Hunter Pence- 2 for 4, 2 2b. BA= .256. Pence's swing looked better tonight and he hit the ball with authority twice.
Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.22. This was BABIP, pure and simple. The Braves had just one really hard hit ball off Vogey, Gattis' drive up Triples Alley. BTW, Gattis has one of the most amazing swings ever, short and quick to the ball. Kind of the polar opposite of Brandon Belt's swing. Anyway, you can tell from the K's and BB that Vogey had great stuff tonight. He was BABIP'd, pure and simple. The other side of that coin is the Giants had several hard hit balls that went into gloves and the hits were not bunched to produce runs.
Buster Posey- 0 for 4. BA= .297. Most postgame talk centered on a play at the plate where Jason Heyward scored the second run of the game and the first of 3 in the 6'th inning. After watching the videos of the play several times, I am not convinced that Buster did not graze Heywards shirt with the back of his glove. The call at the plate was Safe and the replay was inconclusive, so fair enough. He was Safe. Could Buster have been a bit more animated on the tag? Maybe, but he would have had to move his feet or dive at Heyward and I'm not sure he had time for either. Heyward went way out of the base path, which I guess is legal if he stays outside the foul line, but he was almost coming at home plate at the same angle as if he was running up from the on-deck circle! Just have to go back to the video room and draw up new strategies for combatting slides that come from extreme angles like that.
The Loss kept the NL West leading Giants 2.5 games ahead of the Rockies who lost to the Royals 5-1. The third place Dodgers gained a game to 3.5 behind with a 7-1 win over the Marlins who must be reeling from the news that Jose Fernandez probably needs TJ surgery. The Padres edged the Reds 2-1 to gain a game and are 6 behind in 4'th place. The last place D'Backs topped the Nationals 3-1 and are 10 games back.
Madison Bumgarner tries for a series win this afternoon facing Julio Teheran, ace vs ace!
Remember. Have a take, don't $#@%!
ReplyDeleteWas disappointed in the post game commentary, basically blaming Buster for the loss. OK, say he did miss the tag. Happens. Even with the great ones. Revealing my age, I saw Willie Mays make an error. In the course of the season, Buster will make more great plays that win games than poor plays that cost games. The team lost this one, not Buster's 'missed' tag.
ReplyDeleteThis is from Baggarly's article, quoting Bochy, who is as usual, calming and straightforward:
DeleteHe just missed the tag. … These slides are getting creative. This is not the first time we’ve missed a tag. It’s a case where he just missed him. You do all you can to get the glove on him, whether it’s at second or third or home. … He was in a pretty good position. He had two hands going at him. It caused his reach maybe to be a little short there. But you learn from it and that’s all you can do.
“It’s one of those plays he thought he had him easily. We learn from this. Maybe take a little more (of the plate) away to make sure that we do have the coverage before he hits home plate.”
We think learn from it and move forward.
Baggs has a history of instigating and this has been blown way out of proportion. Heyward came in from a weird angle and he missed the tag. Happens. Time to move on.
Delete