Ryan Vogelsong pitched yet another sensational game allowing just 1 run in 8 IP, a HR to Chris Iannetta. For awhile it looked like that might not get it done as Rockies' starter Jason Hammel took a no-hitter into the 6'th inning, but the Giants manage to scrape together 2 runs and Brian Wilson closed out the 9'th with a great effort. Key Lines:
Andres Torres- 1 for 3, BB. BA= .261. Torres drew a 2 out walk to start the tying rally and then drove in the winning run with a single to CF. He may have cost the Giants a chance at an insurance run when he got picked off first base by Matt Lindstrom, but it all turned out OK in the end.
Miguel Tejada- 2 for 4. BA= .218. Tejada shot a perfect hit-and-run single to RF to extend the tying rally sending Torres to 3b where he scored on Freddy's single to CF.
Pat Burrell- 0 for 0, BB. Pat the Bat has become more valuable for his ability to draw late inning walks so he can be replaced by Darren Ford or Emmanuel Burriss as pinch runners. He got the job done today leading to the game winning run. Bochy took a bit of a chance by pinch-hitting for the catcher, but scoring a run was more important and the gamble paid off.
Ryan Vogelsong- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 10/3. ERA= 1.68. Again, Vogelsong was sensational in this one. He made the one mistake pitch to Iannetta after thinking he had Iannetta struck out on a 2-2 pitch, but as he went deeper and deeper into the game, you could sense something special was happening. The guy was absolutely nails, balls to the wall, however you want to put it, but my goodness, it was something special to watch. The crowd was behind him in the biggest way. They gave him a standing O coming off the field after the top of the 8'th thinking he would be pinch-hit for. They gave him another standing O after his successful sac bunt in the bottom of the 8'th which contributed to the game-winning run.
Not sure where he got it, but Bacci passed on that Vogelsong's wife says she is reduced to tears when she sees him walk off the mound at the end of a good start. I have to tell you, when he walked off after the 8'th and again after the bunt in the bottom of the inning and the fans were all giving him the standing O's and Burrell and Javier Lopez were hugging him in the dugout, well, I had tears in MY eyes!! I wonder what all has transpired in Ryan Vogelsong's life between the day he was traded to Pittsburgh for Jason Schmidt and where he is today. I'm sure there is a lot more to this story than we know. I hope Baggs or somebody sniffs it out and writes a book on it. Yo Baggs! That's your next book to start researching!
Bruce Bochy made a bit of news in the post game press conference when asked what will happen when Zito comes off the DL. Boch replied that it's definitely an issue that he and Sabes are already discussing. He said they might have to come up with something creative, but it's obvious Vogelsong isn't going anywhere, In fact, he specifically said the Vogey would be taking the ball every 5'th day! After the way the crowd and his teammates responded to Vogelsong's effort today, I think there might be a riot of he lost his position on the rotation to Zito. Stay tuned!!
Brian Wilson- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(17). ERA= 3.00. I really liked the way Chris Stewart handled Wilson in the 9'th inning getting down and giving him a very low target the whole inning. Wilson had both the two seamer and the cutter going and with CStew setting up down low, had the Rockies scraping the dirt with their bats all inning.
The Giants continued their see-saw battle with the Dangerous D'Backs for first place in the NL West, once again gaining a 0.5 game advantage over the Snakes who lost to the Nats 9-4 in extra innings. The Dodgers topped the Reds 9-6 to gain 0.5 games on the lead at 5.5 games behind while Colorado dropped 0.5 games to tie the Dodgers for 3'rd place at 5.5 games behind the Giants. The Pesky Padres are leading the 'Stros 4-2 currently sitting at 7 games behind the Giants.
The Giants start a 3 game series against the Nats tomorrow night with Tim Lincecum facing TBD, followed by Jonathan Sanchez and Matt Cain in the 3 game series.
Go Giants!
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I cry thinking about this rotation.
ReplyDeleteMan, all my life as a G's fan and never have we gotten close to a staff like this. From Jack Clark, to Kevin Mitchell. From Matt Williams to Barry Bonds, this has been a hitting team. Its so nice to see not 1 but 5 starters who have the potential to be lights out every time through the rotation.
this is a time to cherish as a G's fan.
Count me as part of the majority that thought Vogelsong would digress as teams built a scouting report of him. The guy seems one step ahead of everyone. I don't take notes, but it seems like his approach changes every start. I feel like counts where I saw fastballs a few weeks ago, he is throwing changeup, etc.
ReplyDeleteThis guy has been around the block and I love it. You can just see his determination - he is going to throw a kitchen sink at you if he has to in order to stay in the bigs.
Average stuff + Good Command + Determination = the best 5th starter going in all of MLB.
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ReplyDeleteI feel like Vogelsong has a little better than average stuff. His changeup is schmidt-lite and his curveball has a nice break to it. His fastball velocity is more than adequate at 92-93 mph.
ReplyDeletemake me a friggin scout...cuz i was behind song after his third start in st...
ReplyDeletethis wasnt like zito throwing well in st...song had both command and velocity on his fast ball, and was missing bats
he was missing bats in the pcl...you dont miss bats in the pcl...you pray that whatever guys hit doesnt go all that far
doc...got the wife's comments from her tweets
twitter is stupid...but it has been a godsend in sports
mrs song (will someone please tell bochy not to call him voggy) tweeted today that the standing o also brought her to tears
i would wish on everyone to have a wife like this...who will stand by you through everything you have gone through...i am sure that ryan's decision to keep going with his dream, was fueled by this special woman...
let me tell you this...i lay dollars to donuts that at least one whole epi of the showtime reality show goes to song and his story...its the natural come to life...cuz 33 year old guys who have spent 10 years tooling around...just aint supposed to do this
and if im in hollywood (oh shit, i am) im giving him a call to get his life story on the big screen...hmmm...although its gonna be hard to find an actor with a large enough head to play bochy
creative with zito? lets see what happens on monday...i tweeted the sj pbp guy and begged him to report the gun speeds
miggs had a good game...think the fact that pablo's return is right around the corner is motivating him?
man...cody and nate hammered a couple of balls that went nowhere....not sure how that ball hit by ianetta went out...nothing carried today
uh...tulo laid into huff with a forearm...guys in the booth were trying to figure out if it was on purpose....of course it was on purpose...tulo may not be a dirty player, but he knows the game and knows how to make that stuff look done by accident....
after the game that song through...no way was wilson gonna bring on torture...it would have been embarrassing
this is the way to do it...win at home...stay 500 on the road...its the path back to the playoffs
and win or lose...this season has been downright fun
Six man rotation.
ReplyDeleteOf course, they will drag out Zitos rehab as long as they can. I bet they can drag it out to ASG, then do that second half, when there are less days off.
I did not know he would be this good but I was worried about what would happen when Zito returned, as I did not want to risk losing Vogelsong, he was just too dominant in AAA to be fluke.
As bad as losing Posey is for offense, I still think they are capable of winning 90+ games still, as Bacci notes, win at home, .500 on the road. And adding a productive Panda would add even more wins.
Great comments everybody, keep 'em coming!
ReplyDelete