The Giants have had many a nightmare inning in Coors Field, but I'm not sure any of them beat today's 5'th inning in which the Rockies scored 9 runs to ruin what had looked like Matt Cain's best performance since 2012. Key Lines:
Denard Span- 2 for 5. BA= .244. Span seems to be heating up and none too soon.
Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, HR(3). BA= .333. Belt remains on track for a big breakout season.
Ehire Adrianza- 1 for 2, 2B. Adrianza certainly seems like a different hitter this year. Unfortunately, he had to come out of the game after fouling a ball off his foot. X-rays were negative.
Matt Cain- 4.2 IP, 7 H, 6 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 6.75. Cain went into the 5'th inning having allowed just 1 hit and 0 walks with 5 K's. I didn't see the game, but reports are that his stuff looked great. Then…the wheels just came off. He started allowing base hit after base hit and just could not shut it off. It didn't get any better after Chris Heston relieved him and the Rockies plated 3 more runs charged to him. Almost any way you look at the peripherals and context of this game, Cain pitched much better than his score and ERA would indicate. I'll just chalk this up to Coors Field voodoo and wait for his next start to pass any judgement.
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The Loss dropped the Giants back into a first place tie with the Dodgers in the NL West with 6-4 records. The Rockies are just a half game back at 5-4. The D'Backs lost to the Dodgers 5-2 while the Padres struck out 16 times against Vince Velasquez of the Phillies and lost 3-0. The D'Backs and Padres are 3 games off the pace at 3-7.
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The Giants start a 3 game weekend series against the Dodgers in LA tomorrow evening with Madison Bumgarner facing Clayton Kershaw once again.
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Sergio Romo was placed on the 15 day DL with a flexor tendon strain. Matt Cain lost 3 months with one of those last year.
Joe Panik was held out of this game with a hip bruise after his tumbling attempt at a catch in game 2 of the series.
Brandon Crawford left todays game with a hip flexor strain. He's had those before and has not missed much time with them. He probably won't play tomorrow at any rate with Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers.
We already mentioned Adrianza's sore foot. Posey's foot was well enough to play today, but he might not have been at 100%.
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Adrianza is a different hitter this year. I watched every webcast spring training game I could and he's clearly hitting the ball with more authority (more medium and hard contact). Which was the root of his 'no bat' problem. If he continues, he could end up not only being an excellent bench player, but starter capable since he already has the glove and range for the position.
ReplyDeleteI truly appreciate a player that looks at his correctable deficiencies and does something about it in order to improve his performance. To me, he's now worthy of the accolades he was given in the past and has, in my book, shut the door on legitimate criticism. And I say this as a multi-year critic of his offensive potential and production.
If you look at Adrianza's minor league career stat lines, he's always had a solid approach to hitting. He was just getting overpowered physically in the MLB. Whether it was his body finally maturing or hard work or both, he came to camp this year bigger and stronger. Combine that with his solid approach and voila! You have a player!
DeleteSeems he can't catch a break health wise as word comes down that he has a broken bone in his foot from the foul ball and is going on the 15 day DL. No word yet on his replacement on the roster.
No minor league infielders on the 40 man roster, so this will get interesting.
DeleteThat is such a bummer and a bad break for the kid. Get well quick Ehire!
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