The Giants offense celebrated Hunter Pence's return with an explosion against Reds starter Mike Leake who is usually a pretty tough customer. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 2 for 5, HR(1). BA= .267. Since Blanco's BA hit a nadir of .193 on May 6, he has gone 9 for 18 with 4 BB's over 6 games and seems to have taken over the starting LF job. Oh, and who says Blanco can't lead off?
Brandon Belt- 3 for 5, HR(2). BA= .306. Belt has his BA back over .500 and hits his second HR in as many days.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .667. Welcome back, Hunter Pence! This was almost a perfect lineup with 3 strong OBP guys setting the table at the top of the order then Posey/Belt, Pence in the 4/5/6 slots and Brandon Crawford to back them up. Now, THAT is a lineup that can compete!
Brandon Crawford- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .277. Crawford already had a good game in the bag when he hit a grand slam HR to right-center to put the game completely out of Cincy's reach. Crawford's fWAR had fallen back to 1.2 since we last checked in on him. I expect it to be quite a bit higher tomorrow. Huge, huge game! He keeps this up and he could challenge for an MVP award!
Ryan Vogelsong- 5.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 4 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.32. His command seemed to come and go but the big lead helped.
The Win enabled the Giants to cut their deficit in the NL West to 4.5 games behind the division leading Dodgers who lost to the Rockies 7-1. The Giants also moved into second place, 0.5 games ahead of he Padres who lost to the Nationals 4-1. The Giants trail the Nats by 1.5 games in the race for the second Wild Card playoff berth.
Chris Heston faces Anthony DeSclafini in the series the finale of the 4 games series tomorrow.
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Leake could be an interesting addition for the Giants if what Mr. Baggarly's insights in his recent Extra Baggs article became a reality. A good sinkerballer, good command, clean mechanics, pitch to contact guy that's just like what the Giants often order these days. I like the guy and he'll take advantage of the spacious AT&T to his advantage. We can get him on a pretty decent offer I feel.
ReplyDeleteWrenzie