The Giants got production up and down their lineup and throughout the game then held on to outscore the Reds to win their series opener in AT&T Park. Key Lines:
Andrew McCutchen RF- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .259. Cutch recorded his 1500'th career hit in the game. He's hitting .310 over his last 7 games and .365 over his last 15.
Buster Posey C- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .312. Buster's single in the 4'th inning was a bloop to LF and Kruk commented that he had his base taken out by the offspeed pitch and how he's hitting .300 despite that happening a lot this season. Buster must have heard him say that because his next time up, he hit a booming double over Billy Hamilton's head in CF.
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(7). BA= .297. Huge game for Brandon Belt. He's been stroking the ball well and one went out of the park in the 8'th for an add-on run. Is it just me or has Belt been more aggressive at the plate lately swinging earlier in counts?
Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4, 2 2B, BB. BA= .270. Crawford is on a sustained hot streak hitting .360 over his last 7 games and .375 over his last 15.
Kelby Tomlinson 2B- 1 for 5. BA= .246. He was just 1 for 5, but the hit was key. With the Giants leading 4-1, Kelby came up in the 3'rd inning with 1 out and the bases loaded. If he did not have a productive AB, the pitcher was due up next and the opportunity would be lost. Kelby shortened up his swing and peppered the ball up the middle driving in 2 add-on runs which the Giants would need as the game went along.
Austin Slater LF- 1 for 1, BB, 2 SB(2). BA= .273. Slater is 3 for 11, but also has 4 BB's and an HBP. He showed off his speed with the 2 SB's to boot.
Chris Stratton RHP- 5 IP, 9 H, 4 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.88. Not a great start by Stratton who has been scuffling. At least he kept the Reds at bay for 5 innings on a night when the offense was hitting on all 8.
Jose Valdez RHP- 1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 22.50. Pierce Johnson and Cory Gearrin pitched shutout ball for 3 innings. Valdez was sent in to mop up and made it closer than it should have been. Not quite sure what this guy is doing on the 25 man roster.
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The D'Backs lost their 6'th straight game, so the Giants are now just 3.5 games behind the NL West leaders in 3'rd place. The Rockies topped the Padres and are just 1.5 games behind the Snakes in 2'nd place. The 4'th place Dodgers were idle and trail by 7.5 games while the Pathetic Padres remain 9 games out of the lead in last place.
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Ty Blach tries to keep the good times rolling tonight facing a statistically similar pitcher in Tyler Mahle, although Mahle throws harder. Mahle has been going good, allowing just 4 ER in 17.1 IP over his last 3 Starts.
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Doesn't everyone try to guess what the FO and sometimes the manager are thinking?
ReplyDeleteValdez? His role is, apparently, when the Giants (1) are so far behind it doesn't matter, or (2) are so far ahead it doesn't matter (Strickland did get up and start throwing after Duval's 7th HR), or (3) are out of other options that game.
Slater (.500 OBP). Go figure, implication last night was he's going back down for a B/U IFer (Gomez?). A hit, a walk, a run, and 2 SB's is not enough!
Blanco. He lowered his 2018 leading off the game average to .154 with a K before the rally began with a legitimate leadoff batter and one out. What's the over-under BA for Bochy to give up on Gregor? .100? .050? It's coming.
Jackson. Last 7 games .222 BUT a .364 OBP. Last 15 .250/.375? Sucks against RHP but not too bad against LHP -- if BB won't go with McCutchen, Jackson would be pretty good against LHP. Hamilton gave a clinic last night on how to play CF. Note that new Cincy manager, Jim Riggleman (11-13, not bad all things considered), puts his miserable bat 9th -- a leadoff ahead of a potent lineup. Might BB imitate that? He did try that last year, didn't he?
Hanson. Is 2nd base a curse? Is Kelby immune? Let's hope. Nice to see both "Specs" in there at the same time last night.
Gomez, the IFer. Why not d'Arnaud or Calixte? Wasn't the former pretty close to making the team out of ST (maybe Calixte, too)? Gomez hit .297 @ Richmond (where Little Luigi is back over .400) but is 1-11 in AAA. Gomez has the advantage of being on the roster!
Pence. He's on the roster, too! 6-11 since coming back from a week's rest. How long can the Giants keep him in Sacramento? Is there a game being played here? Can he play 2B? BTW, Slater has 96 games at 2B in the minors. Why can't he be the infield backup? Why can't he lead off (against RHP)?
FREE AUSTIN SLATER!
Random thought - What ever happened to Kelby playing OFer in spring training (think it was last year?). I have never seen him play center, but if he was somehow able to translate out there it would will benefit the team as a super utility guy rather then having both Gorky/Blanco on the roster (Hell, with him not playing the OF at least one of them should be gone).
ReplyDeleteFrom what I read, they tried it and it really didn't work out.
DeleteMaybe it's the "B" in his last name, but Gregor has an IN with Bochy. He is the worst leadoff batter in the galaxy.
ReplyDeleteHernandez is a negative fielder, strikes out nearly every other AB, and only an unreal BABIP pumps his average to a little better than pathetic. He's 15th on the roster in OBP. Even Jackson looks good compared to Gorkys.
Really,
Boch, read the freakin' stats! 21st Century, man, there are metrics now. (I'm 78 yo and I know that -- get with it!)
Bruce, do you have a slide rule to figure batting averages? Your smart phone will do it! Do you have one?