Jung Hoo Lee CF- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .300. Great piece of situational hitting in the 6'th inning as Lee just poked the ball down the LF line with 2 outs and a runner at 2B to extend the Giants lead to 2-0 in the 6'th. He then scored ahead of Chapman's HR to make it 4-0, a lead they nearly lost in the bottom of the inning. Love everything Lee did at the plate this series!
Matt Chapman 3B- 1 for 3, HR(1), BB. BA= .273. The batting line doesn't even start to tell the story. Chapman made several astonishing defensive plays to save countless runs including a very slick tag and throw in a double play to help Tyler Rogers out of a jam in the 8'th inning. Chapman's defense is so good it reminds me of Brooks Robinson and Graig Nettles from back in the day.
Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 4, HR(2). BA= .333. Ramos broke up a dual perfect game with a solo HR. He reached out and pulled a down and away pitch into the seats. He's a strong dude!
Tyler Fitzgerald 2B- 2 for 4, 2B, SB(1). BA= .300. A big key to the season is Heliot Ramos and Tyler Fitzgerald building on their breakouts of last season. Looking good so far. I was second guessing Fitz running from 2B with one out until the replay overturned the out call at 3B. He then scored on a sac fly by Adames to make the score 5-3. Oh! And his speed helped him reach that inning on a throwing error by De La Cruz.
Robbie Ray LHP- 5.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.06. Ray was perfect through 5 innings but a pitch clock violation in the 6'th inning seemed to break his concentration and it fell apart for him in a hurry. And Matt McClain is rapidly becoming a Giants nemesis.
Erik Miller LHP, Lou Trivino RHP, Tyler Rogers RHP and Camilo Doval RHP pitched scoreless baseball over the final 3.2 IP with Doval getting the Save Opportunity with a 3-run lead.
The Giants take the opening series on the road 2 games to 1. They now head to Houston for 3 against the Astros. Jordan Hicks RHP makes his first start of the season tomorrow evening facing Ronel Blanco RHP who had a pretty darn good season last year.
Great game all around...Yeah, he tired in the 6th but that was an awesome and very promising start by Ray.. And great work by the relief corp especially DOVAL getting work in as needed..
ReplyDeleteGood work throughout the lineup also...Fitz hitting his stride ad RAMOS showing big strength the key He's a strong dude..
SteveVA
The pitch clock violation in the 6th inning by Robbie Ray was not supposed to happen. The MLB Person started the timer about 5 seconds too soon. They are not supposed to start it until the batter is in the batter’s box and he makes eye contact with the pitcher.
ReplyDeleteHey, sorry, man, that's not accurate. Pitcher can't begin his motion until the batter makes eye contact.
DeleteFor the Pitch Clock:
Bases Empty: Pitchers have 15 seconds to begin their motion from when the catcher returns the ball.
Runners on Base: Pitchers have 18 seconds to begin their motion from when the catcher returns the ball.
Ray was frustrated with the violation but said it was because he thought he started his motion before the clock ran out. The Cincy fans may have contributed to his distraction by loudly counting down the pitch clock on subsequent pitches. Wonder if Patrick Bailey might have helped him stay calm there? It's understandable that a pitcher would get upset but the great ones don't lose their concentration over it. Anyway, all's well that ends well and the Giants won.
DeleteThey started counting after he had the violation. It appeared to be effective.
DeleteThanks Mojo! I never looked the rule up. I thought I remembered what the announcers stated about it when it first became a rule. Sorry for the error!
DeleteI listened to the game over the radio, and they were critical of Matos reaching for pitches out of the zone. Maybe this was an outlier. And you’re right, Doc … even from the radio, Chapman’s defense stood out.
ReplyDeleteA year ago I was annoyed at the Chapman signing because it blocked Casey Schmitt and I questioned Chapman’s hitting. His fielding during the first month or so of the season was also dubious.
ReplyDeleteSince then I’ve come around. He is good!
P.S. Ray used to have starts like this when pitching for the snakes. It never bothered me when he seemed unhittable for a few innings because he’d always blow up eventually. Melvin should have a quick hook. As today, it happens fast.
ReplyDeleteRay was clearly upset because of the time clock call. Someone should have gone out to give him time to regain his composure. He clearly had lost his concentration.
DeleteReportedly it was Doval in the 9'th because Walker had the dreaded back tightness.
ReplyDeleteBut he's expected to be available today or tomorrow, so that's positive!
DeleteI'm wondering if the back tightness is why Ryan Walker has looked mortal in spring training and so far in the season and if so, an IL stint isn't the worst thing in the world for him right now
DeleteI was impressed with Ray's 5 perfect innings, its his 1st start, and he's been working on a change-up. We'll see if he continues to be a pitcher who loses his stuff quickly in future starts. I liked their situational hitting today, Lee's rbi double down the left field line with 2 outs, and Aadames sacrifice fly driving in Fitz.. Terrific Double play started by Chapman in the 8th inning holding Reds scoreless that inning. Doval had a good spring and its encouraging that he got the save with a clean 9th inning.
ReplyDeleteReportedly, no Giants are using the "torpedo" bats which the Yankee HR outburst has drawn attention to — although Judge, who hit 4 dingers this weekend, isn't a subscriber.
ReplyDeleteAt least a half-dozen non-Yankees are using the bat.
Good write up on The Athletic but there is a paywall.
Apparently, this design with the fattest part of the bat moved toward the center lengthwise has been around a while. The physics imply a batter is better off with the "most wood" where he "normally" hits the ball.
Interestingly, Webb will start Giants' Game 5 tomorrow with Roupp sliding to Game 6.
ReplyDeleteThat will put Webb against Houston's Hayden Wesneski, not Framber Valdez who overpowered the Mets with 7 scoreless innings in the Astros' home opener.
Roupp "gets" to oppose Valdez on getaway Wednesday.