Friday, September 16, 2016

Game Wrap 9/15/2016: Giants 6 Cardinals 2

Hunter Pence's 2-run HR gave the Giants an early lead and they cruised to an easy win in the first game of a huge 4 gamer against their Wild Card rivals behind the dominant pitching of Johhny Cueto.  Key Lines:

Angel Pagan- 2 for 5.  BA= .276.  Pagan has been slumping like everyone else in the lineup, but he moves into the leadoff spot and gets on base twice.  He's 4 for 14 over his last 3 games.

Buster Posey- 4 for 5, 2B.  BA= .290.  Buster's power outage continues, but he keeps the line moving, or gets it started.

Hunter Pence- 1 for 4, HR(12).  BA= .296.  Pence picked on a hanging Waino curveball in the first inning after a 2 out single by Buster and hit it into the LF bleachers.

Brandon Belt- 0 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .270.  There you go! Belt bats 5'th, draws 2 walks and scores 2 runs.

Eduardo Nunez- 3 for 4, 2B.  BA= .288.  The Giants missed Nunez in the SD series.  Nice game here.

Denard Span- 2 for 3, BB.  BA= .260.  A move from leadoff to the 8-hole will definitely send a message.  Span's 2-out bases-loaded single in the 7'th drove in 2 and put this game away.

Johnny Cueto- 9 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 2.86. Cueto was a magician out there.  He ran into a couple of small speed bumps in the 3'rd and 4'th but limited the damage and dominated the rest of the way. He had 3 innings in which he threw just 8 pitches and ended up at 105 for the full 9. It was his 5'th CG of the season which is remarkable for this day and age.  His games just remind me so much of my memories of Juan Marichal.

*********************************************************************************

The Win cut the Dodger's lead over the Giants in the NL West to 4 games as the Bad Guys lost to the D'Backs 7-3.  The Mets were idle so the Giants lead them by 1 full game for the first Wild Card playoff spot and the Cardinals by 2 for the second spot.

*********************************************************************************

Matt Moore tries to keep it going tonight against rookie Luke Weaver.

4 comments:

  1. Cueto going 9 was a great thing. As shaky as the bullpen is right now, the less we have to rely on it the better.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great game! Now its up to Matt Moore to keep the momentum going. This was a game that reminded me of how they played prior to the break. As long as the Giants are within striking distance, they still have a chance to overtake LA.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Has anyone heard anything on why Mac Williamson isn't getting more playing time, or at least more hitting opportunities.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the idea is he has not gotten many AB's since his recovery from the shoulder sprain and would take awhile to get his timing down. The Giants don't have that time to give him right now. Meanwhile, Pagan has been in a bit of a slump, but overall has provided steady offense out of LF all season, so they are not going to bench him in order to give Mac AB's to get his timing down.

      Delete