Thursday, May 4, 2017

Game Wrap 5/3/2017: Giants 4 Dodgers 1

The Giants offense broke through in the top of the 11'th inning to break a 1-1 tie to capitalize on Jeff Samardzija's Dominant Start and score a series win for just the second time this season.  Key Lines:

Gorkys Hernandez CF/LF- 1 for 5, 2B, BB.  BA= .182.  Still not excited about Gorkys hitting leadoff  but his double in the 11'th drove in the go-ahead run.  He came around to score an insurance run in the inning too.

Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 2, 4 BB.  BA= .260.  Belt continues to be an OBP machine out of the 2-hole.  Perfect spot in the lineup for him!

Hunter Pence RF- 2 for 5, SF.  BA= .271.  Pence scored the first Giants run after singling in the 8'th and taking 2 bases on a WP, then scoring on a GO by his good friend, Buster Posey.

Christian Arroyo 3B- 0 for 6, 3 K's.  BA= .238.  Rough night for The Kid.

Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 4, BB.  BA= .305.  Panik started the winning rally with a single.  Earlier, his error led to the  Dodgers only run(unearned) against Shark.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 8 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 11 K.  ERA= 5.03.  Shark has allowed just 2 ER in 15 IP over his last 2 starts after his ERA hit 7.40 after giving up 7 runs in 5.1 IP in Colorado on 4/23.

Steven Okert LHP- 1.2 IP,  0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 4.15.  Second time in the series Okert goes more than 1 inning to shut down the lefty leaning Dodger lineup.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K, Save(6).  ERA= 2.53.  Line is not all that reassuring, but he got the Save.

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With the W, the Giants gained 0.5 games on first place as the Rockies jumped back in front of the D'Backs by 0.5 games in the NL West with a 10-3 win over the Padres.  The D'Backs lost to the Nationals 2-1.  The Dodgers remained in 3'rd place, 2.5 games off the pace while the Padres stayed in 4'th place, 5.5 back.  The Giants deficit is 6.5 games.

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The Giants get a travel day to go to Cincinnati where they will start a weekend series Friday night with Matt Cain facing Bronson Arroyo.

3 comments:

  1. Hernandez comes through in the 11th! That was neat after an unspectacular batting performance.
    If Gorkys is the default leadoff when Span isn't playing, Boch should bat him 9th, providing 2 positive differences in the progression of the game:
    1. He isn't guaranteed the most plate appearances which shouldn't be for a guy with his batting skills but he is the leadoff guy after the first inning.
    2. Belt doesn't come up in the first inning with 1 out. Certainly not a prototype leadoff, he does get on base a LOT -- might as well do it in the 1st with no outs rather than 1!
    That was a tough play for Panik, the ball was perfectly placed and bad luck that it bounced away. Maybe a Gold Glover should make the play, but it took a Gold Glover to get there.

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  2. Listed in the box score as just a hit last night was Tomlinson's bunt and hustle play at first. I'm not sure how many other Giants end up safe on that play. That was good, heads up baserunning. He also moved two runners with a sacrifice fly and a bunt. The shame is that we left 23 on base.

    One of the beats said something to the effect that Tomlinson at 3B was a sign of a failed LF experiment with him. What a tremendously stupid statement.

    First of all, there's been no "experiment" this season. Not even in AAA. I cannot recall if he played there in Spring Training.

    Secondly, he has exactly zero errors in left. But what he does have is a cannon for an arm as we saw last year when he gunned down Solarte at home.

    So the naysayers will continue with their negativity, while KT continues to help this club like he has in the past. The shame of it all? He'll probably get sent back down when/if Hill returns.

    Doc, your opinion that the 2 hole is the perfect place in the lineup for Belt is spot on in my opinion. Some people seem to be so blinded by their negativity toward him to see what you pointed out, which is he is an OBP machine. Not to mention that great play at first. What Samardzija did on that play was pretty special too, but it doesn't happen without Belt.

    It's going to take more than two wins, even if they were against the Bums, before anyone can legitimately declare that this team has turned it around, but here's to hoping they give us more reason to be optimistic!


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    1. THE Andrew Baggardly, who is quite beloved by His fans, but He was ripped in the comments for His "analysis" of the LF experiment. It would be nice to know if He actually has some "insider" knowledge because I haven't seen KT having a problem. Anywhere.
      I used to follow Him on Twitter but stopped -- He's just too self opinionated for me and Sports is where you go to avoid Politics, but He adds it there regularly.

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