The Giants lost a winnable game when Madison Bumgarner allowed himself to get distracted by the unwritten rules of the game which likely caused him to serve up a home run pitch to Jonathan Schoop with the bases loaded. Key Lines:
Gregor Blanco LF- 1 for 2, HR(2), SF. BA= .241. Blanco homered to lead off the game and later drove in a second run with a SF. He was the hitting star for the Giants in this game but Gregor is hitting just .214 over his last 7 games, .174 over his last 15 and .192 over his last 30.
Austin Slater RF- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .279. Slater drove in the final Giants run with a line drive triple to RF in the 8'th inning.
Ryder Jones 1B- 0 for 1. BA= .375. Jones dislocated his patella when he swung hard at a pitch that he fouled off. He had to leave the game and will miss the rest of the season. Yeah, the injury curse strikes again! This is the second time Jones has suffered this injury in his career, the last coming in 2015.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 6 IP, 4 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 3.30. OK, here we go. Bummy allowed a run in the bottom of the first inning, then retired 15 batters in a row, including the first 2 of the 6'th inning. That's when things started to get a bit weird. Christian Yelich, a LH batter, drew a walk followed by a line drive single by Jesus Aguilar. That brought Ryan Braun to the plate. Now earlier in the game, Braun had twice demonstrated some frustration with himself for coming up short of HR's, which is something we all know certain Giants players including the MadBum don't appreciate. I believe it's called not respecting the game.
Now, maybe Bummy figured that with 2 outs and an open base, he'd rather face Jonathan Schoop anyway. Or maybe with the Giants clearly out of the pennant race and having traded away Andrew McCutchen, he just didn't have any $@*&'s left to give. Or maybe the ball just got away from him. Whatever the case, Bum threw 2 pitches very close to Ryan Braun and hit him with the 3'rd. Braun and Bummy had a few things to say to each other from a distance and then the benches slowly emptied and a slow motion baseball brawl broke out with 3 Brewers getting ejected.
That brought up the disrespected Jonathan Schoop who can run into one once in a while which he promptly did, and with the bases loaded, to put this game away. Schoop essentially walked around the bases so as to let Bummy wear it for awhile and the Brewers dugout emptied again to greet him at home plate. Pretty much of an embarrassment for Bummy and the Giants all the way around!
Gotta love what Madison Bumgarner has given the Giants and us fans over the years but this is not the first time the ol' testosterone factory as clouded his judgment and cost the Giants a game, or maybe a couple of months. Come to think of it, that bike accident might have cost them a whole season!
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Despite the Loss, the Giants remain in 12'th place in the Tank Derby.
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The Giants now return to AT&T Park with Young Dereck Rodriguez facing the Braves and lefty Sean Newcomb who has had his own struggles lately.
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Bumgarner reminded me of Strickland for a minute.
ReplyDeleteYup
DeleteGood article on MCC on Madbum's reliance on his curve more perhaps due to the loss of velocity and decreased spin rate on his others. Doesn't forebode well for an expensive, long term contract. Huge decision this season for the Giants brass on what to do with him as it could dictate the direction and future of the team for the next several seasons.
ReplyDeleteBilly Baseball
Some things I've been watching:
Delete1. Much of that was not new. Since his shoulder separation, his FB velocity has taken a 1 MPH hit. You can see it in this chart: http://tinyurl.com/ybqc3gu9
2. His cutter was below-average until about a month ago, since then he's been recapturing it.
3. His slow curve ball has been his best pitch for three years now.
4. His change-up is much better this year than last and, sabermetrically, the second best it's been since 2014.
5. His fastball has always been more about deception and location than velocity. His velocity peaked at 93.0 in 2015, hardly a power pitcher.
6. His arm has high mileage, at least some of this is to be expected.
i think bumgarner managed to get himself traded this offseason. his act is getting old and he is not irreplaceable in the rotation. bochy should skip his next start as punishment and there is no doubt in my mind that there was intent. he is lucky he hasn't been suspended yet but, skipping his next start would make him think about his actions.
ReplyDeleteOne intent pitch to Braun is enough - but three?? Catcher should have approached the mound after the second one to re-focus the AB... very disappointing all the way around ...
DeleteFrom 2010: Posey, Bumgarner, and Sandoval.
ReplyDeleteBuster's not going away.
Don't need Sandoval.
In the time frame that the Giants might realistically contend again -- 2020? 2021? -- will Bum still help then? Or even be affordable?
He has some trade value with his good 2019 contract -- Giants could get some prospects -- he could help a winning team.
Wow, trade their "ace"?
Could that even realistically happen?
Please trade him and Strickland and fire the coaching staff. Try to hire Matt Williams to manage and the Oakland A's hitting coaches and start the &%% over. Bid for Harper RF and Dozier 2B - maybe Patrick Corbin can be signed as the ace. But definitely need new blood in the coaching and no more of this hot headed crap...
ReplyDeleteMatt Williams was a horrible manager for the Nationals.
DeleteWell OK then - but the A's hitting coaches! They've coached the A's to the biggest hitting turnaround in MLB.
Delete...or several guys might have just happened to have career years at the same time. It's never been clear how much impact any hitting coach has on any team.
DeleteI mean, did Alonzo Powell suddenly forget how to teach hitting when he went from the Astros to the Giants?
DeleteIt's not just that the Giants aren't good. (That's a price we should happily pay for the run.) But, let's admit it: they're not enjoyable to watch.
ReplyDeleteRemember when the G's had some personality and fun guys? Wilson, Torres, Romo, Pablo, Hunter, Morse, Burrell, Cody Ross. I've seen Pablo hit a pitch on the bounce and make contact with one that was above his eyes. Fun.
We had some compelling stories (Vogey, Blanco. Guys that shouldn't be walking, let alone playing baseball: (Freddy Sanchez.)
Now it just a vanilla ice cream factory (Posey, Panik, Belt, Longoria, Melancon) and a trio of angry white men (Bum, Strick & Hundley).
After 2014, I'm amazed that Bum has brought my thinking around to this: The Giants would be better without him.
I don't think I agree with this. I have actually enjoyed watching this team. Dereck Rodriguez is a compelling story and a joy to watch pitch. Alen Hanson has a lot of personality on the field and is a dynamic player. Derek Holland is a character and is fun to watch. Steven Duggar was fun to watch before he got hurt. Brandon Crawford has been banged up lately but for most of the season made at least 1 highlight reel play per game. Cutch gave us some exciting moments while he was here. Slater and Suarez aren't terribly exciting but at least give something to hope for in the future.
Delete