The Giants mustered just 3 hits off Padres' pitching, but one of them was a 2 run homer by Pablo Sandoval that was the difference in the game. A stellar pitching performance by Tim Lincecum and the bullpen made it stand up. Key Lines:
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, HR(3). BA= .277. Pablo has been kind of quiet lately. This dinger came at a perfect time.
Tim Lincecum- 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 3.97. That is the best line Timmy has put up in recent memory. Let's hope this turns a corner for him.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(8). ERA= 2.08. 8 Saves in 9 appearances. Yup, that Blown Save in Chicago sure exposed Romo, didn't it?
The Win increased the Giants record to 11-7 and kept them 2.5 games behind the NL West leading Colorado Rockies who topped the D'Backs again 4-3. The Loss dropped the D'Backs 4 games behind the division lead. The Orioles swept a twinbill from the Dodgers dropping da bums 6 games off the pace while the Pathetic Padres dropped to 8 games behind in last place.
Barry Zito tries for the sweep tomorrow facing Eric Stultz.
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One difference I noticed with Buster catching Timmeh: Posey frames pitches really well and gets a lot of strike calls on the margins of the zone. It doesn't look like Hector does that as well, which may be limiting Tim's pitch selection. I'd like to see Posey catch Lincecums next few starts to see if it makes a difference.
ReplyDeleteOne of the links posted by Grant Brisbee this weekend on McCC deals with Sanchez's framing, and offers stats to show how weak HS is in that department, and how costly to his team. I'm among the many who think a lot could be said for sending him down to the minors, with a skilled catcher giving him special training, till he learns to be a capable, rather than simply fearless, defensive catcher, and having Quiroz be replacement catcher for at least a few months while HS learns his trade better.
DeleteYeah, I could see HS going to the minors. On the other hand, maybe he can learn more just from Buster. I've been watching baseball for around 50 years, and Posey is about as good at framing pitches as any catcher I've ever seen (actually, though it pains me to say it, Sciosia might have been the best at that one particular skill.)
DeleteI would be cautious about trying to separate framing from pitching command. It's a whole lot easier to frame a pitch if you have some idea where it's going.
DeleteAgree that command is more important, but a catcher 'framing' the pitch well can often be the difference between a ball or strike call from the ump on a close pitch. It's a little thing, but in this game little things can be important. In the case of Lincecum, I think he loses some of his command when he doesn't get strike calls that he thinks he should get. So if better framing gets him a couple of more strike calls, he gains confidence in his command, and is less likely to overthrow or groove a pitch.
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