Game Wrap 9/15/2018: Giants 3 Rockies 0

Madison Bumgarner pitched 6 shutout innings and combined with 3 relievers to give the Giants their 2'nd shutout in a row.  Key Lines:

Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 3, HBP.  BA= .251.  Longoria has put on a bit of a surge her in September hitting .346 over his last 7 games and .299 over his last 15.  He also made a nice play on a hot smash to rob Matt Holliday of a likely double to get the first out of the 9'th inning.

Nick Hundley C- 1 for 4, 2B.  BA= .243.  Hundley followed Brandon Crawford's leadoff single in the 2'nd inning with a double.  Those runners were cashed in with a groundout by Austin Slater and a flyball single by Hunter Pence to give the Giants a 2-0 lead.

Madison Bumgarner LHP- 1 for 2, 2B.  BA= .154.  Bumgarner led off the 3'rd inning with a double and eventually scored on a Wild Pitch.

Madison Bumgarner LHP- 6 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's, GO/AO= 10/2.  ERA= 3.14.  Bummy left the game after just 64 pitches due to "tightness" in his side.  You know, I was thinking to myself earlier today, "why is Madison Bumgarner still pitching?  There are 3 things that can come of it:  1.  He can pitch good, which does not really help the Giants.  2.  He can pitch badly, which hurts any potential trade value.  3.  He can get injured."  Shut Bummy down!  Giants are better off in the long run seeing what Casey Kelly or Tyler Herb or someone else can do with a few late season Starts.

Tony Watson LHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's.  ERA= 2.74.  This was Tony Watson's 3'rd consecutive hitless, scoreless appearance.  As you can see from the 3 K's, his stuff looked nasty!  He is under contract next year for $3.5 M with a $2.5 M player option for 2020($500 K buyout).  That looks about right.  Giants can either keep him at a nice price or he could have trade value.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 2.67.  Melancon is finally looking like the pitcher the Giants thought they signed to be their Closer for 4 years.  He's been steadily chipping away at his ERA:  1.42 over his last 7 appearances, 1.80 over his last 15 and 2.51 over his last 30.  He has 2 years left on the contract. I expect to see him closing games again before it's done.

Will Smith LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. Save(12).  ERA= 1.84.  Smith seems to be back on track after a few rough appearances with a 1.35 ERA over his last 7 appearances.  He's been the Giants Closer since June 29.   The Giants just have not given him many Save opportunities.

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With the Win, the Giants lost ground in the Tank Derby falling back into 12'th place in next year's draft.

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Young Dereck Rodriguez had a tough subpar Start in Coors Field.  AT&T Park can be hitter-friendly in the daytime, especially in September.  He'll try for another QS today facing Antonio Senzatela.