Tuesday, July 18, 2017

Game Wrap 7/17/2017: Indians 5 Giants 3

The Giants dugout was visibly energized.   They finally got a big replay call to go their way when, after he was initially called out at home plate while trying to score from first on a double to LF by Gorkys Hernandez, replays clearly showed that Joe Panik got his foot around the tag and touched home plate before the tag was applied.  The Giants tacked on another run in the 3'rd inning and another in the 4'th to take a 3-1 lead.  That's when things got weird again.

Matt Moore was dealing.  With 2 outs and a runner at 2B, Brad Zimmer hit a comebacker which Moore quickly corralled.  As is standard practice nowadays, Moore took two steps toward first base and underhanded the ball.....except it looked like a softball slow pitch and sailed a full foot over the glove of a leaping Jae-Gyun Hwang.  The runner on 2B scored, Zimmer took 2B and scored on a subsequent single.  The buzz was killed.  You knew the Giants were not going to win the game right there.

Key Lines:

Gorkys Hernandez LF- 2 for 3, 2B.  BA= .246.  I guess I've grudgingly accepted the Giants probably have no choice but to play Hernandez in LF for now.  Parker and Mac are struggling in Sacramento.  Chris Shaw probably needs more AAA AB's.  Hernandez is playing well and gives the Giants the best chance to win today's game.  Maybe he draws some trade interest at the deadline?  Maybe he takes over CF if Denard Span gets traded?

Matt Moore LHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 4 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 5.81.  Moore reportedly told reporters before the game that he had identified and fixed his mechanical issues.  He pitched well, only to have it spoiled by the inexplicable play described above.  That's the way this season has gone for the Giants.

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Ty Blach faced Mike Clevinger in game 2 of the series tonight.

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I suppose we should mention that the Giants 580 game sellout streak came to an end when they only drew 39+ K for this game.  I only caught the end of Larry Baer's comments in the broadcast booth.  Did he say anything about plans to improve on-field performance?

7 comments:

  1. No $ir. I do not believe Mr. Baer $aid anything about improving the team or it'$ on-field performance. He did however $tate that it looked like they may $tart another "$ellout" $treak on Wedne$day. $MH

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    1. Ha! I'll never forget Bill Neukom after the Giants clinched the division on the final day of the 2010 season: "We sold the beer! We sold the hot dogs! We sold the popcorn!" LOL!

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  2. And all the while these minor league kids struggle. It's outrageous! But I won't rant.

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  3. Once the Giants confirmed this team stinks -- OVER one year of just plain bad baseball, it's a little surprising the sellout streak lasted so long.
    Maybe a lot of hype this spring helped, and there have been a LOT of visible empty seats (padded? team bought? give aways?) for a couple months.
    And not that they haven't tried to hype tickets -- lots of sales, many $7 tickets, but still disappointing results and very expensive food.
    That said, the Giants opened up the $$ and tried to make the purchases last year and this year to be a contender, but new "holes" keep "popping up"!
    It's a big payroll and still there are holes to fill.
    May want to study the White Sox about how to sell off spectacularly, but it means dealing from the top pf the deck, not the bottom!

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  4. Wow, talk about gift Wrapping the game! If I didn't see it,I wouldn't believe it! What happened to this team? They have a few good pieces to build around posey, Madbum, Craw, I know that bad luck, injuries, and players under performed, but a 35-59 record? Hope the front office does something before the trade deadline!

    LG

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  5. If you wonder about how good Cueto (6-7) and Blach (6-5) are, and even Samardzija (4-11), think how they might be on a winning team rather than a .383 team, a team that can hit, drive in runs in the clutch, and come out to play every day.

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