Santiago Casilla completed the destruction of a seemingly insurmountable lead by hanging a curveball to Jonathan Schoop with 2 runners on base in the top of the 9'th inning. Unlike Casilla, Orioles Closer Zack Britton shut down a feeble Giants rally in the bottom of the inning for the game and series win. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .289. Pagan continues to be Mr. Consistency at the plate, although his misplay of a ball in LF contributed to the Orioles winning rally in the 9'th inning.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, HR(8). BA= .274. The 2 hits and dinger are a great sign as the Giants desperately need Pence's bat the middle of the lineup the rest of the way.
Trevor Brown- 3 for 5. BA= .266. Brownie was a last minute fill-in when Buster Posey was scratched due to a stiff back. The Giants did not lose because of Buster's absence.
Johnny Cueto- 2 for 3. BA= .115. Giants pitchers can swing the bat.
Johnny Cueto- 6.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.97. With a 7-1 lead and a rested bullpen, you had to feel good about this game even after the lead shrunk to 7-3 under Cueto's watch.
Hunter Strickland- 0.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.57. Strickland got Cueto out of his jam in the 7'th, but gave up a solo HR to Mark Trumbo plus 2 more hits with Derek Law allowing one of the runners he inherited from Strickland to score.
Santiago Casilla- 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K, BS(6). ERA= 3.28. The warning signs were there early when the first two batters hit rockets. Brandon Crawford made a leaping grab on the first one by Hyun Soo Kim, but Pagan got caught in no-man's land on Machado's to LF and it went through the wickets for a hit and an error putting Machado at 2B. Casilla got a break from the ump who called Chris Davis out on strikes for the second out. Casilla appeared to want no part of Mark Trumbo and walked him on 5 pitches 2 of which were closer to the strike zone than 2 of the pitches that were called strikes on Davis. Casilla then got strike one on Schoop with a nasty two seamer on the inside corner at the knees. Brownie then motioned for a pitch low and away and everybody in the ballpark knew a curveball was coming next. Casilla hung it out over the plate and Schoop blasted it.
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The silver lining of the day was the Dodgers losing to the Pirates 11-4, so the Giants lead of 1 game in the NL West remains intact.
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The black cloud on the horizon is the Pirates who just won a series against the Dodgers come to town for a 3 gamer starting tomorrow with Matt Moore facing none other than Ryan Vogelsong.
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Britton has a 100% save rate this year and has been the best closer in MLB all season. So I'm not surprised he came through for the Orioles.
ReplyDeleteCasilla is at 81.8% which is, pretty much, his career average. So I'm not surprised he blew it since he blows 1-in-5. It could be worse, there are 9 closers with poorer save rates. Of course, some have been benched, like Rosenthal, or cut, like Papelbon.
Like I've said for a long time, a 90% or better closer is what a team that has playoff aspirations needs. You put him at 90% and (all things being equal) we're a solid +4 over the Dodgers, not nursing a +1 lead.
Probably not much they can do about it this year unless they want to roll the dice and see if Law can handle it. They probably don't want to put that kind pressure on him, though.
DeleteAs for next year, I don't see any in-house options so they need to bid goodbye the Casilla($6.5 M), Romo($8 M), Lopez($5 M) and use the savings to go after Mark Melancon, Kenley Jansen or Aroldis Chapman.
save rates? casilla has the most blown saves in the majors. the giants pen gave up 5 runs in 2 innings...that is terrible...might be ok in june...in august, does not bode well for the stretch run
ReplyDeletethis team reminds me so much of the teams from my youth. when they get pitching, they dont get hitting. when they get hitting, the pitching collapses. maddening
but im still happy, cuz vogey comes home tonight...will be the first time in my life, when im rooting for the opposing pitcher. would put a nice cap on an amazing story
bacci
I don't know how far back you go, Bacci, but in 1966 the Giants had a rotation of Marichal, Perry and 2 stiffs(they had 4 man rotations back then). In 1967, they added a Cy Young season from Mike McCormick so what happens? Marichal has a terrible season and wins only 14. Marichal then bounces back and has his best season in 1968 but McCormick turns back into a pumpkin. Sigh!
DeleteThe Giants may look at changes to their set up relievers as well next year. Strickland (4BS) and Osich (3BS) are too inconsistent. Gerrin and Javier Lopez with 3 more blown saves each. This might be the worst bullpen in the Bochy era in SF.
ReplyDeleteLG