Wednesday, March 30, 2016

Spring Training Game Wrap 3/30/2016: Giants 8 Sacramento River Cats 4

The Giants took a detour on their way to the Bay Bridge Series and took on their AAA team, the Sacramento River Cats, in Sacramento.  The minor leaguers put up a respectable fight, but it was not enough to overcome the pitching and pickoff wizardry of Johnny Cueto or 3 dingers by the big leaguers.  Key Lines:

Buster Posey C- 2 for 3, HR.  Buster was probably there so he could catch Cueto and become more familiar with his quirks, shimmies and shakes.

Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, HR.  I'm tellin' ya.  Belt is poised for a breakout season.

Brandon Crawford SS- 1 for 3, HR.  Crawford is out to prove last year's breakout was no fluke.

Kelby Tomlinson 2B- 2 for 4, 2B.  Panik played in Arizona last night, so Tomlinson got the call to fill in.

Ehire Adrianza 3B- 2 for 3, 2B, BB.  Duffy also played in Arizona last night, so Adrianza got some reps at 3B.

Johnny Cueto P- 1 for 1, Sac.  Looks like Cueto will fit right in with this pitching staff that likes to hit.

Trevor Brown C- 2 for 2.  Brown's ascent to the backup catcher role has been nothing short of amazing.  Maybe they could make a movie about his experience?

Johnny Cueto- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.   Cueto also picked off 3 baserunners, all at 1B.

Mac Williamson RF(River Cats)- 2 for 4.  Looking for Big Mac to destroy PCL pitching this season.

Hak-Ju Lee SS(River Cats)- 1 for 3, HR.  We'll see if Hak-Ju can resurrect his career with the Giants.  He's been way to passive as a hitter trying to please his managers in the Rays organization.  He needs to be more aggressive at the plate and the  Giants are the right organization to help him do that.  It can be hard to change approaches this late in a career, though.

Darren Ford LF(River Cats)- 2 for 3.  Love Darren Ford.  Maybe he can steal a couple of bases in 1 play in September to help the Giants win their division?

Chris Stratton RHP- 4 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, GO/AO= 6/3.  Not a great night, but not terrible either.  The Giants have a serious lineup that can give the best pitchers in baseball a hard night.

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Bay Bridge Series starts tomorrow night with Jeff Samardzija going against his old(briefly) team.

3 comments:

  1. Old Business: Shaw won the 3B job in Boston.

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  2. Sandoval was benched by the Red Sox today and Travis Shaw will be their starting 3B. And here we are with Matt Duffy and at least $16 million saved... It's hard not to smile.

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  3. We made it to the game last night & sat on the RF grass (not my favorite spot in a stadium, but we took what we could get in a sold out game). Belt & Posey's HRs were hit to nearly the exact same spot... DEEP to CF. Belt's (as some may have seen on the Sacramento TV broadcast) shot was nearly brought back by a leaping Gorkys Hernandez. He had the ball in his glove, but lost it as he slammed into the wall. You could hear Hernandez hit the wall from where we were sitting. Either way, the ball was crushed.

    I'm hoping to do a write-up of some sights and sounds (with a few pictures) from last night's game. I can say this though; standing above the bullpen watching Cueto throw to Posey pregame was one of the coolest things I've experienced as a baseball fan!

    Cove Chatter

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