I went to bed last night fully expecting to wake up and write a post about a Giants loss. They were trailing 2-1 and had already squandered a total of 3 AB's with the bases loaded. Turns out they'd do it 2 more times, but in the 10'th inning of a game they eventually won on a walk-off single by Hector Sanchez in the bottom of the 12'th. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt- 3 for 5, 2B, BB. BA= .298. Belt was the hero before The Hector was the hero. Pagan singled with one out in the bottom of the 9'th against Kenley Jansen. Belt then went down the 3B line for an RBI double with Pagan scoring all the way from first to send it into extra innings.
Hunter Pence- 3 for 6, SB(2). BA= .193. Pence scored the first run after a single in the bottom of the 6'th. He took second on a throwing error by Hanley Ramirez on a potential force play. He then went to 3'rd on a wild pitch by Chris Withrow and score and Crawford's SF. Hey! Whatever gets the run home!
Brandon Crawford- 2 for 5, SF. BA= .318. Crawford drove in the first run, scored the winning run and continues to produce out of the 7-hole in the lineup.
Hector Sanchez- 1 for 2, BB. BA= .176. The Hector entered the game in the 9'th inning to preserve Buster Posey's legs, a move I am sure would have received widespread criticism had the Giants gone on to lose. Crawford singled with 1 out in the 12'th, took 2B on a groundout, took third and a WP by Brandon League. Hector then ended it with a deflected single up the middle. The Hector! This guy is what, 23 years old? He is married, has a daughter old enough to be in school and drives her there every morning. He already has 4 walk-off hits in his career. You have to RESPECT a guy like that!
Tim Lincecum- 5 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 7.20. Timmy threw 93 pitches in those 5 innings, but hung tough including striking out the side in the 3'rd inning, then striking out 2 more to escape a 1-out, bases-loaded jam in the 4'th. At this point, it is probably significant that he has a 17/1 K/BB on the season. Baby steps! He was just good enough in this one.
Juan Gutierrez- 2.1 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.00. Where would the Giants be without this guy? No way he gets cut for Affeldt! I think last night's marathon pretty much guarantees Perez gets sent down and the Giants keep 13 pitchers when Affeldt comes off the DL today.
Huff, Romo, Casilla, Petit- 1 IP, 0 R each. Giants bullpen has a 0.58 ERA in 39.2 IP over their last 12 games and outpitched a terrific Dodgers bullpen in over 7 innings in this one.
The Win brings the Giants record to 9-5, tied with the Dodgers for the lead in the NL West. The Rockies edged the Padres 3-2 to remain 2.5 games behind, moving into 3'rd place, 0.5 games ahead of the Friars. The wheels have come off down in Arizona as the D'Backs were shellacked by the Mets 9-0 dropping them 6.5 games behind in last place with a record of 4-13.
Ryan Vogelsong faces Paul Maholm in Game 2 tonight at AT&T Park.
Once again, I did not get to see the game because of the Dodgers ridiculous TV situation. I live in SoCal and I have not detected any groundswell of support for Time-Warner Cable and getting the Dodgers on other TV outlets. Gotta think this one could come back to bite both TWC and the Dodgers big time. Shankbone can maybe fill us in on where this all stands, but just remember this about SoCal, they have not had an NFL team for close to 2 decades now, and NOBODY CARES!
Around the League:
Speaking of the D'Backs, the wheels are definitely off down in Arizona. There are already whisperings about Gibby's job being in jeopardy. Kevin Towers was quoted yesterday saying they would not bring up Archie Bradley to play in the current environment, which says a lot. I'll say that if Gibby goes, Towers needs to also. Yeah, the Corbin injury hurt a lot, but that is not a good roster even with Corbin. It's a bit hard to tell whether Gibby or Towers has been the bigger driving force in their roster construction over the last 2 years, but that organization has hemorrhaged talent. Some of Towers' public comments, especially regarding pitchers retaliating for HBP's, make you wonder if he doesn't have a screw loose upstairs. Might be time to clean house down in Arizonaland.
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I also live in the blacked out region. But, I was able to watch it online, on vipbox.tv. I've used this site for a couple years now, and it plays nearly all of the games.
ReplyDeleteI stayed "up to date" via Chron's website. Did see the bases loaded disappointment MLBTV. Great info on Hanchez - father of the year candidate...and beats the Bums to boot. BC doing well to earn the Messiah moniker that the Bleacher Bums anointed him with. Speaking if which, Happy Passover & Easter to those who celebrate - Happy Beat LA Week to those who do not. Go Giants!
ReplyDeleteNWGiantsFan
Basically what has happened is the pay tv industry has decided to play follow the leader with directv, and those guys have all the numbers in front of them, decided to come out strong with a PR offensive of "Happy to put it on a la carte for baseball fans, but there are already 5 regional pay tv networks that nobody watches and we don't feel its fair for our current customers". Without Directv in the bag, none of the others will follow suit (Cox, Dish, Verizon Fios, AT&T U-verse, a couple of small players).
ReplyDeleteI have a feeling they've done market research that shows customers are at their limit for basic service fee's, and $100/month is an important psychological barrier that they don't want to cross.
What isn't making the news is the Dodgers have the plan of a steep escalating fee structure, from $4 a month to $8 in as little as 4 years. That was the deal that Time Warner thought they could railroad, and its not looking like a slam dunk anymore. The PR of Time Warner has been pretty pathetic. And no, Angelinos won't defect in masse to go deal with them. No idea of how the merger of Time Warner and Comcast goes. But the Houston bankruptcy for Sportsnet Houston should have these Time Warner suits sweating something fierce. They made a terrible deal, and don't have the funds to service said deal.
good. comcast is evil
Deleteand how right was i on the giants making beckett look like a good pitcher?
bacci
Hector Sanchez is clutch. That should keep statheads pants in a twist for a while!
ReplyDeleteAnd that other whipping boy Brandon Crawford is staying strong. I have always been a bit bewildered by the selective shrill response to some of our hometown players. They're all young as hell, they have a ring, they're working towards another one. The Giants draft and development has made some great moves in the past few years.
Yeah, Belt too, I saw some comments about him because he's hit a bad patch (very SSS too!).
DeleteHanchez IS clutch, he was consistently among the team leaders in RBI in his first MLB season with the Giants even though he was a part-time player, I think it's just a matter of time before his hitting takes off and the Giants will have to start him somewhere, or maybe make him a utility guy who can play other positions as well. My idea scenario is Susac continues to play well, and at some point, Sanchez and Susac will share the starting position, while also getting starts at other positions, including DH, pushing Posey to 3B, as Posey is not opposed to switching positions (Bay Area Sports Guy great interview) if Giants management think that is the best way to win, though he prefers to be starting catcher. That way, we got three catchers on the roster, all offensive and defensive stalwarts.
First, anytime the Giants keep me up past midnight to beat the Bums is alright with me.
ReplyDeleteBelt's AB in the 9th against Jansen was what I've been waiting to see. Jansen pitched him outside and away, again, again, again and Belt with two strikes was not looking good. Then Jansen went there again, and Belt laid back on his swing and timed it for his double down the 3B line. This was not luck, it was very purposeful hitting; going with what the pitcher is giving you. Very impressive AB from Belt.
Equally impressive was Pagan scoring from first on that play. Blanco holds the runner at third on that play, Ethier does not.
Hector is just fearless. Love his clutch. Love his new-found pitch framing. Also love his mitt waggle once the sign is called - no doubt where he wants the pitch. He is one confident guy.