Sunday, September 19, 2010

Down on the Farm: Cal League Championship Series Game 3

San Jose Giants took a 2-1 lead in the series with a rousing 12-7 win in an extra inning slugfest:

I attended this game with a buddy who is also a Giants fan. What a hoot!

Francisco Peguero- 4 for 6, 2B. Peguero was stinging the ball all night, line drives and sharp grounders. He also booted a hard single in RF that allowed Mike Trout to advance to 3B and the two runners on base to score in the ninth. More on that later.

Jose Flores- 1 for 4, 3B, 2 BB. Flores drove in the go ahead run in the top of the 11'th with a triple up the right-centerfield alley to drive in Peguero who had reached on a strikeout/passed ball.

Brandon Crawford- 1 for 5, HR, BB. The HR was a grand slam in the 11'th to drive in 4 insurance runs. The HR ball easily cleared the high wall in CF.

Wendell Fairley- 1 for 2, HR. Fairley didn't hit his first and only HR of the season until late. He hit another one tonight, pulled it to RF, no doubter. Maybe Fairley is finally getting some confidence in his power stroke late this year?

James Simmons- 1 for 3, HR. Simmons came into the game as a pinch hitter for Fairley with 2 runners on base and a LHP on the mound. The pitcher was then lifted for a RHP. Simmons worked a 3-2 count and blasted a shot to right-center that was a no doubter. In his next two AB's, is looked like he absolutely coudn't handle breaking stuff while whiffing twice.

Kyle Woodruff- 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's. If it wasn't for Mike Trout, Woodruff would have pitched a pretty good game. He's a big guy, but looks soft and is a soft tosser. Max velocity on the stadium gun was 87 MPH. He did have the RC batters out in front of off speed stuff frequently.

Ryan Verdugo- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. Verdugo is a smallish LHP but got his fastball up to 93 MPH on the stadium gun and looked like he had good movement and secondary stuff to go with it.

Jose Casilla- 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. Sinking fastball topped out at 90 MPH. He had the RC batters flailing at a sharp breaking ball that they didn't seem to be picking up.

Jason Stoffel- 1 IP, 1 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K's. Stoffel pitched in terrible luck. The first baserunner reached on a K/WP. Then, after a walk to put two runners on base, Mike Trout hit a liner to RF that Peguero booted. Perez picked up the ball and missed the cut off man allowing both runners to score and Trout to go all the way to 3B on what should have been a single. Stoffel was much more deliberate tonight than when I saw him earlier in the season in Lake Elsinore. He also seemed to be doing a better job of mixing in off speed pitches to keep the hitters off balance. His fastball sat at 92 MPH and I think it reached 94 once.

Wilmin Rodriguez- 2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. It's easy to see why the Giants have been patients it Rodriguez. He's a big LHP with a fastball that runs 90-94 MPH. The Quakes hit a couple of line drive singles and he got a couple of loud outs that were right at fielders so he wasn't really fooling anyone, but the tools certainly appear to be there. I could easily see him being a MLB LOOGY(Lefthanded One Out Guy) or something. The Giants really seem want at least 2 of those in their bullpen at all times.

Mike Trout- 4 for 5, 2 HR, BB. This game was really a showcase for Trout. Many prospect rankings have him as #1 or #2 prospect in all of baseball and one could certainly see why from this performance. My goodness! What a combination of size, speed and power! He seemed to be playing the game at a higher level that the other players on the field. The Angels' CF of the future.

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