Bruce Bochy put his faith in Ryan Vogelsong and Ryan rose to the occasion pitching a red hot Homer Bailey to a standstill for 5 innings. The bullpen pulled themselves together for one of their patented shutdown efforts and the Giants overcame 16 strikeouts to scratch out a 2-1 win in 10 innings and live to fight another day. Key Lines:
Not much to see in the boxscore for the offense. The first run scored on a HBP, BB, Sac bunt from Vogey and a SF from Pagan. First hit of the game for the Giants was Scooter's single in the 6'th. Posey led off the 10'th with a single, Pence singled. After 2 K's, the runners advanced on a PB and Arias was safe on an error with Posey scoring from 3B. 3 hits and 1 BB total in 10 innings, yet it got the job done.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 5 K's. Typical Vogey start with good stuff, shaky command, lots of pitches thrown but hey, he did what he had to do which is keep his team in the game for at least 5 innings.
Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. Excellent effort by Affeldt to hold the Reds at bay. I think he is best as a long reliever who can eat up 2 innings at a time.
Sergio Romo- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Romo goes 2 innings and gets the W!
Homer Bailey- 7 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 10 K. Bailey has been a classic post hype sleeper. This guy was a highly rated prospect once upon a time, but struggled to get established in the majors. He had a very good second half this year and upped his consecutive no-hit innings to 14 before giving up Scooter's hit in the 6'th. I'm going to be looking for this guy in next year's fantasy draft. Hopefully he doesn't go too much deeper in the playoffs to boost his price.
The win gave the Giants their first win in the postseason against 2 losses. They face another elimination game tomorrow at 1:00 PDT with Barry Zito taking the mound against either Mat Latos on 3 days rest after going 4 unexpected innings in Game 1 or Mike Leake who would have to be added to the roster to replace Johnny Cueto. If Cueto is dropped due to injury, he could not be added back onto the roster until the World Series if the Reds make it that far.
The Reds kill LHP's and the thought of Zito pitching in that ballpark makes you wince, but hey, Zito has pitched some big ballgames this year in some unlikely circumstances and he seemed to get stronger as the season went along. It ain't over 'til it's over. Go Giants!! Good to see them put up a fight.
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vogey is a man
ReplyDeletestill not getting respect from the national press...who cares...he is a man
not really into bochy's choices today, as he emptied the bench long before the 9th and watching what arias did and how speed does make an impact, i sill wish peggs had been put on the bench before huff
Alright alright. The series is over when its over.
ReplyDeleteHere's what I got: Kids going nuts, me chanting "Come on Giants, Come on Arias, Come on Baseball Gods" and then... something finally broke our way. Boom! Arias legged it out, and we get to see Barry Zito in an elimination game.
Vogelsong was huge. Romo was huge. Our pen held. I was texting "here comes the meltdown" as Affeldt got his men on, and when Casilla was facing Votto. But they held, and Romo got to bat to boot! Mainly though, Vogelsong is the man. Watching the Gints flail away and getting pulled with them still being no-hit, and he was stoic. Love it.
Zito tomorrow - never trust Barry Zito. Timmy better be ready at a moments notice. You get Zito some run support though... I can see this being a killing, Salomon Torres style. Or a nail biter. We'll see how it rolls. The Giants need to wake up something though, I suggest our table setters get their act together. Gotta score runs tomorrow or its over. Once its over.
Gotta agree with Bacci about Bochy. And with Pence looking hurt the decision to not have the 5th OF was looking bad. But Dusty bails him out by a) pulling 100 MPH lefty Cuban for Fat Boy Broxton and b) pitching to Arias instead of forcing Bochy to pinch hit his last guy for Romo. Thanks Dusty!
Bochy's decision looking bad?: with Pence hurt, Bochy could move Belt to LF and use Posey at 1B while the pinch hitter for Romo, had he needed one, would have moved into his normal position as catcher for the relief pitcher, Lincecum, whom he normally caught during the regular season.
DeleteDusty bailing out Bochy? It made sense to bring in righty Broxton to face right handed hitters, Posey, Pence, Nady, and Arias, with only one left-handed hitter, Belt, in the offing. It also made sense to pitch to Arias, whose BA against Broxton had been hovering near .200, rather than force Bochy to pinch-hit Hector Sanchez, who would be hitting left-handed and stood, perhaps, a better chance of getting a hit than Arias, given that Arias set the bar so low. Furthermore, in the event, Baker made the right decision, since Arias hit a ball that would have been the third out if Rolen had handled it cleanly.
I think it is almost always a mistake to make judgments without figuring out, first, what the subject of the judgments was trying to accomplish by doing what s/he did.
Hey everybody's up! Forgive my exuberance on that one, lets not take it too seriously, I will try to clarify a bit though, the bailing out part was a little tongue in cheek. Bochy emptied the bench. He had Hector as his last position player. Dusty could have forced that into action, and taken Romo off the table. That's what I would have done.
DeleteAs for Dusty's pitching decisions, Aroldis Chapman struck out Pagan and Sandoval both batting right handed, and he didn't really break a sweat. I would have let it ride another inning myself. When Broxton was in, I immediately texted "this is the inning we can win it". Broxton does not scare at all. Chapman and Marshall do.
I don't think Arias sets the bar low. I think he's a tough out. That was a tough play that Rolen had to make. So for me, the double move of emptying the bench and getting romo out was the right one to make.
Oh hell yes on Chapman. I'd have left him in, certainly. Giants were not coming close to catching up to that FB. Broxton is much more of a wildcard. Giants have had success against Broxton. Against the Giants the way they had been hitting (PAST TENSE!), they didn't stand any chance against a 2nd inning of Chapman. Not that the Giants tore Broxton up. But, yeah, Dusty made a mistake there.
DeleteAs for Arias...the way Sandoval has been hitting, I almost want to start Arias. I have no problem sending Arias to the plate in any circumstance (except maybe a bunt).
You definitely can't predict what would happen, but the point of speed putting some pressure on the defense is a good one. You walk Arias, you have a slow runner at third for the force at home, you have hobbled Pence at 2nd, and you have Hector at the plate. As soon as the passed ball moved the runners along, that seemed like an easy call. Dusty decided to stop playing NL baseball. Will it be a big enough window for the Gints to crawl through?
DeleteNo way I would start Arias over Sandoval, this is GAB, homer haven for LHB and Sandoval is one, against RHP for the most part, playing him will pay off in this park, over Arias.
DeleteI see the point of people wanting to walk Arias to face, most probably, Sanchez, but from what I've seen/heard about Sanchez this season, he's a clutch hitter, and as a manager, I would rather risk facing Arias, who has no history of this, than Hector, remember, he was among the team leaders in RBI the first couple of months, before his injury, despite hardly playing much. And getting rid of Romo is a good move normally, but in the Giants case, then they go to Tim Lincecum, who, despite not playing up to his level this season, should still scare the other team. And Romo is known for hanging sliders sometimes.
They are both pretty unproven, Arias or Sanchez. Sanchez is very slow though, and you have forces to each base. Just for the hell of it... From BBref, splits for 2012, the meat of both players career: Clutch Stats, 2 out, RISP:
DeleteArias: 42 PA, 225/262/350 with 9 hits (1 2B, 2 3Bs) and 10 RBI, 5 Ks, 2 BB.
Sanchez: 33 PA, 226/273/290 with 7 hits (2 2B) and 8 RBI, 8 Ks, 1 BB.
I would trust Arias to put the ball in play a little more, and be faster. Its a very small sample, and both players are unproven.
Romo does hang sliders, no doubt. But they got a look at him in the 9th, and he was pitching well. I think the unpredictability of Timmy coming out of the pen would be a better call. But its a moot point, Dusty did what he did, and the Gints got through by the skin of their necks.
Loved Tim Flannery's write up of Pence pre-game speech:
ReplyDelete"get in here, everyone get in here..look into each other eyes..now! look into each others eyes, I want one more day with you, it's the most fun, the best team I have ever been on said the Reverend Hunter Pence. " and no matter what happens we must not give in, we owe it to each other, play for each other, I need one more day with you guys, I need to see what Theriot (jerry) will wear tomorrow, I want to play defense behind Vogelsong because he's never been to the playoffs..play for each other not yourself, win each moment, win each inning, it's all we have left"
For me an old coach it moved me like I have never been moved before...purity, real, passion, soul. the last of the holdouts this Pence..no arrows being shot, no hey look at me, no spotlight on me, no dance but "play for each other"...honor the game the game honors you..don't know where and when it ends, but tonight I was proud to be together as a team, in a hostile environment, with just us..brothers that play for the name on the front, not the name on the back.
It took 10 innings but they did it...can't wait for tomorrow!
Well, there it is.
DeleteThat's why I really like Pence. I saw this. This speech. I saw it when he first walked into the ballpark as a Giant. Night game was over. He walked in the left field gate. Cameras all over him. And just something about the way he carried himself. Man, tough situation, getting traded again like that. Starting over with teammates again. But he walked with poise and purpose. And a kind of forthright, positive humility. Just the way he carried himself.
They relayed later that he met with Giants brass, and then went down and worked out. I liked that too.
flan just posted the rev pence pregame talk on facebook
ReplyDelete"get in here, everyone get in here..look into each other eyes..now! look into each others eyes, I want one more day with you, it's the most fun, the best team I have ever been on said the Reverend Hunter Pence. " and no matter what happens we must not give in, we owe it to each other, play for each other, I need one more day with you guys, I need to see what Theriot (jerry) will wear tomorrow, I want to play defense behind Vogelsong because he's never been to the playoffs..play for each other not yourself, win each moment, win each inning, it's all we have left"............for me an old coach it moved me like I have never been moved before...purity, real, passion, soul. the last of the holdouts this Pence..no arrows being shot, no hey look at me, no spotlight on me, no dance but "play for each other"...honor the game the game honors you..don't know where and when it ends, but tonight I was proud to be together as a team, in a hostile environment, with just us..brothers that play for the name on the front, not the name on the back
also hope everyone saw the craw piece in the chron
we all know the story, but i dont think anyone of us knew that a chron photog got a pic of a forlorn 5 year old craw on the final day of the season in 92...thinking that would be the final day he would see his beloved giants
Wow, what a shot of mini-Craw. Thanks for the heads up Bacci. Much appreciated.
DeleteGood decisions, bad decision? I only saw bits and parts of this game so it's hard for me to chime in. Don't really care because it all worked out in the end. Aroldis Chapman is one guy I would throw the matchup book away on though. You can't hit what you can't catch up to, doesn't matter if it's left or right. I think you'll remember I mentioned Broxton as a guy the Giants could get to in my series preview post.
ReplyDeleteThanks to both for sharing the Flan quote. I felt a bit verklempt reading it. I don't see how Pence don't sign a long-term deal this off-season.
ReplyDeleteThe BCraw piece was great, the picture greater, also there are Crawford family pictures in there as well, check out the gallery.
I was surprised Chapman wasn't in to pitch another inning. I know Bochy would have done that, but that's Dusty. Closers should be able to handle both LHB and RHB well, should who is up batting should not matter, Baker just took him out because you don't normally push your closers to go beyond one inning. And that is exactly how he was used by Baker this season, he got into some games early on, when in the bullpen, pitching more than an inning, but once he had the closer job, there was just that one game in late May, but at that point, he was only in game 4 of being the closer, and Dusty was still used to using him otherwise, or perhaps even thought that Chapman was not fully in the role of closer yet, but in any case, all 1.0 IP for the most part, or less, after that late May game.
I don't agree about Bochy. The offense wasn't doing anything, so why not clear the bench using the platoon advantage against Chapman, to win in regulation. That's similar to the regular season when he threw the whole bullpen to win in regulation. And the standard rule is for road teams to play to win/lead.
Easy to cap on the Huff vs. Peguero decision when it didn't work in this game, but Huff is a LHB and GAB is a park that plays and boosts the HR power of LHB, and Cincy has very few LHP. That can be important when you expect to play at least two games there, because you should not assume you will sweep, in which case that means that there are at least four games, and at least 2 in Cincy. And if there is a key hitting situation in the middle of the game where Huff's power could drive in runs, either he faces a RHP in a key situation or Dusty has to burn one of his two LHP - basically Marshall - early in the game, meaning a lesser RHP reliever gets to pitch set-up against our LHB plus Posey and Pence, who hit LHP well.
Huff V Peggs? I view it as Mota V Peggs meself. And I think it almost bit him good last night. As Mota has pitched poorly, it looks bad on the pitching front. I am hoping to not see Mota or Casilla today. Timmy and Kontos, before we go with the good rotation.
DeleteI was reacting to the comment above by Bacci regarding Huff and Peguero. Yes, I agree that Mota vs. Peguero was the decision point.
DeleteCan't get too picky - when you win a back-against-the-wall playoff game with three hits. Bochy's decisions paid off with the win and Baker's with the loss, period. Next game. And boy am I going to enjoy the next game.
ReplyDeleteZito (good please) + Timmy game. If Zito can get through the first inning, then the Giants have a chance. And Timmy can go 6+ innings if needed, keeping the pen fresh.
Phillips leg injury (even if he plays) might be big as the Reds lose their dynamic lead-off hitter and less range at 2B.
Looks like it will be Leake (from the Reds site) but not official yet. Wow the Reds are really having to juggle starters and it puts Cueto out of the NLCS if they advance. This opens the door for the Giants offense to get their legs under them and have a big day. Hopefully they can pounce early, give Zeets some breathing room, and wear out the Red's pen. That would set up Latos and a worn down pen for game five.
But hey, if it takes more torture to win 2-1 I'll take that too. GO GIANTS!!!
One thing we all may be overlooking in Dusty's decision to pull Chapman is the shoulder trouble he had late in the season that caused him to miss some games. He might be only available 1 inning at a time.
ReplyDeleteHa! Article on Fangraphs: The Giants had the lowest team wOBA of any winning team in postseason history and by a very large margin. LOL!
ReplyDelete