Thursday, September 25, 2014

Game Wrap 9/24/0214: Dodgers 9 Giants 1

Yesterday was not a good day to be a Giants fan.  Not only did they fail to keep the Dodgers from clinching the NL West division title in front of them, but they failed to back into a Wild Card playoff spot when the Brewers won their game.  This one looked promising early on.  Huddy was dealing and Kershaw looked a bit shaky, well, at least for him!  Alas, once the dam started leaking, the whole think collapsed rather quickly  and it ended as a blowout.  Key Lines:

Andrew Susac- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .262.  Susac is now 3 for 7 against Kershaw.  It isn't just the solid numbers, but also the way he goes about his AB's.  Gotta think this kid has a bright future and the Giants need to figure out how to get his bat in the lineup more often.  It's just a better lineup when he's in it!

Gregor Blanco- 2 for 4.  BA= .262.  Blanco's nice night was marred by a couple of baserunning gaffe's.  Puig has a helluvan arm, so maybe it's better to just not run on him?  On the other hand, Puig can be goaded into making ill advised throws, so maybe it's better to challenge him?  Baseball!

Matt Duffy- 1 for 1.  BA= .236.  What is this?  Something like Duffy's 5'th PH of the season and he's only been up for about 6 weeks!  This kid is definitely not intimidated at the plate at this level.  Gotta be a role for him next year too!

Tim Hudson- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's.  ERA= 3.87.  Huddy was dealing early on.  He started to tire in the 6'th and elevate his pitches.  Lopez didn't get his job done and it got ugly after that.  Huddy is probably a decent bet for 5 innings of a postseason game, but Bochy will need his quick hook if he doesn't want a similar outcome.  Of course, a quick hook only works if the bullpen gets it done.

Javier Lopez- 0.0 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K.  ERA= 2.72.  Lopez is being paid $4.5 M for no other reason than to get hitters like Carl Crawford out.  He's usually lights out against them, but not in this game.  This is where it all fell apart.

Erik Cordier- 0.1 IP, 1 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.25.  Cordier throws the easiest triple digit heat I think I've ever seen!  He walked the first batter on 4 pitches, but wasn't missing by that much.  He seemed to settle down, but then Arias bobbled a DP grounder that should have ended the inning.  After that, Cordier lost his command.  Gutierrez came in and walked 3 batters and the game was a route.  This was a better outing than it looks like on paper, though.

The Loss eliminated the Giants from the NL West Division race as they dropped to 5.5 games behind the Dodgers with 4 to play.  Their lead for the second Wild Card playoff spot slipped to 4 games over the Brewers with 4 to play.

The Giants now return home for the final 4 game series of the regular season against the Padres with Yusmeiro Petit facing Andrew Cashner in game 1 tonight.

10 comments:

  1. alex is under the impression that the coaching staff doffing their caps to the dodgers coaches showed a lot of class

    i found it pathetic

    donnie, who still hasnt gotten over bochy teaching him about the rules of the game, went out of his way to wipe the giants noses in the loss and the season by sending out wilson in the 9th

    you dont tip your cap to that

    blanco's base running gaffes are inexcusable this late in the season

    wonder if bochy will now let brown take a turn in cf

    looking forward to the one and done come oct 1 in Pittsburgh

    bacci

    bacci

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    1. Brian Wilson has a 4.72 ERA in 2014, and an fWAR of -0.4. Mattingly sent him out in a mop-up situation, far from the high-risk situations that one fed Wilson's adipose ego. The Giants could have responded to this fallen Wilson by scoring off him, as so many other teams have plainly done this year. Instead, nada, rien, zilch. The coaches' caps should have come off, all right, but lowered so as to cover the coaches' disgraced faces.

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    2. Nice reply, Campi. Kuip stated this AM that the Dodgers are trying to figure out what to do with Wilson - worthy of postseason roster spot?

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    3. I have no problem with the coaches tipping their caps to the Dodgers.

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  2. Codier: 4 runs, 1 earned. And scorers don't even assume the double play. Bad luck inning for him. He looked calm enough, and as you say his delivery looked easy, but I have to wonder if the failure to field that DP, rattled him and then the HBP....

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    1. The Giants have to believe, and this sort of things can come and go, they can beat the Dodgers.

      They got beat badly in, at least, the last 3 series.

      In any case, got to regroup and finish the season on a upward trajectory.

      2010 was a special year - I think we went through that September with one quality start after another, led by Lincecum (even with Zito and Sanchez in the rotation!!!). We would have caught up with and passed the Dodgers with that kind of performance.

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  3. what to do with Duffy, Doc?

    Stick him in some kind of rotation at third. I've been under the impression that they are resigned to playing Duvall at third, but maybe, somehow, he can clean up his defense.

    It could be one heck of a rotation with Duffy, Arias, Duvall, Dominguez and maybe that Mario Lisson guy. I'm sure there's some warm body Sabean can pick up in free agency as well. Casey McGehee anyone?

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  4. Let's admit it-- we've been spoiled by seasons past where the Giants would play some clutch baseball at this time of year.
    We had some opportunities to win the game, Posey being up with bases loaded was a huge opportunity in the 3rd.
    I know we believe in the "sniff test" but until the Giants start pulling out some gritty wins, I feel that this team lacks the "IT" that it needs to go into October well.

    The future is exciting, let's have fun folks.

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    1. I dont know, Groo. When I "sniff" this this team, I think it smells like "IT"...




      Sorry, softball that had to be hit...

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  5. Well, we sure know how to back into the playoffs. Our starting pitching has been rocky lately minus Peavy, Vogelsong and Bumgarner. Hudson has been horrific in September averaging over 4 earned runs a game and only making it past the 5th inning once. Voglesong has been pretty damn good over the last 2 months minus the game in COL. Who really does well in COL anyways? With that being said I probably would like to see Bumgarner, Peavy and Vogelsong as my rotation. I know that won't happen and Hudson will get the call but I hope he is on a very short leash and give Petit the ball.

    Without Pagan I am not sure how we will do if we beat the Pirates but I am optimistic. I never expected much from our 2010 team and they won it all. It is all about getting hot together. Hopefully the hotness starts with the Padres. Lets get this thing going!!

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