Sunday, July 22, 2018

Game Wrap 7/21/2018: A's 4 Giants 3 (11 Innings)

The Giants fought back from a 5'th inning meltdown by Madison Bumgarner to tie the game in the 9'th inning, only to lose it in the 11'th.  Key lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 4, HR(14), BB.  BA= .287.  Ryder Jones was rewarded for his mammoth HR in the first game of the series with a trip back to Sacramento.  Belt returned from a 1 game paternity leave with a HR of his own, a towering drive that reached an apex of 131 feet(at least I think that's what was reported on the TV broadcast).  That gave the Giants a 1-0 lead in the 4'th inning which lasted until the bottom of the 5'th.

Hunter Pence DH- 3 for 5, 2B.  BA= .228.  Pence singled in a run in the 7'th to narrow the deficit to 3-2.  In the 9'th inning the Giants were down to their last out when Alen Hanson reached 1B on a strikeout and WP.  Pence then poked a ball down the 1B line that appeared to carom off something and head for the Giants bullpen.  Hanson scored all the way from 1B.  On the play, Steven Piscotty crashed through a chair that Mark Melancon was trying to pull out of the way.  The A's claimed interference, but the run stood after a replay review to send the game into extra innings.

Madison Bumgarner LHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 6 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.19.  Bumgarner cruised through the first 3 innings.  He was a bit shaky in the 4'th and then the wheels fell off in the 5'th in which he gave up a walk, bloop single and 3 more walks which gave the A's 2 runs.  He left the game with no outs and the bases loaded for Sam Dyson to clean up.  Dyson limited the damage by getting a GIDP which drove in a 3'rd run and then a harmless flyout to end the inning.

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The NL West leading Dodgers lost to the Brewers 4-2, so the Giants remain 4 games behind in 4'th place.  The Rockies topped the D'Backs to move into 2'nd place, 1 game behind he Dodgers while the D'Backs dropped to 1.5 games back in 3'rd place.

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Johnny Cueto tries for a series win today facing lefty Sean Manaea.

7 comments:

  1. About a half-dozen of Bumgarner's "balls" in the 5th had been called strikes earlier and were "strikes" later -- some well outside the box.
    When batters began taking that edge pitch with two strikes and getting the call, it caused "our" TV guys to comment that that's a pitch you would cover with 2 strikes because you are just as likely to get rung up as walked if you take.
    Don't know why Knight was squeezing Bum -- is there history there?

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  2. Bumgarner: There were some strike-zone issues, but I thought he was a bit shaky the whole time. He just didn't seem to have the kind of command we normally expect.

    Everything else: I turned it off in 5th after Bumgarner walked in his second run. It was getting late and I was tired. But I did watch the highlights this AM. Crawford is a ++ highlight-reel GG SS. Hanson has wheels. Moronata saved Watson's butt by inducing that GB double-play and continues to show he's a high-leverage, extreme-pressure capable reliever.

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  3. we could see them showcase dyson for a possible trade this week

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  4. Bum was getting squeezed in the 5th. Both sides of the plate. And the single was a popup that probably should have been caught. Both rbi walks were on 3-2 pitches. That inning could have gone either way. I'm more shocked that, after getting 2 outs in the 11th, one on a great play by Crawford, smith gave up 3 straight hits for the loss. Great job again, by Black.

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  5. I should have commented on the ump and the strike zone in the post. Here's my take: The ump clearly had a much more generous strike zone for Trevor Cahill than Bumgarner. The one that hurt the worst was a 3-2 pitch that should have been called strike 3 but was called ball 4. That was the one that really finished off Bummy's night. On the other hand, Bummy threw a lot of pitches that weren't even close to the strike zone. I think I've heard Kruk say in the past that if you have poor command and control, it makes it less likely the ump will give you the close pitches. Maybe that's what was happening in this game?

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    1. Is this the Joe West homies at work?

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  6. But then Panda gets rung up late in the game on the same outside corner pitch that Bum couldn't get....

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