Barry Zito battled an unfriendly strike zone and came away a winner as the Giants offense broke out for 4 runs in the 5'th inning. Zito carried the 5-0 lead into the 9'th inning before allowing the first two batters to reach base. Bruce Bochy was pulling strings and juggling pitchers until Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo put out the fire for the win. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 1 for 3, 2 BB, SB(21). BA= .289. Pagan continued to lead the way from the leadoff spot getting on base 3 times and scoring 2 runs.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 3, BB, SB(10). BA= .262. Belt should have been 2 for 3 with an RBI. He was robbed of a hit by the official scorer and a hard grounder down the line that ate up Freddie Freeman and bounced into short RF. Belt hustled all the way to 2B for what should have been an RBI double. The Giants would have scored 5 runs either way, as far as the outcome of the game, it didn't matter.
Hector Sanchez- 2 for 4, 2 2B . BA= .267. Sanchez was in a mini-slump on the road trip but broke out big time tonight helping his buddy and batterymate Barry Zito get the W.
Barry Zito- 8 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 4.31. Zito has pitched some very good games this year but I think I might be the most impressed by this one. He had an ump with a small, low strike zone. Not exactly tailor made for Zeets. He looked shaky at times, especially in the first 2 innings but kept after it and held the Braves at bay giving the offense time to build a lead.
With the Win, the Giants build their lead over the idle Dodgers to 3 full games and the idle D'Backs to 6 full games.
Ryan Vogelsong tries to get back on track facing Ben Sheets tomorrow night. Vogey has been victimized by the BABIP gods his last 2 games. Sheets started his comeback like a house afire but struggled in his last start.
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I like the ten steals from Belt. It shows base-running awareness and quickness, without being a Billy Hamilton. When the power comes around he'll really be a complete package of OBP, defense, baserunning, and slugging.
ReplyDeleteBelt's D is phenomenal! His dig on Pablo's great play really saved it from going for naught. Dare I say that Belt's D at 1B is better than JT's? The bat has really come around nicely and he's looking a lot more like he feels like he belongs in the big leagues. I think the Giants can pencil his name in as the first baseman next year and concentrate their offseason efforts elsewhere.
DeleteThis is why I compare Belt's potential as being Joey Votto-like: good hitter with significant power, good baserunning skills to get a good number of steals for anybody, let alone 1B, plus gold glove defense. He could have the whole package once he figures out how to do the hitting and power consistently most of the time.
DeleteAt this point, I think he's close enough that I would hope the Giants try to sign him to a long term deal into his free agent years (using team options) this off-season. A bit of a risk, but I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, though clearly we are still in the tunnel with his recent downturn offensively, he has not hit that well since Melky left, perhaps he's putting some extra pressure on himself again. Fortunately, Bochy has batted him 7th for the most part, though he actually hit 5th yesterday, and he did OK.
So I agree with DrB, write his name in as starting firstbaseman for 2013. Looks like we probably are shopping for a LF (or CF if Pagan plays LF), maybe a 2B, though Scutaro looks nice there right now (sorry Theriot!), and possibly reliever, depending on what they do with Affeldt plus Wilson's spot. Then, there is the long reliever role as well, I have to think Mota is done after this season, if not sooner, given Melky-gate, and I like Hacker, but the Giants do love their vets there to compete, so it will be telling who they sign to compete with Hacker and maybe Surkamp, for that role.
I don't know about Joey Votto. That's a mighty tall order for poor Brandon Belt to live up to.
DeleteHere's a couple of relatively inexpensive OF names to think about for next year: David DeJesus and our very own Andres Torres who will likely be non-tendered by the Mets. How about the Giants trade Hunter Pence and his $15 M arbitration fueled price tag for a prospect or two and go with an OF of Pagan, DeJesus and Torres with Brown and Pegs getting a bit more salt in Fresno waiting in the wings?
At the game last night...
ReplyDeleteBraves fans were all over Melky/PEDs and full of Chipper.
So it was nice to turn it around and watch them get shut down by a guy throwing an 84 FB. I think Zito is definitely not on PEDs. Made for some good bleacher ribbing though.
Pagan is really setting the table and tone for the Giants right now. All out hustle, in all phases.
Pence was useless in the 4 hole. Hope he can find it soon because Bochy is going to keep running him out there every day. Still you could see he puts fear into pitchers and at least keeps the pressure on.
Bochy is in playoff mode, he was going to send 10 relievers out there if that's what it took to nail down the win. This works, but can they keep it up for 2 months? Still he did give Zito a shot to finish it, very impressive.
I like the committee for no other reason than it leaves open the option to bring one of the LOOGYs in to face a key LH batter like McCann last night. Good to see Romo get it done against the LH batters though. It was one of those situations where Bochy had to choose his poison and fortunately, he got it right with Romo facing the lefties.
DeleteI think Belt is only going to get better. If you look at his history, he starts off slow and then it clicks in. I think that is what has happened this year, albeit more slow than some would have liked. Not sure I'd sign him long term now, but next year definitely (I don't recall them giving MadBum a good contract early so I'd think they wouldn't for Belt until one more year under his, well, you know, belt).
ReplyDeleteWe definitely need a 2b. Love Scutaro but hard to imagine us signing a 35 year old to start for much more than a year. Not sure if we have any options, but we picked up 10+mm thanks to the Milk Man.
Will be interesting if they sign Pence or just let him go to arbitration. Pagan gets CF next year. Would love to see Peguero click so he takes one of our top 4 OF spots, we sign Pence (maybe at a slightly lower contract) and then bring in someone less expensive for the last OF.
On relief, we still have Hembree and Runzler so would be somewhat of surprise if we signed a reliever.
Holy Moly! Blockbuster deal going down between the Dodgers and Red Sox!
ReplyDeleteTalk about impatience. This is just reactive desperation right now. Can't believe this kind of response to getting swept and being 3 out. Obviously I don't want to see that team improved. But, really, they've lost their minds.
DeleteDodgers are committed for around $130 million next season as it is. I thought the luxury tax was going to act a cap for off-season dealing. Now I'm not so sure (on either point, a) that they have a spending limit or b) that they'll wait for the offseason to address issues.)
Magic Johnson and Ned Colletti is and incendiary combination. One believes the way to run a team is to have an unlimited budget. The other believes in acquiring old, injured, expensive players. Great combination! Gotta love it!
ReplyDeleteI'm torn. The Dodgers would be immediately improved by picking up AGon, or even Beckett or Crawford.
DeleteBut in the long run it feels like they're going down a dead end street. A very expensive one at that.
And, it's just SO unappealing the way they're trying to win: Buying their way in.
I think it is a bad move. AGon just isn't worth this trade. He hit .280 at PetCo until his contract year and then only hit .300. Sure, he's an upgrade over Loney, but how much is it worth. If Kemp gets hot, they're in great shape. Talk about mortgaging the farm.
ReplyDeleteBecket sucks. Crawford is overrated (and happily we didn't get him). Plus, he's played mostly in the AL and I doubt he has much success. The pitcher they gave up was pretty good and their pen is already pretty weak. Makes no sense other than to send a message.
Great. We send a message right back. Win with the guys who got you to the dance, cause you ain't buying it. And then they'll be right where the BoSox are now--overleveraged, with old talent and their farm system purged. The only smart thing on their part was they didn't get rid of their No. 1 pitcher. In the meantime, we have Crick, Blackburn, and a bunch of other guys.
Ps, Dr B., Pegs is starting tomorrow. No one is grabbing LF, so don't count him out yet!
I am hoping the Sox got at least 2 of the Doyers best pitchers. As of right now it looks like Ruby D and Webster. Great. I fear AGon a bit more than others, maybe cuz he has always seemed to hit us well. But the rest of it is a great bunch of noise, flashing the money roll. Still, that is a pretty dangerous lineup that has been vastly improved over what it was in June.
ReplyDelete