Ouch! That one hurt, in more ways than one! The Giants squandered a 4-1 lead and lost to one of the worst teams in baseball in extra innings, and they lost Hunter Pence, probably for at least 2 weeks, after he aggravated his hammy strain trying to beat out and IF hit. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt- 3 for 4, HR(6), BB. BA= .299. Belt stays hot. He just might be the best hitter on the team right now, especially if Pence is going to be out of commission for awhile.
Gregor Blanco- 2 for 5. BA= .280. Blanco has been playing well. He will likely start everyday with Pence out while Parker and Willamson platoon the other OF position.
Albert Suarez- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.18. About as good as you can expect for a guy making his first MLB start after pitching out of the bullpen for awhile. He left the game with his team in a position to win.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, BS(4). ERA= 2.08. Casilla pitched in some very bad luck, but he made some of that bad luck himself. The disturbing part to me, was it looked like he panicked after he hit Adonis Garcia with a pitch after shaking off Buster Posey, who wanted a pitch on the outside corner, twice. It got worse after a bloop single by Markakis with Casilla throwing up his arms at Gregor Blanco for not trying to get the runner at 3B even though it looked like he would have had no chance to get him and Blanco was probably wise to make sure the winning run did not get to 2B. Casilla then threw a WP to allow the run to score. He also was visibly angry with the home plate ump even though the ump appeared to be calling balls and strikes correctly. I don't know if this is insecurity stemming from Bochy not letting him pitch to Jake Lamb several series ago or what, but Casilla has to be able to control his emotions better than that if he's going to be the closer on a championship team.
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With the Loss, the Giants failed to take advantage of an opportunity to put more distance between them and the rest of the NL West as the Dodgers lost to the Cubs 2-1 and the Rockies lost to Cincinnati 7-2. So, the Dodgers and Rockies remain 4.5 and 7.5 games behind the Giants respectively.
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Now the Giants have to hope Madison Bumgarner is enough of a morning person to pitch them to a series tie tomorrow in a game that starts at 12:00 Noon EDT.
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Giants are going to have to address their bullpen at the trading deadline IMO. Right now most are inconsistent and they lack a shut down guy they can rely on. Also, better to have Pence and Pagan get 100% healthy now when they have a little bit of a lead and the rest of the division is scuffling. In the meantime, let's see what Mac and Parker can do.
ReplyDeleteBilly Baseball
Hi Dr. B,
ReplyDeleteThat sure was ugly ninth inning. At this point Casilla's problems seem to be between the ears. He doesn't throw as hard as he used to, but his offspeed stuff is still nasty, so it is not a matter of talent. This year he has looked less and less like a closer. Personally, I've wanted Houston Street on this team for awhile. He's working his way back from an oblique injury, but should be ready to go come the deadline. The Angels should be motivated to sell seeing as how their rotation is toast this season and for a good chunk of next year too. With our defense, you gotta love a guy who can keep it on the ground.
I feel like with Pence out for awhile, it might be time to shuffle up the batting order. I have no doubt that Panik and Duffy will figure things out. They have both adjusted from worse, but we can't have two sub .250 guys back to back. Posey needs some protection and right now he's getting everything but the kitchen sink thrown at him. I could be wrong, but a 3-5 of Belt, Posey, and Crawford might be the best scenario to ride out till the team is healthy again.
As for the hamstrings, do you think it is a lack of stretching? I know Pagan is probably just susceptible given his history with them, but Pence is a in shape freak. Maybe it is just something that happens to guys who play hard? I know Harper, who goes after the game like Pence does, has issues with pulling his hammy at least once a year.