This was a game I had mentally checked off in the loss column, but gotta give credit to Jonathan Sanchez and the Giants for battling it out to the end. The game was blacked out on MLB package, so I followed it on Gameday. I didn't see Ishikawa's play at the plate in the bottom of the 9'th, but it sounds like the Giants had it won except for some very bad umpiring. Maybe someone who saw it can clear that up. Anyway, one thing I like about this team is that even when they lose, they go down fighting. Key lines:
Andres Torres- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .278. He didn't figure in the scoring, but a .400/.400/.800 line for the day ain't bad at all.
Freddy Sanchez- 2 for 5. BA= .275. Freddy seems to be getting his legs back under him after a bout with a virus.
Aubrey Huff- 2 for 5. BA= .302. How can the top 3 batters in the lineup all get 2 hits including 2 doubles and contribute to just 1 run scored?
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .271. Good to see Panda taking a few walks.
Travis Ishikawa- 1 for 1. BA= .338. Drove in the tying runs. Sounds like he was robbed of scoring the winning run. Where would this team be without Travis' contributions?
Jonathan Sanchez- 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.42. Give credit to Sanchez for actually outpitching his idol for 7 innings. Compare his line with Santana's: 8 IP, 8 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. This is a game where it would have been easy for Sanchez to lose focus. He didn't, and kept his team in the game long enough to give it a chance to win.
Unfortunately, the loss was a costly one for the Giants as the Padres beat the hapless D'Backs 6-4 to drop the Giants 4.5 games off their division leading pace. I guess AJ Hinch wasn't the problem in AZ Land? Colorado outpitched the Cincinnati Reds 1-0 to move a half game up on the Giants into 2'nd place at 4 games behind the Pads. Jonathan Broxton blew another Save and the Dodgers fell 5.5 games behind while getting swept by the Cards in a 5-4 final game of their 4 game series. The D'Backs dropped to 20.5 games off the pace in the NL West cellar. With our luck as Giants fans, they will probably rise up and bit us next weekend out in the blistering heat of the desert.
The Giants have no break as they head back out on the road for 3 against The Hated Ones and then 4 against the Hapless D'Backs. MadBum tries to get the trip off on the right foot on Monday night in The Ravine.
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doc, if you want to technically break the law, i can give you a link where you can watch games
ReplyDeletewatched the entire game...cuzzi was awful for both sides....im amazed that neither santana or durty had a melt down on the mound....note the low k rates....shocked that there werent many walks
the 9th was insane....cozzi almost tossed k-rod...and the call at the plate was a joke....and cozzi, unlike other umps this year who have openly talked to the press, refused a post game interview
fact remains, with santana on the mound, the giants were 1-15 with runners in scoring position
ti needs more starts at first....for a couple of reasons
his bat is much better this year, huff is better in left than at first, and if belt is the real deal, ti could bring the org some good prospects in a deal next season
giants continuing to carry 13 pitchers hurt them today...dont know how much longer they can get away with it
panda looking better at the plate....but he has gotta get serious about dropping some weight...he apparently tweaked his hammy running to third
all in all, it was a very good series against a good team
now they have to destroy the seemingly crippled bums
Thanks for the eyewitness account, Bacci. I know the Giants only have something like 2 days off between now and the end of August, just brutal. I think the Giants are understandably worried about burning out the pitching staff through those dog days, But I agree, the 4 man bench just doesn't seem to be enough. Wellemeyer is rehabbing. He's a big strong guy. Maybe he could be a swing man to go 3-4 innings if a starter gets blown out early and also used as a spot starter to give someone an extra day if they need it? Seems like Joe Martinez could be used that way too. Bautista seems like an extra right now. Yourkin is a guy they should be looking at bringing up from Fresno as a LHP who can go more than 1 inning until Runzler gets back.
ReplyDeleteMan I would love to see the Giants come down here and bury the Bums. I guess I've just seen the Bums get off the mat too many times to believe it until I see it, though. Love the starters for the LA series though, MadBum, Timmy and Zito. Much as I love Matt Cain, he just hasn't been able to get it done against the Dogs. Let him go against the D'Backs!
Here's a picture.
ReplyDeletehttp://i157.photobucket.com/albums/t67/Baseballfan_2007/SAFE.jpg
Doc, if you get the MLB Network channel (it's #213 on DirecTV), their Game Day program (I think that's the name) will show pieces of the various games going on that day. With the Giants being at home on the West Coast, it and the Padres games ended up being the only games available to show live highlights from, so although we didn't get to see the whole game, we saw the crucial 9th and 10th innings, as well as pieces of the other scoring innings by the Mets.
ReplyDeleteThe replay clearly showed that Travis beat the tag. I've read somewhere that even the Mets announcers agreed that Travis was safe.
Phil Cuzzi is not our favorite umpire.
Yeah, sounds like the ump completely lost control of the 9'th inning. Is this guy a regular ump or one of those weekend fill-ins from the minors? I don't remember hearing his name before, but that doesn't mean much as I don't really concentrate on umps names that much.
ReplyDeleteSounds like the league needs to give this guy a serious evaluation as it sounds like there was a lot more going on than a single blown call.
Hopefully the Giants have forgotten about the ump and this game by the time they hit the field down here in Bumtown tonight. Beat LA!!!
ReplyDeleteDid I say I was pumped for this series in LA? Go Giants!!
ReplyDeleteEl Lefty Malo makes a great point about instant replay in his blog. I mean, if it's OK to use instant replay for HR's and foul balls, why not for close plays? I do think balls and strikes are probably going too far, but it sure seems like a team should be able to appeal a play like this to the cameras.
ReplyDelete