An error by SS Eduardo Nunez allowing the leadoff batter in the 9'th inning to reach base set up Mark Melancon's second Blown Save of the season to ruin a splendid start by Ty Blach. Key Lines:
Buster Posey C- 3 for 5. BA= .354. Still no power from Posey. The first 3 batters in the Giants lineup reached base a total of just twice in 15 PA's so there was nobody for Buster's basehits to drive in. Just not gonna score many runs when your 1-3 reach base just 2 out of 15 times.
Michael Morse 1B- 1 for 3, 2B. BA= .200. Morse doubled in Hunter Pence for the Giants second run of the game, which should have been enough.
Ty Blach LHP- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.53. Blach has never been a big strikeout pitcher, even in the minor leagues. His game is keeping hitters off balance and inducing weak contact. Whether that will hold up after the league has seen him a couple of times remains to be seen, but he's been wonderful so far. Oh, and he can swing the bat too. He drove in the first run with a SF.
Derek Law RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.92. Law did his usual tightrope act allowing two hits but striking out the side.
Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 K, BS(2). ERA= 2.79. The leadoff error by Nunez was not Melancon's fault, but you expect more out of a $60 M closer. Wouldn't you know it would be Hector Sanchez who drove in the run that reached on an error and himself with the tying run!
Hunter Strickland RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 0.00. Is it just me or has Boch kind of forgotten about Strickland? He's been lights out!
George Kontos RHP- 2 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 6.30. Kontos gave up the 3 run blast by Myers to put the game away for all practical purposes.
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The Giants conclude their Monthus Horribilis with another improbable loss. If the same thing goes wrong every game, it's not hard to pinpoint the cause and fix it. In the Giants case, they have found a new way to lose almost every game which makes it more difficult. You can't change out the entire team! The Giants finish April 7 games behind the Raging Rockies who lost to the Dangerous D'Backs who are just 0.5 games behind in 2'nd place. The Bad Guys beat the Phillies 5-3 and are 2 games behind in 3'rd place while the Pesky Padres are in 4'th place, 5.5 games off the pace.
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I am sure the Giants are thrilled to be starting a new month but start it in Los Angeles with Johnny Cueto facing Clayton Kershaw in Game 1 of the series.
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This was as disheartening as possible. K & K think May will help. Facing Kershaw in LA means Cueto HAS to throw a shutout.
ReplyDeleteStranger things have happened!
Giants started out the season scoring runs, now it's a trickle. Timely hitting has disappeared -- the pitcher gets a run home yesterday!
Inopportune errors, mental failures, lack of clutch hitting, key injuries, bad luck -- can the ship be turned?
It's not going to get easier, other than some games with the Reds and Braves (mostly on the road), May will be difficult.
Buster gets 3 hits, blistering the ball for singles, yet the one time he had Pence on, although he did manage to move him to 2nd where he scored, that and his lead off out in the second when the Giants got 2 hits, were missed opportunities. Maybe he can continue what he's doing and lead the lead in batting, but unless he hits with runners on and shows some power, the Giants will continue to flounder.
If this sounds like I'm putting the onus on Buster, well, he is the leader, he is the #4-hitter in the lineup, he's the "captain" of the ship, he has to do it!
When Bochy used Hundley as a PH in the 10th I wondered what will happen if Posey gets hurt -- who will catch? I figured BB felt if he loses Posey, it's all over anyway, so roll the dice.
But Hundley is hitting like Mendoza so he did what would be expected and made an out. Might as well have batted Cain!
My last thought: if Tomlinson isn't playing against the Dodgers LH pitching rotation, BB has lost his way!
season isnt over yet, but its looking more and more like the giants are gonna be sellers at the deadline
ReplyDeletebest laid plans cannot defeat the odd numbered year
no idea how they will fix the pen, but they have to start doing a better job in developing an outfield
the mix and match plan just aint cutting it
bacci
Concerning Monday's lineup against Kershaw:
ReplyDeleteIt's well above my intelligence level to understand why Bochy would put a near automatic out at the top of the lineup.
If you don't have a "lead-off" guy who can hit a little, why not bat this "lead-off" guy 9th, and push everyone up a slot.
In the case of Hernandez who makes an out 85% of the time, the only difference in the 1st inning is the #2 batter comes up with no outs rather than 1.
After the first inning, you get your "lead-off" guy at the "top" of the sequence.
Since Gorkys is so certain to make an out, why would Bochy want to start the game with an out and make sure one of the worst hitters in the lineup will get the most at bats?
Then there's Drew Stubbs! Another puzzler. He will never be anything more than he's ever been.
Has anyone ever learned to hit at 32 years old, after 11 years in professional baseball?
Bochy doesn't have a lot of options, but 3 Mendozas in a lineup isn't promising against a Kershaw.
But, since it IS Kershaw, maybe it doesn't matter who bats, and saves some embarrassment for Belt and Gillaspie.
Kelby is spared the rigors, also.
Giants need a big night from Posey.