This game was a mirror image of the Wild Card game as Johnny Cueto was the more dominant of 2 dominant pitchers for 7 innings before making a single mistake pitch to Javier Baez. For their part, the Giants offense failed to take advantage of opportunities. Key Lines:
Johnny Cueto 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 10 K's. You can't pitch much better than that. Maybe the HR pitch to Baez was just a mistake pitch, a random occurrence, but you have to wonder if Cueto was aware of the LH hitting Chris Coghlan in the on-deck circle and was trying to not walk Baez. Or maybe he was a little too aware of the rising pitch count? Coghlan is a good hitter, but Baez has otherworldly power and is the guy you don't want to give in to in that situation. If you don't want to face Coghlan, well, that's what Will Smith is on the roster for.
Jon Lester- 8 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. The Giants got the leadoff batter on in each of the first 3 innings and had runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with 2 outs later in the game. And how do you get one runner thrown out trying to steal 2B against a pitcher who won't throw to 1B and how do you get picked off 1B by the catcher on a sac bunt attempt?
Aroldis Chapman- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. OK, here's where I'll complain about the check swing strike call which was one of the worst I've seen all year. I mean, it's often a tough one to call, but that was not even close, even in real time. If Gorkys is on first base, he just might have scored on Buster's double. Unfortunately, that might be the closest the Giants come to scoring off Chapman in the series.
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The loss puts the Giants down 1-0 in the 5 game series. Historically, the winner of game 1 of 5 game series' wins the series 70% of the time.
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Jeff Samardzija takes the ball for game 2 facing Kyle Hendricks.
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Couldn't agree more Doc on the check swing strike call. I believe it was a game-changer, but then again, as you alluded to, timely hitting on our part earlier in the game would have made that call irrelevant.
ReplyDeleteIn addition to Cueto's masterpiece, Gorkys and Kelby demonstrated a little artistry of their own with the glove in their Postseason debuts. I totally agree with Pagan who is quoted as saying, "It was big. They kept us in the game."
I was watching the game with my family. When Gorkys made that catch I remarked that I didn't think there was any way Span gets to that ball.
DeleteThe baserunning really hurt. No reason for Gorkys to attempt a steal in the first and how does Gillaspie get picked off first? Cueto did more than you could have asked for.
ReplyDeleteCueto was great.
ReplyDeleteThe base running was bad. Hernandez really messed up on his jump as Lackey was quick-pitching. Gillespie didn't react fast enough to the pick-off play. And Posey held up on Pagan's hit, like he forgot it was two outs, so he should have been going flat-out from when the ball was hit but he hesitated for a second. And while Posey might not have been waived in, when he hesitated, it closed that door.
But, mostly, it was just a very hard-fought game and the Cubs did just enough to win while the Giants didn't.