The Giants got a QS from Mike Leake in his Giants debut, but their bats fell limp against Rangers lefty Martin Perez, who did not look like the same pitcher who got torched by the Yankees in his previous start. A 9'th inning rally fell short on a controversial call by 3B coach, Roberto Kelly and the Giants left Texas down 1-2 on their road trip from Hell instead of being up 2-1. Key Lines:
Mike Leake- 6.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.52. Pretty typical Leake start. He pitched out of a couple of early jams, got a couple of GIDP's to help him, but then gave up a 2 run dinger to Josh Hamilton in the 6'th that was the difference in the ballgame. Solid start from Leake, but this is the Giants he's pitching for now. 1 game after scoring 9 in a Cole Hamels start, they nearly get no-hit by Martin Perez. As Vin Scully would say, "go figure!"
Roberto Kelly- OK, here's the ballgame. With the bases loaded and 1 out in the 9'th inning, Buster Posey singles to LF. Josh Hamilton has a cannon in LF and was playing a step in. He had the ball as Aoki hit 3B. Kelly put up the stop sign. Hamilton's throw sailed over everybody to the backstop, but Aoki stayed at 3B. That brought up Hunter Pence who you had to feel pretty good about in that situation. He's a clutch hitter who is fast enough to frequently beat out DP balls. He GIDP! I'm with Baggs on this one. Kelly made the right call. Baseball is a game of odds. They did not break the Giants way in this one.
The Loss dropped the Giants 2.5 games behind the NL West leading Dodgers and into a tie with the Cubs for the final Wild Card playoff spot.
The Giants now move on from the oven into the sauna in ATL with Matt Cain facing Mike Foltynewicz.
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I don't see the controversy though I'm sure plenty will want one. Bottom line is Hamilton has a good (though over-rated) arm and there was a good chance Aoki doesn't get to home plate in time to beat the tag. And since you can't give a 'go sign' on a potential throwing error, that's the end of it as far as I'm concerned.
ReplyDeleteBTW, on Leake, was looking at his road vs Great American Ballpark splits. They're amazingly different every year, but one, in his career. So after looking at the annual differences I started to compile it on my own then decided on some Google-Fu and he we are:
http://www.beyondtheboxscore.com/2015/7/31/9082359/giants-reds-trade-mike-leake-mlb-trade-deadline
It's almost a full-run difference! So with Hudson out and Leake in, I think our going-forward ERA should help the Giants finish-out strong and give us Top-5 Post-All-Star-Break NL ERA. (I could be wrong, but I hope not. I try to kill wishful fan thinking, but it always creeps in.)
I was at the game yesterday, and the star of the contest was definitely Martin Perez. Dude was dealin' all day (only threw 80 pitches!!!), and almost got the perfecto. In fact, I will take some credit for that. I was delayed by traffic (Arlington is about 4 hours north of me, but accidents and road construction made me later than planned). I walk into the stadium (very nice, and I got 300 level seats in the shade for $7 with a great view of the 1B line) and Perez gives up his first hit (to Maxwell, IIRC). Maxwell, BTW, is apparently a known Rangers-killer - the local broadcast team repeatedly referred to him as such.
ReplyDeleteI like what I saw from Mike Leake - I think he is a keeper. Hamilton just crushed a pitch. Otherwise he scattered hits and kept the Gigantes close with a one-hitter from his opposite number.
I had a sense that both Matt Duffy! and Buster were due when they came up in the 9th a combined 0-6 on the day. Way to rally, lads! Made the Rangers Faithful sweat something fierce. And Aoki atoned somewhat for his drop in LF by drawing the walk and eventually reaching 3B. Speaking of which, I completely agree with your notion supporting Roberto Kelly's stop sign. I would have held Aoki up as well. Too bad about Pence hitting into the GIDP...but the lads sure made it an exciting end of a well pitched game.
NWGiantsFan
DtF!!!