Barry Zito curveball was dazzling. The Giants offense, especially the top of the order, kept purring. Guillermo Mota and a couple of other relievers tried to blow another late lead, but this time Bochy called for Brian Wilson while the Giants still had the lead with 1 out in the 8'th inning, and he came through with his 17'th save, this one very hard earned. The Giants came away with their 7'th win in their last 10 games. Key lines:
Andres Torres- 2 for 4, 2B(19). BA= .297.
Juan Uribe- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .291. It looks like Uribe has taken over the cleanup spot in the batting order. BTW, where is Renteria going to play when he comes back?
Aubrey Huff- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .300. Huff played RF with Torres in CF and Burrell in LF.
Pat Burrell- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .238. Nice line for Burrell even though he was not involved in any of the run production as Buser Posey showed he is human by leaving 7 runners on base.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, HR(5), BB. BA= .280. Vintage Panda blast. Sheets made him look bad in Oakland with high fastballs. He tried it again here and Pablo blasted an opposite field job to left-center.
Barry Zito- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.10. Zito had a great curveball tonight and kept getting stronger as the game went on until giving up Rosales' blast in the 7'th.
Guillermo Mota- 0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 0 K. This time Bochy took him out with the lead still intact.
Brian Wilson- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(17). ERA= 2.28. Bochy called for Wilson with 1 out in the 8'th with the bases loaded after Casilla and Affeldt failed to put out the fire. That decision probably won the game for the Giants! Yes, I understand the Wilson can't go more than 1 inning every game!
The win kept the Giants on pace, 2.5 games behind the Padres who beat Cliff Lee and the Mariners 7-1. It also kept them 2.5 games ahead of the 3'rd place Rockies who blanked Toronto behind Jason Hammel 1-0. The Dodgers fell a game behind the Padres with a 4-2 loss to the Angels. Arizona remained in last place 12.5 games behind the Padres with a 7-2 win over the Cardinals.
Matt Cain goes for the sweep against the A's tomorrow vs Vin Mazzaro. He just needs the Giants offense to keep doing what it's been doing.
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and the bowkerization of nate continues
ReplyDeletehow long before he is traded or dfa?
I'm a Nate fan, but I'm not going to start calling for any changes as long as the Giants keep winning. Right now, their best OF combination seems to be Huff in RF, Torres in CF and Burrell in LF. Notice Rowand sat for the second consecutive game. Bochy has made it clear to Nate and to the fans what Nate's role on the team is right now....PH and late inning defensive replacement. As long as the starting OF's are producing and the Giants are winning, gotta respect that.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants like Nate's defense in RF plus he has been OK as a hitter, except for power, but there is no guarantee that either Burrell or Huff will be here next season, so the Giants should not be releasing either Schierholtz or Ishikawa during this season.
ReplyDeleteAfter this season, I still don't see it happening, though if Huff signs, probably Ishikawa is traded, but Schierholtz is good as backup OF in case any injury happens. Burrell could sign as LF, leaving DeRosa as a super utility guy giving rest at up to 7 positions and a power RH bat off the bench.
Schierholtz and Bowker will probably be battling for an OF position again, I would bet, the Giants have been keeping a spot open for young players to battle over, and right now that's RF.
I think the biggest question mark will be Aaron Rowand. With only two years to go on the contract, they might eat it if he doesn't figure it out this season and start Torres in CF. Or find another team with a two year big contract sitting on the bench who they can swap with.