Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Game Wrap 4/15/2015: Rockies 4 Giants 2

This game was decided in the first inning on a 3 run HR by Jonah Arenado's older brother off Tim Linceum.  The Giants outscored the Rockies 2-1 the rest of the way, but ended up going down to their 6'th defeat in a row while suffering their first series sweep of the season.  Key Lines:

Norichika Aoki- 0 for 3, HBP, SB(3).  BA= .325.  I missed the top of the first inning.  Did Matzek hit Aoki on purpose?  Leadoff batter of the game for the Giants, drilled in the back with a fastball.  Looks pretty suspicious to me.  Carry over from a prior game?

Matt Duffy- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .292.  This is a microcosm of the Giants season so far.  The Giants had Rockies had an equal number of baserunners in the game and each team hit 1 HR.   The difference was Duffy's HR came with the bases empty while Arenado's came with 2 runners on ahead of him.  Anyway, Matt Duffy!

Angel Pagan- 3 for 4, SB(1).  BA= .378.  Pagan drove in Aoki in the first inning, but nobody drove Pagan in.

Justin Maxwell- 1 for 3, BB.  BA= .250.  Maxwell had 2 successful AB's but looked bad when he had a chance to do some damage in the 8'th with 2 runners on base and 1 out.

Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 4 K's.  Timmy settled down after giving up the 3 run dinger in the first inning, but you just cannot put this offense in a  3 run hole out of the gate and expect to win many games.

Nolan Arenado(Rockies)- 1 for 4, HR(3).  BA= .324.  I gotta admit, I absolutely love Arenado as a player.  My justification for rooting for him is I figure if his Lil' Bro is half as talented, the Giants are going to be in great shape at 3B in a few years.

The Loss dropped the last place Giants 4.5 games behind the NL West leading Rockies.  The Dodgers completed a sweep of the Seattle Mariners to remain 1 game behind the Rockies in second place.  The Padres topped the D'Backs to remain 1.5 games behind  in 3'rd place at 6-4 while the D'Backs dropped 3.5 games off the pace at 4-5.

Madison Bumgarner gets the start tomorrow night facing hard throwing rookie Archie Bradley of the D'Backs.

3 comments:

  1. Whew. It's really hard to say anything positive right now even though there are 152 games left to go...

    Stranded runner after stranded runner. Coming up flat day-after-day with six of the eight non-pitching starters hitting .241 or less and only two starters hitting well (Aoki & Pagan). All of which has lead to a lot of losing despite decent to, sometimes, outstanding pitching and a decent, though needs to improve, 3.54 team ERA.


    I know it'll likely turn. But it's a nasty way to open the season.

    My only consolation is the Nationals, already picked as this year's champion, are pretty much in the same boat...

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    1. A good friend of mine moved from Cali to Texas, so he could afford to live on a golf course. He was taken aback by the crazy extreme weather there- it can range from an 80 degree humid day, to 35 degrees and hail, within a 24 hr period. There's a saying by the locals that goes something to the effect of, if you don't like today's weather, stick around.

      I'll say it like I said it last fall (sorry DrB)- everything in baseball runs in cycles. There are some bright spots- no timely hits, but we're getting men on. Pitching is *mostly* keeping us in games, Timmy's looking improved, and Hesto is stepping up big.

      We're on the bad swing of the pendulum at the moment with all the injuries and offensive woes, and no guarantees, but I'm believing it'll swing back the other way and the bats will suddenly wake up again. Additionally, Pence and Ishi will be back at some point, which should provide a mental lift for the team. And once again, it'll turn on a dime.

      Big picture, baby- keep the faith.

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  2. giants are playing lots of divisional foes in april....could place themselves into a deep hole they might not be able to get out of

    i knew the offense would be challenged without pence in the lineup...but i didnt think it would be this bad

    and what is it with timmy and the constant one bad inning?

    and is he the odd man out when cain returns?

    bacci

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