Saturday, August 9, 2014

Game Wrap 8/8/2014: Royals 4 Giants 2

The Giants followed a familiar pattern of falling behind early, coming back to tie but then falling behind again in the middle innings and getting shut down by the opposing bullpen for the final score.  Key Lines:

Joaquin Arias- 2 for 3, 2 2B.  BA= .197.  Arias got the start at 3B with Sandoval DH'ing to give him a lighter day of work.  Arias proceeded to double his season XBH output and drive in 1 of the Giants 2 runs.

Matt Duffy- Duffy was optioned out on Thursday to make room on the roster for Angel Pagan, but got a reprieve on Friday with Belt going on the DL.  With a lefty on the mound for KC, he got the start at 2B and, well…..Matt Duffy!  He did make an error on a throw in the 6'th that contributed to 1 unearned run scoring.

Madison Bumgarner- 8 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.22.  Bummy gave up the first inning HR to Billy Butler then cruised until the 6'th when some BABIP luck and a couple of errors by Morse and Duffy on one play cost him 2 more runs.  The KC bullpen is a shut down unit and this game was over after the 6'th.

KC Bullpen- 4 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 6 K's.  The only ERA above 2 by the 4 relievers used by the Royals belonged to Jason Frasor at 2.80.  Herrera, Davis and Holland are as good a 7'th, 8'th and 9'th inning outfit as there is.  The Giants had 9 hits, including 2 XBH's in the first 5 innings against Jason Vargas and came out of it with just 2 runs.  Gotta make the most of your early opportunities against the Royals!

The Loss kept the Giants at 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West as the Hated Ones dropped to game to the BrewCrew 9-3.  They trail the Pirates by 0.5 games in the Wild Card race and the Cardinals by a percentage point.

Tim Hudson faces James Shields in tonight's contest.

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