Today, it was the Cardinals turn to show up looking like they wanted to be anywhere else as the Giants raced to a 4-0 lead out of the gate and never looked back. Key Lines:
Angel Pagan- 2 for 5. BA= .327. Pagan's hit parade continues. He once again set the tone with a basehit to open the game and start the 4 run first inning rally. He's on his way to another 4.5-5 WAR season if he stays healthy.
Buster Posey- 3 for 5. BA= .264. Buster looked a lot more comfortable at the plate and his swing looked a lot better. He was obviously just stroking the ball up the middle and to the opposite field, not trying to do too much, and it was working.
Gregor Blanco- 2 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .238. Blanco is hitting .423 over his last 10 games. He hit .295 with a .380 OBP for the month of May. He starts off June the same way. He's gotten a lot more playing time with Belt out and Morse playing mostly 1B and he's making the most of it.
Brandon Crawford- 1 for 4, 2B, BB. BA= .236. Nice game for Crawford after getting a day off.
Brandon Hicks- 0 for 3, 2 BB. BA= .178. The BA is ugly and he hasn't hit a dinger in awhile, but he's drawing walks and blowing up pitch counts. 5 BB's in his last 4 games.
Joaquin Arias- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .174. Arias needed a good game and the Giants needed him to have one. Key hit was a 2 out single up the middle to drive in the last 2 runs in that 4-run first inning.
Tim Hudson- 7 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's, Win(6-2). ERA= 1.75. Another day at the office for Huddy. He didn't even look like he had his best stuff out there today. Definitely putting himself into the conversation for All-Star game consideration!
Javier Lopez- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.54. This was the best Lopez has looked in awhile. He only had 10.1 IP before this appearance, but I'm confident he is going to play a big role in the second half.
David Huff- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 6.87. This may have been Huff's last chance to stay on the team with Matt Cain's return from the DL looming. Clearly a confidence building opportunity in a non-stress situation. He passed this test and lives to see another day.
The Giants closed out the 4 games in the Cardinals crib with a 3 games to 1 series win. Their lead in the NL West stands at 7 games over the Dodgers who play this evening against the Pirates in LA with Zach Greinke on the mound. The Rockies lost again to the Cleveland Indians to complete a series sweep. The Rockies are now 8.5 games out in 3'rd place and seem to be fading fast. The Padres lost to the ChiSox and are 11 games out of it while the D'Backs are trailing the Reds 4-3 in the top of the ninth sitting at 13.5 games back pending the final score.
The Giants get a much needed day off tomorrow before starting a 3 game series in Cincinnati, a park that has given them fits the last few years. Tim Lincecum starts the series off facing Homer Bailey who seems like he is starting to turn his season around.
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They said Hicks is like 2 for the last 27. Walks are ok but 2B has to be on the radar come trade deadline.
ReplyDeleteOr we can Panik.
DeleteIf there is an opportunity to upgrade 2B at the trade deadline, I'm sure Sabes will be on top of it. There really aren't many other glaring needs on the horizon.
Deleteuh..getting on base is a good thing, whether by hits or walks
Deletehicks has been solid defensively, and if it aint broke, why fix it
3 out of 4 from the cards in st lou? what could be better than that?
bacci
Maybe if Pittsburgh is out of it, Sabes can go back to his favorite fishing hole...
DeleteYou know, I'm not against upgrading any position. On the other hand, Hicks has given this team what it needed at the right time again and again whether it be a clutch HR or a running up the count on a tiring pitcher or a great play on defense. Even if he came up in the 9'th inning of Game 7 of the WS trailing by 1 or 2 runs with runners on base, I'd have some hope that he would do something that would end up winning the game there. So yeah, he's got his warts and if an opportunity for an obvious upgrade presents itself, I'd be willing to trade a prospect or 2, but if it doesn't happen, this team has enough other weapons that it would continue to be good with Hicks playing 2'nd.
DeleteHow done is Scoots? I know he went to 60 day DL but will he be back this year or next? Does he figure into the Giants' calculations at all?
DeleteI think the Giants are hoping to get Scoots back at nearly full health, but are not expecting it.
DeleteI think there is better than 50-50 that Scooter's career is done. If it is, he'll always have a place in Giants history for that great run in 2012.
DeleteHicks is a big part of that 2-out hit, RISP hit, lucky hit stat line the Giants have going. He's the latest in a long line of Sabean plug ins. That are constantly mis-interpreted by certain quarters of the interwebz. The combo of the bench and him may need some upgrading, but there is also a good argument for "if it ain't broke".
DeleteI agree you don't want to tinker too much with what is working, but I do worry about how long it will work. We will ge Belt back soon and that will stablize things. I'm wondering about, rather than cutting or demoting HIcks, do you cut Arias/EA and bring Duvall up. I still think we need to see what he can do, and it might make more sense at that point to spell Panda and Belt. You lose a bit of coverage at SS, but you'd have the other of Arisas/EA still. Of course, if you really wanted to see what the kids could do, you'd bring Panik up too, but that means you either go with a shorter staff, cut both Arias/EA (which then doesn't give you the extra infielder) or you lose one of Blanco/Colvin.
DeleteOn the pen, I would love to bring Hembree up, but Huff for Hembree means you lose a Lefty. Maybe with Affeldt and Lopez, that isn't a huge issue. I do think having Hembree up in the bigs could help, both because this Romo's walk year and just in case.
Really want the Giants to sit tight at the trading deadline (other than maybe moving one of Arias/EA). I like we're at. Vogey is great at 4, and I can't see us moving Timmy, pen is good shape, starters (other than Hicks) are hitting well and defense is playing well too. Sometimes, you just don't swap out dance cards.
PiLamBear
Awesome Arias! and the Killer B law firm of Blanco, Brandon & Brandon step up and contribute. Taking 3 of 4 from the Cards is like a bright sunny day on Puget Sound...simply beautiful!
ReplyDeleteLet's Go Giants! And let's go Pirates!
NWGiantsFan
DtF!!!
And the Pirates drop the Dodgers and Zach Greinke 5-3, so the Giants lead is 7.5 games.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I am not sure it can get a whole lot better??? No team is going to win every game... Everyone is trying to fix something on a Giants team that is 3 games short of being 20 games over .500 and the best record in MLB without a full lineup this whole series... St Louis is not a bad team at all... I'm enjoying this ride better than the Mays and Co. era... I will always idolize Willie, but this team takes everyone to pull the wagon at times...
ReplyDeleteTBox
I am becoming more and more convinced that this team is better than the '93 team (probably the best Giants team in my lifetime). Hopefully this team has more success and can join 2 other recent teams' level of success.
DeleteYeah, the thing about the 60's teams is they had the HOF'ers and NOBODY ELSE! Well, JIm Ray Hart for a couple of years, but it was pretty much Mays, McCovey and Hart then wait for the lineup to turn over again and on the pitching side it was Marichal, Perry and Pray for Rain. The one year they got a good pitching performance out of another guy, Mike McCormick was a big down year for Marichal. 2 WS wins has made the chip on my shoulder that came about from growing up watching that 60's team has gotten a lot lighter. A 3'rd, I think, would make it go away completely. Then again, I'm not at all sure I WANT it to disappear completely! LOL!
DeleteOne was awesome. We it two I felt a bit spoilt. Three?! Spoiled rotten, but bring it on!
DeleteAmen, DocB, that Giants 60's (the Giants of my youth) leave a lot of karma to be burned off.
DeleteI Love the way Hicks and Craw are handling the middle of the field. If Panik keeps doing what he is doing , then I would love him up and If Adrianza has to be df'd so be it. Then we have 2nd base covered, and Arias to back up every infield postion worst case.
ReplyDeleteI am quietly trying to contain myself with the way the year is going, Can hardly wait for my road trip to KC in August for the interleague series Giants vs Royals. Sitting behind the Giants bench. Wow,will soon start counting my sleeps like a kid again.
Richard inWinnipeg
Joe Panik needs to be brought up and Matt Duffy needs time at AAA
ReplyDeleteHicks stays until someone else proves they can take Kershaw deep.
ReplyDeletePanik's numbers look great, but right now they are AAAA for his first two months at AAA. The Giants rarely bring up new to AAA players based upon SSS. I think the Giants will wait on Panik and that's not a bad thing.
3 of 4 is good for a one-flap down jog around the bases. Giving the Cards fans The Sad makes my day.
I think the Giants keep what is working, other than the injury factor (and no team can be so lucky as to be able to avoid any. It happens to every team).
ReplyDeleteThe young guys in the minors best to do well and be ready when called upon...guys like Law, Panik, Hembree, Runzler, Perez, Duvall, Noonan, Escobar, Kickham, etc.
I get that walks and extended AB's are a good thing but the reality is we are broke at second base. It is also a position that Sabean values for offense which is evident by both the Sanchez and Scutaro acquisitions, both of which were key to us making the World Series during their respective years. No way, IMO, we hand it over to a rookie or unproven player. Question is who is available and who do we get, not if.
ReplyDeleteI'm ok with Hicks for now. But if they trade for a middle infielder at the deadline, I like to see them get Martin Prado, as Baggs has suggested. He can also play 3rd base and makes $11 mil in 2015 + 2016.
DeleteLG
Whence this knock on the '60s teams? If I recall correctly (since I'm old enough to have been there at the time, it's quite possible that I don't) the '62 team, as one would expect, had some pretty strong players beyond Mays & McCovey - such as Cepeda, Harvey Kuenn, Jim Davenport, a couple of Alous and Tom Haller and "Lonus" Bailey in the squat, who combined for over 30 home runs. Some decent second tier pitchers as well, including an amazing season from Billy Pierce. A great team to watch, and they deserved better.
ReplyDelete'62 was a couple of years before my time. My earliest recollection is the '65 team and I stared following in earnest with the '66 team.
Delete