The Dodgers made 2 huge trade deadline deals for Manny Machado and Brian Dozier, but did not address a shaky bullpen. With their star Closer unavailable due to a medical condition, those decisions cost them bigly last night as they sent out lefty Scott Alexander to close out the Giants with a 2-1 lead in the 9'th inning. He gave up 4 runs and the game. Key Lines:
Chase d'Arnaud 2B/SS- 1 for 4. BA= .259. d'Arnaud started the winning rally with a line drive single. Earlier, he had moved to SS when Brandon Crawford collided with Gorkys Hernandez while chasing a bloop down the LF line by Clayton Kershaw and had to leave the game. Crawford is reportedly not seriously hurt.
Nick Hundley PH- 1 for 1. BA= .253. Nick Hundley drove in the first 2 runs of the 9'th inning rally which were the game-tying and winning runs with a PH single to R-CF. It was the second consecutive game in which Hundley's bat was the difference.
Steven Duggar CF- 2 for 4, 2 SB(4). BA= .273. Duggar scored the only Giants run up to the 9'th. The first of his 2 hits off Clayton Kershaw was an IF hit but the second was a line drive to RF. Hey! I guess if he can get 2 hits off the arguably toughest lefty in baseball, he can stay in the lineup against anybody! The SB's add a dimension the Giants have been missing.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 2.71. Not as dominant as Kershaw but a QS that kept the Giants in position to win when Kershaw finally left the game after 8 innings and 110 pitches. I grew up in the Juan Marichal vs Sandy Koufax era. I admit that for 4 seasons, Koufax was the more dominant pitcher much like I admit that Kershaw has been more dominant in his career than Bumgarner. The Giants and Dodgers mostly kept those 2 apart but I've always loved the fact that in H2H competition, Marichal won 3 games to 1 for Koufax. Bumgarner and Kershaw have faced each other 11 times now. The Giants have now won 6 of those games. And of course, there's the rings and postseason play.
Ray Black RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.55. Black was coming off a rough appearance against the Pirates but was dominant in this one.
Will Smith LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, Save(9). ERA= 2.06. Smith was just a bit shaky as he got a line drive out to open the 9'th inning and later issued a BB, but he ended the inning and the game with a K of Matt Kemp.
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The Giants Win got them back to .500 for the umpteenth time this season and narrowed their deficit in the NL West to 5 games behind the leading D'Backs who lost to the Rangers 5-3. The Rockies were idle so they are tied for 2'nd place with the Dodgers 1 game behind the Snakes.
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Andrew Suarez tries to clinch a series win tonight facing fellow lefty Alex Wood.
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OMG > Be still my beating heart!
ReplyDeleteRichard in winnipeg
Kershaw had a dominant 8th, BUT 110 pitches. Give it to Roberts that he rather go to his failed BP than risk his STAR. But why not Baez against all those RHBs?
ReplyDeleteCould you hear the grumbling from Dodger Stadium out where you are?
(Note: although Alexander's numbers are 100 points worse across the board against RHB, Baez's are even worse!)
How many games have the Giants lost in similar fashion over the last two years? Hundley is a clutch bat for sure. Who was that catching and playing 1B for the Dodgers? don't recognize those names ... as for Machado he has been quiet since dealt, just two HR's in 90 AB's ...
ReplyDeleteSteven Duggars speed was impressive last night getting picked off 1st base but making it to 2nd base on a nice slide. It also created pressure on the defense on the slow chopper to 2nd base which was bobbled allowing the 5th run to score. He also gets 2 hits off Kershaw on top of that. I can see why management is excited about him! Appreciate the job Will Smith is doing as closer, coming off TJ and never being a full time closer before. Those last 3 outs of a game can be the toughest to get as last night proved.
ReplyDeleteLG
kelby will probably be summonsed in case crawford has to go on the concussion dl
ReplyDeleteOn an August 11th a long,long time ago, the Giants lost a game at home after being swept by their hated rivals in three to fall 12 games off the pace set by their loathsome enemy.
ReplyDeleteOnly 44 games remained to play. Even should their foes manage only .500 ball, the Gs would have to go 34-10 (.773!) to make up the 12 games for a tie.
The Dodgers played respectfully over .500, yet the Giants did even better, 37-7, tied it up the next-to-last day, and finished the season with a 7-game winning streak, to faced a playoff to get to the World Series.
A miraculous season, the Pennant won on the shot heard 'round the world!
Althought there are not 12 games to make up in the 44 left on August 11th this year, two major obstacles face the 2018 Giants: 6 teams lie between them and a playoff when back then there was none to be jumped over, just 1 to be caught, AND, the 2018 team is not as good as the 1951 team which was 8 games over .500 on August 11th, not 2 games under.
Can it be done?
Of course, it's Baseball, anything is possible. And Belt is back. Almost.
Is anyone else optimistic? Even CBS Sportsline has upped their chances to nearly 2%.
you got me fired up! yes anything is possible ... let us see which players STEP UP their game down the stretch
DeleteRequired for a playoff team & a playoff run: 2 very strong starters at the top of your rotation, players who can deliver hits in the clutch, hard out throughout the lineup, and a shut-down bullpen of at least 4 players deep.
DeleteThe Giants have ALL of the above. I'm strongly optimistic, but this team has brought the org back to life. It's still a few years until blue-chippers come through the farm, but Hansen-Slater-Williamson-Duggar-D'Arnaud-Suarez-Black-Rodriguez is a hulluva haul from a single season.
Umpire: If Kershaw's strike zone was any lower they'd have had to dug a trench through home plate. Any wider, the players would have been hitting from the trench...
ReplyDeleteTurner: When he hit that bomb I thought "that could have been Williamson, but for the concussion."
Best part of game: All the tears in the Dodgers crowd after Hunley's hit in the 9th...
Dodgers on a losing won-games streak proving it isn't over 'til ...
ReplyDeleteWhat else: Brian Dozier removed last night with dizziness, tested for irregular heart beat, further tests Tuesday
Relief pitcher signing at the "deadline" by Doggers, John Axford, 39 years young, fractured fibula when hit by comebacker Sunday. May hit DL today.
Giants' Brandons may well both be on the roster tonight, Belt most likely cleared from DL today, hope Craw will be OK too.
Dozier just got the vapors last night. He's in the lineup tonight.
DeleteGiants have had their share of injuries. Starting lineup tonight includes Hansen, Duggar, Slater, d'Arnaud, Suarez. None of these guys are Plan A for this year. Lost seasons for Cueto, Shark.
I keep saying the Giants are a .500. And they are. I'm just not sure how.
Dodgers have to take responsibility for their pen. Obviously spinning out-of-control right now. It's not as bad as it seems. But that is just an average pen. And I think you've gotta bring more than that to the playoffs if you have designs on a Championship.
Go lads, go! I can't believe I can still dream at this point. Anon says CBS has us at 2% for the playoffs. Awesome! After last night's win, feels like it's a lot higher.
60-60 is the 21st time this season the Giants have been at .500, not including 0-0.
ReplyDelete60 games ago, SF was 30-30.
They had an even record 5 times in the first 20 games, 8 times at 40, 11 at 60, 17 times by 80 games, then a lull until they were 52-52.
Since then they were 56-56, 57-57, and yesterday 60-60.
Besides for telling you that someone has too much time, we can reasonablyl can agree that the 2018 San Francisco Giants are a .500 team!
What could change that would get them 10 games "above .500" at 86-76?
How could they go 26-16 in the last 42 games?
It's not too far fetched that 86 wins could make the playoffs, there are only 6 NL teams that are currently 10 or more games "over .500" -- maybe one or two of them won't get there.
Why would a quintessential .500 team suddenly become a .600+ team?
A reasonable start would be would be good luck in health, then add a little help from the Baseball Gods, and 4 or 5 mini win streaks (4-5 games) and no disasters (5 or 6 losses in a row) would do it.
Begin with healthy Brandons, add in production from the old vets along with a steady Buster, and maybe the young guys will bring it home.
It's baseball, it's not that crazy.
Just do it!