Man, these Giants do not play well in getaway games nor in quick turnaround games. I don't have the stats to prove it, but it just seems like you can count on them coming out flat for those games. Today was no exception as Madison Bumgarner, who had flown to Chicago ahead of the rest of the team so he could get a full night's sleep, didn't have his best stuff and fell behind 5-0. The Giants chipped away at the lead in the later innings but ultimately came up short. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 1 for 3, BB, 2 SB(23). BA= .290. More leadoff goodness from Angel as he came around to score twice.
Ryan Theriot- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .267. Impressive that Theriot, who hadn't played in like forever, got on base 3 times.
Buster Posey- 3 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .329. Posey was expected to miss the game but talked his way into the lineup to catch Bumgarner. He'll play 1B tomorrow and let Sanchez catch Timmy. There definitely seems to be a personal catcher platoon going despite protests to to contrary from the Giants.
Madison Bumgarner- 4 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.07. Bumgarner has had 2 subpar starts since his gem against Kershaw. He threw a lot of pitches in that game.
Dodgers are tied with the D'Backs in the 7'th of their game as of this writing.
Tim Lincecum faces Justin Germano in another day game in hot, humid Chicago tomorrow. Hopefully September of this year is like September of 2010 for Timmy. The odds would seem to be stacked against him tomorrow, though.
PS: Dodgers lost to the D'Backs 4-3 in 11 innings so they remain 4.5 games back of the NL West leading San Francisco Giants. By winning, the D'Backs gain a game to 8.5 back. Dodgers are now 2-5 since The Trade.
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I don't like to listen to MadBum lose. Pisses me off, period. He always seems to have bad BIPBA luck not closing out the 3rd strike or the 3rd out. I think MadBum needs to develop an off the plate put-away pitch like Timmy's change-up the dirt when he's on.
ReplyDeleteAlso I don't like it when the Giants lose, now.
MadBum was not sharp. Cubbies were fouling off the inside stuff that is normally swing-and-miss when he's on.
ReplyDeleteDodgers just dropped the game in extras. 8th straight loss to the D-Backs? Nice.
Even though it bit the Giants, God Bless the Cubs for Friday Day baseball. It's very cool. You know, it would have been the right thing to do if MLB had just let the Cubs keep the lights out of Wrigley. If you do the math on potential revenue loss for Daytime playoff baseball, it is miniscule. Seriously, baseball stood to lose fraction of a one percent of revenue if the Cubs showed up to the World Series average regularity. (Not since 1945...they don't make the average, that's for sure.) But the quaint, kitsch value of having one team play all day games would be worth it. And, nowadays, with slingbox, etc., baseball fans won't miss a playoff game if it happens to go during work hours.
Anyone want to break down Belt's swing for me? It seems like he is chopping at the ball. No follow-through. With his size, he's almost to warning track power. Which helps, not at all. How much has he adjusted his swing from last year? I was very encouraged by his power last year. I felt, well, he has the power. Average will come. But, he's kind of gone the other way.
I just don't know what to make of him. He can field the position, sure. But I feel he's on a regressive arc hitting. At what point does his approach lead to power. Because, it has to lead to power. 15 to 20 HRs minimum. We have to feel, down by 3, with 2 on, that Belt has an immediate, definitive solution to putting the Giants back in the game.
(And don't preach his good performance the last game in Houston. No crucial hits. And no HRs in the band box.)
Belt is still truncating his swing, but not as badly as he was mid-season. I always prefer to go with fixing average first and thinking the power will come than the other way around. As for the 4 for 5, Belt has no control over whether there are runners on base when he comes up. "Crucial hits" will even out over a large enough sample size given enough opportunities.
Deletegreat news...a's pummeled bosox, pretty much putting nail in bobby's coffin
ReplyDeletea's are only 4 games out behind the rangers....and both southland teams are in danger of being out of postseason after spending oodles of caishe
tdaddy got the call from the indians...happy for the kid
the idea that the xman is the answer at lft is silly....but what the heck
I don't think it's so much that the X-man is the answer as he seems to be the most likely guy out there to catch lightning in a bottle. Compared to options tried so far, there's absolutely no harm in giving it a shot.
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