The Giants got a stopper performance from Jake Peavy and their makeshift offense scratched out 4 runs for their first win against the Cubs this year in 6 tries. Key Lines:
Norichika Aoki- 1 for 4, HR(5). BA= .296. Aoki's HR to lead off the bottom of the first was a no doubter into the RF arcade. It got the Giants going after they fell behind in the first inning by 2 runs.
Matt Duffy- 0 for 3, BB, SB(7). BA= .306. Duffy drew a walk in the first inning, then twisted his ankle on a pickoff attempt when his right foot got tangled with Rizzo's left foot. Duff grabbed his ankle and appeared to be in a lot of pain. He managed to walk it off, then incredibly stole 2B, took 3B after tagging up on a fly ball and scored when Kelby Tomlinson beat out a fielder's choice play at 2B. Duffy remained in the game, but got X-rays afterward and is now listed as D2D.
Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 3B. BA= .296. Not sure what Chris Denorfia was doing playing CF, but he whiffed on an attempt at a diving catch in left-CF and the ball went all the way to the fence while Belt cruised around the bases for a triple. I'll say this, Brandon Belt sliding headfirst into 3B is a awesome sight!
Buster Posey- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .314. Buster followed Belt's triple with a drive up Triples Alley of his own, but he settled for a double. It was the type of hit that would make you think he might be about to bust out of his slump.
Kelby Tomlinson- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .333. You look at Tomlinson and say to yourself, man, I wish Panik would hurry up and get well, but Tomlinson has not been a problem in the lineup. He just keeps doing good things like beating out a force play at 2B with 2 outs to allow a run to score or shooting a double down the 1B line to drive in an insurance run. And Kelby and Duffy must have spent a lot of time talking to each other about hitting because the way they both use every inch of the field for their hits is so similar. Love what he's doing!
Jake Peavy- 6.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 9/1. ERA= 4.21. Kyle Schwarber led off the game with an IF pop up that both Peavy and Buster bailed on at the last second and if fell for a double. Had one of them made that catch, Peavy would most likely have taken a shutout into the 7'th inning instead of starting the game with a 2 run deficit. I guess all's well that ends well, though.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(31). ERA= 3.53. Wow! Casilla had the best looking stuff I can remember this year! He just blew away Kris Bryant and Dexter Fowler on nasty looking pitches and got Montero to ground to to 1B in between. Hope this is what we'll see from him down the stretch.
The Win enabled the Giants to keep pace with the Dodgers at 2.5 games behind in the NL West.
they gained a game on the Cubs in the Wild Card race, but not sure it matters as they trail the baby bruins by 6.5 games.
Madison Bumgarner tries for a series win this afternoon facing Dan Haren.
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Tomlinson. Now there's a story that should be a positive note for Giants fans, and yet, even after last night, fans are still ripping/discounting him and proclaiming in their infinite wisdom that he's just a 'back of the bench' utility man. Which is annoying because he's off to a pretty good start. His fielding is slightly under what you'd want from a full-time, experienced second baseman, but he's not chopped liver and it's actually pretty decent when one accounts for the fact that he's still in the 'adjust to MLB speed' phase of his rookie career which spans all of 91.1 MLB innings.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, it was nice to get the win and keep on pace with the Dodgers. Hopefully Chicago will slump after their 21-4 hot streak (with some help from the Giants) and we'll be in a better WC/Division at the end of the month.
Even is Tomlinson plays the Joaquin Arias role off the bench for the next 3-4 seasons, he's still a very positive development. But it is getting kind of comical how every prospect that comes up is called pretty much the same thing and then they prove everybody wrong all over again.
DeleteSickels last November wrote that Tomlinson was an adequate shortstop and "excellent" at second base. He also, as I recall, was voted the best defensive Eastern League second baseman this year, though I can't discover where I saw this. Yes, he needs to get fully comfortable in the majors, as did Crawford and Panik, save that they started by fielding well and hitting badly, and Tomlinson vice versa. I don't recall what fans said about Crawford but some of them--I mean you, MCC bloggers--were engaged in smug, de haut en bas sneering about Panik until very late last year, pronouncing him a flash in the pan rather than a star.
ReplyDeleteOf course Sickels et al. said Tomlinson's main weakness was a lack of power, and his grand slam today might make one a bit dubious about that. It fits very handsomely with your comment, Moses, and DrB's, and mine that he should have accounted for five runs today, four batted in and one more scored in addition to the one from the HR.
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