You might not guess it from the final score, but this game started out as a pitcher's duel between Jake Peavy and Jake DeGrom, so intense that after 6 innings only 1 batter had reached base, a walk to Brandon Belt in the 5'th inning. DeGrom was the first to give up a hit in the top of the 7'th, but then it all fell apart for Jake Peavy, possibly due to some poor fielding behind him. You knew the Giants were going to lose this one as soon as that first run scored. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .250. Belt comes back from the concussion without a rehab stint. Interesting comments from him about playing in Fresno giving him a false sense of security and not really preparing him for MLB pitching. A healthy, productive Belt in the lineup would be a huge boost through the Dog Days and down the stretch.
Travis Ishikawa- 1 for 1. BA= .222. Somewhat surprisingly, Jarrett Parker got sent down to Fresno to make room for Belt. Bochy said he sees Travis as the LH bat off the bench. He came through in this game.
Jake Peavy- 7 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.73. Peavy had a perfecto for 6.1 IP. He then gave up an opposite field double to Daniel Murphy that initially froze Morse and ultimately went over Morses's head. That was followed by a soft flyball by David Wright that fell in front of Morse. Peavy then seemed to lose focus and hit Lucas Duda with a pitch followed by SF, single, double. 4 runs in, game over.
Michael Morse- 0 for 4, 2 K's. BA= .272. Alex Pavlovic, the beat writer for the San Jose Mercury News, suggested that Gregor Blanco might have caught both of the first two hits off Peavy. Now, Blanco is not having a good season and has a negative UZR overall, but his UZR in LF is positive, while Morse's is a negative 20+. Morse is a +8 runs on the offensive side, so while playing LF, he's at least a negative 12 run producer. Overall he has a slightly positive fWAR of 0.8, but all of the positive has come while playing 1B. You can go ahead and scoff and UZR and fWAR, but if you look at the video, you can see UZR in action on those two hits, that probably should have been outs. Peavy would have been out of the inning with his perfecto intact and you have to think Peavy was thinking the same thing while he pitched to the next 3 batters.
Oh, and Michael Morse has 11 RBI's and 10 GIDP's since the first of June.
The Loss dropped the Giants to 3.5 games behind the NL West leading Dodgers who topped the Cubs 5-2 in 12 innings. The Giants are now tied with the Pirates for the first WC slot and lead the Cardinals for the second slot by 0.5 games and the Braves by 1.5 games.
Madison Bumgarner goes for a series win facing Bartolo Colon in a morning game on the West Coast.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
morse has reverted to the mean and once again lft field is a black hole and even worse, a defensive liability
ReplyDeleteso much for the catching lighting in a bottle
maybe things get better when pagan gets back....maybe not
but sabey sabes is once again gonna have his work cut out for him come this offseason
bacci
Too early think about the coming offseason, with possible waiver deals to work on.
ReplyDeleteI am hopeful that starting pitching has stabilized after Cain's injury...I think Bumgarner, Hudson, Vogelsong, Peavy and Lincecum can make us competitive most of the time.
Perhaps Bochy can sharpen up, as some one mentioned the other day...more mixing and matching like he does with this 'pen. Moving outfielders to get that offensive/defensive balance when the situation allows it.
Encouraging with Belt's game and maybe we will see Pagan very soon...although if Pagan and Pence go 1 and 2, we are left with Panik, Crawford and the pitcher at 7, 8 and 9, the lineup is not necessarily lengthened. I think Bochy wants Pence to get more at bats hitting 2nd., though Crawford did well there the last time and Panik is supposed to be Scutaro like.
Still two months of playing to go. I think if the team believes itself, it can compete for anything, and nothing should be conceded. Time for the leaders for the team to step forward and be accounted for.
It wasn't how slow Morse was to the ball, it was the time he took to move. The dunker, was lack of speed and not wanting to get his uniform dirty? Morse at 1B and Belt in LF >balances< out a lot better than Morse in LF and Belt at 1B. At the current chain of events I guess we can add on LF as a troubled spot?...lol Between Duffy and Panik the Giants will get a 2B for a while... Just don't give up yet?
ReplyDeletePeavy imploded because of anger with a slight contribution.
TBox
The Giants have had their chances to move Belt to LF. It's not happenin'. Yeah, LF is a problem, especially for next year where the FA pickings are mighty slim. Sabes might have to go the trade route.
Delete