The Giants jumped out to an early lead on the Orioles and never looked back. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos LF- 3f or 5, BB, 2 R, RBI. BA= .268. Ramos only hit 2 HR in the month of August but batted .271/.339/.355 mostly out of the leadoff spot. He's 10 for 24(.417) over his last 6 games.
Rafael Devers DH- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(28), 2 R, 2 RBI. BA= .262. Devers solo HR in the first inning got the Giants off on the right foot. He was 3 for 3 with 3/4 of a cycle by the end of the 4'th inning. I don't think I would want to see him try to leg out a triple even on a ball to the apex of Triples Alley. Devers finishes August with a line of .291/.397/.592 with 9 HR's. 13 of his 28 HR's have come since the trade. 17 of his HR's have come in home games with 8 coming in 155 PA's at Oracle Park and 9 in 176 PA's at Fenway.
Luis Matos RF- 2 for 4, SF, R, RBI. BA= .232. Matos stays hot batting .385 over his last 7 games and .362 over his last 15.
Christian Koss 2B- 2 for 5, R. BA= .255. Koss continues to be a valuable utility IF and mop-up relief pitcher.
Drew Gilbert CF- 3 for 5, 2B, 3B, 2 R, 3 RBI. BA= .190. Gilbert is 5 for 11 with 4 XBH's over his last 3 games(2 starts). The Giants current OF rotation mixing in Gilbert and Matos while giving Ramos and Lee more days off seems to be making everybody in the mix better. Is that a foundation for next season?
Justin Verlander RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 4.29. Verlander allowed 7 baserunners and threw 121 pitches in his 5 innings of work but did not allow a run and got his third W of the season. The 10 K's were a rare feat with Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemons and Gaylord Perry being the only pitchers to do it at Verlander's age or older in the last 125 years(that fun fact courtesy of Andres Soto of sfgiants.com. He needs just 5 more K's to pass Gaylord Perry for 8'th on the all-time strikeout list.
The Win was the Giants 7'th in 9 games. They gained a full game on the final Wild Card playoff spot and are now 5 games off the pace.
Kai-Wei Teng RHP gets another start today in Coors Field facing Chase Dollander RHP who comes in with an ERA of 6.55. That should be a fun game!
I was at the game yesterday and what a beautiful day (although a bit hot in the sun for some of the fans). Giants are getting those breaks that they weren't during the losing streak. Boy did the Orioles play horribly. Muffed ground balls by the 3rd baseman (should have been a double play when Devers was up) and then the shortstop dropped another easy grounder. Former Giant, Daniel Johnson, fell down on a fly ball to left that should have been caught. Final tally for the Orioles was 3 errors, but could have been scored as 5 errors.
ReplyDeleteVerlander's control on the 4 seam fastball was still off. His slider, curve and sweeper were all working. It is not often that you see a pitcher throw 120 pitches, but I guess Melvin wanted to let him get the win. I assume this season will be it for Verlander. Looking forward to see what Buster can spend that money to improve the current roster. Where would you spend available funds, SP, RP, catcher or infielder? I like the outfield as it stands with Matos coming on.
Thank you for the in-person report. I think there is a non-zero chance Buster and Verlander work out another one-year deal.
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