The Giants lost a Coors Field Special last night on a walk-off 2 run HR by Nolan Arenado in the bottom of the 9'th inning after taking a 1 run lead in the top of the 9'th. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .148. I'm pretty sure Blanco's 2-run triple would have been a relatively easy catch in SF, but in Coors Field, it just kept going and going.
Hunter Pence- 2 for 3, BB. BA= .286. Pence did his part by getting on base from the 2-hole, but then Sandoval, Morse and Sanchez all followed with 0 for 4's. You are not going to score many runs when the heart of your lineup goes a combined 0 for 12.
Tyler Colvin- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .385. Colvin was peppering the LF corner including one that kicked up a little paint on the foul line. That one was originally called foul by the 3B ump, but overturned on replay, I am sure on the strength of the paint evidence, because otherwise it was inconclusive. In the end, it did not matter that the lead runner was not awarded home plate because Blanco cleared the bases with his triple after which he came in to score too!
Madison Bumgarner- 6 IP, 8 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.38. Nice game for Bummy ruined by Rosario's dinger. I'm not so sure Bumgarner didn't hit Tulo on purpose. Tulo had swung pretty hard on a previous double and seems to enjoy beating the Giants just a little too much. The first thought that popped into my head when I saw where it hit him square on the calf was the old story from Bumgarner's minor league days when he hit a batter because "he swung too hard." Bummy later got winged himself and jawed at the Rockies bench a bit on the way down to 1B. Probably better for him to not get caught up in the distraction like that.
Sergio Romo- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 0 K. ERA= 3.00. Romo is better against LH batters than he used to be, but he still has issues with them. As for the HR pitch to Arenado, it was the third hanging slider in a row. Earlier in the inning, Romo was breaking off some good looking sliders, but suddenly could not make them break to save his life by the time Arenado came up. I have two theories, neither of which are probably correct:
1. He was getting fatigued and as the inning wore on and lost the leverage and/or grip on the slider.
2. He got down to some balls that had been out of the humidor sitting at the bottom of the ump's pockets for too long and had dried out making them dryer and lighter.
Anyway, I don't know what Romo's record in Coors Field is, but any pitcher that depends on a lot of ball movement is going to have it rough there.
The Loss compressed the Giants lead in the NL West to 2 games over the Rockies. The Dodgers topped the Mets 9-4 and are 4 games back. The Padres and D'Backs both lost and remained 7 and 10.5 games out respectively.
Matt Cain faces Jhoulys Chacin in Game 2 tonight.
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Kick in the teeth loss, definitely the worst of the year. Romo's frisbee will give up at some point in the year though, it always does. I think he should have switched up after the pitch before was right there for Arenado, who is a pretty sweet ballplayer. We can hope his brother brings the noise.
ReplyDeleteBumgarner getting chippy is good stuff. He diffuses it well once he's off the field.
We almost stole a win with a thin bench and the two best players hurting. Could be worse, but it feels like a cold streak is coming, and those need to get stopped quick. Cain had better limit his HRs tonight. Not the place to easily do that.
Yeah, after Romo brushed Arenado back then hung a slider on the next pitch, my thought was to try to throw a two-seamer that looked to be just off the plate, but moved back to the outside corner and try to lock him up with it. I figured the next hung slider was going deep.
DeleteKick in the teeth indeed. I thought we had it in the bag bottom 9. The Rockies have some confidence right now, and the rest of this series looks like it's going to be a dog fight. If Pagan and Posey can get back in there tonight, the tide may turn in our favor. For some reason, this just feels like a very big series.
DeleteI think it is big for the Rockies more than us. They want to prove they can hang with the big dogs and we don't want to give them the momentum, which we did last night. I still don't think Romo is going to be the shut down Romo of the past.
ReplyDeleteSaying Romo is not going to be the "shut down" Romo has no basis in anything but a personal opinion. He's always had bad games from time to time. He'll have them again. There is a perfectly good explanation why the slider, his biggest weapon, would not break as much in Coors Field.
DeleteThat's not entirely true Dr. His periphials have gotten worse over the last three years and he is getting hit much harder in parks other than just CO. He's already has given up 3 HR's and just missed the 4th last night. Is he still a servicable reliever? Yes. But any one who has been watching over the last few years can see he is just not the same guy. It's an opinion backed up by the stats and the eye test. I personally do not feel as comfortable as I have in the past with him in the 9th but he is the only option we have right now really. I just hope the Giants don't make a mistake and sign him to a big closer type of contract when the time comes.
ReplyDeleteI would not sign Romo to a big, long term contract, but barring injury, someone will because he is having a great season.
DeleteI have always thought Romo would end up a Dodger. They were his favorite team as a kid and the Dodger pitcher Rudy Saenz was a neighbor growing up. I can see Wilson trying to recruit him when the time comes too.
ReplyDelete….and right about that time his arm blow out from all the sliders. Agent Ned is drawing up the 5 year contract as I write this.
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