Friday, April 15, 2011

Game Wrap 4/15/2011: Giants 5 D'Backs 2

Pablo Sandoval hit a 3 run dinger in the first inning to stake Matt Cain to 3 run lead. It was a easy win from there on out except for a mild bit of anxiety in the 9'th. The Giants need to win some games like this. Key lines:

Aaron Rowand- 0 for 5, 3 K's. BA= .314. Probably early to be getting on the gamer, but my gosh! Did he look terrible at the plate? Made a couple of nice catches though.

Buster Posey- 2 for 4, SB(2). BA= .304. Buster seems to be stroking the ball better as he recovers from a respiratory virus to start the season.

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, HR(3), BB. BA= .356. Pablo seems to be seeing the ball better and laying off some pitches he might have swung at last year.

Miguel Tejada- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .265. Miggy made a couple of nifty plays out at SS too. I liked the signing even though it got ridiculed in some circles. Working out OK so far.

Mat Cain- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 3 K's, HBP, GO/AO= 7/5. ERA= 1.42. Another game by Cainer to drive the sabermetricians crazy. He does seem to be gradually transforming himself into more of a GB pitcher as the K's decline though. Tonight's game was a textbook case of how a pitcher can dominate without a lot of K's. Cain might have been able to get through the 7'th without giving up a run, but Huff's range in RF was an issue again. He was protecting the gap, not sure why with a 5 run lead, and Drew hit a long high fly the fell just inside the RF line with Huff about 3 feet away.

Ramon Ramirez- 1.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. Ramirez is the guy who should be credited with a Save in this one. Bases loaded, 1 out, he held the damage to 1 run as in got a sac fly and a K to end the threat and keep the lead at 4 runs in the 7'th. He added a scoreless 8'th.

The W moved to Giants into sole possession of 2'nd place in the NL West, 4 games behind the rampaging Colorado Rockies who blanked the Cubs 5-0 behind Jhoulys Chacin. San Diego beat the Houston Astros 4-2 and are now in 3'rd place 5 games back while the Dodgers got pounded by he Cards 11-2 to fall 5.5 games back in 4'th place ahead of the D'Backs on percentage points.

Barry Zito takes the mound tomorrow evening against Joe Saunders. Saunders is not a very good pitcher but seems to give the Giants trouble. Zito pitching in the BOB is a scary thought.

Andres Torres was placed on the 15 day DL retroactive to the 10'th of April. Darren Ford, a member of the Fresno track team, was called up to take his place on the active roster. Ford saw action tonight as late defensive replacement in CF with Rowand moving over the LF, but did not get to bat or pinch run.

Cody Ross played 3 innings of an extended spring training game today and hit a double, apparently with no problems from the calf strain so he should be back soon. The roster shuffle will really start to get interesting then.

3 comments:

  1. this is what you get with rowand

    either he is on...or he is totally off

    if our leadoff guy is gonna k 3 times, might as well start ford...at least if he gets on, he is a threat to run

    i do not understand why nate was not in the field to start the 7th...even if huffs place to bat was up the next inning

    5-0 in the seventh...get the best d out there....huff is just too slow

    ross will probably get into the game in vegas tomorrow...if he looks good, then he could be activated on sunday

    wait till you see the box scores from sj and fresno...total insanity thanks to the wind

    when ross gets activated, he will start in right....rowand will stay in center....huff to left

    im still thinking, that when torres comes back, they have to send belt down....both torres and ross sustained what could be nagging injuries...this is not the time to lose nate

    it may be a bummer to belt, but the fresno club seems to be a very positive enviroment this season

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  2. You know, the great thing about the Cards pounding the Dodgers is that it was Fireworks Night at Dodger Stadium. Fans in the good seats thinned out a bit, but the bleachers were PACKED at the end of the game with angry-pissy-drunkards, who really wanted to leave, but damn-well weren't going to get gyped out of their fireworks. Cards laid 4 runs on the Dodgers in the 9th. Ugly right to the end. Vin Scully commented, "The Redbirds should change their name to the Buzzards, the way they're picking over the Dodgers..." Loved it.

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  3. That's great about the Dodgers and Fireworks Night. The fireworks in the game rivaled the fireworks afterward, except it was the Cardinals putting on the show. Yeah, those pavilions in Dodger Stadium are not the lovable Bleacher Bums. It gets pretty ugly out there.

    Except for Matt Kemp and Clayton Kershaw, the Dodgers really don't have a good team. Gonna be a long ugly season in Past It's Prime Stadium. Now, the Colorado Rockies worry me, but not the Dodgers.

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