Earl Weaver once said that the keys to winning baseball games were great pitching and 3-run home runs. Today, Pablo Sandoval supplied the 3-run home run and Madison Bumgarner supplied the pitching to power the Giants to the Win. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .407 Pagan continues to be a catalyst at the top of the order.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 5, 2 2B, Assist(home). BA= .120. Pence did not figure in the scoring, but the 2 doubles are hopefully the breakout from his season opening slump. He also threw out the trailing runner at the plate on a play the Dodgers appealed to Instant Replay. The play was upheld in the Giants favor. That's 3 big runners Pence has gunned down already this year.
Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 3, HR(1), 2 BB. BA= .174. I haven't been too worried about Pablo as it seems like he's hit the ball hard several times, but right at people. This one went over everybody's head and out of the park to break open a 2-1 ballgame up to that point.
Buster Posey- 2 for 5, HR(2). BA= .381. Posey's dinger was a back-to-back with Pablo in the 5'th inning to stretch the score to 6-1.
Michael Morse- 1 for 2, HR(1), BB. BA= .313. So far, Morse has been a great addition to the lineup and has not been a significant liability in the field after getting the kinks worked out in the Bay Bridge Series.
Brandon Crawford- 0 for 2, 2 BB. BA= .267, OBP= .450. Crawford seems to be seeing the ball well.
Madison Bumgarner- 1 for 2, Sac. BA= .500. Giants pitchers have had some big hits already this year.
Madison Bumgarner- 7.1 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 10 K's. ERA= 1.74. You knew Bummy would bounceback in this one and he did not disappoint. He was in mid-season form against a very potent Dodgers lineup. Ha! This from Alex Pavlovic: Some LA reporter asked Madison Bumgarner what he was doing different against Puig. "Nothing," Bummy replied, "I was pretty good last year too!" LOL!
The Win puts the Giants record at 5-1, 1.5 games ahead of the 4-3 Dodgers. The rest of the NL West plays tonight.
Around the League:
Remember Billy Hamilton? Well, he's started the season 0 for 12 with 6 K's and sat out today's game with a sprained finger suffered while sliding into 1B. Nope, you can't steal first base, Billy!
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its very early, but very impressive win
ReplyDeleteteam is playing with chip on its shoulder
season is still filled with ifs. but everyone should be impressed with what we have seen so far
dont really have any deep thoughts on this game
will note that both the mariners and the fish are 4-1....so ya, its very early
bacci
You can't win a championship in the first week of season, but you can sure lose one! I always fear getting off on the wrong foot and getting blown out of the race early, kind of like what the D'Backs are doing this year. The Giants have avoided that, emphatically!
DeleteFirst, TAKE THAT YA BUMS!
ReplyDeleteSecond, He hits it high, he hits it deep, and that one is outa here! Chicks (openly) and even us hardcore pitching-first Giants Fans (secretly) dig the long ball. I know I do.
Third, Love watching MadBum mow'em down. A no'guff 10k stud, he is.
Are the Giants an offensive force? SSS, but seems like this year they can win some games with their bats. Still, for me, it comes down to starting pitching. If we can get four starters, ideally five, going strong then we got something to watch for 162, and beyond.
Didn't get to see or hear any of the game because A: I was working and B: You can't get the Dodgers on TV unless you have Time-Warner Cable. Just followed on Gameday. So, I did not realize what a blunder the Dodgers 3B coach(Lorenzo Bundy? Really?) made in sending AJ Ellis, the catcher, home as the trailing runner against Hunter Pence's arm in RF. Had he stayed at 3B, it would have brought up Hanley with the bases loaded. Sheesh!
ReplyDeleteDrb, The game was on fox sports 1 today on directv allowing me to watch it down in Redlands. It is channel 219 or something. It seems like they may be doing Saturday baseball on that channel as opposed to fox channel 11 this year. Don't know if you get fox sports 1, but I would check that out for games every now and again along with the MLB network. Keep up the good work with the blog.
ReplyDelete-Clint in Redlands
Interesting. I was busy yesterday anyway, but I could have checked in on it from time to time. I wonder if Time-Warner Cable successfully sold some of the rights?
DeleteLove the fact we started on the road and have a very successful road trip. Particularly in L.A. I still think on eof the major advantages Giants have over the Bums is our Manager and coaching staff. Go Cainer.
ReplyDeleteInteresting note from around the league, is what is happening in Washington. Stras, Harper and Zimmerman maybe heading for an injury plagued year. Dont think they are deep enough this year.
Richard in Winnipeg
Is it just me or does Pablo seem to be more patient and draw more walks this year?
ReplyDeleteAnd yes, go Cainer. I think he will have a strong game today/tonight.
Thanks for updates-saves me a lot of time.
ReplyDeleteRe: Billy Hamilton- Too small of a sample size to say so far as to whether he can hit. He was hitting the ball pretty good in spring training. If he can hit .270 at some point he will be a force. Facing Wainwright and Wacha did not ease his way. Jury is still out for me on him.
Right. I don't think I said anything about him not ever being good.
Delete