Austin Slater drove in both Giants runs with a pair of doubles while Andrew Suarez led a terrific pitching effort to grab the opening game of a potentially pivotal midseason series against the NL West leading D'Backs. Key Lines:
Austin Slater LF- 3 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .368. Slater drove in Buster Posey from 2B when he punched a liner down the RF line against Patrick Corbin who otherwise pretty much stifled the Giants lineup. He drove in the game-winner with a drive up the R-CF alley that scored Brandon Crawford all the way from 1B. Slater added a broken bat single in the top of the 9'th just for good measure. We should note that Slater was a doubles machine for Sacramento with 24 in 216 PA's.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 9/1. ERA= 4.18. Suarez had to fight through traffic for this one including working his way out of a bases-loaded situation, but he finishes with the W and finishes June with a 2.62 ERA for the month. 5 of the 7 hits he gave up were infield hits, mostly because they were hit too softly for the infielders to get to in time.
Will Smith LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1). ERA= 1.13. Bruce Bochy announced before the game that Sam Dyson was not available. He had mentioned Tony Watson as being in the mix for Save Opportunities, but Boch took my suggestion and sent Watson out to pitch the 8'th and turned to Will Smith in the 9'th. Smith responded with about as dominant a Save as you will see. I am not sure where this is going to shake out or if the Giants want Smith being the official Closer coming off TJ surgery, but if they have a 1 run lead in the 9'th with the season on the line, Smith is the guy I would choose, at least right now.
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With the Win, the Giants gained a game on both the NL West leading D'Backs and the 2'nd place Dodgers who lost to the Rockies 3-1. Go Rockies! The D'Backs lead the Dodgers by 3.5 games and the Giants by 4.5. The Rockies trail by 7 games and the Padres by 11.5 pending the outcome of their game with the Pirates.
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Young Dereck Rodriguez tries to keep the momentum going tomorrow evening against RHP Shelby Miller.
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It seems that Hanson's quickness at 2B gets him to balls that Crawford could get AND get off a throw to 1st. Another time, Hanson failed to cover 2nd when Craw would have gotten the runner who like Hanson thought the ball was going into CF. 5 IF hits by AZ which often got Suarez into the trouble he saw (except for the double).
ReplyDeleteMcCutchen would be playing himself into a bench role under a manager not named Bruce Bochy who chooses experience first, and "Gotta keep Jackson in the mix" -- but not to pinch run when Posey pinch hits a
Sure wouldn't mind seeing an OF of Slater, Hernández, and Williamson with Duggar to follow soon.
We can only cross our fingers and hope 1 of 2 things happens: the Giants are still in it September 1st when they can bring up the young guys who are the future, OR they're out of it before July 31 and they can get something for someone!
Smith: Was so happy to see Smith close!!! BTW, that was Smith's second career save! And in a high-leverage, high-stress call-up! I say just make him the closer at this point.
ReplyDeleteThe only problem with making Smith the Official Closer is whether the Giants want him carrying a Closer workload this soon after TJ surgery. They would likely have to have strict limits of how often he is used. Maybe not use him in for lower leverage Saves such as situations where they have a 3-run lead?
Delete...but yeah, Will Smith's stuff is electric right now, maybe the best on the entire staff.
Delete...and I don't see how Bochy can trust Dyson with anything less than a 3-run lead at this point and he better have someone else to warm up even at that.
DeleteDyson is showing that he can't handle the heavy workload of a closer. Bochy gave him the whole Dodgers series off to rest him! Ideally he should be in the 7th or 8th inning setup role where he was doing a good job, but their bullpen situation is complicated where Bochy might have to go With a closer by committee for now. Been impressed with Moronthas stuff, maybe he's their future closer?
ReplyDeleteLG
Giants have used Smith 3 times this year with 0 days rest.
ReplyDeleteIn one he gave up a hit that allowed an inherited runner (Dyson's, on second) to score with 2 outs.
He's allowed 47% of his IR to score, but that wouldn't be a closer problem, assuming he starts the inning.
Curiously, he's only allowed ERs when he had IRs! The only run he's allowed when he didn't have IR was unearned.
Sounds extraordinarily dependable to start an inning!
If he can handle the load, he's a winner.