The Giants got a big boost from a somewhat unexpected source as Matt Cain was dealing for 5 innings and the Giants offense came to life in the later innings to seal their first series win of the season. Key Lines:
Denard Span CF- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .261. Span doubled to lead off the Giants first inning and was stranded, but drove in a run and scored one later during a 3-run rally in the 5'th inning.
Brandon Belt 1B- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .184. Belt's OBP is .363.
Nick Hundley C- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .313. Hundley crushed one to RF in a rainswept 7'th inning. The wind was howling in from the bay, but the ball hit off the brick wall driving in Crawford from 2B.
Jarrett Parker LF- 2 for 3, 3B, BB. BA= .176. Joe Panik followed Hundley's double with a BB, then Parker blasted one off the CF wall for a triple. Parker runs hot and cold. Hopefully this is the start of a hot streak.
Matt Cain RHP- 1 for 2, 2B. BA= .333. Cain scored the first run of the game when Span drove him in from 2B after a 1-out double.
Matt Cain RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.82. What a difference 1 start makes! After giving up a leadoff triple to AJ Pollock, Cainer settled down and pitched a spiffy little game. He had his FB consistently up to 90-91 with a sharp slider and and a slower breaking ball that came in at 77 MPH. What did we say after his last start? Get the FB velocity up to 90 MPH and improve command of the secondary stuff? Well, he did it and it paid off big time. Bochy gets credit for not trying to keep him in the game too long pulling him after the first 2 batters reached base in the 6'th.
Cory Gearrin RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Gearrin relieved Cain with 2 runners on base and proceeded to strike out the side with a mix of Romoesque sliders and running 2-seam FB.
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The Giants improved their record to 4-6 while dropping the first place D'Backs to 7-3. Giants remain in last place in the NL West, but just 3 games behind the leaders. The Rockies lost to the Pesky Padres 6-0 to remain 1 game off the pace. The Dodgers blanked the Cubs 2-0 to improve their record to 5-4, 1.5 games behind the D'Backs while the Padres improved to 5-5 and are 2 games behind the leaders in 4'th place.
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The Rockies come to town tomorrow with Madison Bumgarner facing Jonathan Gray, weather permitting. I understand there is a large storm system moving into NoCal starting tonight.
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For Belt to have a OBP that high with such a low batting average is crazy. So far the Nick Hundley signing is paying off really well. Still not sold on Cain, but we will see. Is the bullpen finally coming around? I think the bullpen is a lot more talented than it had performed during the first week and maybe just needed to get rid of some start of the season jitters.
ReplyDeleteIt's still 1 start at a time with Cainer, that's for sure, but I keep going back to last year when he had a 3 start stretch in May where he allowed just 4 ER in 21 IP with 4 BB's and 17 K's and was looking like the Hoss again. Then he went down with the hammy strain then had another long DL stint after coming back. I still think if he can stay healthy, he can put together another run like that and keep it going.
DeleteAnd in a moment of early-season irony -- Cain has a better record than Bumgarner...
ReplyDeleteAgreed on two big fronts Doc; First, that Bochy was right on the money pulling Cain after 2 batters in the 6th, letting Gearrin do what he's here for and knowing exactly the right moment to not let momentum get away.
ReplyDeleteAnd second, that Gearrin looked outstanding last night. I only got to watch one inning yesterday, and I'm GLAD that I caught Gearrin's outting. THAT was the kid that came up last year: ridiculous movement on the slider and sinking fastball, hitting the corners with that awesome movement, totally dominated the inning.
Strickland gets a shout out, too. I didn't see his outting, but it seems he's found a new gear to start this season.
Wouldnt call Gearrin a kid since he been in the league since 2011, but yea was a great inning for him.
DeleteJust wondering what your thoughts were on the DFA of Blackburn, doc?
ReplyDeleteI understand the need to be cautious with Posey and the need for another catcher, just wondering why they chose Blackburn.
I think Blackburn's star has fallen. He had a great season in 2015, but not so much last year and he had a rough spring training. I don't think the Giants have to worry too much about another team claiming him off waivers.
DeleteGearrin's sinker was moving so much that the at bat app was calling it slider.
ReplyDeleteDFA of Blackburn?
ReplyDeleteHe was best at Sac a year ago....