Well, they say all good things come to an end, and that now includes the Giants 8 game winning streak. If you were looking to predict when the streak might end, this one looked like a great candidate with Jake Peavy facing Jake Arrieta. The game unfolded true to form as Peavy could not get out of the second inning and that was predictably game over against arguably one of the top 5 pitchers in all of baseball right now. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 3, 2 SB(5). BA= .289. Pagan struggled a bit in San Diego, but looked good in this one, maybe the one bright spot in the lineup.
Jake Peavy- 1.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 2 BB, 0 K's. ERA= 8.21. Not many silver linings here. Peavy is a shaver and a nibbler and the ump set a tight strike zone early. Not a good combination. He gave up a leadoff single to Dexter Fowler which also is not a good thing against this Cubs lineup. Then Jason Heyward had the AB that probably set Peavy's fate, 10 or 11 pitches ending with a BB. Peavy kept trying to shave the inside corner on Heyward and Heyward kept fouling off the strikes and letting the balls go. It looked to me like a good fading changeup or tailing 2-seamer on the outside corner might have gotten him, but Peavy never threw one of those. He finally lost Heyward on a 2-seamer that was way inside. More on Heyward later. He was able to limit the damage in the first inning, but not before throwing 29 pitches. When the second inning turned into another high stress inning, Peavy wilted and was completely out of gas by the time Bochy finally lifted him in the second inning, probably 2 batters too late. It's easy to say in retrospect, but watching the game, I did not think Peavy should face Kris Bryant. It's not like Peavy was going to go deep into the game at that point anyway and the bullpen had not been used for almost a week.
Derek Law- 1.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 2.70. Again, Law looked like he was ready in time to face Bryant and that's where I would have made the pitching change, but then, I'm not a HOF manager either.
Albert Suarez- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 5/1. ERA= 0.00. Another bright spot. Suarez has now pitched 7 innings in 4 appearances without allowing a run. If you are looking for a "prospect" who might step up and take a rotation spot by next season, hey, why not this guy? Look up his last two AAA starts before he was called up. He's big and strong. Throws up to 95 MPH, doesn't walk batters and keeps the ball on the ground. What's not to like here?
Jason Heyward(Cubs)- 0 for 0, BB. BA= .225. After wearing down Peavy in the first inning, Heyward made one of the best catches I've ever seen to rob Giants leadoff hitter, Denard Span, of at least a triple. Span crushed one to Triples Alley and Heyward went what seemed like forever to run it down, then laid out at the warning track with his back completely to the plate catching the ball in the webbing of his glove, almost sno-cone style. As he sprawled on the track, his head hit up against the padded wall, bending his neck and twisting his torso. He had to leave the game, but seemed like he escaped serious injury. Anyway, Heyward totally lived up to his rep as a defensive RF on that play. For a guy his size to run that far that fast, then make that acrobatic of a catch. Now THAT is impressive!
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Kenley Jansen blew a Save in San Diego for a 7-6 loss and the Rockies lost to the Pirates 2-1 so the Giants remain in first place in the NL West by 3.5 games despite the Loss. The D'Backs won so they and the Padres each gain a game to 5 and 6.5 games behind the Giants respectively.
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Matt Cain tries to keep his improved pitching going and get the Giants back on the winning side of the ledger today facing Jon Lester.
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Sad to hear of the passing of Jim Ray Hart at age 74. I mention Jim Ray Hart in my About Me segment on the left. I also wrote up a retrospective on his career way back when I started this blog. That entry can be found in the Archives dated Jan. 9, 2010.
I started following Giants games on the radio regularly in 1966, which happened to be Jim Ray's best season with he batted .285 and hit 33 HR's. Willie Mays hit 37 HR's that year with 36 by Willie McCovey and another 27 from Tom Haller. Man! How on Earth did that team finish second to the Dodgers? I'm not sure how many Giants fans these days know that from 1964-1968, Jim Ray Hart had a 5 year run in which he averaged 27 HR's per season. He had a reputation as a poor fielder and did make a lot of errors, but he also had two seasons in which he participated in 24 DP's from the 3B position and participated in a total of 85 over that same 5 year span. He started so many DP's from 3B that as a kid, I didn't understand why SS was considered part of a DP combination!
After 1968, Jim Ray's career fell apart from injuries and rumored alcohol problems. From what I understand, he spent quite a few of his last years in a care facility.
RIP Jim Ray Hart! He'll always be one of the great Giants in my mind.
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Although Heston had a good outing in Sac lately, he and Blackburn have not been stellar this year, and Albert Suarez already on the Active Roster has. He could go into the rotation moving Jake to long relief (if/when it comes to that) without a roster change. He's probably not ready to go 90 pitches but after Bumgarner, Cueto, and Samardzija there's usually a rested bullpen. I don't see Boch giving up on Peavy -- it's not the way he does things -- and Jake can keep getting his ears pounded most of the time as long as the rest of the West stays near .500, but sooner or later one has to obey the inviolable rule of aging. Maybe he can tinker around in relief, get himself on track, but it's sad to see such a great bulldog get whipped so unmercifully.
ReplyDeleteJust saw that Tomlinson is starting at . . . LF. I had to read it again . . . and again. I definitely understand him being in the lineup because according to MLB.com he's hitting .419 (13-31) against left-handers and hitting .538 (14-26) over his last 11 starts. I really didn't understand why Duffy and/or Panik didn't get a day off during their 0 for a bunch slump just to let them regroup a bit. You might remember that he last time Duffy got a day off and Tomlinson started at 3B, Duffman came back looking like his old self. But this LF gig is a bit odd. To be honest, I hope he kills it! He was one of my favorite Squirrels ever. I would love to see this kid succeed. And what it would do for the Gs to have a true super-utility guy. I know that's a ways off, but Boch and the boys must think it can happen. Here's to hoping it does.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, a Jim Ray Hart bat was my first Bat Day bat at the Stick. They gave away real wood bats in those days. Still have it. R.I.P. JRH
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