The Giants played a seesaw game against the Pesky Padres holding off a 9'th inning rally to get the W. Key Lines:
Marco Scutaro- 2 for 4, SF. BA= .282. Scoots is hitting .341 over his last 10 games.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5, 3B. BA= .300. Sandoval looks ready to roll. Just stay healthy!
Buster Posey- 3 for 4, 2 2B, SF. BA= .333. Buster stays hot. He hit .381 in July. He's hitting .434 in August. .407 in his last 10 games and an unbelievable .439 since the All-Star break.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, SF. Pence had one of 3 SF's for the day for the Giants. This may come as a surprise to some, but the Giants lead MLB in SF's with 46, 3 more than the Boston Red Sox and 6 more than the 3'rd place Texas Rangers.
Joaquin Arias- 3 for 5, HR(2). BA= .268. Arias is hitting .476 over his last 10 games, .328 post All Star break.
Barry Zito- 4 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.42. Bochy apparently wasn't digging what he was seeing from Zito and yanked him early.
The Dodgers rode 3 consecutive HR's by Ramirez, Loney and Cruz to a 6-2 win over the Braves to stay 0.5 games behind the NL West leading Giants. The D'Backs crushed the Houston Astros 12-4 to stay 5 games back.
Brad Mills was fired as manager of the 'Stros which hardly seems like a rational or fair move after the 'Stros held a fire sale to boost their future. If they want to go in a different direction, why not wait until after the season?
Ryan Vogelsong goes for the sweep against these same Pesky Padres and Clayton Richard tomorrow afternoon.
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Are the Giants better without Melky? (I think, as WAR kind of shows we should win one less game the rest of the way.) But, I'm more into the secondary effects. Melky busts ass on the field, great hustle. And who can argue with what he put up, as individual? But the guy can't even really talk to his English-speaking teammates. What kind of camaraderie can teammates build without being able to talk to each other?
ReplyDeleteAnd, at least the fans, they have been kind of shifting into the "well, it was great having Melky in 2012, but we won't be able to re-sign him next year" mode.
And maybe the team was coming to rely on him too much. Kind of waiting for him to do it. Now the guys know that they have to step it up. No margin for error.
Speaking of, Bochy is shifting into put up or shut up mode.
Zito was going to give it all up last night regardless of what the offense put on the board. (As opposed to our bullpen, which only gave up most of it. Not much of a difference...and BIG difference.)
For LF, SS, 2B, the Giants are going to have a real solid rotation of whoever is putting up good ABs is going to play. And, it makes a difference when players like Burriss are not a part of that equation.
Like to put more of Belt's ABs into peril. Arias is swinging a hot bat. (Love it when he's hot. Guy hacks and hits. Reminds of vintage Juan Uribe.) But for Arias to hit 6th and Belt 7th...C'mon Brandon, Bochy is talking to you.
In the batter's box Belt is caught in the middle. He's late on FBs, and he's early (or missing entirely) the offspead stuff. Guy is trying to give equal swing to everything and adjust to every pitch. But doesn't have that ability, not yet. He needs to guess more and just SWING. Brandon, please, watch Pence!
I don't know if they do it at the MLB level, but I'd make him take pitches. Just relax in the box and watch them. Make him take entire ABs, outcome be damned. Make him WANT to swing. Because 4 HRs in 300 ABs is just not going to do at a corner. Ever.
But, yeah, that's an old complaint.
Great game last night.
Ooh, I don't know about some of that. First of all, the Giants have hit well on the road with Melky. Secondly, you can't tell anything from 2 games. 3'rdly, we never got a chance to see this team with Melky, Posey, Sandoval and Pence 3-6. Assuming Melky is not back next year, I will always wonder what kind of damage that lineup could have done.
DeleteAs for Belt, again, it's just one game. He's been hitting very well lately. Flip-flopping him and Arias is just Bochy wanting the RH batter with the hot bat facing the LHP higher in the lineup. I don't see any message in that at all.
Lots of complaints about Bochy's platooning in the comments on Extra Giants, but go look up the Giants record against LHP's. The results speak for themselves.
Wow, Kelly that one is served up on a platter.
Delete1. Better English makes better ballplayers? Then again if you're testing ballplayers for PEDs why not test them for English too. Kelly, make sure you don't travel overseas, hint English is not the #1 language in the world.
2. DocB nails it. We only got to see the Melky/Posey/Panda/Pence lineup once - and the only time they beat the Nats. Damn I was looking forward to that lineup.
3. Belt is here to stay despite one o'fer. So are his teammates.
4. Bochy looked like a genius last night starting Arias in the #6 slot. Gonna argue with results in a game they really needed to win? Not me.
This game was a much better team test than the previous game. The Giants offense had to overcome a 4-1 deficit and did it with authority. The team does seem more energized, but is that just an emotional high or can they play with this focus the rest of the way? The Bums series will us tell a lot. Now let's go sweep today.
I think if you don't speak Egnlsih and you are playing with bats, balls and gloves from the English-speaking world, it can be tough.
DeleteKelly - Bochy shifting into put up or shut up is a good call. Its now a short season, he will be quicker with the hook for sure. Bochy takes some abuse, but its long season. I was very impressed with how he changed in September and October 2010, and I expect to see the same type of thing this year.
DeleteAdmittedly I'm looking for potential positives regarding losing a player who is a deserved MVP candidate.
DeleteMonterrey, COMMUNICATION makes teammates which makes better ballplayers. Please don't make me out to be a some kind of English-as-the-official language of the United States kind of nutcase.
If I had worked in a foreign country for past ten years, I'd probably be somewhat fluent in the native language of that country. It's just a good idea if one wants to build relationships with those around you.
I don't want Belt to leave. But if he doesn't get better with his current approach or change it (whatever results in him tapping into the power he clearly has) he will ultimately be leaving. Simply the rules of the road.
Shank, Doc & Monterrey, I LOVE that Bochy is juggling the lineup. He was masterful in late 2010 and into the playoffs. My point is more directed at the players. Put up. Now.
Again, looking for any potential positive to pull out of a bad situation. My comments on Melky are just searching for some kind of secondary positives. What about Melky not being here makes the Giants better. There have to be some positives.
Wow, just Wow. If this is accurate, then Melky really is deeper in the s#$t! Borderline criminal behavior to top off using PEDs.
ReplyDeletehttp://deadspin.com/5935999/melky-cabrera-cooked-up-a-phony-website-to-try-to-beat-his-suspension
File under can't make this stuff up...
Thanks for the link. If the Daily News is right, and Novitsky is on the case again... I don't think Melky is returning to the French Vanilla, no matter how cheap he comes. That is comically bad, and the agents paying his associate as a consultant looks pretty bad as well. Haven't these folks heard of... cash? Paper trails will do you in every time.
DeleteYeah, I think if Jeff "The Dark Cloud" Novitsky is involved, this seals the deal for Melky not returning to the Giants. Bonds was enough.
DeleteWith the money we save from this Melky craziness we can go hard for Michael Bourne.
DeleteI would view a speed guy like Bourne through the Carl Crawford lens. He is a good solid player, I think Boras will be stretching him out well, and Sabean will not want to get into a bidding war on that front. Speed doesn't slump but it does go away over time. I think he is a tad overrated, but I would hope for a kick the tires on BJ Upton. Not sure if he would cost a draft pick or not. Another FA might be Nick Swisher, depending on what the Yanks do. I like Swisher a lot, and he might be cheaper in years and dollars.
DeleteYeah, in hindsight, kind of comical that Melky was trying to concoct up that alibi. If true, of course.
DeleteHis somewhat flat full admission of "I took something I shouldn't have, and I shouldn't have" seemed sort of off to me. Which is odd, because that type of full admission should make us feel good about him fessing up and being honest. But something about it just didn't feel right. If the fake website is true, and Melky was trying to downplay, it would make perfect sense.
For Melky's sake, I hope it's not true. I wish him well wherever he lands (here or elsewhere). He really played with a great intensity and hustle which I really appreciated watching.