The Giants had one of their better offensive games ever against Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw, but the pitching did not take advantage. Key Lines:
Hunter Pence RF- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .229. A strong finish to the season for Hunter Pence. Can't say I would mind seeing the Giants re-sign him to a low base salary with incentives for next season.
Joe Panik 2B- 1 for 3, SF. BA= .254. Panik has had just 1 XBH in September just 19 out of 90 hits on the season. Giants have to figure out how his gap power can rebound or an upgrade at 2B is in order.
Gregor Blanco LF/CF- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .220. Overall, not a good season for Blanco. Giants need an upgrade on his roster spot.
Dereck Rodriguez RHP- 3 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 3 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.81. A bit of a letdown in his final start of a terrific rookie season, but must have been a thrill to go up against Clayton Kershaw.
Ty Blach LHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 4.25. Blach is actually pretty good in 1-3 inning stints, although he allowed 2 inherited runners score on a Clayton Kershaw single. Giants need to keep him around as long man out of the pen next season.
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The Dodgers clinched a playoff berth and will be tied with the Rockies for first place in the NL West going into tomorrow. The Giants remain tied with Toronto for 9'th place in the Tank Derby. I guess the Giants have the tiebreaker since they had the worse record last year.
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Andrew Suarez faces TBD in the season finale tomorrow afternoon.
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What a season!
ReplyDeleteSo often, when the pitching is good, the hitting is bad, and, like yesterday, the opposite occurs!
The Giants "could" score 3 or 4 against Hill, but the Dodger lineup, no longer susceptible to LHP, can score more.
Colorado shouldn't hope for help from the Giants playing the team they most want to beat -- let's ALL hope they show up for the game!
From a credible .500 record at the end of August, the Giants lead the Tank Derby in September:
SF 5-20
Bal 6-20
Phil 7-20
AZ 8-18
CWS 8-18
Tex 9-17
Miami 10-15
Det 10-16
Cinn 10-18
Although Evans got the blame for this, he did address the weaknesses, he didn't make the trades on his own, and he wasn't on the field.
Sabean and Baer probably know that when pointing a finger at someone, there are more fingers pointed back at themselves!
But you can't fire the players!
Or, can you?
Who shouldn't be blamed?
With all games beginning at the same time today, there's no wait and see.
ReplyDeleteDodgers are on a mini-roll (W2) and with Colorado just losing after an 8-game winning streak they're probably vulnerable against an 82-win National team who has little to prove but pride and stat padding.
If both LA and CO win (or lose) today, they play tomorrow and the loser plays in the WC against either Milwaukee or Chicago who also face the same fate on Monday if both win or lose today.
Four NL games to watch today -- all at the same time! -- then possibly 2 more tomorrow and one on Tuesday.
Toronto @ Tampa Bay today could affect the Giants June draft pick which will be #9 unless the Giants win AND the Jays lose their final games.
If you love the A's or hate the Yankees you have a meaningful game Wednesday.
I hope all who go to today's Finale enjoy themselves. Seven fat years, seven lean years, something like that I have heard. For everything there is a season, not just a baseball "season" - funny what other sport refers to the yearly campaign as a season?
ReplyDeleteI am happy for all the fans starved for a post season - it is their turn.
Giants can retool / rebuild / re-think / regenerate ...
It will be many years before they seriously challenge for post-season glory - and that is how cycles work.
If the FO is smart they will build an offense around Joey Bart - he looks like a legit middle of the order power bat.
Let's say he starts in 2020 - plan for one more re-bulld year - but try to get a good young "Core" of position
players to surround Bart. Duggar in CF, check. That is perhaps two positions nailed down for 2020. Seven more
to go. Slater really tailed off this last month - to my disappointment. Sigh. I was hoping he could man RF.