Jake Peavy battled the Cubs hitters for 5 innings and the bullpen shut it down for 3 more, but Jake Arrieta dominated the Giants lineup and possibly intimidated them too as the Cubs swept the Giants in a 4 games series for the first time since Mike Krukow was a rookie. Key Lines:
Jake Peavy- 5 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.75. Jake Peavy pitched his blessed heart out to last 5 innings, the longest a Giants starter stayed in there in the 4 games series. A 38 pitch first inning made it almost a miracle he lasted that long, but he found a way to limit the damage and get the game to the bullpen with a chance to win.
Jeremy Affeldt- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.59. Affeldt has been struggling as his ERA shows. Hopefully this is the beginning of better things for the veteran lefty.
Jake Arrieta(Cubs)- 7.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's, 2 HBP. ERA= 2.38. Arrieta might be the hottest pitcher in baseball right now. He certainly dominated the Giants lineup and was not shy about throwing inside even after a very scary beaning of Nori Aoki that caught Aoki flush on the left-front of his helmet sending it flying off his head. Aoki walked off the field under on his own with Dave Groeschner hanging onto the back of his uniform just to be sure. Aoki reportedly felt some initial nausea but appears to be fine. He will be re-evaluated tomorrow as per concussion protocol.
Arrieta later sent Hunter Pence diving into the dirt which caused Hunter to give a rare glare back. Arrieta also hit Ehire Adrianza in the foot with a low-inside pitch. There was never a hint of retaliation from the Giants. I don't think Arrieta intended to hit anybody, but he was certainly not shy about throwing inside and brushing people back. All-in-all, the effect was a dominated and possibly intimidated Giants lineup which you don't see very often…dominated, yes. Intimidated, no!
The Loss dropped the Giants 3.5 games behind the Dodgers in the NL West pending the outcome of the Dodgers-Pirates game this evening. The Giants also fell 3.5 games behind the Cubs in the Wild Card race, which may end up being a more difficult deficit to make up than the division race.
The Giants now get a day off to travel and recuperate from a very long road trip before taking on the Astros in a 2 game interleague series with Madison Bumgarner taking the mound in the first game Tuesday.
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Giants play the Cubs later this month and they really need to return favor and sweep them. Don't think they are going to win the division which means they need to nab a wild card. This team needs some of its mojo back quickly.
ReplyDeleteBilly Baseball
I think they may have a better chance at the division than the Wild Card, but losing Leake right at this critical time even if it is for just the 2 weeks, hurts bad. There is a reason why the Giants believed they needed him enough to give up a top pitching prospect.
DeleteThe Cubs play the Cards and the Pirates for six games in September. They also have 3 road games, after a brutal stretch, with both the Giants and Dodgers toward the end of August.
ReplyDeleteThe bad news for the Giants ability to close the gap is that the next 12 Cubs games are against weak teams. The good news is the Cubs have been riding a hot-steak, going 10 for 12 in their last dozen games.
Anyway, this series was a serious kick in the unmentionables. Really left me depressed about our pitching staff now that Leake is out. I just don't see how we're going to make up ground with the way the starters, except Bumgarner, are playing right now.
I think we have to say a big thank you to the Pirates for taking care of the Dodgers. We are only 3 back in the division. It would be much sweeter to edge the Dodgers for the division and have them miss the postseason anyway.
ReplyDeleteEvery now and then people ask 'What was your favorite Giants game?' And it's always the last game of 1982:
Deletehttp://m.mlb.com/video/v13062873/10382-ladsfg-giants-end-dodgers-season/?query=joe%2Bmorgan
That was just awesome. Dodgers win, they win the division. They lose, the Braves win the division. This was two days after the Dodgers beat the Giants and knocked the Giants out of the play-off race so it was a fantastic pay-back.
But beating the Dodgers always makes my day, sometimes week and possibly even season if we beat them enough... :)
I was at that game...The next best thing to a Giants win is a dodgers loss...
DeleteI was in Palm Dale, visiting an old (well now, he was 23 then) ex-military buddy when it happened. We were watching it and Vin 'Voice of the Dodgers' Scully was the announcer. It was so sweet to have the 'enemy' announcer have to make the call and put all the excitement into it that he had to... :)
Delete"It would be much sweeter to edge the Dodgers for the division and have them miss the postseason anyway." <== THIS!!!
ReplyDeleteI watched it on TV...loved the PA playing "Mrs. Robinson" at the end of the game as well. BTW, October 3rd 1993 sucked on many levels - first and foremost Blackhawk Down incident (RIP RGRs), Jim MacMahon's Vikings losing badly to an otherwise listless Raiders squad (as a forlorn Vikings fan stationed in Hawaii at the time - this was the only game of the year that I could see) - and Mike "Frickin' Piazza knocking Los Gigantes out of the playoffs. Seriously, Atlanta Braves win the NL West?!!! Bonds, Clark, Williams, Robbie T & Jose Uribe, Bowler Burkett & Billy Swift get robbed?!!!! Arrggghhhh!
NWGianstFan
DtF!!!