Hunter Pence's 2-run dinger was the only offense the Giants needed as Johnny Cueto pitched their second CG in succession and the Giants won their 7'th game in a row, 6 of them coming on this road trip. Key Lines:
Denard Span- 2 for 3, BB, SB(6). BA= .279. Span has become an on-base machine with an overall OBP of .378, .515 in his last 7 games, .429 in his last 15 and .419 in his last 30. The problem for him and the Giants is the 2 and 3 hole hitters are 0 for their last 31. That seems to be mostly due to a stretch of bad BABIP luck as both Duffy and Panik have approximately league average LD% over that span.
Hunter Pence- 1 for 3, HR(7), BB. BA= .298. OK, is it just me or did Pence's towering flyball look like Kemp could have caught it if he had any idea where it was? It looked like it hit on top of the low fence in RF just behind Kemp who was facing the RF foul line.
Johnny Cueto- 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 8 K's, GO/AO= 11/3. ERA= 2.70. You know who Johnny Cueto's games remind me of? Juan Marichal! The leg kick isn't there, and Juan used to mix up his arm angles while Cueto mixes up the timing of his delivery, but there's the same crispness and efficiency and pace of the game. The economy of pitches. Lots and lots of 0-1, 0-2, 1-2 counts followed by soft contact. When I used to listen to Juan's games on the radio, there was just a different pace to the game and I get that same feeling when watching or listening to Cueto's games. Love it!
Of course, I have to mention the sensational fielding play to grab a Matt Kemp dribbler up the 3B line and throw him out, but to me the signature moment in the game came on the last pitch of the 8'th inning. Cueto had just given up a pinch-hit single to Christian Bethancourt and was at 3-2 on the dangerous Myers. It looked like Cueto might be tiring. Kruk and Kuip were fretting about Myers laying in the weeds for the next pitch. Cueto threw it right down the middle…..at 94 MPH! I think that was the highest velocity pitch he threw all night and he saved it for that moment. Myers never had a chance. Blew it right past him!
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The Dodgers and Rockies both lost so the Win puts just a bit of distance, 2.5 games, between the Giants and the two second place teams in the NL West. The D'Backs lost to the Mets to fall 5.5 games back in 4'th place while the Padres bring up the rear at 6.5 games behind the Giants.
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Jeff Samardzija has some tall tasks this evening while facing James Shields. Not only is he trying to keep the winning streak alive, he's trying to complete the sweep and has the last 2 CG's to try to live up to. You better bet that if he's still around with a lead in the 8'th inning, Bochy is going to have to hogtie him and carry him off that mound!
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What a picture: 6'3" 205 lb Bochy hog tying 6'5" 225 lb Samardzija on the mound in San Diego. That would bring a sellout crowd even in San Diego!
ReplyDeleteBeing in the Alamo City, I watched the last two games on MLB.TV and enjoyed Dulcitone Dick Enberg and Mark Grant. They were pretty humorous, including Enberg's recollection of facing the Ryan Express in the batter's box back in the 70s when Enberg called their games.
ReplyDeleteOf course, it helped that our co-aces pitched to form and the G-Men took the series. And hearing the chants of "Let's Go Giants!" was pretty cool as well.
NWGiantsFan
DtF!!!
Agreed, really enjoy Enberg & Grant on the SD broadcasts. Kinda fun to listen to the other local guys and compare how they do business compared to Kruk & Kuip.
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