Game Wrap 9/4/2012: D'Backs 8 Giants 6

You can only walk a tightrope so many time before you fall off.  The Giants can only get into so many offensive shootouts with teams like the D'Backs before they take one between the eyes.  The Giants mounted a spirited comeback from a 6-2 deficit in this one only to see it stall out at 6-6 and eventually fall short in an extra-innings loss.  Had they gone on to win this one, the story of the game might well have been sensational defense from multiple players and multiple crucial points in the game, but alas, it wall went for naught.  Key Lines:

Marco Scutaro- 2 for 5, 2B, 3B, Sac. BA= .286.  Another terrific offensive night for Scooter.  Speaking of defense, though, is it just me or are the words "....past a diving Scutaro...." becoming a bit too commonplace.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5, 2B, BB.  BA= .290.   Yep, I think Sandoval is heating up.  Pablo also made a sensational and scary diving catch of an attempted sac bunt.  At one point in the play, he was fully parallel to the ground at least 18 inches in the air.  Ooof!  Kruk and Kuip said they thought it registered on the Richter Scale!

Hunter Pence- 1 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 Assists, E.  BA= .262.  Pence was busy in this one both on offense and defense, both good and bad.  Have to say that whether hot or cold, Pence has made the hits he does get productive.

Brandon Belt- 3 for 5, HR(5).  BA= .275.  Splash hit for Brandon.  Those have been quite rare since Barry Bonds left the team, but I have a feeling we're going to be seeing more of them from Belt in the future.  Time to forget about platoons and splits.  Belt is the 1B of the present and future.  Time to put him out there every day and leave him there.  It's even become a close call whether Buster should displace him on non-catching days.

Brandon Crawford- 2 for 3, 2B.  BA= .249.  Nice night at the plate for Brandon, but he also made one of the more sensational plays I've seen, and he's made quite a few sensational plays already in his young career.  With runners on first and third and 1 out, a high chopper was hit to the right of the bag.  Crawford cut over from DP depth at SS to grab the ball,  he then took about two steps to tag the runner from first then did a 360 and threw the batter out at first.  The tag, 360 and throw were all one seamless motion and lightning quick.

Ryan Vogelsong- 3.1 IP, 9 H, 6 R, 2 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 3.29.  Once again, Vogey appeared to have good stuff with an excellent K rate.  Yeah, he probably caught too much of the plate with too many pitches, but it looked to me like he was working with a very tight strike zone.  At the beginning of the game, Kruk commented that this ump generally has a pitcher's strike zone that stays consistent throughout the game.  I agree he was consistent, but it looked like a very hitter-friendly zone for both teams.  Vogey had several pitches that I thought were clearly strikes called balls and Mijares was absolutely robbed of a strike 3 later in the game.  So, while Vogey has struggled for several games now, I'm going to chalk this one up to a tight zone and BABIP.

Aaron Hill(D'Backs)- 5 for 5, 2B, HR(21).  BA= .302.  Don't throw stones, but Hill is on my fantasy team and has been a major force for Savvy Vets ever since I picked him up a couple of months into the season.  I'd happily trade an 0 for 5 for the Savvy Vets for a Giants win though.

The disappointment of the loss was softened by the Dodgers extra-inning loss to the Pesky Padres 6-3, although the Giants missed another opportunity to essentially put the NL West race away.  As it stands, the Giants lead remains at 4.5 games with the D'Backs still a distant 3'rd at 10.5 games off the pace.

Madison Bumgarner goes tonight against Trevor Cahill.  Come on Bummy!  This team needs some 5-1 or 6-1 wins here!