Ryan Vogelsong took on A's ace Trevor Cahill in a pitching duel and didn't give an inch as the both starters departed after 6 innings with the game tied 1-1. Aubrey Huff finally drove in the walk off game winning run in the bottom of the 10'th as the Giants won the battle of the bullpens. Key Lines:
Andres Torres- 1 for 3, BB, SB(3), S. BA= .300. Torres played the role of leadoff batter perfectly as he led off the game with a walk, stole 2B and took third on a wild throw then scored the first run on a groundout be Freddy Sanchez. It would be the only run the Giants scored until the bottom of the 10'th inning.
Aubrey Huff- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .222. It's been a frustrating spell for Huff, but he came through with the game winner driving in Emmanuel Burriss from 2B after the A's had walked Freddy Sanchez to get a lefty on lefty matchup with Brian Fuentes. Did the A's look at Huff's splits before they made that decision?
Nate Schierholtz- 0 for 4. BA= .256. Nate went 0 for 4, but made the play of the game when he GUNNED down Josh Willingham at 3B who was trying to go from first to 3'rd on a single by Mark Ellis. He also made a nice running catch on Kevin Kouzmanoff later in the game.
Emmanuel Burriss- 1 for 1. Burriss scored the game winner from 2B after singling on a 3-2 pitch to lead off, sacrificed to 2B by Torres. The A's walked Freddy Sanchez to get to Huff and Huffy hit the game winner. I wonder if Burriss' speed at 2B influenced the A's to walk Freddy figuring any single would plate the run and Freddy is more likely to hit a single than Huff to get any kind of base hit? Bruce Bochy: Please, please give Burriss a chance to play SS and lead off for awhile! Torres would make a fine #3 hitter and speed changes games, even with no SB's.
Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 1.93. Vogelsong might not have been quite as sharp as in his 2 prior games. It seemed like the A's were getting their leadoff hitter on almost every inning, but man, did he ever pitch with heart! In spite of all those leadoff batters getting on, the only run the A's scored was unearned. Take your time getting well, Barry!
Bullpen- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. No single standout here, but man, can this bullpen ever shut it down when they are going well!
With the win, the Giants stretched their lead in the NL West to 1.5 games over the Reeling Rockies who lost a 14 inning heartbreaker on Prince Fielder's walk off 2 run HR after the Rockies had taken a lead in the top of the inning. I wonder if the BrewCrew did the fall down thing around The Prince after the walk-off? The Dangerous D'Backs held on to edge the Twins while the Dastardly Dodgers topped the ChiSox in extra innings to remain 4 and 5 games back respectively. The Pesky Padres dropped to 6.5 games back with a loss to the Mariners.
Tim Lincecum takes the mound in a late afternoon game tomorrow against Brett Anderson in what will likely be another pitching duel. Can Timmy recover from his last rough start?
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What a pleasure it is watching Nate work in RF. Pefection nailing Willingham at 3rd.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised and very pleased that the Giants aren't going to just hand Zito back his spot. Vogelsong has earned the spot. Great that, pretty much, it's his to lose.
Garen seemed double-switch happy tonight. Was shocked he pulled Cahill for a pinch-hitter in the 6th. Cahill, at 80 pitches, had owned the Giants all night.
Yeah, Geren found out what it's like to manage in the NL and he kind of overcompensated.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think they pretty much have to keep Vogelsong in there until he proves it's all a fluke. I don't know how many of you remember Mike McCormick's Cy Young season of 1967, but what Vogelsong is doing reminds me of that. It was just one season, but oh man, what a season!
geren has absolutely no clue how to manage in the nl....the al makes most managers nothing more than spectators
ReplyDeletethe man has no clue what the double switch is for...it was like he was managing a little league game, and had to make sure to put in everyone on his bench
and bochy totally juked him on using godzilla...forced him to waste a position player
and i remember mccormicks cy young
i think song has something to prove to himself and the baseball world....
and you gotta know that right now, the execs at showtime are creaming all over themselves
giants playing close games...bunch of walkoffs...and stories like song and the end of derosa's career
as for zito...they should just put him on the 60 day...cuz he cant work out of the pen...
with a 60 day, he can spend a good month in fresno
as for nate...i still have a very bad feeling
he is the best trade chip the org has...and with derosa down and out, they need another middle if
i like burriss....and would love for him to end up being the new utility guy...but i still think neither sabean nor bochy have enough faith in him
but dang....have loved that cannon that nate has since 05
who cares if he goes 0fer...he saved a game last night and a run, maybe more....tonite
Nate probably won the game tonight too. I mean, if he doesn't get that runner at 3B, and I don't think Ross would have, there's no telling how many runs would have scored that inning. As it was, the A's put up a nice round number and kept the Giants in a game where they weren't touching Cahill. Consider this too: If the A's had gotten even a 1 run lead, Cahill probably doesn't come out after 6.
ReplyDeleteI am starting to believe that Righetti is a miracle worker. Look at this staff and as good as the starters are - the BP is not stinky cheese. I consider Wilson might be the weakest and yet he is dynamite. Quite a collection of five starters but when they get ready to turn it on, I like them better than Philly. That said, I wonder how Phillies' pitching would handle having an offense like the Giants
ReplyDeleteNate. He has his moments with a bat, but wish he would have them more often. I was stationed at Fort Monmouth 1963 or 64 and a bunch of us loaded up and went to Phillie to see the Pirates. By 1963, if not earlier the taking the next base on Roberto was almost extinct. Like everywhere in life there were those few nuts that walked back to the dugout with their head down. It has been many years but Nate is there with the arm. I don't want to hear all that old sappy stuff, but Nate's arm just might be canonized some day if he can just adopt a decent bat. It is so amazing how "some" human beings can throw a ball. Tell me who now has a arm that good...
ReplyDelete