Bay Bridge Series Game Wrap: Giants 2 A's 1

The Giants completed the sweep of the Bay Bridge Series today with a 2 out rally in the bottom of the 9'th inning. Pretty much nobody was paying attention though as roster decisions took center stage. The Giants have reached the stage of their post-Bonds rebuild that good deserving players don't make the team because the quality of the competition is so fierce. That is a good problem to have, but it makes the decisions wrenching and painful. First, the Key Lines:

Mike Fontenot- 2 for 5. BA= .304. Fontenot started the ninth inning rally with a single. Advanced to second on a botched pickoff attempt and scored the tying run on Whiteside's single.

Eli Whiteside- 3 for 5, 2B. BA= .324. Whiteside kept the rally going with a single to drive in Fontenot and kept going to 2B on the throw to the plate. Chris Stewart came up as a PH for Kroon and hit the walkoff single with Whiteside coming home.

Aaron Rowand- 2 for 4. BA= .222. More on Rowand later.

Nate Schierholtz- 1 for 4, SB(3), Assist(Pennington at 2B). BA= .269. Nate shows here why the Giants need him. He helps them win in so many ways.

Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 5.93. A bit easier to pitch at sea level than in the warm desert air. If Cain, Zito and Bum pitch in the regular season like they did in this series, the Giants are going to be allright!

Ryan Vogelsong- 1.2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.27. Vogelsong pitched well enough to make the team. Lost out on a numbers game. Now he goes to Fresno as the disaster plan.

Marc Kroon- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, W. ERA= 1.69. Kroon certainly did his part. Runzler looks like a beast, but he did have options left and Kroon looks to me like an asset to the team. Not sure I agree with Runzler over Kroon.

As I'm sure you all know, Brandon Belt made the Opening Day roster. That should pretty much put a nail in the coffin of the notion that Sabes and Bochy refuse to play young players or take chances on young players. Unfortunately, keeping Belt came at the cost of DFA'ing Travis Ishikawa. Ishikawa has been a good Giant. He's a gifted defensive first baseman and had his moments as a hitter, not the least of which was drawing a key walk in the NLDS to keep an inning going when it looked like all was lost. It's not a given that his Giants career is over as he could clear waivers and accept assignment to Fresno, but I think it's not likely all those stars will align. Still, it is clear that Brandon Belt is the Giants first-basman of the future. Since Travis can really only play 1B, there is just not room on the roster for both of them. It was the right decision.

For the time being, Huff moves to RF with Torres in CF, Burrell in LF with Rowand and Nate in reserve. Don't forget Cody Ross is out there on the DL. In about 3 weeks, the Giants will have another gut-check roster decision to make. Despite Rowand's 2 hits today, I don't see how Rowand can be kept while letting Nate go when Ross gets back. Rowand has no future with the Giants, his contract is a sunk cost. He's the one who has to go, unless of course there is another injury.

Brian Wilson starts the season on the DL. It looks like Mota claimed the 7'th bullpen role with Runzler filling in for Wilson. That left Vogelsong and Kroon as the odd men out. Vogelsong will go to Fresno and wait for an injury to the starting rotation we all hope never comes. Kroon is weighing his options, but Bochy is trying to talk him into going to Fresno. Runzler pitched darn well this spring, but so did Kroon. In this case, I think you have to go with the numbers game and use the option on Runzler so you don't lose Kroon. Not a huge deal, and Bochy has certainly earned the right to not be second guessed on his bullpen decisions, but I'd have optioned Runzler and kept Kroon who I actually see as the Giants second best closer option behind Wilson. Again, don't try to tell me Bochy always takes the veteran over the young player! Oh well, if Mota's job is safe, Runzler will be sent down as soon as Wilson is back anyway.

The Giants wrap up Spring Training 2011 with a fine 23-12 record. The performances of the pitchers in the Bay Bridge Series was especially encouraging.

The Giants begin their WS Championship defense in LA tomorrow evening with Tim Lincecum taking the mound against Clayton Kershaw, who is always a tough customer. I'm looking for Timmh to come out on fire though. Go Giants! Beat LA!!