Game Wrap 9/16/2023: Rockies 9 Giants 5(Game 1 of Doubleheader)

Walks giveth and walks taketh away.  The Giants drew 7 walks in the game but also issued 7 to Rockies batters.  The Rockies made more of theirs than the Giants.  Key Lines:

Thairo Estrada 2B- 4 for 5.  BA= .275.  Batting out of the 2-hole, Thairo reached base 4 times, drove in a run and scored one.  You would hope if your 2-hole hitter reaches base 4 times they would cross home plate more than once.

Lamonte Wade Jr 1B- 1 for 3, HR(15), BB.  BA= .261.  LMWJ is batting .455 over his last 7 games.

Blake Sabol C- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .246.  Sabol's double in the second inning gave the Giants a short-lived lead.  He is putting on a late surge to state his case to start next season in the same role he's filled this year rather than activate his options.

Keaton Winn RHP- 4 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 3.89.  Winn pitched like an ace for 2 innings then started the 3'rd inning walk, GB single, walk to load the bases with no outs.  He got a force out at home but then the latest Rockies Giants Killer, Ezequiel Tovar smoked one to R-CF that Luis Matos CF couldn't quite reach with his glove and boom!  The score was tied at 3.  Credit Winn with striking out the next two batters and pitching a scoreless 4'th inning but then the bullpen failed and the game was lost.

Ross Stripling RHP- 3.1 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 5.40.  Between him and Sean Manaea LHP, Ross Stripling seemed like the lower variance acquisition.  To say his season is a disappointment is an understatement.  While Manaea embraced a variety of roles and made the most of his opportunities, Stripling has just never found traction on his season and chafed when he thought he was kept on the IL too long while admitting he has not pitched well enough to opt out of his 2 year contract, so it looks like he'll try to figure out what went wrong over the winter.

The Loss leaves the Giants 1.5 games out of the Final Wild Card playoff position with Game 2 of the doubleheader coming up.