The Giants crushed the Choking Dogs tonight behind the dominant pitching of Jonathan Sanchez and a pent up offense that unleashed its fury on a hapless Ted Lilly and a bunch of gas cans that passes for the Dodgers' bullpen. In the process, the Giants jumped past the San Diego Padres, who were blanked by the St Louis Cardinals, to take sole possession of first place in the NL West. Key lines:
Edgar Renteria- 4 for 5, 3B. BA= .284. Renteria ignited the 4 run 3'rd inning by laying down a perfect bunt for a base hit catching none other than Casey Blake napping at 3B. I think the Giants have found their leadoff batter for the stretch run. Rent's defense at SS was noticeably more nimble than Juan Uribe's of late.
Freddy Sanchez- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB. BA= .290. Nice game from Freddy.
Aubrey Huff- 2 for 4, 3B, HR(25). BA= .294. A 2 out triple in the first to set up the get-back run on Posey's double, then a 3 run blast to RF in the pivotal 3'rd inning. Dude's been the leader all year and he led the way tonight as well.
Buster Posey- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(14). BA= .325. Usually when the Giants get a runner to 3B and there is 2 outs, it seems like you can pretty much count on them staying at 3B. Ain't havin' it with Buster up there! 2 out double to over the head of Reed Johnson in RF, who may not have been seeing the ball real well out there tonight, in the bottom of the first to bring Huff Daddy home from 3B. Then, Posey comes back in the 3'rd inning with an absolute bomb to LF going back-to-back with the Huff Daddy. I'm not sure if this one was harder hit that Burrell's bomb off the W sign in Petco Park, but my goodness! Can you hit a ball any harder than Posey's shot tonight? I don't think the ball ever got higher than it's landing point, a good 2/3's of the way up the bleachers in LF, almost an unbelievable feat on a cold, foggy night in AT&T Park. I'm telling you. The people who said Buster's ceiling is 15 HR's per season had it all wrong, just wrong!
Jose Guillen- 3 for 3, HR(18). BA= .264. Guillen's 2'nd HR as a Giant. Wouldn't it be something if he got hot down the stretch?
Jonathan Sanchez- 7 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 12 K's. ERA= 3.21. As recently as earlier this year, a double to the leadoff batter followed by a run-allowing error before he recorded his first out would have been reason for Jonathan Sanchez to go into one of his funks, start nibbling, walk a bunch of batters and hit the showers early. Not tonight! Sanchez shrugged the first two batters off like a fly on his shoulder and went after the Dodgers with a vengeance and focus that I don't think I've ever seen in him before, although his resolve has been steadily improving over the course of the season. Just a dominant start by a confident pitcher who looked like he believed he belonged out there. Watch out MLB! There is yet another new star in San Francisco! There was a heart-in-the throat moment when Sanchez took a pitch off his left hand while trying to bunt, but again, he shook it off and just kept on mowing down the Dodgers hitters. Let's hope those fingers don't swell up tonight or something!
As mentioned above, the Giants win and the Padres loss moved the Giants into first place in the NL West for the first time since May 6, by 0.5 games. The Rockies did not play, so they remain 2.5 games out of first place, but now it's the Giants they trail by 2.5! Since the Giants are in first place, the Wild Card race is a non-factor for now, but the current Wild Card holder Atlanta was idle and now owns an 83-64 record, identical to the Giants.
The BrewCrew now comes to town for a 3 game weekend series. Madison Bumgarner leads it off tomorrow night followed by Tim Lincecum on Saturday and Barry Zito on Sunday. Meanwhile, San Diego continues their 4 game series in St Louis and the Rockies go to LA where the pitching matchups favor a 2-1 series win for Colorado.
Go Giants!!!
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durty pitched the game of his life...dont know if the giants announcers mentioned it...but scully did
ReplyDeletebochy did a real classy thing...let durty go out in the 7th to warm up...then lifted him before the first batter...so that the crowd could cheer him again
it is now official...the friars have experienced one of the most epic collapses in the history of the game....they only had to play 500 ball for the rest of the season, and the division was theirs
its nice to see guillen hitting...but im still confused why the guy has a thing against staying as a dh....he has no wheels and he cant play the field everyday...but he can still hit a ton
and i know you said that you dont mind rowand facing lefties...but come on...he really is a joke now
Yes, after tonight's performance, I'd say there is no excuse for Rowand to be playing if Cody Ross is on the bench. Ross, Velez, Nate, Darren Ford.....honestly, they all bring something to the table that makes me prefer any of them to Rowand right now.
ReplyDeleteBaggs mentioned after the Kershaw game something I've said myself a few times, what on earth does Rowand have to lose by ditching that ridiculous batting stance? I really think that may be part of the problem. It may have helped a stiff back, or helped his timing once upon a time, but to me it looks like he's off balance when he swings. I know he goes into a more conventional stance just as the pitcher is delivering the ball, but to me it looks like he never really gets a firm base under him at any time. Come on Rowand! Just try something different, already!
You pegged it right DrB on Sanchez! Huge leaps and bounds in maturity even within this season. He has grown up!
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