Matt Cain had to leave the game in the 4'th inning with the score 3-3 after taking a comeback line drive off his right forearm. The bullpen then gave up a 7 spot in the 5'th inning to put the game out of reach. Key Lines:
Marco Scutaro- 1 for 2, BB. BA= .298. When he has felt good, Scutaro has continued to be a hit machine at the top of the lineup.
Brett Pill- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .250. Pill gets the start in LF against the LHP and makes the most of the opportunity. He hit another ball hard but pulled it just foul in the LF corner.
Gregor Blanco- 1 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .252. Blanco is hitting .290 over his last 10 games with 5 BB, and is 7 for 19 with 3 BB's over his last 5.
Brandon Crawford- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .272. What a terrific season Crawford is having! One of the few bright spots on the team. Arias got the start at SS against the LHP as Crawford needed a rest anyway. Arias went 0 for 5.
Matt Cain- 3.1 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 4.43. Cain got roughed up a bit in his first 2 innings but looked like he was settling in when he took a liner off his right forearm. He left the game immediately. He may miss his next start due to the location of the bruise.
Guillermo Moscoso- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 5.40. Moscoso finished the 4'th inning with 2 K's, but then loaded the bases to start the 5'th on a HBP and 2 walks. Bochy did not look pleased as he came out to get him. His replacement, Mijares, promptly gave up a long ground rule double to Pedro Alvarez and the route was one.
The Giants roster merry-go-round continued to turn as Andres Torres went on the DL with a sore achilles tendon and Mike Kickham was sent back to Fresno after his 4 inning outing against the BoSox. Nick Noonan and Frankie Pegs got the callups.
Madison Bumgarner faces Charlie Morton on Orange Friday.
After this loss, the Giants stand 7'th in the race for the #1 overall draft pick in the 2014 draft.
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I still think we have a long way to go to put together a 'pitching and defense'-worthy rotation.
ReplyDeleteAnd we have enough time to get it done...hopefully.
There may be some things they can do to be less dependent on pitching. Remember this team was scoring a lot of runs in the first 2 months until the injuries started piling up. Belt and Crawford seem to be still improving offensively with Belt having a big ceiling. If Sandoval can keep his weight down and stay healthy, I think he can be a bigger force. Pagan should be back. Posey needs to catch less to keep from wearing down. They really just need a big bat in LF. Not sure where that comes from but it's just one piece that if they fill it, it could make them a plus offensive team.
DeleteI hope so.
DeleteAnd certainly there are different ways to win.
I miss the 'pitching and defense' teams of 2010 and 2012 though.
The pitching will be great again, but it might not be until the 2015 or 2016 season when the young studs from Low and High A start arriving.
DeleteLooks like Cain is not reaching 200 IP this season, and without that goal, they should just DL him and let someone take over his rotation spot, see what they got. And they have a legit injury, this is no time for him to man up and pitch in spite of physical pain, just take it easy. I would like to see what Moscoso or Kickham can do with 3+ starts in a row.
ReplyDeleteScutaro's problem is that his fielding has been affected more by his physical problems than than his hitting. I thought two years was doable for him, but I have to wonder if he needs a lot more rest to be still a starter, given all the talk about his poor defense.
So Pill and Keesh platoon in LF now?
Blanco appears to be recovering from his self-imposed overworking on his hitting, Bochy ordered him to stop doing so much, and he appears to be returning to early season form when he was hittin .775 OPS. Still, would like to see Pegs get some starts in CF, at least platoon if not start a stretch.
I'm salivating over what Crawford could do over a full healthy season, just think of what he might have done without his finger injury costing him two months? He was bouncing around .800 OPS, reaching stasis, until the injury knocked his stats down. He was hitting .288/.351/.424/.774 when he injured his finger sliding, and his rates were for 32 doubles, 5 triples, 12 homers. As it is, he's still having a solid season, .272/.331/.398/.729 (NL SS: .254/.306/.370/.677; 8th place hitter: .243/.308/.354/.662; 2nd place hitter: .262/.316/.393/.709; he's above average now for 1st, 2nd, 6th, 7th, 8th).
About Torres, oddly, he's out for tendon, but all the reports is about him going to a specialist to look into his bone spurs on his foot that's been affecting him since 2011, and he's still wanting to avoid surgery. He should just get it done, else he's probably out of a job anywhere in 2014, if he gets it done, he might get a minor league invite from the Giants for 2014.
I guess it is win-win for me. If the Giants win, I'm happy, if the Giants lose, the closer we get to a great draft pick and that makes me happier. Usually still some good ones left by 7th. I thought the Giants had more left in their tank, but they seemed to have folded as quickly as the offense. Which is understandable, it's hard to stay motivated when the leading team is winning almost every game they play and leaving you in the dust.
FYI, since July 3rd, Puig is falling back to Earth, though still good: .282/.365/.436/.801, 4 HR in 163 AB (41 AB/HR = 15+ HR season), 46 K's for a horrible 72% contact rate, 3 SB out of 7 attempts, and a BABIP that is unsustainable except by a rare few, .362 BABIP. Even Tony Gwynn could only maintain a .341 career BABIP, Jeter .354 (but during peak years .363), Ichiro .345 (but during his peak years, .357). But they were good hitters, didn't strike out much either, making good contact. Puig, though, could be another Sandoval, a great bad ball hitter, so we will see what happens with him.
And you are correct. Cain to the DL.
DeletePlay to win, but play with next year in mind.
Crawford playing through pain is a big step. Putting up these overall numbers are pretty nice for a guy who just can't hit... According to some giants blogs nobody should be looking for baseball opinions on...
Re: Torres
DeleteCould be a bone spur developing from a case of insertional achilles tendonitis. I've had the same injury, though without developing a bone spur, it doesn't heal (no pun intended) very quickly, or well, on it's own. Took me five months of rest before I could even start to do any serious running rehab. Two years later the injury site is still cranky, needs extra attention with stretching and such, and I can't run six days a week like I used to, i.e. intervals and hills. In contrast, previously I had achilles tendonosis on the other leg in an area just above the heel and that was an easy rehab, only took six months or so to return to full strength.
Peter
Cain to the DL is a mixed blessing. He has pitched a lot of innings since 2010, so it should do him good in preparing for 2014 to be shutdown a little early. The bad is I'm now wondering how much farther are they going to fall the rest of the season. I think the #3 pick in 2014 draft is not out of the question. Thats a nice pick to have but still depessing to think about.
ReplyDeleteLG
I know there are some who would jump all over me for saying this, but I see nothing wrong with rooting for short term losses in return for long term gain when the possibility of short term success has already been eliminated from the equation. The #3 pick would almost guarantee them an impact player of the magnitude of Timmy/Bummy/Posey. There is no reward for finishing with the 11'th or 14'th best record. All it does is make it less likely they get an impactful draft pick and it un-protects the pick which takes away FA options. Anything short of purposely throwing games? Get me that #3 pick!!!
DeleteI agree. Rest our horse, help Bum get as many wins as possible the rest of the way, see what a couple of young studs can do from the ML bump, and see what blue chipper we can get at #3! Thanks to DrB, Shank & OGC for their hope-inspiring blogs. Don't get to comment much, but read them daily.
DeleteI'm rooting for whichever AL team meets la doyers in the Fall Classic. TGIF - Seachickens & Niners should provide a nice distraction till next February...when pitchers and Susac, Riley et al report.
And tge Gigantes will hoist another flag in October 2014...right on schedule!!!
NWGiantsFan
"Duck the Fodgers...Let's Go Giants!!!