This series set up as a big one for the Giants. They came in hot winning 8 of their previous 9 games. The A's came in fresh off throwing in the towel on the season with the Scott Kazmir trade. So why is this a big series for the Giants? Despite the Giants recent Bay Area dominance, at least in terms of postseason success, the A's always seem to manage to put a big hurt on them in their interleague series over the past few seasons. At least that is how I recall it without having the W-L numbers in front of me.
In the opening game of the weekend series, the Giants jumped all over Jesse Chavez and kept adding on to make easy work for Jake Peavy and the bullpen. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .273. Pagan has been struggling, so this was a welcome game from him. Although he once again did not show his trademark gap power, getting on base 4 of 5 times as the leadoff batter helped set the table for hitters with more power.
Matt Duffy- 2 for 5. BA= .299. Duffy continues to be a tough out while improving daily on D at 3B.
Buster Posey- 3 for 4, SF, SB(2). BA= .323. Buster is starting to look like contender for NL MVP and with the top 3 batters getting on base ahead of him, he's just cleaning up those Ribeyes!
Hunter Pence- 4 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .311. Pence continues to be a transformative presence in the lineup. He not only contributes his own stat line, but he makes the hitters around him better too.
Brandon Belt- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .277. It's felt like a quiet season for Belt, but when you look at his stat line, it's not bad at all.
Jake Peavy= 6 IP, 5 H 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K, GO/AO= 11/2. ERA= 4.86. I don't know how much confidence I would have in Peavy facing another team's ace, but he's been a steady producer of QS's which is a positive development.
Bullpen- 3 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. 1 scoreless IP each from Kontos and Strickland. Javier and Vogelsong split the 9'th inning in a non-Save situation.
The Win was the Giants 9'th in 10 games. They maintained their 3 game deficit to the NL West leading Dodgers who bet the Mets 7-2. They are 0.5 games ahead of the Cubs in the race for the second Wild Card playoff spot.
Madison Bumgarner tries to keep the train rolling against second year pitcher, though technically still a rookie, Chris Bassitt who is 0-3 despite a sub-3.00 ERA.
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I remember them dominating too, especially in recent championship seasons, they've been a thorn in our paw for a long time, it seems.
ReplyDeleteAnd it's big because they are down and we've been having problems this season putting down teams, mainly due to all the injuries, but the players are mostly healed, so the Giants need to show what they are made of when mostly together. And so far so good, I think with today's win, they are like 20-8 in Pence starts this season.
Duffman! Buster! Hunter! Belt! Yeah, he's up and down, but when the dust settles, he usually has a fine season, which is what counts most, I think.