This one looked like a mismatch on paper, but there is a reason why they play the games. Ryan Vogelsong recovered from a shaky first inning after the Giants put a hurt of their own on Stephen Strasburg in the bottom of the inning and the bullpen shut it down over the final 4 innings to seal a much needed Win. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 1 for 3, 3B, BB, SB(9). BA= .287. With Pagan finally on the DL, Blanco is the new starting CF and leadoff man. He led off the Giants half of the first inning with a triple past a not-diving Bryce Harper up Triples Alley and scored the Giants first run. He later drew a walk, stole 2B and came around to score an insurance run. Nice game for the White Shark.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .273. Belt moves up to the 3 hole and gets on base 3 times. His combination of on-base skills and power should be perfect for the position in the order.
Buster Posey- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .332. Buster now trails only Paul Goldschmidt who is hitting .341 for the MLB BA lead among qualified hitters. Bryce Harper is also hitting .332.
Ryan Vogelsong- 5 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 4 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 4.15. Whatever else you think about Ryan Vogelsong, the man has heart. After giving up a leadoff HR to Yunel Escobar then walking the bases loaded in the first inning, he settled down with a line of 4 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's the rest of his appearance. Credit to Bochy for not trying to get more innings out of him.
Hunter Strickland- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 1.57. 2 dominant innings of middle relief to exorcise the demons from last year's NLDS.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.55. Romo is always going to struggle against LH batters. Fortunately 3 of the 4 he faced were RH.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(28). ERA= 3.79. Casilla looked like he was going to have a 1,2,3 inning until Michael Taylor smacked a double down the LF line. Casilla calmly dispatched LH batter PH Danny Espinosa with the K coming on something with a nasty downward bite on the outside corner of the plate.
The Win cut the Dodgers lead in the NL West to 2.5 games as the Bad Guys got pummeled by the Reds 10-3. The Cubs won their 7'th game in a row to maintain a 4.5 game lead over the Giants for the second Wild Card Playoff spot.
Matt Cain takes on Max Scherzer tonight in another game that looks like a mismatch on paper.
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Lollis was called-up yesterday.
ReplyDeleteRotoworld reports an update on the Utley situation: USA Today's Bob Nightengale was told by executives involved in Chase Utley trade talks that they expect the second baseman to ultimately wind up with the Cubs or Angels..
And yes, Vogelsong had a very strange game. He could barely find the strike zone yesterday (52/94 for strikes), had all those walks, yet he didn't give up many hits and racked up 8Ks while managing to hold the Nationals to one run. But I'm not complaining! I'd rather have a psychological yo-yo game and win than a blah game and a loss.
And for those who missed it, #KelbySpecs hit his second triple this year off Strasburg. His first was here in RVA when Strasburg was rehabbing. Granted, he didn't look too great on those curve balls out of the zone in his second AB, but then again, neither did Posey.
ReplyDeleteHope Joe returns soon and Utley goes anywhere but to San Fran. Let's keep it home grown!