Pablo Sandoval hit a 2 run HR in the top of the 9'th inning to turn a potential 1-0 loss into a win. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, SB(4). BA= .275. Pagan bounced back from a 0 for 5 night to get two hits including the one that started the winning rally.
Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 4, HR(4). BA= .333. Last night it looked like Pablo might be hitting the DL for awile. Tonight, he was the hero. The HR was not a cheapie either. It would have been out of any park. Well, maybe not AT&T because of the location, but any other park.
Madison Bumgarner- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 1.55. Not a big strikeout game for Bummy, but effective.
Sergio Romo- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K, Save(10). ERA= 2.13. It looked like maybe Romo has added a cut fastball to his arsenal. He had no trouble at all with the 3, 4, 5 hitters in the D'Backs lineup.
If the Rockies lose to the Dodgers, and they are losing 6-2 in the 8'th inning, the Giants and D'Backs will be tied for 2'nd place, 1 game behind the Rockies. The Dodgers will be 2.5 games behind the leaders. The Padres outslugged the Cubs 13-7 and will be 5.5 games behind the leaders.
Tim Lincecum tries for the sweep tomorrow evening facing Brandon McCarthy.
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the west, seems to be better than we all thought.
ReplyDeletepablo loves to hit in that park
craw almost hit it out, but roof was open and swirling winds killed the ball at the track
maddy in the zone
this weekend should be very interesting
bacci
one other note...amazing how a game flows when the ump actually uses the legal k-zone
DeleteHowever strong the West may be, I feel pretty encouraged for the rest of the season. The Giants have lost only three games by more than two runs in April, so that they won or were very much in the game 24 out of 27 times. They had eight comeback victories, over half their wins. No individual is playing better than his normal range, save slightly for Bumgarner and Sandoval, so that the team's record doesn't result from unsustainable production from anyone. This first month of play therefore suggests to me a degree of tenacity and character that will begin to pay off big time once the starting pitching--the third worst by ERA in the league--comes around, as it seems likely to do. Since their winning percentage has them on track for 92 wins, and they ought to improve overall if they don't have a disproportionate number of injuries vis-a-vis their divisional rivals, I think it would be reasonable to hope they'll do as well this year as they did in 2012.
ReplyDeleteHere I don't mean to extrapolate from a small, non-representative sample; I mean to use that sample to get an early bead on the level of their play. Maybe baseball is too quirky, too contingent, for that to mean much. But if one believes that, then the popular sport of making and critiquing pre-season predictions and projections means less yet.
Nice analysis! Good logic, hopefully we will be healthy and then we should be close enough near the end, and the pitching pulls us away.
DeleteGood observation, campanari. It IS encouraging to see how well the team has done, despite the obvious struggles of the starting pitchers not named Madison. I think I'd still prefer a slugger in LF, but I understand the decisions that have been made in that regard.
DeleteIt's a weird sensation watching a closer who isn't a threat to walk any given hitter. Too many closers these days are fireballers who have no idea where their pitches are going. Also, I'm glad Romo's adding pitches to his arsenal since that means he doesn't need to rely on the slider as much while putting less strain on the elbow in the process.
ReplyDeleteAgreed. It's very nice to see Romo just methodically work his way through 1,2,3 innings without all the drama that came with BWeezy. I'm sure Romo will hit his bumps and give up a dinger or two that are hard to swallow, but he does have weapons that he did not have in the past. It's gratifying to watch a pitcher like him mature and develop new stuff right in front of our eyes then see make him better and better in game performance.
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