Back to regular programming. Probably just as well I took those days off. Not much to write about the first two days in St. Louis except about the weather. Scary!!
Chad Gaudin came out of the bullpen to post a clutch Quality Start to help the Giants salvage a win out of the 3 game set with the Cards in St. Louis. Key Lines:
Buster Posey- 4 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .308. Posey had been in a mini-slump but busted out of that big time today. Jon and Dave mentioned on the radio broadcast that Buster seems to be hitting a lot with 2 strikes on him lately. He's darn good at it, but it's still an awfully tough way to go. Oh well, he's Buster Posey. He can do anything, right?
Hunter Pence- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .292. I still thing if the Giants can get Pagan and Pablo healthy, this is a lineup that is competitive with anyone. They've just hit a rough patch lately. Gotta keep grinding!
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 4. BA= .291. Crawford added a couple of sparkling defensive plays. He seems to be more comfortable hitting in the 7 or 8 hole in the lineup. He's helped the Giants a lot from down there.
Brandon Belt- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .250. OK, I'm going to be a Beltist here and say I'd rather have him in the lineup against LHP's than Pill. Belt is starting to deliver some clutch hits. He had one on Thursday against Oakland too. This one was off a particularly nasty LHP, Randy Choate and off the bench to boot.
Chad Gaudin- 6 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.21. I listened the radio broadcast while driving down from Sausalito. Bochy said on the pregame show he was hoping to get 5 innings out of Gaudin. He got one more. One mistake to David Freeze. Otherwise he was nails. Gaudin is looking more and more like this year's Ryan Vogelsong, albeit with maybe not quite as dramatic a story line, but he's been around the block a few times himself.
With the Win, the Giants remained tied with the Rockies for second place in the NL West. Division leaders D'Backs pounded the Cubs 8-4 to stay 2.5 games up. The Rockies pounded the last place Dodgers 7-2 to drop the Hated Ones 8.5 games off the pace. The Dodgers are now flirting with the dreaded 10 game deficit which is my over-under for making a comeback. The Pesky Padres edged the Blue Jays 4-3 to remain in 5.5 games off the lead in 4'th place.
The Giants now get an off day to travel then face the Blue Jays in a 2 game rematch of their ill-fated series in Toronto. Hope for a better outcome with a familiar backdrop and a real playing surface.
Tim Lincecum pitches the opener against Josh Johnson who is coming off the DL. I hate facing pitchers coming off the DL, especially former aces. They always seem to a shot of adrenaline that lasts for about 1 game.
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hope you and the wife had a great anniversary
ReplyDeletebums are calling up puig
have a feeling that after the disaster in miami, the mets will be calling up wheeler this week
great outing by gaudin
giants gotta get a handle on the one bad inning thing
i guess the snakes f/o knows more than i, for the "throwing out the bad eggs" thing, seems to be working
the molina getting tossed was absolutely bush
joe torre is not doing his job...why arent the gm's screaming bloody murder?
the umps are close to becoming as big a joke as nba refs
bacci
Thanks, Bacci!
DeletePuig's an exciting prospect for the Dodgers, but I don't think he's the answer for them this year. He's a wild swinger and a bit of a problem off the field too.
Justin Upton is playing great for ATL, but his bro ain't and Jason Heyward is inexplicably having a terrible year. Nats were supposed to have the best team in the NL and they are struggling too. Guess it goes to show any team can have it's frustrations. It's the nature of the game.
Isn't there a rule, or at least a standing principle, that "equipment violations" are taken as grounds for ejection? If so, Molina's getting tossed, once he spiked his helmet, was the ump's duly following the rules.
Deleteya. but unless its a flagrant "fu" to the ump, or an attempt to show up the other team...they usually let it slide...remember andres breaking his bat over his knee
Deleteand doc...what is happening to the nats, how the yanks are playing despite injuries, the giants and their issues, etc...is pretty much why i dont like making preseason predictions
but im sticking with my belief that the a's are gonna overtake the rangers and win the west...a's pen is stronger than the rangers' and that will prove the diff
bacci
Dr B--
ReplyDeleteA fair number of games under the belt now and the starting pitching is a mere shadow of it's former self-- do you think the SP will turn around this year or are we looking at some tired arms that are likely going to have a down year?
The peripheral numbers still look good on most of the Giants pitchers. I never cease to be amazed at how long both good and bad "luck" can last in MLB. I still think some of this is due to a particularly persistent and nasty run of bad luck for these SP's.
DeleteI do think it is a tired staff. They've been ridden hard for several years now, especially the extra month of pitching in 2010 and 2012 with 1 month less to rest up for the next season. Velocity seems to be down across the board and the arm mileage may well be a factor in that.
That's kind of a non-answer isn't it? I'll say I think it's partly back luck and partly fatigue. I don't know if they will come out of it this season or not.
As DrB noted, the peripherals have been good, as also shown by their PQS DOM starts, though down from previous years. I think that there is bad luck happening with Cain a lot and Bumgarner a little, but that Lincecum and Vogelsong are having other issues, Tim's mental, I think, Vogelsong, I think the WBC did have an effect on him, and as long as his hand heals OK, the injury is a blessing as it will give his arm extra rest.
DeleteI was thinking on him and 2011 was his first long season in a long while, and that 2012 he actually started late, forgot what got him put on the DL. It makes sense to me that he's not really conditioned to go strong late in any season.
So I think the pitching will sort itself out by mid-season sometime, and turn things around, much like it turned things around in 2010 and 2012, there has been bad months before, and they got out of them before, so why not now?
I'm still hoping that the Giants might go with a 6-man rotation at some point to give their starters some rest, physically as well as mentally, but after a few years of asking for it, I don't think that they'll do it, but at least I'll bring it up.
Of the last few series, I think the offense had finally broken down due the starters and defense giving up early runs. I'm impressed actually how the offense has actually hung in there given the early deficits. If I could, I'd buy Gaudin a beer.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants needed this win bad. Good stuff. The Cajun came correct, only one mistake. I'd really like some payback for that mess up in Toronto.
ReplyDeleteNotice the beats discussing Timmy to the pen? Baggs article in particular?
I think the groundwork is being laid. If they cross a line with Timmy as far as a re-sign, well, that's a big deal. But on the other hand, you're always trying to win, and Timmy in the pen might give the best chance of that. Hard call. That really might be his future though, and the Giants have always given him every chance to shine.
The Giants could deal for a guy, say Peavy. They could move Timmy to the pen or mix him with the Cajun. Then Vogelsong comes back for the stretch, and they have a fearsome staff, maybe a bit more rested if they do a six man for a bit. That is the big issue, the starters being ridden hard for so long. So it might be Sabean's job to go get something to alleviate that pressure.
I don't think it's any accident that Gaudin had relatively low mileage on his arm and he's the one guy pumping gas on the staff.
DeleteIt makes you appreciate what Atlanta did, for many years, with Glavine, Maddox, Smoltz, et al.
DeleteAlthough Cain's problem, or one of his problems, has to do with tipping off pitches, according to a story, or so I read.
Delete