Same song second verse, could get better but it's gonna get worse. The Giants dropped game 2 of their home series against The Hated Ones by the same score as in game 1. Matt Cain struggled with his pitch count again and got touched up for 4 runs in 5 IP. Panda made another bonehead play on the basepaths, and the Giants grounded into 2 more DP's. Key lines:
Pat Burrell- 2 for 3, HR(7), BB. BA= .262. Burrell's HR in the bottom of the ninth was too little, too late.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4. BA= .274. This one wasn't quite as bad as the gaffe in game 1, but after Panda led off the 6'th with a single, Burrell squirted a 1 out single through the right side and it looked like the Giants might be making a threat. Panda rounded 2'nd like he was going for the extra base, then either thought better of it or was held up by Flannery. Unfortunately that left him in no-man's land and he was nailed by Ehier's throw behind him at 2B. Runners at first and second with 1 out became a runner at first and 2 outs. Probably didn't make much difference as Uribe followed with a GB to 3'rd which forced Burrell at second but it would have been an easy DP had there been less than 2 outs.
Matt Cain- 5 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 2.93. Cain was better than his last start. He looked really good at times, but seemed to be grooving pitches at others. He again struggled with high pitch counts throwing 105 in just 5 IP, The Dodgers undeniably have very good hitters in their lineup, but Cain just never seems to be himself when he is pitching against them. Vin Scully went on and on about it on the TV broadcast last night speculating that maybe the Dodgers have figured out some pitch tips that other teams haven't. Vinnie tends to repeat himself a lot these days, but he made a big enough deal about it that you have to wonder if he's heard some whisperings from the Dodgers themselves. It sounded like he really admires Cain and might have been trying to help him out in his own way. I have to say, the whole pitch tipping thing is a subject that I'm don't really completely understand, so I don't have an opinion. While Cain has not had much success against the Dodgers, he's never pitched so bad against them that I would be that suspicious of pitch tipping.
Strangely enough, these two losses to the Dodgers haven't been as devastating to the Giants in the standings as one might think because the first place team, the Padres, have lost both nights to Colorado so the Giants remain 4.5 games out of first place. It's just that both LA and Colorado have jumped past leaving them in 4'th place while the Dodgers are now in 2'nd, 3 games out, and Colorado is in 3'rd, 4 games out. Arizona lost again and remains 15.5 games out in last place.
Jonathan Sanchez isn't the guy you necessarily think of as the stopper on the team, and he hasn't been great against the Dodgers in his career either but it will be up to him to put the brakes on the slump today. The Giants will have plenty of motivation against Vicente Padilla who derailed Aaron Rowand's season with that beaning in the first Giants-Dodgers series.
Brian Sabean addressed the Giants recent struggles and acknowledged that they need more speed and more LH hitters vs RH pitchers. Hey, I have a suggestion! Nate Schierholtz fills both bills!! Time to find a way for Nate to get some more PT.
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DrB (and OGC, Bacci, and others?):
ReplyDeleteJust curious about your viewpoint on the future of Schierholtz, Ishikawa, and Bowker. The trend based on the various posts in McC and the Giants' Fan Board seems to be Schierholtz deserves a shot, Bowker maybe, but not Ishikawa because he already had his shot. Yet, career wise, Ishikawa has about 100 less AB's than Schierholtz, with a slightly lower BA, but slightly higher SLG and OPS. I know that he had some pretty bad AB's, but so did Schierholtz and Bowker. While you have not explicitly stated a position, the favor of you posts suggest that your viewpoint follows what I think is the general trend. Not trying to start any flame war, just curious as to why the general anti-Ishikawa sentiment.
I think they have all gotten chances. I don't think any of them particularly "deserve" a chance. I just thought that it was interesting that Brian Sabean mentioned the need for more speed and the need for more LH hitters vs RHP's. Yo Brian! You've got one of those coming off the bench right now!
ReplyDeleteIf the Giants' season falls off the cliff in the next two weeks, which appears to be a distinct possibility, I think they need to look into being sellers at the trade deadline and give Bowker, Nate and Travis the rest of the season to make or break their careers.
I think Ishi got screwed last year. He was CRUSHING the ball, but Panda hurt his elbow, so Boch moved him to 1B and that was the last we ever saw of Ishi.
ReplyDeleteDude has near JT level defense with a .270, 15+ HR bat. Not All-star, but certainly passable, with potential for his bat to improve if he didnt feel he had to get 2 base hits every time up.
Bowker screams AAAA to me. He was given a good 1/2 season in '08, and did OK, but has completely stunk in SF since. He has totally crushed AAA, though.
I like Nate as a solid 4th OF / occasional starter. On this team, he should be right in the mix for RF playing time.
Overall, I think they have all been Jimmy Jacked, but I also dont think any of them are future stars that are being held back either. Nate and Ishi have the potential to solid contributors, Bowker MAY be a decent power hitter, but he needs an org that knows how to develop young hitters.
If it comes down to choice between having the Panda of last year and Travis Ishikawa in your lineup, it's pretty much a no-brainer which one you choose. Travis had almost freakish home-road splits last year too. He was a monster at home and an automatic out on the road. How does that play out when the sample sizes get big enough to equilibrate?
ReplyDeleteI think JT is not a bad comp for Travis which is to say you'd hope the Giants somehow find a better long term bat for the position even if you have to sacrifice just a bit of D.
This month may be interesting for Giants fans, not necessarily from the excitement of winning, but to see how the front office reacts to falling 9-10 games out.