I have a new nickname for Matt Cain, Hoss! The man is an absolute horse. 123 pitches and getting stronger as the game went on. He finally got some run support today and the result was a dominating Giants victory over division rival Colorado Rockies. Key lines:
Bengie Molina- 1 for 3, HR(2), BB. BA= .343. I know a lot of fans don't like Bengie at cleanup, but he's the Giants second best hitter so far and is being more selective at the plate. OBP=.408.
Aubrey Huff- 3 for 4, 2B, HR(3). BA= .272. Huff is 5 for 6 with 2 BB's, 3 RBI's, 3 Runs since switching places with Bengie Molina in the batting order.
Juan Uribe- 1 for 4, HR(3). BA= .309. You had a feeling this game as over when Uribe hit his 3 run dinger. It might make sense to bat Uribe ahead of DeRosa right now. On the other hand, DeRosa has been getting on base despite the anemic BA, and Uribe is a guy you want to have runners on base ahead of.
Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .373. Steady as she goes for Nate.
John Bowker- 1 for 2, BB, SF. BA= .208. Let's not forget about Bowk who had a pretty good game himself.
Andres Torres- 1 for 3, BB, SB(3). BA= .261. Not involved in any scoring, but you can't ask much more of a leadoff hitter.
Matt Cain- 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.84. Characteristically ran up a big pitch count early, but maybe this guy needs to throw 120 pitches per game. I mean, he doesn't really get warmed up until he hits pitch #50 or so! One thing I noticed while watching on Gameday was that his fastball was sitting 90-93 while the pitches they were calling changeups were 84-85. That might not be quite enough differential to get swing throughs. I know it's hard to say he wasn't missing bats with 8 K's, but a big part of the pitch count problem is that hitters consistently get a lot of foul offs against him. He needs a reliable swing through pitch that he can use once he gets two strikes rather than going through 3 or 4 foul offs first.
San Diego finally lost 2-1 to the Brewers as Yovani Gallardo outpitched Mat Latos, so the Giants and Padres are tied at 14-9 atop the NL West. Colorado drops to 11-13, 3.5 games off the pace. Arizona also dropped to 11-13 with a 7-5 loss to the Cubbies. The Dodgers beat Pittsburgh 5-1 to move up to 10-14, 4.5 games back.
Jonathan Sanchez goes tomorrow against the wunderkind Jhoulys Chacin. The Giants have had trouble closing out sweeps, but Sanchez seems to have a newfound confidence about him. Chacin might be a stud someday but has given up a lot of walks in the minors. If the Giants continue to be patient at the plate, they should be able to use their brooms by the end of the day. Should be a great game tomorrow!
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Go Giants!
ReplyDeleteMinor detail, but the Pads are 15-9, a half game up on the Giants (not for long though!).
ReplyDeleteDo people here think that the Padres or the Giants have a better offense? The Giants starting pitching is better and the bullpens seem about even. Weird that I'm even taking the Padres into consideration in this division race.
Hmm....must have missed a game somewhere.
ReplyDeleteAs for a comparison of the Giants and Padres offense. While Pablo Sandoval is a great young hitter, I don't think he compares to the offensive production of AGone. As long as the Pads hang onto AGone, they will be a factor in the NL West. The Pads have been, and still are, vastly underrated.