The Giants scored 4 runs in the first inning, then none until Buster Posey's walk-off single in the 13'th. Key Lines:
Chase d'Arnaud 3B- 2 for 7, 2B, HR(1). BA= .250. d'Arnaud gave Pablo Sandoval a breather at 3B. He opened the scoring with a HR to lead off the first inning. He later added a double which did not figure in the scoring. d'Arnaud is the latest minor league free agent and callup to give the Giants a boost. I'm going to try to do a post on the Giants top 10 minor league FA signings aka Dumpster Dives.
Buster Posey C- 3 for 7. BA= .282. Buster's legs had been getting a bit rubbery lately. The day off Tuesday seemed to help. His first 2 hits went for naught, but the 3'rd was the game winner, a flyball to RF that drove in Brandon Belt from 2B with 2 outs in the 13'th inning.
Gorkys Hernandez LF- 2 for 6, 2B. Gorkys had the other big hit in the first inning driving in 2 with a double and coming around to score on Steven Duggar's single.
Johnny Cueto RHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 2.36. Still not what we've come to expect from Johnny Cueto, but better than his last Start. His next Start will now be after the All-Star Break. Does he need more rest or does he need Starts to get sharp? Can the Giants set up a rotation so he's pitching every 6'th game instead of every 5'th?
Tony Watson LHP- 1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.67. Watson gave up a rare run on Javier Baez' HR to lead off the 7'th inning which tied the game at 4.
Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 2.57. Melancon is looking stronger his last 3 appearances.
Will Smith LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 0.95. I guess with the day off today, Bochy felt he could use his Closer for 2 innings?
Dereck Rodriguez RHP- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.89. Giants have 7 potential SP on the roster which gives Bruce Bochy a lot of flexibility, especially in a game like this. With Holland taking the Start on Tuesday, and the day off today, Young Dereck was available with a starter's length. He batted to lead off the 13'th, so you know he was in there for at least 6 or 7 innings if needed. If you want to point to a difference in this ballgame, that's it right there. Overall, the bullpen threw 8 IP with 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 9 K's.
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The NL West leading D'Backs were destroyed by the Rockies 19-2 while the Dodgers topped the Padres 4-2. The Dodgers now trail the D'Backs by 0.5 games while the Giants are 3 games behind and the Rockies 3.5. The Padres bring up the rear of the division 12 games off the pace.
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The Giants get a much needed off day at home today before starting the Battle for the Bridge agains the A's with Madison Bumgarner facing Edwin Jackson(yes, THAT Edwin Jackson!) Friday evening in AT&T Park.
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Did Bruce the Fox outsmart Joe the Rabbit?
ReplyDeleteKinda suspect Maddon was schooled by Bochy on bullpen management, the former might have thought that SF was out of relievers before BB produced his rookie starter/reliever/closer who threw daggers into Cubbie hearts.
Chicago had no answer for Dereck the Destroyer as he scattered two walks through 3 innings.
Maybe this kid (LOL, 26 yo) will fall back to earth but someone in the organization has him doing in the big leagues what he hadn't done in 6 minor league years.
Go figure.
Another good dumpster reclamation!
D-Rod: When the season began D-Rod wasn't a Top-20 prospect anywhere as far as I remember and was just a "oh, and these other C+ guys" by John Sickles. Now he's doing a very good job for a guy who only started MLB pitching in 2014. And while I expect some regression due to his ERA/FIP mismatch, even under FIP standards he's pitching quite well.
ReplyDeleteStarting Pitchers: Yeah, it's a list.
I think, if the Giants were smart about it, and the opportunity arose, they'd salary dump Samardzija though they'd have to eat some of his contract, especially as he hasn't been lighting it up this year... And don't get me wrong, I like him, but his propensity for the 'one big HR mistake' makes him erratic. Last year he was tied for 10th in QS with 20 which would have made #1 in QS on over half the MLB clubs. Yet his other 13 starts left a lot to be desired. I had hoped that AT&T, with it's difficulty to HR, would help the 'HR mistake' issue and he'd be a #2 guy in the #3 spot. Hasn't worked out as well as I, and probably the Giants, would like.
Which gets me to... Who gets sent down? I can make a case for/against any of Holland, Rodriguez, Suarez & Blach. And if they don't trade Samardzija, which two?