The Giants needed a good game from Matt Cain today. He gave them a great one! Perfect through 4, no-no through 7. The offense gave him just enough run support to shake off a 2 run bomb by Melvin Mora in the 8'th. Brian Wilson and the entire bullpen now get two days of rest going into the final week. Key lines:
Cody Ross- 1 for 3, HR(14), 2 BB. Ross has now homered in 3 of his last 4 games.
Freddy Sanchez- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(7). BA= .296. Freddy is on a power surge. Today's dinger was an absolute bomb hit down the LF line way back into the cement canyons of Coors Field. He played with a sore shoulder and will get an MRI tomorrow. Let's all cross our fingers on this one.
Buster Posey- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .317. The line is OK, but Buster deserves huge props for calling a great game. I loved the way he called the last pitch of the game. With a runner at first, 2 outs and 2 strikes on Jason Giambi, Buster emphatically pointed down at home plate, pulled his hand up and then just as emphatically put down 2 fingers. I'm sure CarGone at first base could see it if he was paying attention. Cainer threw an absolutely perfect bender that froze Giambi. Game over! A great moment of enthusiasm from Buster.
Matt Cain- 9 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.95. Of all the great games I've seen Matt Cain pitch, I think this was the game of his life, so far. I remember how electrifying it was to watch him pitch early in his career, pumping fastball after fastball that hitters could never seem to square up, even when they knew it was coming. Cainer still has the fastball, maybe not quite as much juice on it, but much better command. He also has a full arsenal of secondary pitches he can throw whenever he wants to. He's all grown up and a pitching ace. The Giants have at least two of those now with Sanchez and Bumgarner rapidly catching up. Today, though, it was all Matt Cain. He was a Rock against the Rockies in Coors Field. How awesome is that?
With the W, the Giants moved back into first place in the NL West by 0.5 games over the Pesky Padres who got hammered by the Reds 12-2. The Reeling Rockies fell back to 4.5 games behind the Giants. In the Wild Card race, the Atlanta Braves dropped their second of 3 to the Washington Nationals 4-2 and are now 0.5 games behind the Padres.
The Giants now get a much needed day off while the Padres, Rockies and Braves all go back to work. Next up is the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday as the Giants begin the last 6 game of the season, all at home. The Giants starters for the D'Backs series are Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, and Tim Lincecum.
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much more than a sore shoulder, he cant throw to first...cant turn a dp...luckily, he only had one play to make
ReplyDeleterentawreck with another cortisone shot, hopes to be able to play on tuesday
looks like the plan to move panda to the bench wont be happening, so he must step up
basically, looks like ross and fontenot need to step up...tall order
sanchez says he will play if called upon, but if he cant make plays...that is a dangerous thing to do
hopefully the mri will come up negative...but i have a very bad feeling
looks like another run at multiple surgeries
Well, lets wait until we have a report of the MRI before we go cutting on poor Freddy again. Ross has already stepped it up. I have confidence in Fontenot, but he's not quite the fielder Sanchez is and he certainly isn't going to hit 2 dingers in 3 days the way Sanchez has. Of course, Sanchez likely isn't going to continue his dinger barrage either.
ReplyDeleteRight now, my biggest concern is the weather. It's forecasted to be about 80 degrees at game time on Tuesday night. The balls go jumping out of the park in weather like that. I actually like the Giants chances better in 1-0 and 2-1 games than in 10-9 games, especially against the D'Backs!
To back up DrB, Cody Ross has been hitting, 9 game hit streak, .344/.400/.656/1.056 batting line, 3 HR in 32 AB. The question to me is when Torres return, and I'm hopeful of Tuesday's game, who will sit, Burrell or Guillen, for Ross? Though, with Ross doing well, the Giants might feel OK with starting Ross during the D-back's series and see if Torres can return in the SD series.
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