Saturday, August 27, 2016

Game Wrap 8/26/2016: Giants 7 Braves 0

The Giants, helped by some sloppy fielding by the Braves, score early and often while Jeff Samardzija escaped jams in the first 2 innings to cruise to an easy win.  Key Lines:

Denard Span- 2 for 4.  BA= .274.  Span is hitting .337 for the month of August and .327 since the All-Star Break.

Angel Pagan- 1 for 4, HR(9).   BA= .296.  Pagan has a chance to equal or break his career high in HR's for a season(12).  Do the Giants try to re-up him for 1 or 2 years or do they turn LF over to one of the kids?

Buster Posey- 2 for 4.  BA= .297.  Buster's power outage continues but he's keeping the line moving.

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 2B.  BA= .276.  Belt looks much more comfortable batting down in the lineup.  He hit out of the 5-hole in this game, driving in the first run with a single and another with a looooong double to the left-CF gap.

Joe Panik- 1 for 3, 2B, BB.  BA= .249.  Panik makes a big contribution for the second game in a row.  A hot Panik would be a big help in the stretch run.

Jeff Samardzija- 1 for 2, 2B, Sac.  BA= .148.  Shark helped himself with the bat.  The Sac was just his second of the season.

Jeff Samardzija- 7 IP, 7 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 6 K's.  Samardzija had runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with 1 out in the first inning and struck out the next 2 batters to get out of it.  He then had the bases loaded with no outs in the second and got out of that one too.  All in all, 5 of the 10 Braves baserunners he allowed were in the first 2 innings.  He scattered 5 more baserunners over the next 5 innings.

Earlier in the season Samardzija lost all of his offspeed pitches and his hard stuff was getting pummeled.  In this game, he used a sharp spike curveball as a nice strikeout pitch.  He also showed a splitter that was less consistent.

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Kenley Jansen tied Santiago Casilla for Blown Saves with his 6'th of the season and the Dodgers lost to the Cubs 6-4 in 10 innings.  The Giants gain a game and now trail The Hated Ones by 1 game in the NL West.  The Giants also maintain a 1.5 game lead over the Cardinals for the first Wild Card playoff spot and a 3 game lead over the Marlins for the second spot.

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Jake Peavy tries to get his season back on track this evening facing Mike Foltenewicz.  A good start by Peavy could put him back in the rotation for the stretch run.  A bad one could be his last as a Giant.

7 comments:

  1. Pagan is playing for a contract. As an outsider, I'd say let "Big Mac" Williamson get a shot next season and let Pagan sign elsewhere. The Giants need more pop in the lineup. I wonder if the Giants are thinking of finally giving Blach a shot in the rotation if Peavy falters also instead of maybe Suarez.

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  2. if pagan accepts a one and one...he stays with the giants...they are not going to offer him more than that
    i will feel much better about the giants chances if both moore and the shark have worked out their pitching woes
    not sure if this has anything to do with anything, but this august in sf has been the first one on record to only have one temp reading over 70 and as many days with fog cover....maybe this has had an impact on play both at home and away
    i know its making me feel depressed...hard not to see the sun for a month
    and just read that if the giants have as bad a september as they did an august, they will be the first team in history to have the best record at the half, and the worst record in the second half...if you gotta fail...

    bums are now 0-2 since the ellis trade. was ellis their skeeter?
    bacci

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  3. I don't see how it'd be beneficial to bring back Pagan. He's been good at times for the Giants, but with too many missed stretches. He always seems like he's a muscle pull away from missing half the season. Mac probably gives the same value on defense and with the bat right now, but with much bigger upside.

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    1. Well, Mac has not exactly been a consistent picture of health himself. Also, Mac has not proven he can hit consistently at the MLB level. I am also not sure Mac would give the same value on D, although I do think he has a better arm than Pagan does. On the other hand, Mac has a huge upside in power and the Giants desperately need power in their lineup. Also, if Mac were to fall on his face, they also have Slater and Duggar coming along who they could give opportunities to.

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  4. I think you gotta let Pagan walk. We got Mac, Parker, Slater, Duggar and maybe Reynolds all looking great and should be ready anywhere from now and 2018. Also, if Shaw is for real, we need a place for Belt to play.

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    1. Belt is not going to play LF for more than a spot game or two, ever. Please remember that!

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  5. Suarez is getting the call today. Color me surprised.

    As for Pagan, he's done really well in LF. But his history is one of breaking. Plus now we might have to worry that Pence's 'all-in' style is catching up to him. He's had the hamstring (twice, once requiring surgery), some back problems and an achilles inflammation. Just this year. So I really feel like we need someone who is still relatively young and robust.

    I don't know what the Giants should, exactly, about it. But I think Pagan shouldn't be resigned. Better to either sign someone else for RF or develop someone for RF.

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