This game pretty much proves that in baseball, what happened yesterday has little or no bearing on what happens today. The day after a 1-0 walkoff win, the Giants offense unleashed a torrent of runs.....and the pitching unleashed a torrent of runs allowed. It all added up to a game the Rockies are built to win which they did. Key Lines:
Alen Hanson LF- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .302. For a few minutes, it looked like Hanson won the game with a bases-loaded, 2-run double in the 8'th inning to give the Giants a very temporary 8-7 lead. This game should cement Hanson's starting status in LF, at least against RHP's. He is hitting .342 against them while hitting just .185 against lefties.
Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, HR(13), BB. BA= .295. Belt extends his team lead in HR's over Gorkys Hernandez and Evan Longoria who have 10 each. He had been in a 1 for 13 slump over the past 3 games.
Andrew McCutchen RF- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .265. Cutch leads the team in doubles with 22 over Brandon Crawford who has 20. The difference between Cutch and Craw's offensive seasons is 8 singles. Cutch has drawn 15 more walks and hit 1 fewer HR. The big difference is Crawford gives great D at SS while Cutch has been a liability in RF.
Joe Panik 2B- 2 for 5, 2B, SB(1). BA= .249. Joe is hitting .318 over his last 7 games.
Chris Stratton RHP- 4 IP, 8 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.45. Stratton runs hot and cold. This was the bad Stratton after a string of 4 QS out of 5.
Ty Blach LHP- 2.1 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 4.15. Blach held the Rockies at bay in the 5'th and 6'th innings, but couldn't get out of the 7'th and gave up a 2-spot to break what was a 5-5 tie.
Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.61. Melancon has not had a clean inning since June 5. Ordinarily that should not win him back the Closer role, but given the current options, he might be the best available, at least if you limit the choices to RHP's. Will Smith probably should get the next shot.
Sam Dyson RHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 0 K, BS(4). ERA= 3.35. Some guys just aren't made to be closers. Dyson seems to be one of those. Next!
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The Loss dropped the 3'rd place Giants 5.5 games behind the NL West leading D'Backs who blanked the Marlins 4-0. The Dodgers lost to the Cubs 11-5 to drop 3.5 games back in 2'nd place. The 4'th place Rockies are 8 games off the pace. The Padres lost again to the Rangers and are 12 games back in the cellar.
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The Giants and D'Backs start what could be a make-or-break series with the D'Backs with Andrew Suarez facing Patrick Corbin tonight.
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Bullpen: The Giants have blown 16 saves, tied with the Dodgers and Twins for second most in baseball.
ReplyDeleteDyson: That's his 4th blown save in 7 opportunities. Makes me long for Casilla...
Strickland: Until the big-dummy (Sanford & Son reference for the old-timers) punched the wall he was our best closer and he was no great shakes with his 4 blown saves. That's Casilla-like and why I think he's not a real closer.
Melancon/Smith/Watson: At this point, why not? What is there to lose? They're the only ones showing any kind of consistency.
Watson hasn't given up a run in 30 days. Smith's ERA for the same period is just 0.82. And even Melancon has been serviceable at 2.61. Meanwhile Dyson is running around with a 4.73 ERA in the same period.
Pavs had an interesting analysis on the Giants bullpen which concerns me for the rest of the season. Bochy is walking a tight rope with the pen. Dyson has appeared in 40 games, 2nd in the league, while Watson 37 games and Morontha 36 games rank near the top. Then you have Melancon and Smith you haven't pitched on consecutive days. Strickland really let his team down this time. hope he's pitching somewhere else next season. Once Bochy feels comfortable using Melancon on consecutive days, my guess is he'll be the closer.
ReplyDeleteLG
A sinker sinks,
ReplyDeleteIf not it stinks!
In the 9th, not a Rockie hit the ball on the ground: liner to center, pop to Belt, monster HR, pop to Crawford, fly to McCutchen.
Bottom of 8th: Posey gets a hit and BB leaves him to run the bases. A fast runner (useless Jackson?) may well have scored on Hanson's double. Then Kutch Ks with Posey still on 3rd. 2 outs, hoped Craw would pick him up -- he was "due" -- but it was a very bad day for the hot Giant: 0-5, 2 Ks, 7 LOB.
Win by the 1-run game. Lose by the 1-run game. Even at home.