Wow! Talk about waking up the echoes! If that game didn't bring back memories of the Glory Days and not send chills up your spine, well, I really don't know what would. It's the Band of Misfits all over again. They hung tough and ground out a 3-run rally in the 8'th inning for a thrilling come-from-behind win. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski LF- 2 for 4. BA= .265. Yesterday, YtY hit a walk-off HR. Tonight he collected 2 base knocks and drove in a run. Batting .393 with 3 HR's over his last 7 games.
Pablo Sandoval 3B- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .263. Pabs started the winning rally with a leadoff double.
Brandon Crawford SS- 2 for 4. BA= .238. Crawford singled up the middle to drive in Pabs in the 8'th. Per Kuip, Crawford is 10 for his last 16 with RISP.
Austin Slater RF- 1 for 3, 2B, BB. BA= .255. Slater has been scuffling since coming down with some illness in Colorado, but he absolutely smoked one up the CF alley(not Triples Alley because that was covered) with 2 outs in the 8'th to drive in the tying run. A huge clutch hit!
Joe Panik 2B- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .239. I've been hammering Panik pretty good this year, but tonight he collected 3 hits out of the 8-hole including the game winning RBI double to drive in Austin Slater to cap off the scoring in the 8'th inning.
Shaun Anderson RHP- 5 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 2 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 5/1. ERA= 4.91. Not a pretty line, but the Cubs have some scary hitters in their lineup and Shaun kept his cool through a couple of dingers and didn't let the game get away from him.
Drew Pomeranz LHP- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 5.93. Pomeranz was good in his last start which makes his bullpen assignment a bit curious, but he gave 2 electric innings tonight to give his bullpen mates a breather.
Sam Dyson RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Save(2). ERA= 2.57. Will Smith was unavailable due to recent workload. Dyson, who has done some work himself, caused some anxiety by putting a couple of runners on, with 2 outs, but got out of it on a pop up by Kyle Schwarber for the Save.
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The Win put the Giants one game over .500 for the first time this season and upped their July record to 15-3. It left the 2.0 games behind the Cardinals for the final Wild Card playoff berth and 2.5 games begind the Nationals for the first Wild Card berth.
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Madison Bumgarner puts not only his own pride, but the pride of the team and the organization on the line tomorrow evening in a matchup against a resurgent Yu Darvish who is coming off B2B dominant starts. That is one you don't want to miss!
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OK, I realize a lot can happen over the next 7-8 days, but if there is anyone out there who is still convinced the Giants should not be buyers after what we witnessed tonight, I challenge you to explain how this is different than 2010, 2012 or 2014 when the Giants were also pretty big underdogs. Not that they have to give up the farm for an All-Stat rental, but the Giants made judicious adds in all 3 of the championship years which helped get them all those trophies Well, I guess Hunter Pence was an All-Star, and they gave up what seemed like a lot for him, but I think you get what I'm saying.
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Oh, and one more thing: For all of you who gave up on Bruce Bochy and thought he was all washed up and the game had passed him by(yeah I might have wavered a bit there myself), are we not seeing an absolute genius manager at work here? Has any manager ever managed a pitching staff better? It was Bochy's virtuoso orchestration of the pitching that won those 3 championships and he might be even more brilliant this year. How has he managed to nurse this staff through 4 games in 3 days in Coors Field followed by a 16-inning game and another extra-inning game? You can take your Openers and stick 'em. I'll take Bochy's pitching management any day, any season. Add in keeping this team together during the darkest of days through the first 2 months of the season and get it to this point....that is Hall of Fame stuff were watching here!
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Amen Doc! You said it All!!
ReplyDeleteRichard in Winnipeg
Bosh keeping his boys loose. I heard Bosh on the Marty Lurie show the other day and he was hilarious.
ReplyDeleteDoc - if they are buyers what are they buying? A power bat for 2B?
Not to detract from our HOF manager, but when you have the 'pen that the Giants have and the worst guy you can bring in is Mark Melancon, it's difficult to mess it up.
ReplyDeleteOnly a stable of studs will have these results:
9-2 in extra innings
23-10 in one run games
Is it like July 15, 2016, when the Giants were 57-33 .633 and the dream collapsed?
With this reliever corps, it doesn't take a lot of offense and Zaidi has already shown he can add pieces -- 9 of the 25-man roster are his signees. (Ten if you count Sandoval.)
Arguably, he should keep this team with the River Cat shuffle and add around the edges off waivers (that isn't a forbidden waiver trade after July 31, is it?)
What you just brought up is ignored by most of The Doubters - those who say the team is playing over their head - I just realized that this team has the best relief corps probably in MLB for innings 6 - 9. When a team can own the late innings they will win alot of close games. So the Detractors say look, they have no real superstar (no Yellich, no Cody B. etc) and supporting cast in the line-up. That is true - and if they did they might win 100 games with this pen - but owning 4/5 really solid arms in the bullpen is like having the equivalent of a Cody B or Yellich. Maybe someone with analytics skills can confirm or deny this - but that is my thesis.
DeleteA team with this kind of positive energy + loose manager who has won three rings + knows how to manage a bullpen + shut down pen + guys like Dickerson and YAZ who know how to elevate a juiced ball and clear a wall - this is a team that will win alot of close games as they have proven.
Query - when will Pomerantz close? I am thinking of Eckersly here - The Pom. with his velo and swing and miss stuff is Closer Material! Trade Smith and install Dyson and Pom as the closers.
It's one thing to have the pen, it's another thing to get the most out of them and at the same time keep their value high for potential trades...The last 9 games is a shining example..Bochy has done a masterful job getting the most out of Dyson, using Smith and Watson in the best way posssible....guiding Moronta, Melancon and Gott thru each of their rough patches..and getting good relief contributions from starters that wanted nothing to do with relieving...And maybe part of all this is these guys doing it for Bochy..but it still comes back to him......And speaking of the bullpen, except for Gott (a good pick up), Farhan has had nothing to do with the unit that has saved this teams bacon
DeleteAll that being said, Farhan has indeed added very valuable pieces that have invigorated and often lead the offense, and basically for nothing! He has also brought up kids from the old regime at the right time and not afraid to give them a shot..All in all, a really good job..
Bottom line, we only have them for one year, but Farhan and Bochy have made a darn good team this year..
But, the important stuff starts now!!!
SteveVA
Same question as others: if the Giants are buyers, what are we realistically buying without giving up one of our Top 4 Prospects (Bart, Ramos, Luciano & Bishop)? I'd throw in Pomares as a guy I wouldn't want to see traded either...
ReplyDeleteDo you see a Pat Burrell-esque signing for 2B? Just not seeing much. My hunch is that being "buyers" really just means they'll mostly stand pat and maybe add 1 or 2 bench players... Maybe they could move Melancon & a prospect for another inflated, overpriced, over the hill hitter that might be able to harness some thunder for a couple months?
The difference between 2010, 2012, 2014 (and even 2016) and now? Well just look at the July 22nd records of those teams:
ReplyDelete2010 53-43
2012 53-42
2014 57-44
2016 57-39
2019 51-50
And that's after playing out of their minds for the past few weeks. There was good reason to buy in '10, '12, '14 & '16. Less so now.
It's fun. This is really fun. I think we're all caught up in this. The Giants haven't been fun for a long time. It's good that the Giants have another week to decide. I still think its a bad idea, but if they're still crazy hot at the end of the month then, yeah, don't sell.
I agree with Mojo. The "core" players were younger then too and there was more hope for the future, thus incentive to buy. It's been increasingly obvious that players on the wrong side of 30-32 don't perform very well. Baggs had an interesting take. He thinks that with so many pitchers throwing so much harder than they used to, older hitters are having a harder time keeping up as Father Time breathes down their necks. Thus why not many hitters get good contracts in their early to mid thirties. I say "sell" and keep providing for a brighter future.
ReplyDeleteAL