Tag Archives: baseball

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.

 

The Old Vogey and The New Brandon: Giants Win 4-1

28 Monday Apr 2014

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The Giants won this one on the strength of Ryan Vogelsong’s arm – much needed. Vogelsong threw a shutout through seven, his longest start of the season. He gave up only  two hits, both to Michael Bourn, and he walked two and struck out six. It was a dominant quality start.

Pablo Sandoval’s bat woke up and he got on board twice with base hits, but the day belonged to Brandon Hicks who hit a three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning to give the  Giants a 4-1 victory over the Cleveland Indians, completing a three-game sweep.

The first interleague series was a good one for the Giants who produced runs when necessary and pitched and played defense to suit their park.

Just enough runs.

The bats worked.

The Dodgers lost in Colorado 6-1, so the Giants now have a full game lead over the division.

 

Giants Score 4 Runs in 5th Inning, Beat Indians 5-3

27 Sunday Apr 2014

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Tim Lincecum struggled from the beginning of this one, giving up 9 hits and 3 runs in 4 and 2/3 and leaving the bases juiced with two outs for Juan Gutierrez, who struck out one batter and left the game.

The Giants put together a four run 5th after and the bullpen secured the victory. Jean Machi, Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo all did their jobs, so Gutierrez got the win, though he pitched only one third of an inning, the 4th. Romo collected his 6th save.

The four-run 5th was the result of timely hits and a sacrifice as the Giants moved runners along. Gregor Blanco singled, scoring Michael Morse. A sacrifice fly by Angel Pagan scored Brandon Crawford and advanced Brandon Hicks and Blanco. Then Hunter Pence drove Blanco and Hicks in with a shallow single. Just like that the Giants who were down 3-0 with the bases loaded full of Indians, found themselves up 4-3.

Buster Posey tacked on a solo home run in the 6th inning to make it 5-3.

 

 

 

Giants Beat Indians 5-1, First Interleague Game Win of 2014

26 Saturday Apr 2014

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I didn’t see this game, but I’m trying to make at least a placeholder on the blog for every Giants game this season.

From the papers I gather that Angel Pagan had a great game at the plate and running the base paths, with two singles, a steal and two runs scored.

Tim Hudson continues his steady, consistent pitching for the Giants. He went 7+ and allowed only one run. Huddy is averaging 5Ks a game!

The Giants won in their first Interleague game, 5-1, and the Dodgers lost in 11 last night so we are back in first place by half a game.

Go Giants!

[the comment below is the comment below]

mtk

I happened to be at the game last night. The buzz where I was sitting centered around the Mike Morse homer in the 421 area of the park. A big blast! Hudson’s steady pitching–I believe he had a 5 pitch, 3 up, 3 down inning. Very cool to watch. Last but not least, Pablo legging out a triple with a thunderous belly flop into third base and no throw from the defense.

The Kuiper home run video, bobble head and interviews were fun too. Check out the Kuiper video —csnbayarea.com. Cheers

Andre Reynier

Bochy Ejected, Sanchez GS, as Giants Outlast Rockies, 12-10 in 11 Innings

23 Wednesday Apr 2014

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Giants 12, Colorado 10 at Coors Field

The wind and altitude collaborated to help the ball out of the yard at Coors Field, but most of the nine homers in this one were towers of power that traveled 420+ feet. Troy Tulowitzki started it with a two-run blast in the first. Michael Morse answered with a 455′ solo shot in the top of the second.

The day turned into a Home Run Derby between the Rockies and Giants. In total nine balls left the yard. In a burst of offense that’s been missing for days, the G-men hit six of them.

Giants LF Michael Morse smashed two, for his 7th multi-home-run game. Later, Hector Sanchez would join that club for the first time in his career in dramatic fashion. Sanchez went yard twice late in the game, both times to give the Giants the lead, the second time, a grand slam in the 11th to put the Giants ahead for good. It was a clutch performance by Hector who has been ridden by fans, broadcasters and some press recently; made the whipping boy and scapegoat for losses. Redemption.

This was a wild one.

The Giants fell behind early to the long ball, 5-1, and then fought back with homers of their own. Brandon Hicks’ solo big fly in the top of the 3rd made it 5-2 Rockies. Then Pence and Cain both singled and Morse’s second homer in as many at-bats, a deep shot 450′ to center, brought them home to tie it 5-5. ESPN and Alex Pavlovic have it that Morse is “just the third player since 2006 to hit multiple 450-foot homers in one game.”

The Giants were looking for more when Manager Bruce Bochy was ejected from the game in the top of the 4th for arguing a called third strike that resulted in a strike ’em out, throw ’em out inning-ending double play. With one out and Brandon Crawford on, Brandon Hicks had a full count and Rockies SP Tyler Chatwood looked shaky.

The call was very questionable. From Crawford’s view, running, having taken off from first, Chatwood’s 3-2 pitch to Hicks was so clearly a ball  that he slowed up on the base path thinking Hicks had drawn the walk. By the time he realized it was a called strike, catcher Wilin Rosario was up making the throw. Crawford was easily out at second. Hicks confronted the ump angrily. Bochy raced out to argue to prevent the enraged Brandon Hicks from being ejected, and was ejected himself.

Blackmon homered in the bottom of the 4th and the Giants fell behind 6-5, but Matt Cain found a groove. Throwing 93mph darts, Cain held serve in the 5th and 6th. He looked in control.

With Hunter Pence on in the top of the seventh by virtue of a walk, Brandon Belt launched his league-leading 7th home run into the Colorado evening and gave Cain and the San Francisco Giants the lead 7-6.

Acting Manager Ron Wotus then did his best Bruce Bochy imitation and loyally left Cain in for the bottom of the 7th. The bullpen was fully rested having not worked at all the night before (Bumgarner CG), yet Wotus left Cain in. While it was true, Cain had looked strong in the  previous two innings, they had been long innings and his pitch count was high. Leaving Cain in destroyed poor Matt’s chance to leave the game leading, in line to get his first win of the season.

In the bottom of the 7th with the one run lead, Cain gave up a walk, a steal, a liner that tied the game 7-7, and another walk, before being pulled for Jeremy Affeldt; another no decision for Matt Cain, but this time with seven runs on the board. It just slipped away.

It must be said, Affeldt was very good again. Affeldt’s first start Sunday against the Padres was excellent – three up, three down – and today in Colorado his command was evident. Jeremy looks better than he has in a long time. Stable, secure, strong.

The Giants once again grabbed the lead with the long ball, going up 8-7 on Hector Sanchez’s first homer, a solo shot in the 8th, only to see the Rockies tie it up 8-8 because of a balk.

Balkin’ Bob Davidson was the ump at 3rd in the 8th. He called Santiago Casilla for a balk when, twice in a row, Casilla made the same small move with LeMahieu on 2nd. The balk sent DJ LeMahieu to third with one out from where he scored on a Charlie Blackmon ground out against Casilla. It was an acceptable balk call. Casilla was doing some kind of shoulder shimmy thing. But it cost us the lead.

The contest was slow, long and nerve-wracking as neither team could put the other away. But the Giants ‘pen handled the extra frames well. Jeremy Affeldt, Javier Lopez and Jean Machi kept the Rockies off the board in the 7th, 9th and 10th.

Even after Sanchez’s grand slam, which made it 12 – 8, victory was unsure. Sergio Romo gave up a single to Tulowitzki and a two-run homer to Justin Morneau in the bottom half of the 11th frame and subsequently let Drew Stubbs single making it 12 – 10 with the tying run at the plate. Romo managed to force a ground out and a game-ending double play to get the Giants out of Colorado with at least one win.

Hunter Pence was 3 for 4 and crossed the plate three times. Matt Cain singled twice and scored a run, helping his own cause, but he wouldn’t get the win. That would land in the hands of the Giants’ fourth reliever, Jean Machi, who is now 4-0 and leads the majors in victories.

 

Series Recap: The Cardinals Have “Figured Out” Matt Cain

02 Sunday Jun 2013

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Crazy double header in which the Cards scored an obscene number of runs off Matt Cain for the second time in a row in, specifically, the third inning – representing some adjustment they are making to a habit he has that allows them to shell him for hits the second time through the order. Ouch.

That said, in the final game of the series the Giants got back to basics, played crisp defense and got a GREAT start from Chad Gaudin. This win was important for many reasons, maybe later I’ll get into some of those but it was:

Cardinals 15, Giants 1 in the doubleheader as they won 8-0 and 7-1.

Giants 4, Cardinals 2 – Chad Gaudin gets the win in his first start of 2013.

Series Recap – Giants Shat On by Blue Jays (0-2)

16 Thursday May 2013

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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!

Series Recap: Turning Point for Giants Starting Pitchers (3-1)

14 Tuesday May 2013

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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.

BIG WIN! Giants Handle Braves

10 Friday May 2013

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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.

Vogelsong Implodes in 5th, Braves Take Game One

10 Friday May 2013

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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.

Series Recap: Phillies Take Two, Giants Fight Back (1-2)

08 Wednesday May 2013

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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.

Giants Beat Philly 4-3 in 10th After Romo Blows Save

08 Wednesday May 2013

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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.

Lee Continues Reg Season Giants Ownage, Phils Win 6-2

07 Tuesday May 2013

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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!

Home Sweep of the Hapless Nemesis (3-0)

06 Monday May 2013

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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!

Buster Posey’s First Walkoff Home Run Smacks the Nemesis

04 Saturday May 2013

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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.

Series Recap: Snakes Swept! (3-0)

02 Thursday May 2013

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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

Giants Come Back on the Snakes in the 8th

29 Monday Apr 2013

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The Giants five game losing streak ended with Matt Cain on the mound in Arizona, but sadly, The Big Horse got tagged for three home runs and gave up four runs and so has yet to earn his first win of the season.

Nick Noonan continues to show poise and ability at the plate. He pinch-hit lead off in the 8th and got aboard before two walks loaded the bases for Brandon Belt’s game-winning two-run single to bring him home. Belt also homered in the 2nd inning when the Giants got to their longtime nemesis Ian Kennedy, scoring three runs off him in the first two innings.

The Giants got another outstanding inning from Jean Machi in relief, who ended up getting his first win of the season. Sergio Romo picked up his 9th save.

More Defensive Lapses, Another Extra Inning Loss

28 Sunday Apr 2013

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I took my son to his first Giant game at AT&T Park in mid-September, when he was seven years old, in 2009.

In the two previous days the Giants had pounded Colorado 9-1 and 10-2 in the first two games of a home series pulling themselves within two and a half of the Division-leading Rockies. Matt Cain was on the mound with a chance to shrink the lead and sweep Colorado out of town. It was mid-September.

But Jorge De La Rosa had his best start as a major-leaguer, dominating SF. In the bottom of the 9th inning the Giants were down 4-0 on the strength of two home runs – by Troy Tulowitzki and Ian Stewart. (the first home runs my son ever saw were hit off my favorite pitcher, Matt Cain).

From an ESPN piece on that game:

“The Giants opened the ninth with three straight singles off Franklin Morales, with the first run scoring on Bengie Molina’s hit. Rafael Betancourt came in to protect a three-run lead and got Juan Uribe to hit a grounder to shortstop.

Tulowitzki’s throw to second base was off target for an error, allowing a second run to score and pinch-runner Eli Whiteside to go to third. After pinch-runner Eugenio Velez stole second ….”

And here I have to interrupt because we were there and it was unforgettable.

Two weeks earlier, Edgar Renteria had hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Rafael Betancourt that had helped the Giants complete a previous three-game sweep of the Rockies and tie for the wild-card lead!

The situation was almost exactly the same with Betancourt vs. Renteria: game three, with the sweep and division lead in the balance. The at-bat was pregnant with excitement and anticipation at the yard – my son’s first experience of that beautiful tension, the taut, loud bearing of all of us together cheering, rooting, hoping.

Betancourt got Renteria to pop-up, pinch-hitter Randy Winn to hit an RBI groundout and struck out Schierholtz to end it. It was perhaps his finest hour as a reliever at that point in his career – note he has eight saves and a win in this young season and the 38-year-old has grown into the role.

I hate to say this, but I knew we were going to lose that one – that was who we were … so often.

We never got closer to the playoffs that season. But there were lessons we learned that played out in 2010. And of course, Edgar Renteria won it for us with the homer with runners in scoring position.

As I sat with my son enjoying his first game – and remember this was in 2009, before we won these two world series and our expectations grew so large that APRIL losses like last night’s in San Diego or last week’s versus the D’Backs at home disappoint us so much – as I sat with him waiting for fans to file out I thought, “Sigh, well, I hope I am not burdening the poor kid with Giants baseball.”

Ha! And that lucky kid has seen them win not one, but two world series’ since!

I mention this today because the last few games have felt like slap in the face deja-vu, in this very young season. I know it’s early … but unless we refocus our energy to play crisp defense and start hitting with runners in scoring position, our fate could be the relative anonymity of also-rans.

Giants 2009 Redux: Timmy’s Great, But We Can’t Hit

27 Saturday Apr 2013

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Argh. It was like looking at us back in 2009 again. The bright side was Timmy’s performance, and last night we tried  to stream the game live in Giants Baseball Corner,

pregame

so speaking of Tim Lincecum, here’s:

Timmy Getting Out of the Jam and

Timmy Getting Hit Hard and

Tim’s 3 up 3 down 5th inning and

Tim’s excellent bottom of the 7th

all of which were for nought as we could do nothing to get a runner across the  plate. Our one run in the game came off a single by Pagan, a stolen base, a hit and a Wild Pitch!

This one was winnable. I was hoping to sweep these guys … and sadly … we just couldn’t get it done.

D’Backs Series Recap(1-2), Snakes Outlast Giant Gameplan

25 Thursday Apr 2013

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With pitching, crisp defense, just enough runs and by taking advantage of their opponents mistakes to win in the late innings … the  Diamondbacks beat the Giants at their game.

The Arizona Diamondbacks won two of three in extra innings against the Giants at AT&T Park with alert play after the 7th that the Giants lacked, showing fight, focus and effort.

Arizona’s Didi Gregorius, the Snakes’ rookie shortstop, energized his team with hustle. Twice, late in games, Gregorius took second base because a Giant outfielder was lackadaisical in throwing the ball back to the infield on a shallow base hit, and both times. Gregorius crossed the plate as the winning run.

Home runs were once again costly in this series as the Giants continually fell behind not on situational hits but the long ball. To their credit, the Giants kept coming back from 2-run deficits, but in the end the comebacks weren’t enough.

The Giants fought back to tie Game 1 on a Posey homer and win it on a Belt walk-off base hit in the ninth. They took Game 2 to extra innings on a Belt homer, but fell apart defensively to lose it in 10. Last night’s loss was a carbon copy in the 11th, except for the glaring statistic:

0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The brightest positive from this series and really of the season is Brandon Crawford, who wrote in his blog that he has changed his stance and is “standing taller” – which is yielding great results. Here’s a three paragraph pullquote, because it’s great and emblematic of 25 Guys with one Common Goal:

“It’s great hitting home runs, believe me. I had four all last season and have three already this year. But to tell you the truth I take just as much pride in laying down a crucial sacrifice bunt, like the one last night in the ninth inning.

Sacrifice bunts might not get the scoreboard flashing and the water spouting, but they are noticed by your teammates. They know you did your job and that it was a key to winning the game. My job last night was to move Torres into scoring position, just as in the fourth game of the World Series it was to move Theriot into scoring position. In each situation, the next batter got a hit that scored the runner. If the runner is still at first, he doesn’t score.

OK, so laying down the sac bunt isn’t as much fun as getting the winning hit. You’re not in the newspaper the next day or on the highlights that night. But you know what you did. Last night, after everyone punched Belt in the ribs a few times, my teammates congratulated me on the bunt. I point this out to make the point that winning is a team effort. When you stop playing as a team, you stop winning.” – Brandon Crawford

Brandon went 4 for 9 (.444) with a double and a homer in the Arizona series. He has four home runs and remains the number one ranked SS in the majors in fWAR. Importantly Crawford knocked Ian Kennedy out of the game, allowing our current ace, Madison Bumgarner to outduel the D’backs starter who has given us the most trouble over the years.

The second takeaway has to be the redemptive hitting of Brandon Belt after intense scrutiny for his slumping bat. Bochy made a point to spend extra time and it paid huge dividends as Belt won one game from the bench and tied another to take it to extra innings.

Our bullpen performed admirably and indeed is starting to gel.

Uncharacteristically lackadaisical play and simple mistakes by Andres Torres, Angel Pagan, Santiago Casilla and Buster Posey cost us the tight losses.

The D’Backs were more focused in late and extra innings for two games. Reminded me that they beat the St. Louis Cardinals in 16 innings, in their rubber-match, third game of the season to ensure they won their opening series – coming from behind twice to do it. This past weekend at AT&T, they showed it wasn’t a fluke.

There is fight, effort and smart, crisp play happening under Gibson in Arizona. They’ve got good pitching and a decent bullpen (J.J. Putz got tagged, but is likely to settle down as the season wears on).

The Arizona Diamondbacks are whom the Giants will be fighting to win the division.

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!

Lincecum and the System to Perfection, Giants Win 2-0

21 Sunday Apr 2013

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Tim Lincecum mowed down the Padres through six and 2/3, striking out eight, looking very much like the Cy Young Award winning Timmy. Bochy was crisp with his leash in a 2-0 ballgame, pulling Tim with two out and two on in the sixth. Mijares got the last out on a deep pop fly to left, and he and Santiago Casilla set up Sergio Romo, who picked up his Major-League leading eighth save (8-1).

The only runs in the game were the result of a 2-run homer by Pablo Sandoval that just got out of the park.

The formula is simple and when applied effectively, beautiful.

1. quality starting and stable relief pitching

2. sharp defense

3. situational hits for “just enough” runs

4. take advantage of opponents mistakes

Tonight the formula was executed to perfection.

Way to go Giants!