Category Archives: PreGame GBCs

Beat LA and Seize The Division

30 Friday Sep 2016

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The second half has been very much like a root canal but at last, the playoffs are around the corner and the Giants have just a little more work to do to ensure we’re once again in the postseason in an even year this decade.

All Giants fans are of course confident that if we just get in we can go on an epic tear with our postseason roster, as we have done in each of the last even years this decade.

That confidence resides within all of us but was best phrased in all caps by Grant Brisbee in 2012 before the World Series vs. the Tigers. (You can’t spell Brisbee without S-E-E-R).

But today and this weekend the pathway is clear:

Beat LA and Seize The Division.

It is a pleasure to beat the nemesis, but certainly it means the most when there’s the postseason on the line and we handle business. I really hope we show some force this weekend and seize the wild card – a sweep would be sweet.

I still believe we can do this despite not having a closer, or even a bullpen I trust. Because I believe we do have Champions Blood. When the chips are down, we got as good a chance as anyone.

If we end up playing the Mets, as I think is likely now, I am starting to wonder whether we should start Cueto rather than Bumgarner … which seems crazy to type, but there it is.

Samardzija out of the ‘pen might be a thing we see this weekend and in the postseason, which also seems crazy.

But we gotta win one at a time, so for right tonight, I am dressed. Let’s get it on!

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Beat LA

Seize The Division

Let’s Go Giants!

 

Love,

 

MTK

 

That Nagging Half Game

07 Monday Jul 2014

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Hey everybody. Well it’s been a month since I could blog …

sigh.

I mean what a shitty month. of June. The last words I wrote, June 5th were:

“The Giants look really good. The road trip was 4-2 and we return now for a ten game home stand. Looking forward to thrashing the Mets this week.”

and we did. We swept the Mets (remember that?). Except immediately thereafter we went into

f

r

e

e

f

a

l

l

 

and are now a half game back of the Dodgers.

(sigh)

No wait.

the Dodgers are off so we can make it up tonight!

only …

we have to beat the A’s.

who just made their trade of the year and are smoking hot with the second best record in all of baseball.

All I want is that nagging half game erased.  I don’t mind being tied with the Dodgers temporarily, but I don’t want to be a halfgame back.

Vogey, please make it happen. #RallyVogey #rallyenchiladas

MrQC

(UPDATE: we lost. But it wasn’t Vogey’s fault. silent bats. Opponent’s the hottest team in baseball)

 

The Battle for First Begins a Mile High

20 Tuesday May 2014

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After beating the Marlins 4-1 Sunday the Giants flew directly to Denver and checked into their hotels so as to enjoy as much of their day off yesterday as possible. Ryan Vogelsong’s strong outing made the home stand a winning one and kept the Giants three ahead of Colorado in the NL West standings. The rest was much needed.

The Giants are ready to get back to baseball tonight against the red hot Rockies who boast three of the top five best hitters for average in Justin Morneau, Charlie Blackmon and Troy Tulowitski. Tulo leads the league in average (.393) and Home Runs (13) and is third in RBIs.

Tulowitski’s line is staggering: .494 OBS/.764 SLG/1.259 OPS and he leads in every category by a wide margin including Wins Against Replacement. His 4.5 (WAR) is way beyond. The Denver Post has a nice article about Tulo today.

The Rockies have tasted first place in the NL West already this year and could tie for the lead with a sweep. They’ve been blasting the ball and have hit 62 homers as a team. They beat the Giants in Colorado on April 22 of this year on the strength of five homers and they smashed five in Cincy on the 10th to beat the Reds.

The Rockies clubhouse was struck by a viral infection which sent Catcher Wilin Rosario to the DL, but he has been reactivated from the injury list.

Madison Bumgarner pitches for the Giants tonight, followed by Matt Cain tomorrow night. Tim Hudson will likely be returning to the starting lineup for Thursday’s day game. Hudson missed his last start and was sent to the DL to rest a sore right hip, but has been throwing on flat ground since Saturday and will throw bullpen today.

Angel Pagan is listed day-to-day for the series because of his left shoulder, which he sprained diving for a ball in the last Marlins game.

Pablo Sandoval has begun hitting, stepping up in the absence of Brandon Belt. His solo homer yesterday was nice to see. His nine game hitting streak could include more long balls in the altitude of Coors Field. Let’s hope so.

Go Giants!

Dueling Aces Rubber Match in Scorching Heat; Giants vs. Braves at AT&T Park

14 Wednesday May 2014

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In some ways the Atlanta Braves mirror the Giants – great pitching, good defense and “just enough runs” come to mind. Looking at Andrelton Simmons and Crawford side-by-side does, too. Or how about the pitching staff … for example in today’s game when it’ll be Bumgarner versus Teheran – dominant big pitchers.

So when the Giants went into Atlanta and swept the Braves last week, it wasn’t so much a surprise as the first move in a chess match that could easily end in the National League Championship series playing for the pennant.

In the first game of this week’s series at AT&T Park on Monday, Tim Lincecum turned back the clock and turned in a glittering performance: the FreaKKKKKKKKKKK – yup that’s 11 strikeouts.

Timmy was backed up by an equally exciting performance at the plate – by Tyler Colvin – who smashed a splash hit into McCovey Cove in his first at-bat as a Giant. Colvin followed that stellar drive with a bases-clearing triple that drove in three and gave the Giants a 4-1 lead. Wow, what a debut!

Romo got the save, but not before giving up another run to the Braves. In fact Romo’s been pretty shaky the last couple of outings – including giving up a game-tying HR for a blown save in LA.

Hey Romo, Maybe worry less about your new shoes and more about keeping your eyes on the prize: 50 saves … you said that was your goal two years ago, Sergio. Make it happen, cap’n.

Then of course, the Giants went to sleep in game two, and couldn’t plate a single run for Ryan Vogelsong. The Braves’ powerful lefty Mike Minor mowed down the staff and earned Atlanta’s first win over the Giants this year.

Vogey fell to (1-2), despite a decent five innings. It all fell apart in the 6th. The critical error in this one was that Buster Posey missed a tag at the plate, that he should have easily made. The 6th inning unraveled after the play and the game was lost.

It’s going to be over 90 degrees at the park today as the two aces take the mound. Julio Teheran has only been beaten once since April – but that was by the Giants – and Madison Bumgarner seems to have righted his course and is back to his winning ways. Will the warm weather knock one or both of these guys out? Or will it be a lock-down nail biter?

Stay tuned – it’s Giants and Braves at battle once again.

 

Yusmeiro Petit to Start vs. Pirates in Gm1

05 Monday May 2014

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Today the Giants have landed in Pittsburgh, PA. Yesterday, the team announced they are giving the Big Horse, SP Matt Cain, an extra start off to allow the small cut on his finger to completely heal and that today in his place against the Pirates Yusmeiro Petit will get the start.

The Giants website mistakenly had Jake Austin Dunning, starting. So there was some confusion. But @hankschulman and @knbrmurph both confirmed this a.m. that it will in fact be Petit.

Yusmeiro Petit’s been killing it and it’s good to go with the guy who’s hot right now and to let Cain’s finger fully mend. Schulman’s piece is crisp and clarifying on all that has gone on.

Since the team put Cain on the DL, they had space for Dunning, a tall (6’4″), 26-year-old, right hander who pitched twice for the Giants last year. He was 0-2, but had 2.84 ERA. So Jake Dunning has been called up for long relief, for example in the instance of a Lincecum or Vogey implosion.

Dunning will not be facing Jeff Locke, who in a weird twist of fate, is in fact, making his season debut after coming off of injury. He is 11-13 as a Brave and left rookie status in 2012.

Raise the Jolly Roger says this about him

“We all know about Locke’s up and down season last year, which pretty much made him an afterthought coming into this year. Now, the way the pitching has looked, he has a chance to step up and give the staff a boost. He was off to a pretty shaky start in the minors, so my confidence isn’t all that high, but even if the Bucs can get lightning in a bottle for a few games, that would be huge.”

Which makes me feel like we are going to light this 23-year-old young man up!

Here’s your lineup:

  1. Pagan CF
  2. Pence RF
  3. Posey 1B
  4. Morse LF
  5. Sanchez C
  6. Sandoval 3B
  7. Hicks 2B
  8. Crawford SS
  9. Petit P

I like this one a LOT, especially against a young guy, just back from injury, like Locke.

I expect the Giants to score a lot of runs in this one. Pablo should be able to jump on this kid and hopefully snap the slump.

Giants Seek First Series Sweep in Atlanta Since 1988

04 Sunday May 2014

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In Game Two, the Giants held the Braves to just one run on the strength of pitching under pressure by Ryan Vogelsong, home runs by Michael Morse, Brandon Belt and Buster Posey and good defense – in particular once again by Brandon Crawford – who made a 270 degree spin and threw out his counterpart Andrelton Simmons to end the game. Giants win 3-1.

Vogelsong had a good game. Vogey went six innings and had as many strikeouts. He was stable and pitched particularly well under pressure. He gave up five hits, four walks and a run. He looked in command, much like the Vogelsong of old – I hope he has turned the corner.

Brandon Belt has now homered in every single baseball park he has played in this year. Michael Morse continues to impress. The three homers were against the Braves’ ace Julio Teheran – a good sign. But once again the runs were all solo shots. So the five runs in two games that have won this series have all come from homers with no one on base.

Today Madison Bumgarner takes the mound in the state he was born and raised in, where he grew up cheering the Braves. He will likely have a lot of friends and family in the stands. Good. Because Madison has not been pitching well. He looked utterly befuddled in his last start and was touched up for it. He has lost three straight starts.

Bumgarner faces Alex Wood, whose 2.93 ERA helps the Braves have the lowest team ERA in the league, but he has endured four straight losses. One of these guys should break that streak today.

Here’s your Giants lineup for today’s game:

  1. Pagan CF
  2. Pence RF
  3. Posey C
  4. Morse LF
  5. Belt 1B
  6. Sandoval 3B
  7. Hicks 2B
  8. Crawford SS
  9. Bumgarner P

Tension! The Giants vs. Braves in Atlanta

03 Saturday May 2014

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Game one of this series was a doozy. A great pitching duel with crisp defense and good baseball all around. National League Ball. Again here’s the diagnosis I came up with last year of the Giants’ basic strategy:

1. Starting Pitching Hangs in There, ‘Pen Holds

2. Score Just Enough Runs

3. Play Crisp Defense

4. Take Advantage of Opponents Mistakes

and yesterday, it worked.

Tim Lincecum found himself starting the Braves Series in Atlanta facing the strong lefty Mike Minor, who was making his season debut after enduring several weeks off from baseball due to a urinary tract procedure.

Minor was cleared to play and given a minor league start to ensure he was all right. But in that start he gave up four home runs. Though Braves staff felt he looked good in general, it was a concern. Angel Pagan made sure they stayed concerned, by smashing a homer off him in the lead off at-bat of Game one, Giants up 1-0.

Minor was quick to settle down and rarely gave the Giants opportunities, though when they got them, the G-men continued to fail to plate runners in scoring position. This game would be decided by homers once again – a recurring theme in Giants’ wins this season (credit due to Morse, Belt, Pagan and Posey).

Tim Lincecum hung in there and showed command. He kept the ball down and looked like he was putting it where he wanted it. In the third he threw a pitch down and out and it was popped up into center field. Immediately after the ball hit the bat, Timmy pointed up and looked down, confident the ball wasn’t leaving the park. It showed an increasing confidence in his command.

Tim pitched his way out of jams twice and went six innings, giving up just one run off six hits. He had only four strikeouts, instead relying on his command to generate ground outs and popups. This was what we have been looking for from Lincecum: to turn to other options than a strikeout fastball, to work out the hitter and force him into a 3rd strike mistake like a weakly hit ball.

After Pagan’s homer, Michael Morse added a solo shot to give the Giants the 2-1 lead they would never relinquish, but it was a tense affair.

The Braves stranded 12 runners and were 1 for 9 with RISP. Timmy’s pitching at key moments wasn’t the only reason why. Brandon Crawford provided the crisp defense in this one. He made several good plays and one monstrous one that saved an inning. Crawford slapped down a hard driven liner and picked it up and fired it to first to end an inning and in another made a leaping throw to get the runner. Then there was this gem in the 9th:

BCraw Does It Again

Way to go BCraw!

Jeremy Affeldt entered in the 7th and was good again, getting two quick outs, but giving up a hit. Santiago Casilla came in and slowly, his way, picked up the third out and manhandled the 8th inning.

Sergio Romo struggled at the very end of this one again, giving up a walk and a steal. But as Marty said, “He was working.” With two-out and one on in scoring position, and the score 2-1, Giants, Sergio Romo battled with the Braves best hitter Justin Upton.

On a 3-2 count and after several foul balls, Romo froze Upton with a fastball to win it. Dave Flemming made an awesome call, “strike three called on a fastball in-there! and … shades of Miguel Cabrera in the World Series …”

It was a great pitching duel, with only the two home runs given up by the just-returned Mike Minor being the difference.

Brian Sabean looks like a genius right now for picking up Hudson and Morse in the off season. This week they looked AWESOME.

Game Two later today will be considerably tougher for the Giants as they face the Braves’ ace, Julio Teheran (2-1) – a big, hard-throwing right hander who has 26 strikeouts in the young season and boasts a 1.47 ERA.

Pitching for the Giants today, it’s the up-and-down Ryan Vogelsong. It’s very difficult to tell which Vogey we’re going to get nowadays. When he feels steady and gets support he can go six innings, but when he implodes he does so badly. Hopefully Yusmeiro Petit will be available if necessary, but I hate thinking like that.

These games are my favorite kind of baseball – National League pitching duels requiring alculated management, situational hitting and crisp defense. Looking forward to another good one. #RallyEnchiladas #RallyVogey #BeatATL

Go Giants!

 

State of the Giants at the End of April; Huddy Takes on Pads in Rubber Match

30 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Yesterday Matt Cain was scratched from the lineup because he cut his finger trying  to catch a kitchen knife he’d dropped, on a day when Brandon Belt was off for rest – which gave Giants fans pause for concern; an emergency start without Posey behind the plate nor Belt at first.

But Yusmeiro Petit came in well-rested off the bench and had a great start. The Giants bats woke up and the Giants shutout the Padres 6-0, to even the series. The system responded very effectively to what will be a one-start absence by the big horse and gives confidence in at least one SP from the bench for an emergency start or a horrible outing (such as Petit’s last performance recovering for Vogey).

Petit held the Padres to three hits over six innings and struck out four. Jean Machi held them scoreless for two more and Sergio Romo kept them blanked to get his eighth save. Home runs by Buster Posey and Angel Pagan – who lead the team in RBIs – and clutch hitting in the form of a 3RBI single by Hector Sanchez, provided the runs.

Giants ace Tim Hudson goes tonight versus the Padres lefty Robbie Erlin and the batting lineup is absent Angel Pagan and Pablo Sandoval.

1. Juan Perez (R) CF
2. Hunter Pence (R) RF
3. Buster Posey (R) C
4. Michael Morse (R) LF
5. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
6. Brandon Hicks (R) 2B
7. Brandon Crawford (L) SS
8. Joaquin Arias (R) 3B
9. Tim Hudson (R) P

 

If Huddy can get the win it will be the NL West leading Giants’ sixth win in seven games, and second series win in a row including the sweep of the Indians.

The only blemish was the 4-6 loss to the Padres on Sunday when Madison Bumgarner looked completely out of sorts and was touched up for it. The bats just couldn’t get going.

The Giants lead the division by half a game and have shared it equally with the Dodgers. They often look good but an honest look at them at the end of April reveals:

Some problems:

* Belt, Posey and Pence are still only hitting around .250

* Pablo Sandoval continues to languish at the plate (.177). Worse, his distracted play in the field resulted in Sandoval having more errors (4) than homers(2) or even RBIs (3) until very recently. (Now 6RBIs)

* Timely hitting appears for the Giants in a game with steals, bunts and sacs moving guys over but then it disappears entirely for several games. The situational hitting lacks consistency and no single order seems to be better than any other.

On the bright side:

* Hector Sanchez is playing better

* Michael Morse has been very good at the plate and decent in the field – platooning him in and out works well late in games, too.

* The defense, particularly the infield, has been much more crisp. Brandon Hicks has been a welcome surprise at replacing Marco Scutaro, whom it seems may never make it back to the lineup: the back problems just aren’t getting better from what I hear. But the Brandons are playing better together weekly. Arias will need to play some 3B to spell Sandoval and that gives Hicks more playing time, and right now it’s working out well.

The Giants just barely lead the Rockies and Dodgers in what is turning out to be a pretty good NL West division. It was great to sweep the Indians and get crucial Inter-league wins. But the Giants need to get wins against the Pads and D-backs consistently to set the pace against the Dodgers or even the Rockies.

Padres quality bullpen and good hitting will put them in the spoiler role against all three top teams. It isn’t just Tim Lincecum’s nemesis Paul Goldschmidt that puts D-Backs sweeps in jeopardy. The Giants haven’t produced runs against Arizona consistently and have had lapses in defense that cost them close games. Close games, games against weaker teams and Inter-league series are all going to be “50/50 games” for the Dodgers, Giants and Rockies in pursuit of the Division lead.

Whoever plays smart, crisp baseball and hustles the most will take the division – and the SF Giants have an excellent shot at being that team.

 

PreGame GBC – Rubber Match with Snakes feat. Kraig Debro

24 Wednesday Apr 2013

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Local TV personality Kraig Debro dropped in this morning with his supercool new camera mount. We shot today’s pregame GBC using iVideoStick, check it out:

nice to see Kraig – he’s my kind of Giant fan. Check out his cool camera mount/stabilizer … at iVideoStick.com.

Let’s Go Giants! Rough Up Kennedy! Beat The Snakes!

Cardinals Back Against Our Wall

06 Saturday Apr 2013

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The National League Championship Series last year was between the winners of the two previous World Series and both teams relied heavily on defense – and in particular, pitching. Relief pitching. Specialist pitching. Pitching.

When Barry Zito broke the spirit of the Cards with the Giants backs against their wall, and then subsequently The Triple Kiss, Hunter Pence’s broken bat double that escaped Pete Kozma, buried them, a viper found solace in their bosom. The St. Louis Cardinals tears were lost in rain. This is a team that really wants to beat us

In the offseason, Adam Wainwright signed a deal like what we gave Matt Cain in 2011, guaranteeing he’ll retire a Card. He’s their Big Horse. The Cards have been on the road to start the season and lost a 16 inning outing Sunday in Arizona to go under .500. So the Giants are facing the St, Louis Cardinals’ ace with their back against the wall to return home for their opener even.

Matt Cain was saved the enduring embarrassment of a loss because the Giants can’t provide him run support for the umpteenth time in six  years, because George Kontos took the loss on the freak swing by Kershaw. That said, Matt Cain needs a Home Win, Dammit.

The rubber match should be a very good one, and I expect this one to have more runs. Cain will scatter 4 runs across 7 innings, so WE HAVE TO TAG WAINWRIGHT. Giants 9 – 4 is what I want to see. Cain goes 1 – 0.

Brandon Belt, we need some offense.

Go Giants. Go Matty.

#BeatSTL