The Giants took an early 2-0 lead but then their lineup hit a wall in the form of Nick Lodolo's sinker and they spend the rest of the game reducing the worm population of Great American Ballpark. Key Lines:
Wilmer Flores 1B- 1 for 4, HR(2). BA= .250. Let's see, if Wilmer goes 1 for 4 with a HR every game all season he will bat .250, hit 162 HR's and sport an OPS of 1.250.
Luis Matos RF- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .500. Matos got the start in RF against the LHP had had a nice game. Unfortunately he did not figure into the scoring.
Heliot Ramos LF- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .250. Ramos led off the third inning with a double and scored on Jung Hoo Lee's single making the score briefly 2-0.
Justin Verlander RHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 3.60. Probably about what we can expect from Verlander at this point in his career. If he averages this over 30 starts, I am sure the Giants will be happy with their investment.
Spencer Bivens RHP gave up the game winning solo HR to Christian Encarnacion-Strand in the 6'th inning. Randy Rodriguez RHP and Lou Trivino RHP pitched a scoreless frame each but the Giants offense was not able to come back.
Nick Lodolo LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 1 K, 11/2 GO/AO. ERA= 3.00. Wilmer Flores grounded out to end the third inning. Starting with that out, the Giants hit into 8 consecutive groundouts then a GIDP after a groundball single by Matt Chapman in the 6'th inning. Based on my Gameday feed, the culprit seemed to be Lodolo's 93-94 MPH sinker the Giants just could not elevate.
The Loss evens the Giants record at 1-1. They will try for a series win tomorrow with Robby Ray LHP facing Nick Martinez RHP at 10:40 AM PDT.
David Villar IF cleared waivers and was assigned to AAA Sacramento.
Jay Jackson RHP announced his retirement and I absolutely did not remember he pitched for the Giants in 2021.
Verlander’s fastball hit 95.9 mph and his spin rate on his off-speed stuff was notably improved over last season (which probably isn’t saying much). But his curve seemed to be effective. In the post-game interview, he blamed the Walnut Creek kid’s homer to a hanging slider. Giants hitters shot themselves in the feet by ending late rallies with groundouts into double plays. Fitz got a hit, though … and Wilbur is looking like his old self from two seasons ago! Another close, well played game by both squads. If the Giants can keep it close like this most of the time, this could be a pretty exciting season.
ReplyDeleteSo far I am wrong, wrong, wrong about my post about Wilmer being on the downside of his career. He looks like he has hit the gym, seems from first glance that he put on some bulk. I am encouraged by Luis Matos' day. Another righty on the mound today so I guess Matos will not start. Let's get a win today to take the series.
ReplyDeleteI am down in LA this weekend and it is tough to watch all the footage on the Dodgers. They will lose a game soon, won't they?
BTW-C. Encarnacion-Strand is from Pleasant Hill (not Walnut Creek). Got to mention that as I grew up in Pleasant Hill.
I was thinking about posting a comment that Wilmer is not a small man.
DeleteIf Wilmer hits like two years ago, I will have to find many different recipes for Crow!
ReplyDeleteSOmehow, I get the feeling tht the giants will be in 1 or 2 or 100 hundred close lower scoring games like these!
Great to see MATOS off to a good start...Interesting that he is also starting today.
Be nice to get DOVAL an inning..hopefully in a hold situation!
SteveVA
Bob Melvin has a doghouse and it usually not hard to figure out who is in it. It seems he has zero faith in Doval in close games.
DeleteMatos is in the line up today.
ReplyDeleteRichard in Winnipeg
A lot of pundits have the NL West figured out already:
ReplyDeleteGiants are a .500 team, and
Dodgers will be 162-0 and be 81 games ahead of SF
I was thinking about this yesterday. I am so past caring what the Dodgers do or what anybody says about them. I resolved to not write one word about them in any of my posts except for Game Wraps when the Giants play them.
DeleteOK, won't do it again!
DeleteDavid Villar: Drafted in the 11th round (316th overall) by the San Francisco Giants in 2018 (signed for $125,000), a reasonably able AAA player, getting past the loss of 2020, he just can't get over the hump to MLB.
ReplyDeleteWhat can he do? What is his future? Where can he go at 28 yo?
Competing with the higher pick and younger Casey Schmitt, there might not be a tougher position to crack on the Giants roster than third base with Chapman signed to a long term contract.
We wish you well, David, except for the relative few who make it to MLB, baseball is hard task master. In this harsh competitive sport, Leo Durocher summed it up: "nice guys finish last"!
Villar is one of those guys that needs to consider going to Japan for a year or two to try to improve his game at this point.
Delete