When you see the final score and the number of innings, you immediately know something unusual happened. The Giants blew a 2-run lead in the 9'th inning only to come back in the 11'th and set an all-time franchise record for runs in an extra-inning game. Key Lines:
Jung Hoo Lee CF- 3 for 6, HR(4), 2 R, 3 RBI. BA= .312. Jung Hoo got the Giants on the scoreboard first with a 2-run HR into the RF bleachers with Willy Adames SS on base. He also had hit, run and RBI in the 11'th.
Matt Chapman 3B- 3 for 5, 2B, BB, 2 R, 2 RBI. BA= .225. Chapman is 5 for 8 in the first two games of the series. D was much better in this game.
Heliot Ramos LF- 4 for 5, 2 2B, HBP, 2 R, 2 RBI. BA= .257. The two doubles game in the mayhem of the 11'th inning. He also beat out a couple of infield hits which is becoming a thing for him.
Patrick Bailey C- 2 for 4, 2 SF, Run, 3 RBI. BA= .194. Don't look now, but Bailey has a 4-game hit streak and is 6 for 14 in that stretch, plus the 2 sac flies today. He's all of a sudden making solid contact again.
Brett Wisely 2B- 0 for 3, 2 Sac, Run, 2 RBI. BA= .000. Nice squeeze bunt by Wisely in the wild 11'th.
Justin Verlander RHP- 5 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.50. I thought Verlander looked as sharp as he has all season in the first two innings but then once again, the third inning jumped up and bit him. He gave up another run in the 5'th and left with a 5-3 lead which stood up until the 9'th inning.
Ryan Walker RHP- 0.2 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 6.57. When you are the Closer and have a 2-run lead the last thing you want to do is walk 2 of the first 3 batters which is what Walker did. Justin Turner(yes him) singled in a run. Walker struck out the switch-hitting Ian Happ but Bob Melvin wanted Erik Miller LHP to face the lefty-hitting Kyle Tucker. Tucker singled in the tying run which was charged to Walker(although he was credited with a Hold and Miller was charged with the Blown Save). We may or may not have a full-blown Closer controversy as Dave Fleming commented that Walker did not look happy about being taken out and the McCovey Chronicles BlueSky feed commented that while they did not disagree with the move, if it didn't work out it created drama. So, did it work out or not? The Save was blown but the Giants ended up winning the game. I'm not sure they win the game if Walker pitches to Tucker and I think Melvin made the right move. One more observation: I know Walker likes to work fast but it looked to me like he was rushing to make the next pitch and might have helped himself to take a couple of deep breaths and slow down just a bit. Also, I can't really put my finger on it but there is just something about him that just doesn't look well.
Kyle Harrison LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 0.00. Final half-inning. Electric stuff! 96 MPH out of bed and was blowing 97 right past hitters. FB looked faster than 96-97 due to arm action. Throwing darts!
Randy Rodriguez RHP pitched a scoreless 6'th inning with 2 K's and Camilo Doval RHP pitched an easy 1, 2, 3 7'th. I know continuity is the theme this year but Melvin's gotta be thinking about putting Doval back as the primary Closer.
The Win washed away the stench from last night, albeit with a lot of drama in the process. It also evened the series and improved the Giants overall record to 23-14.
Robbie Ray LHP goes for the series win tomorrow in a 11:20 AM PDT start facing Ben Brown RHP who has run hot and cold this season.
Coach Ron Wotus said on the TV post game show he would be stunned if Walker wasn’t still the closer, but he noted that in the minors he had exhibited bouts of wildness and control problems. Doval looked electric in his inning of work!
ReplyDeleteThere may need to be a conversation about putting Walker on the 15-day IL even if it's just to give him some R&R. Maybe they option him to Sacramento to give Walker some homework to pace his pitches.
ReplyDeletePutting a player on the IL for rest or for fixing mechanics is something the old front office would do. The current front office is more likely to have players fix things on the major league level or in a game situation. The mantra from the current front office is stability and they don't want the players worried about getting sent to Sacramento if they have a bad outing.
DeleteI agree with your take on Ryan Walker working quickly. Last year he would attack the zone so aggressively, he'd get ahead in counts then intimidate hitters with the speed he'd work. This year, he's getting behind in counts, the his speed on the mound is digging him in holes quickly... sort of a double-edged sword and it ain't working!
ReplyDeleteI like Bob Melvin's move. He's already seeing the standings and watching a team like the Cubs come together. While they're in first place now, it isn't not unthinkable to see a scenario where we would be competing with them for a wild card position. Not a game to let Ryan Walker "figure it out." That ship has sailed and he needs to be brought in for low leverage situations and let Camilo Doval have his old job back, or... Let Kyle Harrison who is throwing 98mph gas take the role for a while.
I don't consider the bullpen to be a strength since they are blowing too many leads in the 8th and 9th inning. This is the 3rd time the bullpen blew a win for Verlander in the late innings. Hate seeing that since who knows how many more chances he'll get to win games.. Bringing in Miller to pitch to Tucker was the right move. Hope the closer situation gets straighened out soon. You're right loved how Harrison threw the ball tonight.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants currently have some uncertainty at the Closer position, which is a definite negative but they have the second lowest Bullpen ERA in MLB so overall their bullpen is a strength. They need to fairly quickly stabilize the Closer role and if they can't find anyone trustworthy in-house they might need to trade for one. That may not be a panacea either, though. If you go down the the Save/Save Ops columns on any list of team pitching stats you see that every team has approximately the same ratio as the Giants.
DeleteI'd keep close tabs on Jordan Hicks this month, if starting is still being an issue for him, converting him to a closer should be plan B at this point if Doval struggles.
DeleteI have been meaning to comment on Jordan Hicks for awhile now. People holding their breath until he's sent to the bullpen might want to exhale. Yes he has an unsightly ERA and I've seen many a derisive comment here and on other sites that he is just a "five and dive" guy. While those are true, times have changed and almost every starting pitcher in MLB averages no more than just above 5 IP/start. So far, in 7 starts, Hicks has pitched 37 innings which ranks #69 in MLB(there are approximately 150 MLB starting pitchers at any given time so he is in the top half. I have commented in several of his Game Wraps that it seemed like he pitched in bad luck. Well, secondary pitching metrics tend to confirm that because while he has an ERA slightly north of 6, his xERA= 3.52, FIP= 3.40 and xFIP= 3.70. I was not able to find a list of Sierra rankings but I've read his SIERA is in line with his other adjusted metrics. His fWAR so far is 0.6 which ranks #43 among MLB SP's. Will Hicks collapse as the season progresses like last season? Maybe, but as long as he keeps pitching like he has, he'll stay in the rotation.
DeleteMy other closer candidate is Randy Rodriguez, He has earned the right to pitch into some higher leverage situations.
DeleteUnless he discloses some sort of injury, Walker is going to be hard to figure out because of his complicated mechanics. He's going to have a bit of a leash on chances but pulling him was the right move. Cubs games are important to playoff scenarios if it comes down to tiebreakers.
ReplyDeleteIf the Cubs make the Playoffs, they are likely to be the Central Division winner and unlikely to be a wildcard (too many good teams in the East and the West) so they won't be affected by a tiebreaker.
ReplyDelete