After trading single runs with the Mariners in the 3'rd, 4'th and 6'th innings, the Giants took a lead in the top of the 9'th inning on a throwing miscue by Dee Gordon. Will Smith shut it down in the bottom of the inning to preserve the Win. Key Lines:
Steven Duggar CF- 2 for 4, SB(1). BA= .262. Duggar singled at the end of a very tough AB against Mariners Closer, Edwin Diaz, with 1 out in the 9'th inning. He took 2B on a groundout by Alen Hanson. Pablo Sandoval then hit a bouncer to the right side that Dee Gordon got a late jump on. Duggar came around to score when Gordon inadvisedly threw wildly trying to nab Pabs who was absolutely booking it down the line.
Kelby Tomlinson 2B- 2 for 3, 3B. BA= .225. Kelby led off the scoring after a triple to the Safeco Field version of Triples Alley in L-CF. He came home on Chase d'Arnaud's single.
Austin Slater LF- 1 for 4. BA= .319. Slater did not figure in the scoring, but saved a run when he unleashed a throw just under 100 MPH to nail Kyle Seager at the plate.
Hunter Pence DH- 1 for 4, HR(1). BA= .228. Pence showed he still has some toonder in the bat with a line drive HR that went an estimated 445 ft. I don't recall if it was the 3'rd or 4'th longest HR by a Giants hitter this year, but it was a monster. Pence is hitting .368 over his last 7 games. He is also hitting .364(16 for 44) since his BA reached a nadir of .181 on June 19.
Andrew Suarez LHP- 5.2 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 8/3. ERA= 3.99. A bit of an uneven performance by Suarez. Austin Slater saved him a run in the 4'th inning with his epic throw. Then in the 6'th, Suarez gave up a 2-0ut walk to Denard Span and Boch brought in Reyes Moronta who gave up a walk and a single to allow the inherited runner to score which gave Suarez his final line for the night, 1 out short of a QS.
Sam Dyson/Tony Watson/Will Smith- 3 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. The lads were lights out over the last 3 innings with Smith recording his 4'th Save.
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The NL West leading Dodgers lost to the Phillies 7-4 so the 4'th place Giants gained a game and are now 4.5 games out of the lead. The D'Backs beat the Cubs 5-1 to close to 0.5 games out in 2'nd place. The Rockies lost to the Astros 8-2 to remain 2.5 games behind the leaders in 3'rd place.
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Derek Holland rejoins the rotation to try for sweep of the 2-game set today facing former Giant Mike Leake.
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Pence bringing his A Game lately - to my surprise - I thought he was done.
ReplyDeletepence could have a future in a dh role for an al team next season
DeleteBob Nightengale mentioned on Twitter that they are shopping Pence and a prospect. So far no takers.
DeleteLG
Slater: Statcast is calling it a 100 MPH throw though they're rounding from their 99.6 measured. I'll take a 100.. :)
ReplyDeleteI think Hunter said: "The rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated!"
ReplyDeletePence's last 7 games, 1 HR, 3 RBIs: .368/.368/.684 (SSS) is incomparably better than last 7 for Belt, McCutchen, Posey, and Crawford.
ReplyDeleteThat the Giants have won 3 of their last 7, and 6 of their last 11 is a testament to their -- pitching -- which will only hold up if the "Big Four" add a little production to Pence, Pabs, and the rookies.
Do you think the Pirates might take Cutch back for, say, Brian Reynolds?
Reynolds is showing decent plate discipline in AA, but with almost no power.
DeleteOne of the beats suggested the Giants could get a compensatory draft pick if they gave Cutch a Qualifying Offer. I'm thinking Cutch would accept a QO in a flash.
Pence: Last 30-days he's hit over .300 but still has terrible defensive stats. However, all things considered, he's playing better than Hernandez & McCutchen.
DeleteHernandez: Gorkys has been regressing hard to his mean and is a liability at this point. Around the end of June his fWAR was 0.9. Now it's 0.6 as his shoddy defense isn't being overcome by his hot-streak hitting. Over the last 30 days his fWAR is -0.2.
McCutchen: .247 BA. Negative defense. Barely any positive increase in fWAR (+0.1) for the month.
Based on their play of the last 30-days, the best OF we have right now is Slater, Duggar, Pence in that order.
McCutchen and the QO: would he or wouldn't he?
DeleteHe would be foolish not to accept it but P-R-I-D-E, and he has that! Surely he must think he can get more than one and done, at least 3 years?
If he gets HOT down the stretch and moved to LF now, so he knows what he would play in SF should he accept a QO, subbing him with Hanson against tough RHP (in LF), he might be less inclined to take the QO.
Let's hope he gets hot and hits a few HRs.
In comparable PA's, he has more than twice the HRs on the road than AT&T where he is a decent for-average hitter -- into the inevitable shift. His last HR at home was June 4th, more than 40 games ago while hitting 5 away and 0 home!