Tim Lincecum rolled back the years and for one more game, at least, was Big Time Timmy Jim, holding the Dodgers scoreless for 7 innings. It was the Dodgers pitching that cracked first as the Giants broke open a scoreless game in the 6'th and 7'th innings. Key Lines:
Joe Panik- 1 for 4. BA= .287. It doesn't look like much, but Panik's 2-out single with Casey McGehee on 3B tacked on an insurance run in the 7'th, then Buster Posey put the game away with a 2 run blast to CF.
Buster Posey- 3 for 4, HR(7). BA= .308. Buster singled in the bottom of the 6'th, advanced to 3B with 2 outs and scored the first run of the game on Brandon Crawford's 2 out single. He then put the game in ice with a 2 run blast to cap the 3 run 7'th inning rally with a blast to CF of Yimi Garcia.
Brandon Crawford- 3 for 4. BA= .298. The Giants stacked their lineup with RH batters against the LHP Anderson, but their two LH batters, Crawford and Panik got 4 of their 7 hits.
Tim Lincecum- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.08. This was Timmy's second Win against the Dodgers this season against 1 Loss. This was also the 4'th game in which he has not allowed a run. In this one, he had to match zeros with Anderson for 6 innings before the Giants finally broke through. Just a big time performance by Big Time Timmy Jim!
Javier Lopez- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. BA= 1.74. Here's why you need lefty specialists in the bullpen and why they are undervalued. Lopez came in with 2 outs in the 8'th inning with his team leading by 4 runs, but there were runners on 2'nd and 3'rd and the best hitter in baseball so far this season at the plate, who just happens to bat LH. You have to get that out to keep the Dodgers from getting back in the ballgame! Job done! It was just one out in a non-save situation, but it was probably the single biggest out of the game made possible by a guy who is Kryptonite against lefty hitters.
Jeremy Affeldt- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.00. Non-Save situation, but the Dodgers lineup is dangerous and you don't want to risk a messy inning that can snowball on you. Affeldt did not let that happen.
The Win cut the Dodgers lead over the second place Giants in the NL West to 2.5 games. The Padres lost to the Cubs 3-2 to remain 5 games behind the Dodgers in 3'rd place. The D'Backs beat the Marlins 6-1 to pull up to 6 games off the pace while the Rockies lost to the Phillies 4-2 to remain 9 games back in last place.
Madison Bumgarner faces Clayton Kershaw in a battle of aces for the 3'rd time this season. The Giants won both prior confrontations with Bumgarner getting the W in one. Another Win for the Giants would complete the second sweep of the Dodgers this season and cut their lead to just 1.5 games.
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i was thinking basically the same thing when Lopez got the out! Screw the sabers who say relievers are fungible! Best money spent, and they are still effective. Sabean is the Moneyballer whose focus is winning it all!
ReplyDeleteMinor note: It was a save situation for Lopez (I guess because the tying run was on deck), as he was credited with a Hold.
ReplyDeleteI wonder how "upset" Craw was that Posey stole his RBI thunder, while passing his HR total. After all they only *needed* that one run.
BTW, Craw is a 2 for 5 game away from an AVG over 300. He'd join Pagan, Belt and Posey, with Aoki, Panik and Duffy in the .280s range. That's something, even if AVG isn't everything. So for good measure: Crawford is leading the team in OPS .898 and fWAR at 1.7. He's 8th best batter in the league with that WAR (Posey is 11th).
Oh man. My mind can't wrap around the implications of this sweep. It would really put the Giants back in the NL West race, after their early season woes. I'm so excited for 1.5 back of the Dodgers on the backs of our pitchers that 'mere' series win will be an emotional disappointment. But rationally, you have to be pleased with what the Giants have already done this week. I just don't feel that "playing with house money" feeling - we need to win tonight.
Oh, I agree. I'm just glad it's Bummy on the mound. I think he's a super-competitive SOB who is out to show he can out pitch the likes of Kershaw. He also had done it in big games over and over. Yeah, I will be disappointed if he doesn't complete the sweep. I mean, go back and check on some of my posts on sfgiants.com and on MCC back when Bummy was dominating the Sally League. I've been dreaming about today's matchup for that long!
DeleteI was eyeing the sweep too, that is, the grand implications, entering the series, but was trying to be realistic that a series win would be enough. But now that we are one game away and got Bumgarner starting for us, even if it is against Kershaw, I totally agree, it would be a huge disappointment not to get the sweep.
DeleteNot only would it put us at 1.5 games back - booyah! - and back into the divisional title race, but it should be a huge kick in the gut for the LA team to come in here twice in a short period of time and get swept 6-0. That hopefully pays dividends for us going forward, positively for us, negatively for them.
And if anyone is playing with house money, it is the Dodgers. Fangraphs did an analysis of the Giants offense and determined that we have had bad luck with all the hitting we have done, but good luck because we should not have been hitting so much, and thus perhaps cancel each other out. Well, I looked at the Dodger's numbers similar to that table for the Giants, showing wOBA differences, and the Dodgers should be even more skewed than what they showed the Giants, they have so many players playing above their projections right now. They are headed for a fall at some point, hopefully now.
We need to put our foot on their throat, it's on the ground, waiting for it. Especially, Bumgarner needs to outduel their presumptive Ace in Kershaw, and show them that mano-a-mano, if they face us in the playoffs, Bumgarner is going to keep on outdueling their ace. It helps that Madison has been on a good roll, with a hiccup in the last start, while Kershaw, their $300M man, has been struggling some. To boot, a shutout would be even better, then they would have been shut out by the Giants in the whole series.
Nice article on Crawford on Fangraphs, if you are interested.
Sick day today, funny thing, my doc's office is at 24 Willie Mays Plaza.
ReplyDeleteGet well soon.
DeleteNo, no, no, that's the medicine that your Dr prescribed for you, a good injection of MLB baseball is good for your health, both mental and physical.
DeleteBeating the 'Odgers always gives me a really warm, fuzzy feeling. And a shutout always feel even nicer.
ReplyDelete