Johnny Cueto handed the D'Backs a 3 run lead in the first inning, but then settled down and was dominant through 7. Meanwhile, the 5, 6, 7 and 8 batters in the lineup, 3 of whom were not on the Opening Day roster plus the backup catcher, provided the needed offense to overcome the early deficit. Key Lines:
Jarrett Parker- 2 for 4, HR(5). BA= .280. Parker is en fuego, at least against RHP's. He's hitting .313 over his last 7 games and .419 over his last 15. His overall line is .280/.392/.500. He's still striking out at a frightful rate, 27 in 95 PA's, but he's always been a 3 true outcomes kind of hitter. Not sure where Parker goes when Pence comes back, but until then he needs to be in there against every RHP the Giants face.
Conor Gillaspie- 3 for 4, 2B, 3B. BA= .288. Speaking of en fuego, Gillaspie is hitting .500 over his last 7 games and .386 over his last 15. Right now, he's the high average, gap-to-gap hitter the Giants thought they were getting when they drafted him in the supplemental round in 2008. He's had some journey's since then. If Gillaspie keeps this up, Matt Duffy may find himself on the short end of a 3B platoon when he comes back.
Grant Green- 2 for 4. BA= .444. 2 games, 4 singles. We'll take that. One of those singles drove in 2 runs in this game.
Trevor Brown- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .257. Brownie drove in 2 more runs with the double. Brownie is also hot, hitting .333(6 for 18) over his last 7 games and .313 over his last 15.
Gregor Blanco- 2 for 5. BA= .254. Blanco did not figure in the scoring, but he did show why instant replay may be finishing off the Stolen Base as an offensive weapon. SB's were already highly suspect in the eyes of sabermetricians before instant replay. I don't know the numbers for whether instant replay has helped or hurt SB's, but I'm guessing it's hurt. The big issue here is the split second after the runner hits the bag and the foot may bounce while the fielder keeps contact with his glove. Blanco led off the first inning with a hit, then was called out on a SB attempt with Brandon Belt at the plate. The replay showed him clearly hitting the bag ahead of the throw, but then there was a questionable split second where his front foot may have come off before the back foot made contact. The Giants did not ask for a Review.
Johnny Cueto- 7 IP, 7 H, 4 R, 0 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 2.57. Cueto was elevating his pitches in the first inning and the D'Backs smacked him around for 3 runs. Over the next 6 innings, he allowed only a solo HR to Jake Lamb and the bottom half of the lineup picked him up. It won't go in the books as a QS, but it was dominant for the final 6 innings and that's a big sigh of relief for Giants fans!
Cory Gearrin- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.80. Gearrin stumbled a big in the Oakland series, but finished off the 8'th inning with aplomb here.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(18). ERA= 3.13. Casilla always makes it interesting. Brandon Belt probably should get credit for the Save here. Casilla started the inning with B2B singles to put runners at first and 3'rd. The next batter hit a hard chopper to Belt well off the 1B bag. Belt managed to look the runner back at 3B and still got it to 2B in time for a successful relay to 1B for the GIDP without the runner on 3B scoring. Casilla walked the next batter, but froze Peter O'Brien, a guy who could have ended it with one swing, on a curveball to end the game in the Giants favor.
Giants Farm System- The Giants farm system continues to get little respect from the baseball press and blogosphere, but no team has gotten more value from their farm system in the past 8-10 years than the Giants. The bulk of the value comes from drafting and developing players, but the Giants are also masters of the minor league sign which has supplemented their drafted talent with a steady pipeline of help when it's needed. Some of those minor league signings have been former Giants farmhands who were previously released or traded to other organizations and eventually found their way back to the Giants. The heroes of this game, Parker, Gillaspie, Green, and Brown, plus Blanco all fit that narrative in one way or another.
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The Win kept the Giants 6 games ahead of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys blanked the Rockies 5-0 behind their new acquisition, Bud Norris. Uh-oh!
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Jeff Samardzija tries to get his ship back upright tonight against Patrick Corbin.
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Been following Green's career and the guy will hit at the MLB level, just a matter of his glove, which he showed why last night. Almost the same story for Gillaspie, both hitters with questionable defense. Good depth guys though. Giants do have a knack for these types of pick ups it seems.
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