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M.T. Karthik

~ works, thoughts, events of 1977 – 2017

M.T. Karthik

Tag Archives: rockies

Consensus Opinion Among Giants Fans? Screw Coors Field! Giants Lose Series 1-2

15 Friday Apr 2016

Posted by mtk in Series Recaps

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baseball, Brandon, cain, colorado, Francisco, giants, Jake, loss, mlb, Peavy, rockies, San, series, sf

Game One

It is easy to forget the lone victory in our three games in Colorado, but it is important not to do so. Jeff Samardzija looked as good as he has yet looked in a Giants uniform and the Giants took Game One of this series 7-2, behind a stellar performance by The Shark.

Samardzija went seven strong innings, gave up just two runs and six hits, striking out four. He had two walks, but managed the game well and was in control of a tough Rockies lineup throughout.

The Giants continued their Home Run hit streak throughout the series and rookie C Trevor Brown had two in that first game, bringing his total to three for the year – his first three hits in the majors are all home runs! Hunter Pence added another two-out, two-run homer in support and the Giants were looking good.

Then the wheels fell off …

Game Two

Jake Peavy is going to be a problem unless he can right himself quickly. His opening day start at the yard in which he put us in a 0-5 hole in the first four innings, was calamitous and in Colorado his second start was worse. He was shellacked by the Rockies early and often.

Jake Peavy gave up a NY/SF Giants franchise-high 10 Extra Base Hits in this one – the most allowed by a pitcher since Curt Schilling gave up 10 for Boston on Aug. 10, 2006, against Kansas City. It was seriously ugly.

Arenado homered twice, Peavy was a total meltdown. The Rockies ended the day with 12 XBH and a blowout, defeating the Giants 10-6. Brandon Belt did homer in this one to keep the Giants Home Run streak alive at nine games.

Game Three

Matt Cain came into the rubber match as a question mark, as usual. Which Matt Cain would we see? Well, for four innings the answer was AWESOME MATT CAIN.

Cain was precise, throwing 92- and 93-mph fast balls to great success. It was a thing of beauty long-forgotten since we hadn’t seen him this sharp in a while. It was pretty exciting for a few innings there.

Then all of a sudden in the fifth, Cain gave up a dinger, then a double and then found himself in a chippy battle with Craig Wolters, who finally just barely got the best of Matty with a bloop flare over the head of Matt Duffy. That was the beginning of a collapse that ended in embarrassment as the Giants gave up 9 runs in the 5th inning.

In this one, Matty had struck out Arenado twice and was to face him in the fifth with the bases loaded, but Boch decided Matt was done after a 35+pitch inning that had him on the hook for those three base-runners. He brought in Chris Heston who was pitching on consecutive days for the first time in his young career. Hesto gave up a double to Arenado and the run-parade began.

Meanwhile, Jorge de La Rosa pitched a great game and managed the Giants bats well. This was a tough loss. Belt managed to homer again though – a bright spot is our ten game homer streak.

But at  the end of the day, the Giants gave up 31 hits in the last two games to these Rockies at altitude, prompting a lot of fans on twitter to express their hatred for Coors Field once again.

Some injury news, Romo is out temporarily with an elbow thing. Brandon Crawford had to leave with a flexor flare, and Posey who was held out a couple of games to help heal his toe, came back and caught well for Cain during his comeback 4 innings.

Glad to be out of Colorado and on to face the Nemesis in Chavez Ravine with MadBum v. Kershaw II tonight at 7:10pm.

Suspended By Hail and Rain, Giants and Rockies Rubber Match Ends Deadlocked 2-2 in Sixth

22 Thursday May 2014

Posted by mtk in Mid Series Reports, midgame posts

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baseball, called, colorado, Francisco, game, giants, hail, mlb, play, rain, rockies, San, stopped, suspended, suspension, weather

The game has just been called due to the weather. Hail stones and rolling electrified thunderstorms suspended this one, tied 2-2 in the bottom of the sixth, with David Huff on the mound for the Giants, a runner on for the Rockies. The game will be resumed at that point during one of the first three days of September when the Giants visit Colorado again. whew!

TWEET: Suspension of #Rockies #SFGiants series by hail and rain, has something poetic about it. Like two teams too equally matched to conclude.

This has been a tense couple of days and the road trip ends, fittingly, without conclusion, suspended, in limbo and somehow still tense.

This year the Rockies and Giants seem fated to do battle down to the wire. One wonders what the records will be like in that first week of September, in the home stretch of the season. Are these three and a half remaining innings going to be incredibly significant?

And what about the idiotic way in which clowning around by the dugout and Santiago Casilla led to four weeks on the DL for Casilla and the Giants having to call up George Kontos? This was a weird week. Three HBP’s in game one, and after his retaliation plunking (for hitting Tulo) Bumgarner got into it verbally with the Rockies as he ran up the line. Romo getting tagged.

Still, the Giants have to be happy with the trip. They got the Rockies to play by the Giants’ tempo. It still really feels like the Giants won both of these … just one hanging slider away from four up on the Rockies.

Giants pitching tamed the hard hitting Rockies in their park, at altitude. The game plan was intact and the Giants had a shot at taking both and indeed all three of these games.

Looking forward to the Giants coming home this weekend for some Inter-league ball – so we get to make fun of their pitchers swinging the bats – followed by a visit from our historic rivals, dating back to the 1800’s, everybody’s second favorite team (’cause they’re never a threat to anybody’s first) the Chicago Cubs.

Double Hammy Whammy – Giants Win, Lose Cain, Casilla to DL

22 Thursday May 2014

Posted by mtk in pitchers, Post Game Blasts

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cain, Casilla, colorado, double, Francisco, giants, hammy, hamstring, matt, rockies, San, santiago, sf, strain, whammy, win

Even when the Giants win lately there’s some weird issue – an HBP directly on the thumb sidelines Brandon Belt, plays that should be routine for a first baseman in little league bungled by Michael Morse, nutty throwing errors by Pablo or, an injury by someone trying too hard, like Angel Pagan’s shoulder strain diving for a pop fly against the Marlins on Sunday.

The latter category still reminds me of how we lost Freddy Sanchez, in May, on a routine play when we had the lead in a game that “didn’t really matter.” He flew high and hard to snag that ball, landed on his shoulder and never played in a Giants uniform again.  Or how about Pagan last year, legs out the only ever walkoff inside-the-park homer in history and we lose him, and the season,the next day. Again … in May.

Of course, we love effort and those plays are exciting … how about just a little caution in the early months, guys? Not telling you to take it easy, but … what happened last night was completely unnecessary.

Yet they continue to win. The team experiences these careening moments even as they slug and claw their way into come-from behind victories; doing it with all home runs one game, and sudden inspired situational hitting, and no home runs in the next.

The only consistency has been that the Giants are inconsistent, yet somehow pull it together in the later innings behind a great bullpen to get wins. It isn’t confidence inspiring with regard to a long season, and the anhedonia has resulted in at least one blogger, Grant Brisbee of McCovey Cove Chronicles, losing his mind to the duality.

Yesterday, in Colorado, things were going along just fine – the game plan was in place and the Giants and Matt Cain were holding the Rockies offense down, when all of a sudden Cain came up gimpy. He had to be pulled from the game in the third inning with a strained hamstring, forcing Yusmeiro Petit into yet another emergency start. Worrisome.

Still, the plan was working. The Giants bullpen, with Petit working long, held the Rockies scoreless through seven innings. On the offensive side meanwhile, they used the altitude to their advantage and Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval and Brandon Crawford all homered, while Hector Sanchez had a deep double for another RBI. They had an early lead and held on.

Petit threw three scoreless and Bochy once again was masterful with the ‘pen; using four more guys to seal the win. Juan Gutierrez, Javier Lopez (LOOGY), and Santiago Casilla took it to the ninth.

In the top of the ninth, with a four-run lead and Sergio Romo resting after having been rocked the night before, Bochy decided to leave Casilla in the game at the plate, with the intention of letting him close the game.

Casilla was given specific instruction when he went to the plate, alternatingly described as, ‘to just stand like a statue,’ and ‘not to get hurt.’ Bochy says he told him just to jog up the line if he made contact.

But the veteran Casilla did none of these. Apparently inspired by the play of Juan Machi a few weeks ago, who legged out a bunt to drive in the winning run in a 13-inning game, Santiago Casilla tried to get on base. He was perhaps goaded by the dugout, as the guys teased him about doing what Machi did. For whatever reason, Casilla hit a ball hard to the infield and in, a totally loony moment, tried to leg out the single!

Casilla hit the bag and fell to the grass immediately, thrown out and flailing in the grass, pounding his fist on the ground in obvious pain. First base coach Hensley Meulens had no idea what to make of it.

It turns out that like Matt Cain earlier in the game, Casilla had strained his right hamstring. It was the same pointless injury that sent reliever David Huff to the DL two weeks ago – a pitcher trying to leg out a single.

Jeremy Affeldt came in and pitched a scoreless ninth with a strikeout to end the game, a non-save situation. But the mood was severely depressed in the wake of losing not one, but two pitchers to hamstring strains in the same game.

The win kept the Giants in first place in the NL West by three games going into tonight’s rubber match, which will feature the two teams’ best pitchers. The Giants’ aging ace, Tim Hudson (4-2, 2.09) returns from resting his back on the DL, to face Jorge De La Rosa (5-3, 4.14), a longtime nemesis of the G-men.

Both Casilla and Cain will undergo MRI’s today to determine the severity of their injuries, but it seems likely that Cain will miss at least one start and that Casilla may not be available for a few weeks; frustrating to say the least. [UPDATE: looks like Casilla’s was a strain and not a tear, so that’s good]

Hopefully the Giants can come away with one more win in Colorado before the upcoming home stand which could be an easier ride. The Twins are up first and the Giants seem to play Interleague well at home, having swept the Indians in April. The Twins will be followed at AT&T by a visit from the last place Cubs.

Romo Can’t Lock It Down, Giants Lose Opener in Colorado

21 Wednesday May 2014

Posted by mtk in Post Game Blasts, walkoffs

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baseball, blown, colorado, Francisco, giants, mlb, rockies, Romo, San, save, sf, walkoff, win

This game was going according to plan. Madison Bumgarner and the Giants defense quieted the red hot Rockies lineup, holding them to three runs. In fact, it marked a milestone for Bumgarner who set the Giants team record for most consecutive road starts holding opponents to three runs or less (18), when he walked off the mound in the 6th.

The Rockies sprayed nine hits across eight innings but couldn’t get more than three men home, leaving 21 on base (Team LOB 10). It was a taut, well played game of strategy between very competitive teams. The teams traded HBP’s and when Bumgarner was plunked in the 7th he jawed at the Rockies’ dugout all the way down the line as he took his base. They gave it right back. This could be going all the way down to 162.

The tense affair remained a 3-3 tie until the top of the ninth, when Brandon Hicks hit a one-out single, and former Rockie Tyler Colvin drove him in with his second double of the night.

Sergio Romo entered with a one run lead but was immediately in trouble, issuing a walk to Justin Morneau and a sac fly to Michael Cuddyer that advanced him to scoring position. Troy Tulowitzki grounded to force out Morneau, but was safe at first because Brandon Crawford had no play. That might have been a game ending double play if Brandon Hicks’ throw had been tighter. Crawford had no play because the relay was just a bit off.

Romo then gave up a single to Carlos Gonzalez, who hit it straight up the middle and just over the outreached glove of Crawford. When Nolan Arenado stepped up to the plate with two out and two on, he was was 0-4 career against Sergio Romo. Sometimes a guy is just due.

It was an ill fated two-out, two-strike, hanging slider that ended up the game winning walkoff double for Arenado. Rockies win 5-4. Other than that pitch, though Romo wasn’t bad. The hits were tight. The double play was doable. He could have had them. Tough loss. Tough for Romo and for the Giants. Emotions were running high. This isn’t going to be easy.

The Rockies use their home field advantage to stack the deck in their favor offensively. If the Giants want to avoid a sweep and giving up the division lead, they will need to play even more crisp defense and be ready to respond to the inevitable onslaught of runs.

That’s why this one hurts: it was within reach. Everything was going according to plan. And just one pitch … just one relay throw … just one play … made the difference. Game two promises to be equally competitive as Matt Cain (1-3, 3.92ERA) faces Jhoulys Chacin (0-2, 4.76).

Go Giants!

The Battle for First Begins a Mile High

20 Tuesday May 2014

Posted by mtk in PreGame GBCs

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Bumgarner, catcher, colorado, Francisco, giants, Hudson, Madison, pablo, rockies, rosario, San, Sandoval, sf, Tim, troy, tulowitzki, wilin

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!

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

23 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by mtk in Post Game Blasts

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11th, affeldt, balk, baseball, belt, blackmon, Bob, Brandon, Casilla, charlie, coors, davidson, derby, eleventh, field, Francisco, game, giants, grand, Hector, home, homers, jeremy, justin, long, michael, mlb, morneau, morse, rockies, run, runs, San, sanchez, santiago, sf, slam, towering, tulowitzki

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.

 

Giants Incapable of Scoring 2 Runs in Colorado, Lose 2-1

23 Wednesday Apr 2014

Posted by mtk in Post Game Blasts

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2-1, colorado, giants, loss, mlb, rockies, sf

Angel Pagan went 0 for 5 with 3 strikeouts. Franklin Morales outdueled Madison Bumgarner and a solo shot from Hunter Pence was all the scoring the G-men could come up with.

They gave up two homers, which was just enough to suffer another loss despite another excellent pitching performance.

Giant bats are fast asleep and the team has sunk in the standings to third behind Colorado

Series Recap: Giants Come Back Against the Rox (2-1)

26 Sunday May 2013

Posted by mtk in Series Recaps

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AT&T, baseball, giants, mlb, park, recap, rockies, series

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.

Series Recap Rox Roll, Score 31 Runs on Giants (1-3)

20 Monday May 2013

Posted by mtk in Series Recaps

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colorado, Francisco, giants, mlb, rockies, San, sf

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.

More Defensive Lapses, Another Extra Inning Loss

28 Sunday Apr 2013

Posted by mtk in Commentary

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2009, AT&T, baseball, Betancourt, edgar, Francisco, giants, mlb, park, Rafael, renteria, rockies, San

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.

Colorado Series Recap (3-0 Sweep) – Zito Dominates

11 Thursday Apr 2013

Posted by mtk in Series Recaps

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10-0, angel, Barry, blanco, Casilla, eckersley, giants, gregor, Jon, marco, Miller, pagan, pence, recap, rockies, runs, santiago, scutaro, Zito

The Rockies have been a punching bag for the Giants in recent years and Colorado’s been particularly good for Barry Zito. After yesterday’s game, Zeets’ option is now making national press like this from NBC’s Matthew Pouliot:

“Including last year’s postseason, the Giants are riding a streak of 16 straight victories with Barry Zito on the mound. The left-hander pitched seven scoreless innings and went 2-for-3 with two runs scored Wednesday in a 10-0 drubbing of the Rockies. Zito posted a 1.69 ERA in his three postseason starts last year, and he’s yet to allow a run in 14 innings in 2013.

“Perhaps no one but me is thinking of next year right now, but at the rate Zito is going, the Giants might actually pick up his $18 million option for 2014, a possibility that would have seemed preposterous at pretty much any point since the first year of his seven-year, $126 million contract.”

We’ve been discussing Zito’s option in local press for a week, including CA Sportswriter of the Year Tim Kawakami’s piece and this guy claims, “perhaps no one but me is thinking of next year right now” wow.

Batting

This from Noey Kupchan of AP sums it up nicely:

“After hitting .224 and scoring 15 runs during a 3-3 start, San Francisco (6-3) found its offense during a three-game sweep of Colorado. The Giants hit .365 and outscored the Rockies 23-8, including Wednesday’s 10-0 win. Buster Posey and Andres Torres both went 3 for 5 and drove in a combined five runs for San Francisco, which went 7 for 18 with runners in scoring position.”

7/18 with RISP still isn’t 50% of the time, but it’s a damn sight better than 0 for 7.

Game One homers by Pence and Panda and Game Three situational hitting resulted in big wins for the Giants, but Game Two was perhaps the best victory.

With Tim Lincecum on the mound, The Giants fells behind early and were down 6 – 2 before rallying to win it behind Brandon Crawford’s opposite field three-run homer followed by excellent situational hitting from Scutaro and Pence – who tied the game with a bunt to advance the runner and an RBI single, respectively. Andres Torres pinch-hit to get aboard and Angel Pagan drove in the winning run. It was great to see the Giants make the comeback and to win with good hitting.

The 10-0 blowout was all about Barry Zito – who has been sensational on the mound since August of last year. But he was also 2-3 at the plate. What if he keeps this up? Could the guy bat .200+? Continue getting shutouts, wins and hit? Let’s hope so because it has been a joy to watch and the feeling of redemption every time is epic.

Way to go Barry – everybody’s talking about how you have more hits than Heyward and they haven’t even noticed the scoreless inning streak!

Relief

Santiago Casilla had a very rough outing  in the Opening Series in Los Angeles, after being a key member of the bullpen for the World Baseball Classic Championship Team from the Dominican Republic. He had a wild pitch that scored a run in LA and looked generally uncomfortable.

Not so Tuesday as Casilla pitched a scoreless 8th inning to set up Sergio Romo, who struck out two in the 9th inning to pick up his fifth save.

Romo is looking sharp and staying ahead of batters. His play prompted Jon Miller to declare the other day, “There’s a little bit of Eckersley in him.”

Javier Lopez and Chad Gaudin had 3-up, 3-down innings in relief of Zito, with each recording a strikeout.

Mid-Game Colorado Series Closer

10 Wednesday Apr 2013

Posted by mtk in midgame posts

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AT&T, giants, rockies, sf, today, Zito

Zito’s on the mound, it’s in the high 70’s at AT&T Park.

Barry retired Colorado with a strikeout but issued a walk – a source of concern for anyone who has ever followed Zito’s career.  Pagan just singled to lead off the bottom of the first. Scutaro ….

 

and a stand up triple for Posey!

Hunter Pence Goes Yard, Romo Gets 4th Save

09 Tuesday Apr 2013

Posted by mtk in Post Game Blasts

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AT&T, Big, Bumgarner, fly, Francisco, giants, homer, hr, hunter, Lincecum, Madison, park, pence, rockies, Romo, San, Sergio, sf, sfgiants, Tim, win

Not much time to write before we play again, but just to take note of Hunter Pence’s Big Fly – which I understand was deep to left-center. I hope we see more of that this year. If we could get Hunter batting .300 along with Panda, Posey and Pagan; get Crawford up to .270 and get some timely hits from Blanco we should win the division outright.

Another strong outing from Madison Bumgarner whose mastery of the Rockies continues. Here’s hoping Timmy keeps it rolling tonight with a little better command and less walks.

Sergio Romo tweeted that his goal was 50 saves and he is well on his way with four in as many appearances. Rock on Sergio! That’s What’s Up!

Go Giants!

In First Place Out West

02 Monday Jul 2012

Posted by mtk in baseball, S.F.

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Tags

AT&T, diamondbacks, division, dodgers, first, flags, giants, mlb, padres, place, rockies, san francisco, sfg, west

M.T. Karthik

This blog archives early work of M.T. Karthik, who took every photograph and shot all the video here unless otherwise credited.

Performances and installations are posted by date of execution.

Writing appears in whatever form it was originally or, as in the case of poems or journal entries, retyped faithfully from print.

all of it is © M.T. Karthik

a minute of rain

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYLHNRS8ik4

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