Oh.....My.....God! Of all the gut wrenching, soul destroying losses I've suffered through as a Giants fan over the years, and I'm talking 44 years of being a Giants fan, this one has to rank, oh, at least in the top 20 if not the top 10. Just when the Giants needed a great game from their starting rotation in the worst way, Jonathan Sanchez stands and delivers only to have it ripped away from him in a nightmare of a 9'th inning. No key lines tonight. There were no key lines! Just the awful story of the 9'th inning.....sorry, I'm still shaking!
For those of you who think I'm a knee jerk Bruce Bochy apologist, here goes. I would not have sent Jonathan Sanchez out to start the ninth inning! I understand the thought behind it, but no, if you are willing to use Brian Wilson in this game at all, at all, you send him out with a clean slate in the 9'th inning.
Sanchez started the 9'th off well enough with a couple of crisp curveballs to a righty batting Dexter Fowler. Then he sailed a fastball, and another. It was obvious that Sanchez was gassed and was dropping his elbow on the heater. I don't know if he could have controlled the breaking ball better, but Posey kept calling for the fastball down as if Sanchez had any chance at all of delivering it. Maybe after he sailed two fastballs, it might have been better to try to get by on the breaking ball for the rest of the at bat? Well, Fowler walks and Brian Wilson enters the game. Wilson missed with a couple of pitches outside but managed to get the count back to 3-2 against Carlos Gonzalez. Then, he absolutely blows up CarGone's bat, but somehow the ball sailed out into right-center field over the head of Cody Ross, a good outfielder, who completely misjudged the ball. Would Nate have had it? We'll never know. At this point, the run was home, but to make matters worse, Freddy Sanchez, who had a great chance to nail CarGone at 3B, threw an atrocious relay that took 3 hops and skipped past Pablo at 3B and into the stands, guaranteeing CarGone trotting home with the game winner.
It gets even worse. In the bottom of the 9'th inning, Aubrey Huff, Travis Ishikawa and Buster Posey scalded 3 balls off Huston Street, but alas, all 3 were hit right at fielders and that was the ballgame.
I don't know if this represents the end of the Giants season, but it sure as hell feels like it! Total desolation. Words are failing me now, gotta go.
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Yeah, I totally agree with you DrB on your assessment of this loss within the context of the Giants franchise history. I tweeted that this was the first loss this season where I felt like we didn't have a chance to get into the playoffs.
ReplyDeleteThis post captures the agony of this game well.
I only disagree with the Sanchez/Wilson 9th inning situation. I think Sanchez earned the right to start the 9th, he pitched well and his pitch count was not that high. But losing it so badly after the two strikes, sorry, when the end of the season beckons, you don't get a long leash, maybe if it were in April, May, June, maybe even July, but not August nearly September, and not for a pitcher like Sanchez who has been so inconsistent during this career.
I get that Wilson would be better off starting clean, but he's our closer, he should be able to handle it. Plus others said the LOOGY should have been in, and again, he's our closer, he's suppose to be able to handle both LHH and RHH, and he says that he feels more effective when used early and often, so even though he was used in the previous game, according to him, he should be good to go. It is the 9th, you go with your closer.
But, again, great post, I would compare this feeling to the 2002 World Series, after the Angels come back against us, and after their hits against Livan in the 7th game, I just felt we were going to lose that game. This was very gut-wrenching and took the air out of me, a strong punch to the gut.