Once again, the Giants used early HR power backed by shutdown pitching to dominate a Rockies' team in Coors Field that was the hottest team in baseball coming into the series. Key LInes:
Darren Ford- 0 for 2, BB, SB(1). Although the SB itself did not directly contribute to the run Ford scored, it did seem to distract Franklin Morales who threw a mistake pitch that Aubrey Huff smacked off the front of the second deck in RF for a 2 run HR.
Aubrey Huff- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .254. Huff is heating up. Fangraphs had a post today about how Huff is having a bad season and the Giants will have a problem on their hands with his 2 year $22 M contract. Really? For a site that supposedly prides itself in statistical analysis, including the concept of sample size, that's a pretty ridiculous stance to take! Huff is obviously more comfortable at 1B and that carries over into his comfort at the plate. Huff will get hot soon enough, mark it down!
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .328. Pablos took Ubaldo Jimenez deep in the first inning with 2 runners on base. The Giants had the right idea to get to Jimenez early. Coming off the DL, he figured to be a bit rusty but if he could get through the first inning or two would likely settle down and pitch more like an ace. The Giants didn't let that happen and Pablo was a huge part of it. He is now tied with Burrell for the team lead in HR's.
Jonathan Sanchez- 6.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 4 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.13. Not a typical high K game from Sanchez, but he kept a very potent Rockies lineup at bay for 6 innings and didn't let himself get ruffled when frustrating things happened. Giants starting pitchers have now allowed just 5 hits in 14 IP, against the Rockies.
Javier Lopez- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 1.50. Lopez faced the heart of the Rockies lineup. It feature two LH hitters, Gonzalez and Helton, but Tulowitzki was sandwiched between them. No problem, Lopez got Tulo on a groundout to Pablo. 3 up 3 down.
Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K's, Save(5). ERA= 7.94. Wilson's doesn't mess around this year. He's been lights out since his first two games off the DL. He's not throwing quite as hard as last year, but that 3 fastball combo(4 seam, 2 seam, cutter) has hitters pretty much helpless up there. They have no idea if the ball is going to rise or sink, run or tail and they have no time to adjust.
With the W, the Giants move to 2 games behind the NL West leading Rockies who are at 12-5 to the Giants 10-7. The Giants have now guaranteed their 4'th series win in a row. They have won 6 of 7 and have gone 9-3 since opening the season 1-4.
Matt Cain goes tomorrow against Jorge De La Rosa. De La Rosa can be tough, but so is Matt Cain. Should be a good game with the Giants having a better than decent chance at a sweep. Go Giants!
Aaron Rowand came out of the game after taking a HBP in the inside of the right forearm in the first inning. It may not warrent a DL stint, but if it did, Belt could stay on the team with Cody Ross taking CF and Nate getting a longer look as the starting RF. On the other hand, if Belt is not going to play, he would be better off going down to Fresno.
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Sanchez seemed a lot more cool and collected than he normally does with runners on base. Statistics and analysis of all kinds can never pinpoint what we can see with our own eyes: Good players growing up.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I just want to give Posey some props for calling some great games. I don't care if Lincecum and Sanchez throw awesome pitches, the way Tulo was swinging the bat, some serious scouting needed to happen for him to basically be a soldering iron dipped in ice like this. Posey also framed a couple pitches tonight that seemed to convince the ump that it touched an edge.
Quick question for you doc - Fontenot obviously started very slowly, but seems to be coming along well (he is clearly a veteran player who has a good approach). Do you think if he continues to get on base and make plays defensively that the Giants should really consider moving Mark DeRosa while he's semi-healthy?
DeRosa currently doesn't have a place to play. He plays multiple positions so is nice insurance against injury, but if the Giants could get a nice prospect or a solid defensive SS for him, I'd pull the trigger. Yeah, I've liked Fontenot from when he was still with the Cubs. Solid little player there. The Giants might consider trying to re-up him to take Freddy's place next year. Not sure I want to risk another contract on Freddy's fragile body.
ReplyDeleteIt is fun to try to play virtual GM!
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone else remember how excited they were when the Giants got a player like Mark DeRosa! He actually signed a contract to play in SF, he would bat 5th or 6th and maybe even drive in 70+ runs...
A little more than a year later, we're saying that same guy has no place to play and is basically expendable. Sure beats talking about how we need Brian Bocock to heat up his bat and make a slick double play combo with Eugenio Velez. I think at some point Deivi Cruz even started in the Giants IF. Oh, if we never have to re-live those bad-old-days, I'll go to my grave a happy fan.
Keep up the posts DrB, love reading them!
de la rossa is very much like sanchez...giants need to be patient
ReplyDeleteHate to break it to you but Giants gave Franchez a $6M extension in spring, he is signed for 2012 already.
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I forgot about Sanchez' extension. Oh well, it's only for 1 more year and he's playing great right now.
ReplyDeleteI like the $6mil extension. He may still be fragile, but he doesn't have two major injury flags right now like the last time the Giants gave him a contract (and for longer). He and Fontenot make a decent pair in any case.
ReplyDeleteGo big PANDA! Don't forget his tag on Ianetta.