Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Game Wrap 5/8/2013: Giants 4 Phillies 3

The Giants got a terrific stopper start from Barry Zito, survived a 9'th inning comeback rally by the Phillies and finally won it in extra innings.  Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 2 for 4, BB, SB(3). BA= .284.  That's about as good a leadoff line as you can ask for.

Marco Scutaro- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .282.  How can the first two hitters reach base 6 times and only score 1 run between them?  Scooter is now hitting .415 over his last 10 games.

Hunter Pence- 1 for 4, HR(7), SB(6).  BA= .287.  With all those baserunners, wouldn't you know the Rev's HR would be a solo shot?

Barry Zito- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.75.  Say what you will about Zito and his contract, but since the beginning of last season, he has come up with big starts to stop losing streaks time and again.  He's almost earned the nickname The Stopper!  He also made significant contributions in the 2010 regular season even though he collapsed at the end and was left off the postseason rosters.  Who'd have thunk that the Giants would win 2 WS during the life of Zito's contract and he would contribute to both?

Santiago Casilla- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.12.  Casilla came out with a sore knee.  Not clear when the injury occured or how severe it might be.  Can Machi be brought back right away?

Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K, BS(2).  ERA= 2.70.  The Phillies' LH leaning lineup is not exactly tailor  made for Romo.  Might have been a good day to give him some extra rest.

The last place Padres won their game today 1-0 over Miami.  The rest of the division is playing tonight.

The Giants now open a 4 game set against the Braves with Ryan Vogelsong facing Julio Teheran in Game 1 tomorrow evening.

PS:  The Rockies lost to the Yanks 3-2 to drop 0.5 games behind the Giants in the NL West.  The D'Backs completed a sweep of their series with the Dodgers and are 1 game back in 3'rd place.  The Pesky Padres are in 4'th place, 4 games behind while the Drooling Dodgers are now firmly embedded in last place, 6.5 games behind your NL West leading Giants.

8 comments:

  1. didnt get to follow the game, cuz i was out in the field all day (spent mostly in a crawl space)

    this is one strange year

    glad that kfran hit a dinger in sf...hope his family was in the stands

    seems that philly is a bit better than their record lets on...but looks like the doc is having season ending surgery...cant really see him coming back after shoulder surgery...but who knows

    nice that torres got the walk off

    giants continue their path to be the a's of 2013...5 walkoffs and counting

    ok...after the happ incident, when is the mlb gonna get serious about a helmet for pitchers

    as it stands now, the league doesnt really care about the health of catchers or pitchers

    the nfl has gone out of its way to protect qb's and wide receivers....its time for the mlb to step up and protect their marquis players

    but as they dont even care (or are complicit) about what the umps are doing out there...im not gonna hold my breath

    bacci

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    1. i agree with you re. helmets for pitchers. It would be shame if it takes someone getting killed to bring change. Torre just seems like he's a do nothing on that front. Maybe Boch can take that job when he finally retires from managing? Boch seems like a much more progressive thinker than Torre, but maybe it's just because Boch nearly had a potential HOF catcher ruined by a stupid play.

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    2. this is the 21st century and many aspects of the mlb are still being run like its the early 20th century

      personally, i would prefer guys like broshuis...non lifers...who have experience in the game but changed careers, to have leadership roles in the mlb fo

      these lifers are too adverse to change...despite the fact that most change has been a benefit to the game

      bacci

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  2. Torres was the one getting chased instead of the one scoring!

    I had a nickname BPBZ for Zito, Batting Practice being the nice way to put it. We've changed it up, we'll eat crow: BGBZ - Big Game Barry Zito. He has come correct something fierce!

    He's sort of becoming a more skilled Jamie Moyer. I like it. Pitch to contact, build a lead, bring that sweet curve out to play!

    Look at Shawshank with a 282 BA and the "Sabean signs old vets" crowd retreating. LF should be interesting. Does Frankie Peggs understand he has to go grab the job?

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  3. normally machi would have to wait 10 days from being sent down before being brought back up, but in the case of an injury would be able to be called up right away. great job dr. b. love the constant material you post, unlike some other sights who only post once every 3 weeks.

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    1. Thank you. I find that I tend to gravitate to sites where I can read new things on a daily basis. A few sites overdo it, like Fangraphs where you are just overwhelmed by too much material to read unless you don't have a job or a family and can spend all day, everyday, reading. Then on the weekend, crickets.

      One of the things I asked myself when I started this blog is whether I had enough material to write something on a daily basis. I thought I did and promised myself I would make at least one entry per day for 1 year and then re-assess where I was. The great thing about baseball is it is a story that keeps on writing itself. You never run out of material! Each season and each game is a clean slate and a new story unfolds right before our eyes.


      And, as always, it's a labor of love, which is always the easiest and best kind.

      Thanks for reading and commenting, everybody!

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  4. Drb, your comments about Barry Zito are so true, what a positive turnaround! I'm sure that the Giants will try to work out something with Zito for 2014 if he continues to pitch well and win games. The club has potentially 3 openings in their rotation for 2014, which might be an unsettling thought for the front office. Vogey's contract has a club option for 2014.

    Hopefully Casilla's injury is not too serious. Maybe a few days off might do him good.. Bochy uses him a lot.

    Matt Kemp's gesture to the disabled fan after Sunday Night's Game was awesome.. Its unbelievable how the umpires didn't rule Adam Rosales's extra base hit a homerun after watching a TV replay in tonight's A's-Indians game.

    LG

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  5. Wonder if we will see Hembree soon...

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