Jeff Samardzija only pitched 8 innings, but they were dominant 8 innings and the Giants offense scratched out 3 runs to run their winning streak to 8 games and complete a 3 game sweep of the Padres and a 7 game sweep of the road trip. This was the first time a Giants team has swept a road trip of 7 games or more since 1913. Think about that! Key Lines:
Joe Panik- 4 for 5, SB(3). BA= .253. Panik broke out of his BABIP induced slump. Despite the 4 hits, he did not record a Run or RBI although he did keep the line moving for 1 of the Giants runs.
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4, HR(6). BA= .257. Crawford's HR was an insurance run in the 7'th inning. It came after he was in an 0-2 hole in the count.
Jeff Samardzija- 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 2.66. All kinds of great stuff going on here. In his last 4 starts, Shark has 31.2 IP which is 1 out short of 8 full innings per start. In that span, he's allowed just 5 ER for a 1.57 ERA with 29 K's against just 3 BB's. In the 8 game winning streak, Giants starters have pitched 60.2 innings which averages out to 7.2 innings per start. Their ERA over that span in 1.32 with 54 K's and just 12 BB's with 4 of those 12 coming in the first game of the winning streak.
Interesting discussion on the broadcast and Postgame Live about how Shark started the season with a split/forkball which he junked for a circle changeup. It's still a developing pitch, but he threw it effectively in a few key spots in this game.
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The Win, coupled with losses by the Dodgers and Rockies puts the Giants up by 3.5 games in the NL West. The 4'th place D'Backs were idle to slide 6 games behind while the Padres bring up the rear of true division with a 7.5 game deficit.
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The Giants come home to start a tough weekend series against the mighty Cubs with the Cubbies lining up their top 3 starters for the series. Jake Peavy takes on Jake Arrieta in the opener tonight.
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The Tim Lincecum era is officially over in San Francisco, at least for the time being, as Timmy signed a prorated $2.5 M deal with the Angels with incentives for $1.7 M more. Is Timmy going to make the Giants regret not re-signing him or is he done? My best guess is he still has a few good games left in him, but overall will continue the downward trajectory of his career. His delivery requires the flexibility of a gymnast and how many 30 year old gymnasts have you heard of? It was a great run while it lasted. Timmy won 2 Cy Young Awards, contributed to 3 championships and leaves the Giants with the most games with double digit K's in franchise history.
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I am not sure we have seen the last of Timmy. If he proves serviceable as a starter I can see the Giants signing him as a FA next year to replace Peavy.
ReplyDeleteGreat couple of series against West division teams. I do wish they were going against the Cubs with their aces but at least they will be at home which should help some.Finally starting to get some traction, going to be fun!
Billy Baseball
Wow! A whole lot of Giants fans out there just don't want to let Timmy go even after he is gone! First of all, I will be a bit surprised if Timmy proves to be even "serviceable" for more than a few isolated games. Secondly, I would hope the Giants replace Peavy with more than just "serviceable" starter. Ideally, one of the pitching prospects will step up and take the job, but if not, the Giants can easily afford to sign or trade for more than a serviceable starter.
DeleteI predict Bickford is up by summer of 2017
DeleteRichard in Winnipeg
Bickford in 2017 would be an absolute rocket ride up the system. I love Bickford, but it's most likely going to take a bit longer for him.
DeleteWhile it was expected, I was still sad to hear that Timmy is no longer a Giant. My only savior is that I'll get to see him pitch live here in Anaheim, so I finally have a reason to go to the games! Unfortunately, I fear that the upside is catching lighting in a bottle and I really don't want to see the decline in his performance. I hope he tears it up, Go Timmy!
ReplyDeletefirst, many thanks for your reports and commentary. can't tell you how much i enjoy and appreciate this stuff. i will not comment on Tim L. as i'm a sentimental fool and know when to park my thoughts when not founded on reason. it is possible that this is also not founded on reason but pure opinion but i simply do not see one of the Giants minor league pitchers stepping up to the bigs. looking for that one guy that has "it" and currently don't see it. maybe i'm missing something. ok, i'm burying the lede to say i think Beede has become the pitcher i thought he would be which is a brick shy of a load. anyone else think he showed signs of regressing during his last year at vandy? that to me was an indication that he may have topped out already. maybe i misread the numbers but he just didn't seem as consistent or dominant, so why draft him? thanks again. -e.
ReplyDeleteAgreed on the state of SP on the Giants farm, especially with high draft pick starters. I'm desperately looking for some Kool-Aid to drink on this. Stratton, Agosta, Bede, Crick, Blackburn are all living up to TINSTAPP. Bickford...it's early, but that's the only guy who seems to have MLB-impact starter potential right now. We'll see.
DeleteNot saying Beede is necessarily THE guy for the future, but I would counsel patience. He's still a work in progress. Reports I've read have him hitting up to 97 MPH on the FB this season. While the results have not been quite what we would like to see, they are significantly better than a much more highly ranked prospect, Lucas Giolito, pitching in the same league.
DeleteI do agree that it's a bit hard to project any of the pitching prospects being ready to step in for Peavy by next season.
He's pitching better, in AA, this year than last. And, when push comes to shove, there is some progress being made even if he's not showing out like we'd like. And, to me, it doesn't seem like another Crick. Not yet at least. And compared a number of other Top-30 pitching prospects at AA, he's doing ok...
DeleteAs for why did the Giants draft Beede? I'm pretty sure they thought he was the BPA at the slot. Remember the guy all Giants fan draftniks wanter, Touki Toussaint? He's not exactly rocketing up the minor league ladder. And yeah, I would have been ecstatic with Touki, but I was even happier with Beede at the time and supported the pick(I had Beede going #4 overall in my mock draft. The Cubs ended up taking Schwarber at #4 which looked genius last year and not so great this year.)
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