The Giants snatched defeat from the jaws of victory due largely to mismanagement of the pitching in the 8'th inning as Giants Killer Paul Goldschmidt erased a 1-0 Giants lead with a 3 run dinger. Key Lines:
Matt Cain- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.09. Cain threw 105 pitches, so I have no problem with Bochy pulling him after he allowed a leadoff single to AJ Pollack in the 8'th. It's what ensued that I have a problem with.
Jeremy Affeldt- 1 IP, 1 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.61. Affeldt got the first two batters he faced, but then walked Willie Bloomquist to put runners on first and second with Goldschmidt coming up. Yes, Affeldt has earned a certain amount of confidence, but walking Bloomquist with Goldschmidt on deck is pretty much unforgiveable. Goldschmidt is already a well known Giants killer and as Kruk likes to say, ownage is ownage. IMO, Bochy had two decent choices: Intentionally walk Goldschmidt and let Affledt face the lefthanded batting Miguel Montero or bring in a RHP to face Goldy. Instead, he let Affeldt face Goldy and you just had to know what the outcome of THAT was going to be. Man, what a punch to the gut!
The Loss dropped the Giants into 3'rd place in the NL West, 3.5 games behind the division leading D'Backs. The Rockies edged the Padres 10-9 to remain in second place, 2.5 games back while the Padres dropped to 7 games behind in 4'th place. The Dodger remained in last place, 7.5 games behind the leaders despite their 201 win over the Braves sparked by Yasiel Puig's 4'th HR since being called up.
Madison Bumgarner takes on Trevor Cahill in game 2 of the weekend series tomorrow night.
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I'm surprised Bochy didn't bring in Romo to face Goldschmidt in that spot. if not, I'd rather see Affeldt in there instead of Machi or Kontos. The Casilla injury came back to bite them tonight. Too bad, it spoiled an interesting 2nd day of the draft.
ReplyDeleteLG
It was a critical situation in a critical game. Well, I don't know if there are any must-win games this early in the season, but this was as close as it gets. I was listening to Jon Miller on KNBR in my car. As my mind went through the strategic possibilities, it seemed to come down to Romo facing Goldy or Affeldt walking him and facing Montero. My choice would have been Affeldt vs Montero.
DeleteI would have been OK with Machi facing Goldschmidt, but I agree re. Kontos. Just too much risk that he hangs a slider.
Good analysis. Bochy lets pitchers have some rope. Affeldt hadn't given up a HR in a long time. It wasn't that bad a pitch. Goldschmidt is a Giant-Killer, and he is 100% legit.
DeleteI think its time to face the fact the D-backs are for real. They have grit, they have enough hitting to stick in, led by Goldschmidt and they have a ton of pitching. their pen is their weakness, but look at big Heath Bell slamming the door.
D-backs drafted quite well I think. Lots of power hitting prospects, including our white whale Justin Williams.
NL West is going to be a dog fight. Giants are going to have to kick, scratch and bite. On that note: I am pretty PO'd at Panda being a completely station to station runner. That is on him and his physical conditioning.
It would be bold, and it might be foolish, but the Giants should be looking at AL teams that can DH Panda at this deadline. He is definitely not a long term contract candidate, he is wasting his amazing natural talent by simply not trying to stay in shape, and so they have to think long-term strategy sooner than later while he has value. I'd wait for a hot streak and then I'd trade him. Man that is hard to type. But I'd do it.
FYI, Panda has a strained foot and it was discussed if he should be placed on the DL.
DeleteThanks for the FYI there Anon. Its not like I don't follow along every day or anything.
DeleteI'm starting to think this may be the smartest plan long term. It would be hard to say goodbye to Panda, but the return just may be worth it...especially when considering the long-term financial and physical impact it would have.
DeleteSabean definitely made the most out of trading a beloved third baseman once.
Lucky
Cain's 31 pitch 1st inning ultimately cost the Giants. Had he thrown fewer pitches he'd still be around for the fateful 8th. Giants couldn't figure out Dickie and ditto Corbin as all they could muster was 1 measly run. Too many times this season the big fly and their starters high pitch count has hurt them. Even if their starting pitching were mediocre they'd be 5 games up on D'Backs and 7 ahead of the Rockies. Just days ago they led the NL with a .270 b.a. but as of today trail Rockies by 6 points and more importantly, 1 game. Inability to combine good pitching with good hitting will see them miss post season.
ReplyDeleteWell, we know Cain well enough by now that we know he's going to have high pitch count innings. That's just who he is. I'll take him anyway, thank you. How many pitchers in baseball go 8 full innings a start? I'm not on board with blaming this loss on Cainer.
DeleteDoc, don't you think Giants should pursue the Cuban right hander pitcher who is currently a free agent. It appears the Cubans are finally coming through.
ReplyDeleteI've heard there are a couple of Cubans out there right now, but do not know anything about them. It does seem like the Cubans are suddenly a nice source of elite talent.
Deletedoc questioning bochy's moves????
ReplyDeletewait, let me look out of my window and see if pigs are flying
bochy cained cain...and when you have a pitcher who had early season struggles and has now gotten it together, you dont wanna do that
and of course the snakes are for real....im just scratching my head at the purge working
other things to question....why did it take so long to put pagan on the dl....why does the fo seem to do this repeatedly, keeping the bench short
why did they bring up a defensive specialist and journeyman?
bacci
Oh, I criticize Bochy's moves when I disagree with him. He's a good manager, but nobody is perfect. Letting Affeldt pitch to Goldschmidt is defensible, but I would not have done it.
DeleteI agree re. Pagan and the DL. The handwriting seemed to be on the wall that he wasn't coming back any time soon awhile ago.