The Giants seemed poised for another late-inning win after Andrew McCutchen erased a 3-0 Dodgers lead with a 3-run blast in the 8'th. This time, though, it was the Giants bullpen that finally ran out of gas in extra innings. Key Lines:
Andrew McCutchen RF- 1 for 4, BB, HR(14). BA= .253. Cutch was just 3 for 32 since going 5 for 5 on August 4 before connecting for the almost heroic dinger in the 8'th inning to tie the game.
Hunter Pence LF- 3 for 5. BA= .226. Hunter's last starting role was on 8/3. He was just 1 for 10 in August in mostly a bench role prior to this 3-hit game.
Derek Holland LHP- 4.2 IP, 6 H, 0 R, 4 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.83. Holland was dominant for 4 innings, the ran into a peck of trouble in the 5'th and was saved by an assist at home plate by Gorkys Hernandez on a call that was overturned on review. He left the game with the bases loaded and 2 outs. Reyes Moronta got Cody Bellinger to pop out to end the inning. Moronta later gave up the Dodgers first run in the 6'th inning.
Ty Blach LHP- 2.0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 4.38. Ty Blach and mult-inning relief seem like they were made for each other. He can have a long MLB career in that role which is the latest hot commodity of the Saber crowd, probably with good reason.
Casey Kelly RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 0 K. ERA= 1.42. Kelly got through the 11'th inning unscathed despite 2 walks but finally gave up his first MLB run in the 12'th for the walk-off loss. Who will be the Giants 5'th starter the next time they need one?
*********************************************************************************
The Loss dropped the 4'th place Giants 5.5 games behind the idle NL West leading D'Backs. The Rockies lost to the Astros 12-1 to slide into a 2'nd place tie with the Dodgers, 1.5 games behind the D'Backs.
********************************************************************************
The Giants have a travel day today which enables them to skip the 5'th Starter, because lets's face it, they don't have one. Young Dereck Rodriguez picks up his quest for ROY to open a series in Cincinnati with Anthony DeSclafini on the mound for the Reds.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Back to .500! 22nd time?
ReplyDeleteSweeping the Bad Guys wasn't out of the question until it was, but getting just 6 hits in 12 innings didn't help. ONE hit with RISP, albeit a BIG one, isn't gonna do it either.
IMO, Black really got squeezed in the 7th, most if not ALL of his first 6 pitches had been called strikes earlier in the game but Black got no corners and laid a fat one right down the middle to Machado -- he didn't miss it.
If the 10 games coming up against all-but-eliminated teams through August 26th doesn't provide the answer to 2018, the month ending series with AZ (less one more game with the Mets on the 31st), will finish the tale.
If the Giants cann't do better than 7-3 against the Reds, Mets, and Rangers (combined 156-205 .421, total of 56 games out of first), they are truly a .500 team with a big huge payroll -- why would spending more make them any better?
Time to rethink.
Buster's splits by innings this year: 1-3, 4-6, 7-9, Extra Innings
ReplyDeleteBA OBP SLG OPS
1-3 .365 .435 .462 .897
4-6 .289 .354 .422 .776
7-9 .224 .297 .308 .605
Xtra .143 .200 .143 .343
Which is to say he gets tired as the game goes on?
DeleteHere are some more takeaways:
Giants are 45-35 .562 when Buster is the starting C
They are 4-9 when he's the starting 1B (a better 1B is out of the game?)
They are 0-7 when he's the DH or PH (well, that's waste!)
Projecting SF's record when Posey's catching to 162 games, they win 91.
In the NL, only the Cubs (93.6) and Dodgers (91.4) are projected to win as many or more (by CBS Sportline).
This suggests that what the Giants need most isn't a pitcher or RFer or 3B, they need a better backup C.
Not sure what those splits mean, if anything. His career splits do not really show diminished numbers late in the game.
DeleteThe only reason I looked them up is that Buster has seemed to be dragging late in games. And the SSS splits from this season seem to bare that out. And Buster is getting a bit older.
Anyway, even if his bat fades late in the game, it's pretty much a given that his intangibles (the way he handles the pitching staff) are exceptional.
And to your last point I think it would be difficult to ask more from a backup catcher than we've gotten from Hundley. I think he's been pretty solid in that role.
ask more from a backup catcher -- wins?
DeleteGenerally speaking, back-up catchers usually handle the worst pitchers in the rotation. That tends to distort the W/L & ERA comps.
DeleteWAR per AB of all Catchers, and Hundley ranked 31st.
DeleteRequiring at least 100 ABs, only 40 MLB Catchers have a positive WAR.
Hundley ranked in front of some starters by WAR per AB, including Gary Sanchez,
James McCann and Jonathan LuCroy.
In front of all Rockies' and all D-Backs' catchers. They'd likely take Hundley as a starter.
It ain't easy to find a good backup catcher.
Buster ranks 12th, BTW.
Looks like Young Dereck's ROY run has hit a little snag:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.nbcsports.com/bayarea/giants/giants-place-dereck-rodriguez-dl-injury-sustained-during-brawl-dodgers
Dang it! That is a real kick in the crotch! Yeah, Puig is a punk, but come on, Nick. It's not worth starting a brawl that gets your teammate injured over. Just ignore him and call the pitch that will strike him out.
DeleteDereck Rodriguez just might be the single biggest positive out of this season for the Giants and now he's on the DL too!
DeleteBummer about D-Rod.
ReplyDelete