Once again, the Giants basically didn't show up for the chance to sweep a series as they sleepwalked through a 4-1 loss to the Rockies. Key lines:
Aubrey Huff- 1 for 4, HR(4). BA= .271. Too little, too late. The HR came in the bottom of the 9'th inning when the game was essentially over.
Matt Downs- 2 for 2, 2 2B, BB. BA= .375. Downs was the only Giants hitter to reach base more than once.
Jonathan Sanchez- 4.2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 5 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.48. Sanchez looked like he had good stuff. He just completely lost focus in the 4'th inning and never got it back. It appeared that he got overly annoyed with the umps inconsistent strike zone. The ump did squeeze him a couple of times, but he also gave him a couple that looked clearly off the plate. I wouldn't be shocked if Sanchez started thinking about his run support too as the Giants bats were completely impotent against young Jhoulys Chacin. At any rate, by late in the 4'th inning, Sanchez looked like the mound was the last place in the world he wanted to be. He even stopped to check out Medders as Medders was going down the the bullpen.
Brandon Medders- 0.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. Medders allowed both of the runners he inherited from Sanchez to score plus one of his own before recording the out to get out of the 5'th inning. Just a very ineffective outing.
Todd Wellemeyer- 3 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. If there was a silver lining to this game, it was Wellemeyer's performance which built on the success of his last start. It would have been understandable if Wellemeyer didn't have his heart in a game where he was essentially doing mop up duty because his next start is being skipped, but he was totally focused and into the task working 3 very efficient innings, 39 pitches.
The loss dropped the Giants to 14=10, 1.5 games behind the division leading Padres who again dominated the BrewCrew 8-0 behind Jon Garland. The Rockies went to 12-13, 2.5 games behind the Giants. Arizona dropped into a last place tie with the Dodgers at 11-14 with a 1-5 loss to the Cubs. The Dodgers topped Pittsburgh 9-3. The D'Backs and Dodgers are now 3.5 games behind the Giants and 5 games out of first place.
The Giants are off on an east coast road trip where they haven't done too well in the last several years. As mentioned, they are skipping Wellemeyer's start and going with Timmy, Zito and Cainer in the 3 game series with Florida starting on Tuesday 5/4.
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doc,
ReplyDeletecan we now accept that no matter what this team does, with bochy as its skip, it isnt going to the post?
for all of alou's faults, when he had a team that could win, he went for the jugular...he did it during both 03 and 04
he understood that this is a marathon, but he also knew that sweeping series that could be swept was great for the morale of the team
bochy does not prepare this team to win on the third day
worse than that, he chose this day to be rowands rehab start....and had him lead off
nothing better than a leadoff who k's his first 2 times up....ON 6 PITCHES
better still, what is up with sending bowker to the dog house, then, because your out of options due to injury...batting him in the 2 spot....outright saying "ok kid, you want your shot...here it is, dont eff up or its back to the bench you go"
never mind bringing in the only reliever no one has any faith in, in a one run game
absolutely pathetic
Bacci,
ReplyDeleteI started this site, in part, to get away from the Bochyhate diatribes over on the sfgiants.com. If you have a disagreement with something he does, or even just don't like him, I invite people to engage in rational discussion and debate. This doesn't qualify. I've been thinking about writing up an opinion piece on Bochy, but have hesitated, because in my mind it's not a black and white issue, but it seems like every body else sees it that way.
I just want to be able to engage in a discussion about Giants baseball and be able to criticize Bochy, or praise him when I deem appropriate without someone jumping on every word and using it to shout down anyone who doesn't buy into the hatred or groupthink.
To single out Bruce Bochy and blame him for this loss is just plain crazy, IMO. Every team has these letdowns. The season is a marathon, not a sprint.
Yeah, I would have liked to see Rowand play a rehab game or two before going back in the lineup. It's not like Torres was doing terrible. I don't think either you or I know how that was decided in the organization.
Medders had been pitching better, and was the logical choice to bring in that early in the game. Basically, the game was lost by Sanchez not having his head on right, and I'm not going to blame Bochy for that.
If I had just one game I needed a manager for, yeah, I'd probably choose Felipe Alou over Bruce Bochy too. As I said before though, the season is 162 games long, not one. Alou was uncommunicative. He was impatient beyond belief. He destroyed bullpens. A lot of the players hated playing on his teams. I can even point to several individual key games that were lost because of Alou's managing style, most notably Joe Nathan's meltdown against the Florida Marlins that probably led directly to his being traded to the Twins.
Bochy sometimes isn't the sharpest tool in the shed during the game, but he knows how to nurture a pitching staff and he maintains an enthusiastic clubhouse and dugout.
Bacci, I've always defended you over on the Giants message board, but if you are just wanting to come over here and rant about Bruce Bochy, well, they eat that stuff up over there so you ought to fit right in. I'm delighted you found my blog and welcome you to the discussions, but please leave the Bochyhate rants over on the Giants board.
im not blaming him for the loss, im blaming him for a mindset
ReplyDeletebochy didnt cause the durty one to have a meltdown, but he didnt help either
im not going to blame him for individual game losses, but i think it is ok to question his moves
and the reason that we dont know the organizational thought process, is because the beat writers dont do their jobs
Bacci,
ReplyDeleteYou responded to 3 entries on this blog and two of them were basically anti-Bochy rants. In one, you went so far as to warn me about being an apologist for Bochy as if you have a right to tell me how I should think. I don't mind you questioning Bochy's moves, but you go a lot further than that. You basically condemn every move the man makes or doesn't make.
Again, I don't see him as being the sharpest tool in the shed from a game strategy viewpoint, but I think he has made a significant contribution toward building this great pitching staff. I also see a much more harmonious spirit among the players who, unlike with Alou, seem to genuinely like playing for him.
I will work on an opinion piece to flesh out some of my thoughts on Bochy, but on balance, I think his positives have outweighed his negatives. That represents an evolution in my thinking from his first year as manager. I might eventually come to think he's worn out his welcome, but for now I think he's the right manager for this team.
i apologize for calling you an apologist
ReplyDeleteBacci,
ReplyDeleteWelcome aboard. Maybe we can start over now?
Dr B