It was almost deja vu all over again as Santiago Casilla blew the Save, but Buster Posey took charge in the bottom of the 9'th hitting a walk-off 2-run HR for the win. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .296. Pagan got on base twice and scored twice. A good night for the leadoff batter. 1 single + 1 BB in 5 PA's= .400 OBP, right?
Buster Posey- 3 for 5, HR(18). BA= .292. Buster drove in 3 of the 4 runs and is red hot right now, .386 BA with 5 dingers in his last 10 games.
Matt Duffy- 2 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .250. Duffy appears to not have quite the arm of Brandon Crawford, but he was scooting around the IF and making all the plays he had to. Matt Duffy!
Tim Hudson- 8 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.90. For a few minutes, it looked like Huddy's stellar effort would go to waste, but Buster saved the day! 2000 career K's.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 1.71. It was a curious decision to lift Huddy for Casilla who reportedly had been sick and was still not feeling well. Huddy was only at 85 pitches, but he's lost it at under 100 pitches this year, so I can see Bochy's point, sort of. Maybe if Casilla was not feeling well, it would have been smarter to bring in Romo who has been pitching better except we all remember what happened the last time Romo closed against the Rockies in AT&T Park. I guess I would have tried to stay with Huddy and brought in Romo or Casilla or Affeldt depending on the matchups if he allowed a runner on base.
The Win maintained the Giants 5 game deficit to the Dodgers, who won, in the NL West. The Giants gained a game on the Cardinals and trail them by 1 for the first Wild Card playoff spot. They maintain their 1.5 game lead over the Braves for the second spot.
Yusmeiro Petit tries to keep the momentum going and possibly win a permanent spot in the rotation tomorrow facing Jordan Lyles. Petit also has a chance to extend his 38 consecutive batters retired to 46 which would pass Mark Buerhle for the all time record. That would happen in the 3'rd inning if he can keep it going.
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Thrilling to see Duffy's name on the lineup card. I took offense to Schulman's article the other day. He bristled at the suggestion that Crawford could be removed from the lineup - the is the starting SS now and in 2015 ... Why Crawford was the starting SS on the 2012 WS team ,,, was Schulman's supporting argument. Clearly Crawford has been a liability in the field and at the plate the last few months. Why not allow Duffy to see what he has …. and why not rest Crawford? If this is not the time to sit Crawford -- then when? I agree with posters who claim that Sabean has overpaid for players who contributed to WS wins, despite evidence that their best days are behind them: Lincecum, Huff, Scutaro to name only a few. Giants minor leagues has prospects that should be given a shot. Why not call up and play more AA stars?
ReplyDeleteI'm guessing Duffy earned himself a few more looks with his play last night. He had a very Matt Duffy night.
DeleteWith Ehire out, it's great to see Duffy stepping up. Nice approach at the plate too - even when he's badly fooled he keeps his composure and focus for the next pitch. Looks better than Craw's failing away right now. Very impressed with the composure and approaches displayed by Duffy and Panik.
DeleteI'm not counting out Craw however. If the Giants make the playoffs, he will be out there.
Man I was ready to throw my shoe thru the screen.
ReplyDeleteI can understand Bochy warming up Casilla for the 9th as Huddy was due to bat 4th in the bottom of the 8th. But when Blanco made the third out, he was free to come back in. At 85 pitches and 8K's Huddy was dominate. LET HUDDY FINISH THE DAMN GAME!
Bochy disrespected the Rockies ownage of the Giants bullpen. The Rockies may own the MLB-worst 18-41 road record, half their starters are out, and Dinger ain't here, BUT they own the Giants pen. Ownage is ownage. Period.
I hang this F-up on Bochy. Thank god, Posey is playing Captain America again.
Bochy isn't the only manager in baseball who would have brought in the closer for the 9'th, but yeah, I wanted to see Huddy try to finish it. I thought he was the best bet to pitch a scoreless 9'th at that point.
DeleteBochy had a streak earlier in the season, when we were doing well, that mostly of the buttons he pushed worked.
DeleteLately, it hasn't always been so. Affeldt giving up 4 or 5 runs in one inning to the Nationals and then last night.
While I'm not necessarily ready to give up on Crawford yet, Duffy's MiLB numbers and showing in sporadic playing time in SF does pose something to ponder next year.
ReplyDeleteIn regards to the middle infield:
Panik has solidified his strong candidacy to be our long-term second baseman. Duffy, at the least, should be able to compete with Adrianza to back him up.
Both should also be able to compete to back up SS. With Duffy not having time to develop in AAA, I'd rather he play every day in Fresno than be a backup to Crawford. But....Crawford seems to be losing his grip on the SS job, and that changes things. Adrianza will be healthy next year, and Duffy looks to have an offensive attribute that Craw doesn't (plus he can play a little 'D'). So what does that mean going into next year?
A three-way battle for SS, loser(s) backs up both middle infield spots? Will Arias be traded to make room for any and all of these players? Do we go the conservative route and make the decision easier by sending Duffy to Fresno?
Lucky
Duffy looks servicable at short but I don't see him playing there everyday in the ML. I think his weaknesses will be exposed. I think Adrianza is our shortstop of the future. Only way I think Crawford has a future with this team is if Pablo walks and they want to give him a shot at third base. I think he would do very well there from a defensive standpoint and maybe it would help with his bat playing a less demanding position. Otherwise, I can see Crawford traded and Duffy maybe replacing Arias as the utility guy.
ReplyDeleteGood analysis, though I am less sure Duffy is not starter material at SS. If there is outside interest for Crawford that also might increase his chance of being dealt.
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