Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Game Wrap: World Series Game 1: Giants 11 Rangers 7

As often happens, an anticipated pitching duel turned into a slugfest. More surprisingly, at least to the so-called experts who seemed to think Cliff Lee was the greatest pitcher in postseason history(seems like we get a new one every series, huh?), the Giants were the ones doing most of the slugging. They got a lot of help from some very bad defense by the Rangers and some very good defense by the left side of the Giants infield. Had to feel just a bit for poor Vlad Guerrero out there, THAT was downright embarrassing! The statue named Michael Young playing 3B for the Rangers probably actually cost them more runs than Vlad, though. Key lines:

Andres Torres- 1 for 4, HBP. I wasn't sure Torres should be in there against the LHP, but he scored two key runs. Looked better at the plate from the right side than the left.

Freddy "The Mole" Sanchez- 4 for 5, 3 2B. 3 consecutive doubles set a World Series record. I think we can officially declare the Tim Alderson for Freddy Sanchez trade a success and put it to rest.

Aubrey Huff- 3 for 4, 2B. Man, Huff Daddy sure does hit lefthanders well, doesn't he?

Juan Uribe- 1 for 4, HR. Uribe and Burrell looked like they had a bead on Cliff Lee all night and they kept just missing, fouling pitches straight back before striking out on a little cutter he kept throwing to get out of trouble. O'Day wasn't so lucky as OooReeeBayyy got all of it. What was even better, the 2 inherited runners that scored ahead of him raised Cliff Lee's postseason ERA even more.

Tim Lincecum- 5.2 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. Timmy was maddeningly inconsistent, looking great at times and terrible at others. probably just as well he came out when he did. At 93 pitches, maybe he'll be stronger in his next start, if it's necessary! I'll just say that the Rangers don't swing at pitches outside the strike zone(except Vlad), which is something Timmy gets teams to do for most of his K's. Watch for that to be a factor as the series progresses.

Santiago Casilla- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. I'm not at all sure the Giants would have won this game without the 4 huge outs that Casilla got tonight. Dude was nails!

Javier Lopez- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. Not sure it was necessary for Lopez to come in to face Mitch Moreland, but the game ended up being a lot closer than I would have liked and he got an important out that took the game to the next inning. Romo just isn't very good against LH hitters right now, so it was probably the right move.

Ramon Ramirez- 0.1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. Can we have Mota the next time, please? Personally I would have left Ramirez off the roster in favor of Chris Ray, but Bochy seems to be on love with Ramirez right now.

Brian Wilson- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K's. Hated to see Wilson used in a non-save situation, but even I was getting a bit jumpy there at the end. This was a must-win game for the Giants, especially after blowing out Cliff Lee the way they did. A blown lead at that point might have doomed the series right there. We'll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.

With the win, the Giants take a 1-0 lead in the best of 7 series. Plenty of teams have come back from a 1-0 deficit to win the World Series, but losing game one at home is never a good thing. Some random observations on covered above:

The Rangers are a good hitting team. Except for Vlad, they don't swing at pitches outside the strike zone, even with 2 strikes. I guess I already covered that one, but it's worth mentioning again. They will be a much bigger challenge for Giants pitchers than either the Braves or Phillies.

The Rangers are a very bad defensive team. I seriously doubt we will see Vlad in the field again, so that will help them, but Michael Young is very bad too. The Giants superiority on defense will be and already has been a major factor in the outcome. Oh, and Aubrey Huff is really starting to worry me over at first base. That's the second ball he's kicked badly this postseason.

Even though the Giants bullpen wasn't great, it was better than the Rangers by a lot, except for Ogando who had no business being out there with a 4 run deficit.

Bruce Bochy outmanaged Ron Washington which doesn't seem very hard to do. Washington left Cliff Lee in there at least 3 batters too long. It seemed like Washington was leaving him in there just so he wouldn't have to bring in a bullpen lefty to face Huff. First of all, Huff hits lefty's darn well, and by the time Huff came up it was way too late anyway. Obviously the decision to play Vlad in RF was disastrous. He burned Ogando for 2 innings in a game the Rangers had a 99.8% chance of losing at that point. That's actually the true percentage, you can look it up! Of course Washington looked terrible in Game 1 of the ALCS and it ended up not affecting the ultimate outcome of the series, so I guess we shouldn't be too smug about it just yet.

Matt Cain now takes the mound tomorrow night, weather permitting, to face CJ Wilson in Game 2. Cain is probably the Giants pitcher most comfortable working in the strike zone, so the Rangers' impressive plate discipline shouldn't be a huge problem for him. Wilson has had a good season, but he's also hittable. I'm cautiously optimistic for another Giants win here. In the event of a rainout, the game will be played Friday night with no travel day before Saturday's Game 3 in Texas.

9 comments:

  1. What the hell was Washington doing using perhaps he best bullpen arm other than Feliz? Stupid.

    Also, I think you're right about Cain. I was optimistic that Timmy's strange mechanics would be tough for the Rangers who never see him, but that wasn't the case. What I've seen from the Rangers this postseason, I think Matt Cain is the Giants best matchup against them. He keeps the ball down, he pitches to contact - throw in that he is pitching at AT&T (probably 1 out tomorrow will be on something that would be a HR in Arlington). Although he has no extensive playoff experience, I am now loving the fact that the dude never got run production. He is just a stone-cold killer that can't be rattled.

    Giants 5, Rangers 3

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  2. yes....bochy outmanaged washington...

    but he outmanaged him before the game started

    whatever bochy and sabean did and thought before the post season, they have gone out of their way to make sure that the best d is on the field for most of the game...why washington and the rangers thought they could hide vlad in right is beyond me...and if they try it again tomorrow night, its gonna be just as bad

    never mind that vlad was taking shots off the wall in practice...practice aint a real game....practice aint in front of the crowds and the cameras....and it was sad watching vlad almost cry....havent seen anything like that since mays later years.

    i still believe that cain wouldve done better tonite....timmy may be a freak, but he has thrown alot of innings, is dealing with that blister, and was for all intents and purposes throwing in short rest....btw, i hear that his dad spent most of the game at the public housee and not in the park...talk about nervous....also, when was the last time that timmy threw a curve? used to be his best pitch...now he is all change up, fastball, slider (and not much slider tonite)

    freddie was amazing...but technically the trade only got him here for last season...ya, there was the option...but still....what i will say is, it seems he is mostly healthy, and its nice to see him perform to the level of his skills.

    and let us all not forget travis and nate....first at bats in a ws....hits with rbi's....no matter what happens with their careers, they can tell the grandkids about tonite....and i can just see vai beaming from ear to ear....hope he is now glad that the giants didnt trade timmy.

    and please, how does benjie look better at the plate now then when he did in a giants uni? and scoring on a sac fly? inconceivable

    pen was fine...they pitched to the situation....but gosh, why is mota on the squad if bochy wont use him?

    it was great seeing monte irvin out there...great seeing stretch....worried about mays....too sick to come to the park....that scares me

    great seeing bennett at 84 having better pipes than john legend, who has no biz singing the anthem in sf...give me local talent, like fee waybill

    anyway...good game

    cain needs to be his sept and nlcs self...take a 2-0 lead back to texas and the giants are in very good shape

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  3. Beat me to the punch on Sanchez for Alderson! LOL!

    What a game! Great commentary on the game! Bwills loves to pitch every day anyway, and there are built in days of rest, so may as well use him.

    Yeah, Huff probably should DH in TX, let Sandoval start at first, he is OK fielding there.

    I could not follow the whole game, but early on it was noted that Lincecum was using only two pitches, did he finally start using all his pitches? In particular, he did not use his new slider that Bengie never saw.

    I agree that we have a good chance to be up by two with Cain vs. CJ Wilson, Wilson is OK, but not as good as Cain, and particularly Cain in SF.

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  4. I saw maybe 2 or 3 pitches that I thought were sliders or curves. At least one was a swing and miss. Gotta think the blister issues is the reason why he's not throwing it more. Kind of like when Jason Schmidt was only able to throw fasballs and changeups, except Timmy's FB isn't quite what Jason Schmidt's was at that time. Hope it's just the blister and not some other arm problem.

    Bacci,

    Forgot to comment on Tony Bennett. Man, what a great voice! I went in the other room to tell my wife about it. That might have been the best rendition of GBA I've ever heard. Might be the only time I've ever liked the song! They were snarking at it over on the fangraphs.com game chat, said it was too slow. Well, I disagree. I thought he did great and it's great to see an octogenarian share a gift like that with people. I know it was a blessing for me.

    I wouldn't get too worked up over Bengie. He's just fired up and in one of his increasingly rare hot streaks. I agree Timmy's lack of a breaking pitched played to Bengie's strength. Bengie looked pretty bad against Sergio Romo's sliders. We all know Bengie is capable of coming up with a big hit when you need it though. Can't take him for granted at all.

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  5. The Mota pick confuses me. If you are adding a pitcher that will not be used at all., why not pick Zito, at least for one of the series?

    Oh well, I will not complain.
    Ramirez was very good at the end of the regular season.

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  6. A couple things:

    1) Washington should have seen how Jose Guillen's outfield experience fared in SF and managed accordingly. Also, I agree that Michael Young's feet were in cement - on Sanchez's double he was able to move about 3 inches to his left; that is a routine play for 90% of MLB 3B.

    2) What the hell is Boch's fascination with Ramon Ramirez? Have him fake an injury and bring in Chris Ray. On 30 days of rest he and Chris Ray should be able to pour it in instead of serve it up.

    3) I think Timmy is going to be just fine, but does anyone else feel a slow shift towards Matt Cain being the true workhorse/dependable ace of the future? Couple that with this experience for Bumgarner and we are set for years to come.

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  7. Yes, Tony Bennett is a true treasure, that was a great rendition.

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  8. I see on BA that the Padre's signed Moreno.

    Did the G's sign any international talent this year that I missed? Or I guess like always, this years crop will start to appear in the box scores 2-3 years from now.

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  9. It appears the Giants bailed out of the international market this year after about half of the higher profile prospects came up with positive drug tests. They had been linked to a couple of names, but then nothing materialized.

    It's possible they diverted some of the money budgeted for the international market to a few above-slot signings from the draft and/or to acquiring MLB talent for the stretch run.

    I'm becoming less and less convinced that spending more than about $1 million on any one player in the international market is a good idea. Pablo Sandoval was not a high profile signing, nor was Francisco Peguero or any of the other international players that have made it to higher levels. Perhaps a better strategy is to sign a larger number of lower profile players and see who develops. After all, these kids are just 16 and 17 years old when they sign. Just think about all the churning in draft projections between HS players junior and senior seasons, let alone from sophomore to senior.

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