Game 1: Giants 8, Rockies 6
the Giants made numerous errors and endured horrible pitching that made the end of the road trip miserable.
Game 2: Giants 9, Rockies 10
this one was painful as the Giants almost came back but fell short.
Game 3: Giants 2, Rockies 10
a blowout
Game 4: Giants 0, Rockies 5
a shutout.
ugh.
20 Monday May 2013
Posted in features
18 Saturday May 2013
Posted in Commentary
16 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
The Giants traveled to Toronto for two games and upon arrival Bruce Bochy gave Melky Cabrera his World Series ring. Fans discussed whether he “deserved” it or not – which bugged me.
Melky became a new father in June of 2012 while with the Giants, but he knew his baby girl was coming in the winter when, worried about how he was going to raise a child after not batting well the previous year, he signed with San Francisco.
Under personal and professional pressure to perform, Melky Cabrera made the very common and all-too-easy mistake of turning to PED’s. It’s understandable; a shame he chose to hide things from people and to behave badly when discovered, but, still I understand why he did it and I thank him for his contributions to the Giants on the field.
The man was the hottest hitting player in baseball, vigorously helped us win the division and was MVP of an All-Star Game that gave us home field advantage against the Tigers in the World Series. Then he tested positive for PED’s.
I think it unkind to berate, disparage and want to punish him by saying he shouldn’t get a ring when previously fans dressed like milkmen and milkmaids in support of him. It takes a lot more than PED’s to hit the way he did. It takes skills – and Melky has them.
As we say goodbye to Canada I say to the diminishing figure of Melky Cabrera in our rear-view mirror, “Thanks, Melk, sorry we couldn’t have you on the World Series team, but feel proud of your ring, we might not have them without you.”
Meanwhile, his team, the Toronto Blue Jays, with the worst record in all baseball and turf instead of grass, destroyed the Giants, who bumbled like idiots in the field, whiffed at the plate and gave up 21 runs in two games.
The Giants lost 10-6 and 11-3 and neither game was ever close.
Ryan Vogelsong had another terrible outing. We should change the order and return to Cain, Bumgarner, Vogey, Zito, Lincecum. This would also be an alternating right-left-right-left-right order. I think it would help Vogey, who is so strict about habits he eats the same thing everyday before a game.
Everybody wants to put Canada behind us after that ugly couple of days. We had a freshly washed ride after the Braves series and this flock of Blue Jays came along and shat all over it. There was a funny line from a fan: “Yeah, but those were Canadian runs – I’m pretty sure with the exchange rate we split the series.” Ha!
14 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
Tags
AT&T, ATL, atlanta, baseball, braves, Bumgarner, cain, cards, chip, corner, Francisco, giants, kiss, Lincecum, mlb, pagan, park, pence, Posey, recap, San, Sandoval, scutaro, series, sf, shoulder, St.Louis, triple, vogelsong
Save for Ryan Vogelsong’s fifth inning implosion that lost game one of these four with the Atlanta Braves, this series was a smile that became a grin as everything from starting pitching to batting came together.
Starting Pitching
Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Tim Lincecum were all dominant in their performances against the Braves, limiting them to less than a single handful of runs spread across three days and quieting the bats of the Upton family and McCann, Uggla and the Braves’ vaunted rookie Andrelton Simmons.
Only Ryan Vogelsong’s mechanical issues marred what was otherwise an ideal rotation for San Francisco. It might be time to consider changing the order and moving Vogey up to third, so Zito falls between Vogey and Lincecum. I think Vogelsong is suffering for some reason by being in a different position in the order than last year. GBC proposes:
Cain Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Zito, Lincecum
– which alternates lefties as well.
The other starters were golden: Matt Cain found his groove. Bumgarner was typically consistent and had a season-high 11 strikeouts in beating the Braves for the first time in his young career. Tim Lincecum struck out seven and felt he was hitting spots he had been seeking for some weeks, calling it a good start. The team backed him up with three home runs, making the start considerably more comfortable.
Relief Pitching
Because the starters went so deep, the relievers weren’t needed as much in the last three games. But Lopez, Affeldt and Kontos did their jobs well. Romo picked up another save.
Santiago Casilla is needing more rest and it makes sense. I said at the beginning of the year that as a member of the World Baseball Classic Champion Dominicanas, Casilla has played more intense ball than most this spring. We should give him as many days off as possible.
Chad Gaudin could be a problem. He doesn’t look like he has command. Bay City Ball and BASG have commented on this recently as well.
Hitting
wow. multiple home runs including a splash hit on Mother’s Day by Pablo Sandoval, homers by Scutaro, Belt.
Gregor Blanco took over the platoon from Torres amidst game two of the series – starting off as a pinch hitter – and immediately went 2 for 2 and drove in four runs. He was excited to play and ready to go. This platoon reminds me of the one Affeldt and Lopez were in as lefty relievers in 2010 – each pushing the other to perform better.
Against Atlanta, El Tiburon Blanco was 3 for 9 with a double and a triple and he drove in five runs. Torres got rest and some time to calm down, which seems to be an issue when he plays too many games in a row.
Pablo, Pence, Posey and Pagan are all hitting. It looks like it’s straight out of the playbook: leadoff hits, sac flies and bunts to move runners, steals here and there, doubling in runners in scoring position, homers!
Belt is finding his groove. Brandon Crawford cooled a little, but had a double and a couple of rbi’s versus Maholm in Game 3. Marco Scutaro is right back on track. Giants hitting looked GREAT against Atlanta – scored 26 runs over four days!
A turning point series in that we lost out of the gate but then turned it around to win the next three. The team seemed fit and in tune. We now own the second best record in the National League. But the team I have been most afraid of since the beginning of the year, the St. Louis Cardinals, are still better.
The Cards look a lot like us in form and came into our house and took the home opening series. They have a chip on their shoulder: the Triple Kiss that got by poor Pete Kozma.
Right now I am most concerned about our abilities against the Cards, Reds and Nats.
12 Sunday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
Sandoval homer, triples by Blanco and Scutaro and another strong outing for Bumgarner. Chad Gaudin may have been the only issue. I’ve got nothing original to say this time – this mostly a placeholder. I’m watching a lot of NBA. Giants looking good and starting pitching looking better this week.
great game. blow out. 10 runs and Gregor Blanco El Tiburon coming in to pinch hit with the bases loaded and getting 2rbi with a double and then getting another 2rbi later in the game. 2 for 2 with 4 rbi and 9 for 19 with runners in scoring position, Blanco’s side of the platoon with Torres is cool.
10 Friday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
The Giants won 8-2 against the HIGHLY TOUTED Braves in a game that was played exactly the way we wanted to play.
Matt Cain went eight innings and turned in his second straight stellar outing after going winless over his first six starts. Cain also drove in a run on a single
Cain helping himself!!!! woo hoo
laugh in the face laugh in the face giants laugh in the face.
10 Friday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
Mechanics.
Ryan Vogelson struck out seven, but then imploded in the fifth inning giving up two triples to stack more runs onto the home run he had already yielded to McCann.
Everybody’s talking about it, so there’s not much more to add. Relievers added seven strikeouts and defense wasn’t terrible.
I think I might stop doing the daily reports on games and just focus on the series recaps with a few posts in between.
08 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
Tags
baseball, blown, chase, corner, Francisco, giants, hitting, howard, jimmy, mlb, philadelphia, phillies, pitching, recap, rollins, Romo, Ryan, San, save, Sergio, series, sf, utley
The Philadelphia Phillies came into AT&T Park with a chip on their shoulder. They had just endured a a 12-run loss to the lowly Marlins at home and were eager to prove they were a solid pitching, good hitting team capable of beating the World Champs.
They did just that two nights in a row, behind the pitching of Cliff Lee and Kyle Kendrick and the bats of Chase Utley, who worked Tim Lincecum, and Ryan Howard, who also went yard.
The Giants came back in game three and prevented the sweep, but Sergio Romo blew a save preventing Barry Zito from getting a win after a great outing, and the Phillies forced a 10th inning before it was all over. Andres Torres was the hero tonight with a game-ending single with bases loaded to win it 4-3.
Starting Pitching
Pitching is getting better and though the starters were outpitched by their opponents in games one and two, Bumgarner and Lincecum hung in and lasted long. Bumgarner was stuck with three earned runs that the Giants petitioned to have removed (details). Timmy had 6Ks but gave up critical hits and homers to Utley and looked awkward when struck by a comebacker. Barry Zito was excellent and was robbed of a win by Sergio Romo tonight.
Relief
Relievers were struck with injury and bereavement as Jose Mijares had to leave to pay respects for the passing of his grandmother and Affeldt remained in injured reserve. Mijares got tagged in Game Two, his first game back, but it must have been very difficult to be out there after laying his grandmother to rest. He gave up a homer and two more hits, but managed two strikeouts and just one walk.
Sergio Romo got jacked and blew a save. Romo allowed Jimmy Rollins’ leadoff double, an RBI single to Chase Utley and Delmon Young’s tying sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth.
Hitting
Oh whither did you go lumber and crack? The bats fell asleep all week as the Giants managed only 7 runs. Hunter Pence was effective throughout and Posey, Scutaro and Torres came through in the clutch in game three.
Not much else to report: Phillies beat us good twice and we took back the last one.
08 Wednesday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
Tags
50saves, AT&T, baseball, blown, corner, giants, goal, mlb, park, philadelphia, Romo, said, Sergio, sf, win
Giants Beat Philly, Avoid Sweep, but this was a ‘blown save’ – words Jon Miller never uses.
The Giants beat the Phillies in the bottom of the 10th on a game-ending line drive by Andres Torres, to make the final score 4- 3, but the story of this one has to be the blown save. Giants were up 3-1 in the top of the tenth when Romo came in for the save and yielded the tying runs that sent it to extra innings.
Romo allowed Jimmy Rollins’ leadoff double, an RBI single to Chase Utley and Delmon Young’s tying sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth. Those are tough batters to face – Rollins was a guy I wanted the Giants to get before I began believing in Brandon Crawford. I argued for it on twitter some time back.
Zito was great, His first pitch was a strike and he never looked back, He saw the box well and had great command. He pitched 7 innings and gave up just one run – a solo homer. It was a shame he couldn’t pick up the win.
Also, the Barry Zito hits keep comin! This time it was an RBI single in the 6th. Hunter Pence continues to impress at the plate, great again against his former team. Blanco was frustrated, Torres came off the bench to get the winning hit. Sandoval and Scutaro damaged the Phils with situational hits.
Bruce Bochy is throwing a crazy number of combinations out every night now. I used to find it maddening, but this is what Bochy does well. The losses are immaterial early in the season and he uses them to tweak the hell out of lineups and to see what players can do.
I approve.
Giants Win 4 – 3.
07 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in midgame posts
07 Tuesday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
Tags
AT&T, baseball, Cliff, Francisco, giants, hunter, Lee, mlb, park, pence, philadelphia, phillies, San, sf
I didn’t watch or listen to much of this one because it was on at the same time as the Warriors vs. Spurs Game One of NBA Playoffs second round.
Cliff Lee was workmanlike and manhandled our line up – except for Hunter Pence, who had a homer, double and a single and scored the Giants’ only two runs.
Was pleased to see Hunter Pence getting hits – it’s important to have at least one guy who can reliably rattle the cage of a pitcher who is successful against us. We need a guy like that versus Kershaw, Latos, others.
Bumgarner pitched well and left with three too many earned runs. If you didn’t see it or haven’t heard, there was an early-season Marco Scutaro brain-seize-type error that was recorded by the scorer as a hit. The Giants have petitioned to have it scored an error which would remove the runs from MadBum’s ERA.
From what I understand, Scutaro scooped up a potential double-play ball, thought about flipping it to Brandon Crawford for one, then, before he could change his mind and throw out the runner at first, dropped the ball to the infield, so everybody was safe. That’s an error, not a single.
Well, I’ll have more next time.
Go Giants!
06 Monday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
That was a great way to close out the Dodger series. I do think it’s important to remember it wasn’t that long ago the mojo was all with LA. Long time fans of the Giants know how frustrating it was. But now, and I say it with pride …
SF MOJO RISING.
This series, at home, more than any, gave me the feeling we’re champs and can stay champs. The Dodgers suck, but we were forced to play long and tight and to beat their ‘pen, and we did it clean and neat.
The comeback that ended in Quiroz’s walk-off was emblematic of our team philosophy. Marty said, “Like 2010, every night a hero,” and it was never more true.
Pitching
Matt Cain finally got a win for the starters and his first of the year. Zito went toe-to-toe with Kershaw. Ryan Vogelsong got jacked for 7 earned runs, but the team battled like mad to win and the bullpen held it down in relief.
Relief
relievers saved the day. Santiago Casilla was HUGE in Saturday’s double come-from-behind win. Our bullpen got the job done. I love Machi, who has stepped in and up.
Hitting
Who’d a thunk it? The Giants bats are HOT. Pablo, Pence, Posey, Blanco, Torres – the hit parade continues.
The Dodgers Series had a tight defensive matchup ending in walk-off, and a back-and-forth contest that ended in an extra inning walk-off, and finally The Big Horse, Matt Cain holding it down.
Let’s go Giants! Eat Up Philly!
04 Saturday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
04 Saturday May 2013
Posted in Post Game Blasts
Tags
angeles, AT&T, baseball, belisario, Buster, corner, dodgers, ever, first, Francisco, giants, home, hr, LA, los, mlb, MVP, Posey, ronald, run, San, sf, walkoff
Wow.
There were a lot of people calling for it on twitter, asking Buster to hit the walkoff homer like it’s just that easy. The trend is to do it so you can retweet later that you “called it” … which is idiotic. I think maybe we called for ’em just as often in the past – I begged Renteria to hit ’em – but now our boys are coming through when it counts way more often.
Clutch-Fu Panda, Beltdemption and Hustle Pence were joined in the season’s late-inning heroics last night by Buster Posey, who hit a solo home run to win the game 2-1 over the Dodgers. Though its only May, that may have been Buster’s signature Dodger moment thus far in his early career.
It was a classic outing for Clayton Kershaw, pitching for the first time since the passing of his father. The Dodgers’ lefty ace held serve for 7 innings until Buster doubled in Marco Scutaro to tie the game 1-1, but it was Ronald Belisario, the Dodger reliever, who lost it to Buster on a 3-2 pitch, the sixth pitch of the bottom of the ninth.
Posey connected for his first career game-winning RBI of any kind off of Belisario (2-3), who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous four appearances over six innings.
great win.
02 Thursday May 2013
Posted in Series Recaps
Tags
action, baseball, corner, diamondbacks, diego, Francisco, giants, mlb, San, series, snakes, sweep, woo
After opening on the road with a less than stellar performance in San Diego that resulted in a sweep of the Giants by the lowly Pads, Giants fans were eager for big wins in Phoenix to wrap up the road trip.
The Giants did not disappoint, with come-from-behind wins on the strength of clutch hitting, good pitching from Madison Bumgarner and decent outings for Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum.
The Giants found their stroke, and hit homers to win it. Hunter Pence, Brandon Belt, Pablo Sandoval and Angel Pagan all went long to ensure victory.
The trip to Arizona was a series of retribution. The snakes stole two out of three in late and extra innings at AT&T last month, so it was great to sweep them in their park. The Diamondbacks play a very similar game to ours. The two series with them reveal a tough match up. We will be fighting Arizona for the division, mark my words.
But right now it’s time for our nemesis, the Dodgers. Go Giants. Beat L.A.
mtk
