Brandon Belt led a late offensive charge for the Giants to back some gritty pitching led by starter Drew Pomeranz. Key Lines:
Steven Duggar CF- 2 for 5, 2B. Duggar's 2-out double in the 7'th inning put runners at 2'nd and 3'rd and set up Belt's game winning double.
Brandon Belt 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(1). BA= .200. This is the kind of game we've been hoping for from Belt since, oh, 2010 when he was tearing up a gazillion levels in the minor leagues. He added a couple of nifty defensive plays that other guys probably don't make. Definitely the Player of the Game.
Pablo Sandoval PH- 1 for 1. BA= .429. Pabs drove in the Giants second run with a clutch PH, 2-out knock up the middle to drive in Yangervis Solarte who had reached 3B after a leadoff single in the 7'th.
Drew Pomeranz LHP- 5 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 6 K's, GO/AO= 6/1. ERA= 3.60. Not pretty, but it got the job done. A couple of solo dingers in the 5'th ended his night, but he left the team in a winnable position. I am sure the Giants would be happy with 30 starts just like this one.
Bullpen- 4 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 2 K's. This turned into a bullpen game and the Giants bullpen came out on top. Mark Melancon retired the side in order but the GO/AO of 1/2 not what you are looking for from him. Smith faced some tough Dodger batters including AJ Pollock, Max Muncy, Cody Bellinger and Chris Taylor who had one of the two homers off Pomeranz.
*********************************************************************************
The Padres lost to the D'Backs so the Giants are suddenly just 1 game behind the NL West co-leaders, Dodgers and Padres, with a 2-3 record tied with the Rockies and D'Backs.
*********************************************************************************
Madison Bumgarner tries to keep the good times rolling in his second start of the season facing LHP Hyun-Jin Ryu.
*********************************************************************************
Chris Stratton made his debut with the Angels. It didn't go well as he allowed 4 runs on 7 hits in 4.1 IP.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Great job by the Giants. Excellent games by Belt, Duggar, and Panik. This is the team we want to see, night in, night out.
ReplyDeleteQuick question. Am I the only Giants fan not only expecting Joe and Reed to fail every time up to bat, but actually actively hoping that they do, since it will (hopefully) expedite their eventual release? Pretty bad, I know. No way Joe gets that critical hit that Solarte had that keyed off the rally. Great call by Bochy.
I hope they get a hit when they come up. I'd love to see one or both break out and prove me wrong. In fairness to Joe, he scorched one up the middle that was caught because of defensive positioning.
DeleteDon't think we will see much of Reed this year. Pillar is coming to the Giants in exchange of De Paula, Hanson and Law
DeleteVery good job by the pitching staff...Pomerantz threw the ball really well.nothing like I saw from him last year..speed, fastball, curve all excellent..I thin kthis wil lturn out ot be a real strong aquisitio by Farhan, even if he gets flipped in the summer..Dodgers, and the way they make you work at the plate--unlike any GIant but Belt and Duggar, kinda wore him down in the fifth...But he looks real promising......Bullpen weas excellent..I think we will be saying that alot this year..
ReplyDeleteGREAT game by BELT and some good work by Duggar (agaiin), Solarte (again) and Panda. Unlike alot of others on the team, every time Solarte comes up to the plate, I think he has a chance for hit...His bat was a good aquisition by Farhan
OTOH I too expect absolutley nothing from Joe and Reed every time up..Pretty funny that all the columnnists on twitter also made a point to say that Connor Joe hit the ball hard ONCE..Hey, they have to cover the team, be upbeaat, play up to Farhan..Anbody else a little nauseated by the geeky boys club interview of Farhan and Friedman on ESPN (BTW I am a little science/geeky too)?
SteveVA
This was reminiscent of the championship giants when tough pitching and stringing hits together won the game late -- Kuiper used to call this torture.
ReplyDeleteIt's been a long time in coming.Lets hope this wasn't just a tease.
Joe and Reed: perhaps Zaidi tried with others, perhaps Pollack preferred LA to SF (who other than a diehard Giant wouldn't), maybe there were others, maybe he tried a dozen OFers from a dozen teams and was unwilling to go with top prospects offering from the surplus of relief pitchers.
Anyway, with the season upon us, he got 2 RH hitters with excellent get-on-base skills but they aren't ready.
Give the man a break. Doc, bloggers, me -- everyone, no one know what he went through.
And, if the vets perform, the 5 of them plus Duggar, the Giants will hang tough with the pitching but it still comes down to them.
As for giving Farhan a break, no thanks...I'll give him praise for good things (like I have for filling in and completing the pitching staff) but criticize him when i think he deserves it (the OF). And, to me, it doesn't matter what he went through, the only thing that matters is results...and the OF results were leaving the Giants with an OF composed of a promising rookie (Duggar) with NO decent backup for tough lefties, a 4th OF (Parra), a not ready for MLB INF disguised as an OF (Joe) and another not ready for MLB OF (Reed). Just because the latter two can take walks in the minors? But..I hope to eat a steaming plate of crow parmigiana when these guys prove me wrong!!
DeleteBut, you are correct, so much indeed comes down to if Posey, Craw, Panik, Belt, LOngo can hot somewhere near like they did in their better days....I truly hope this is only an adjustment period for Posey and his hip..
SteveVA
Pure speculation on my part, but I think Zaidi was patiently waiting out the market for Pollock but then was sniped by his old pal Friedman, who probably knew Pollock was in Zaidi's radar. This is why Zaidi went hard after Harper. Gotta give Zaidi credit though, he doesn't seem to get rattled by these things, it's just the nature of the business so he hasn't made panic moves. Maybe the Pillar trade is a little bit reactionary (Reed, you get 8 at bats to prove yourself) but oh well.
DeleteSpeculation or maybe wishful imaginings. There was never any indication that Zaidi had even a shred of interest in Pollock.
DeleteHappy for Panda and glad that he made the ST roster cut. He is valuable and versatile player - can fill in for Longo or Belt and his bat carries some wallop. (And maybe we have Bart because of that last game HR of his?)
ReplyDeleteAs for Joe and Reed - yes I am rooting for them to fail so that we find another answer for the corners. I would rather see Shaw in LF for instance.
As for Joe, I pose the question: longest 0 for streak to start a MLB career? He sits at 0 for 10.
I never root for any Giants player to fail.
DeleteNot overly excited about Pillar, but still better than Reed and Joe. And, as a bonus, they DFA Reed to make room on the 40 man. Good luck in Toronto, Hanson And Law.
ReplyDeleteI go to SF Gate and see a news flash: Big Trade
ReplyDeletehttps://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/Blue-Jays-trade-veteran-OF-Pillar-to-Giants-13735218.php
San Francisco has added defensive dynamo Kevin Pillar to its outfield from Toronto. In return, the Giants sent right-handers Derek Law and Juan De Paula and infielder Alen Hanson to the Jays.
ReplyDeletePillar has good splits against LHP (.279/.312/.433) and can play CF to give Duggar some latitude but he doesn't have much HR pop (15 HRs in 709 PA, 667 AB against LHP).
ReplyDeleteCost is not huge but not cheap for 2 years control of Pillar: Hanson was in DFA limbo, de Paula is Rule 5, and Law had lost his place.
This move was CHEAP!!
DeleteNone of those guys move the needle one iota in terms of making the Giants interesting or competitive over the next 3 years.
Law: Never recovered from the Tommy John and a way outside chance he ever will. I wish he could have had an injury free career, loved that kid. He had it all, FB, CV, he could have been great, plus he wore his cap funky.
Agree it was a small price for Pillar
DeleteIt was a great win. Now, we pick up Pillar. With Pillar, Duggar and Parra, the Giants have a very interesting outfield. Maybe not outstanding offensively, but they are going to chase down a lot of the balls hit in the air, and throw out plenty of guys trying to take an extra base. Not perfect, but the Giants are better today than they were yesterday.
ReplyDeleteI agree, nice pickup. Pillar has a nice highlight reel of great catches. Centerfield was a weakness last year, but they got better defensively for sure having Duggar and Pillar patrolling centerfield.
Delete5 games into the season, 2-3 record, 1 game out, Bumgarner against LA tonight.
ReplyDeleteAnd the big news is the Giants acquired Kevin Pillar for 2 years?
Pillar's past his peak but still a nice 4th OFer to give the Giants 3 nice 4th OFers -- does anyone KNOW where Mac is in his DFA saga?
Pillar can backstop Duggar and Para against LHP but the big news will be toonder in LF.
Should we give Farhan a week? Two? 20 games to fix his mess?
Patience!
Sarcasm? How about a couple of years?!
DeleteMy God people, it's like you've forgotten the Giants were the 2nd worst team in baseball last year with only marginal injuries and only Bumgarner expected to return to old form.
I know. It’s like the fan base has come to expect the Giants to throw money at low-to-middling solutions every year.
DeleteThe Giants have spent like drunken sailors 16-18 to try make-up for for very poor player development and very little mining of alternative solutions (International Market). Not that the team could do much internationally because of the 2-year death penalty for signing Lucious Fox. Who the dumped a year later.
Farnham walked into a mess of bailing wire and duct tape. There was no solution that put the Giants in playoff territory with a massive luxury tax violation.
That’s the way it is. It’s payback time for years of trying to keep the dream alive.
OF is a problem. Pillar helps. But during the best of times the Giants are going to have difficulty attracting FA bats.
There are gonna be some tough seasons ahead, but I agree. Let’s judge Farhan in a couple of years. Not after one off-season inheriting this mess.
Nobody is expecting Farhan and the Giants to throw money at anybody and this team was/is not the hopeless mess you and others make it out to be. This team needed A RF who could hit a little and cover Triples Alley. They have that now in Parra and Pillar. They also needed a LF who could mash. They still don't have that. They needed a low-cost veteran SP which they got in Pomeranz. The bullpen was and is OK.
DeleteAs for the International Market, which regime signed Marco Luciano? You also realize that any current international signings won't make an impact for the Giants for at least 4-5 years, right?
One more point: While I have seen plenty of criticism of Farhan's offseason, I have yet to see anyone calling for him to be fired. He seems to have made some needed changes in scouting and player development. It is perfectly fair to judge Farhan on this offseason. He mostly blew it. If he continues to blow it, folks will start calling for his head in due time. Until then, we'll all root for him to do better and hope the changes in scouting and development start to pay off.
Agree with all of that...I also think the Giants have some pretty good talent in the lower minors (mostly below Richmond--but which isnt talent barren) and Farhan will reap the benefits of the previous regime in that respect
DeleteSteveVA
Hey..way to go Farhan..I don't mind the PILALR move at all..De Paula could be something..but he's a long way away...and no problem seeing Law or Hansen being dealt..
ReplyDeletePILLAR can definitely give Duggar a breather and I hope play a little LF..If so, the Giants will have a good defensive OF to with a good defensive IF...Just forget about HRs and try to win with pitching and D..The only choice..even if it is not in vogue..
But..SOME pop will have to be found....!!
SteveVA
With Pillar you could bring Mac or Shaw back in LF, hope they hit a home run, get a lead after 5 innings and bring in Pillar LF to help the bullpen shut down the rest of the game. Could it be talked about as the best defensive OF in baseball? I don't think SF will miss any of the players traded away. Good trade -- is there another idea for that LF power still brewing with Zaidi?
ReplyDeleteif only Mac can be brought back - they say could be long shot - if not I hope Shaw gets off to hot start in Richmond to earn a promotion
DeleteI am pretty sure Mac's ship has sailed right on out of SF Bay.....unless the A's pick him up.
Delete