The Giants went to extra innings for the 3'rd time this homestand. Pablo Sandoval, who had a frustrating 0 for 5 up to that point, hit a walk-off, opposite field HR(does that sound familiar) to make it all worth it. Key Lines:
Brandon Belt 1B- 1 for 4, 2 BB. BA= .243. Leadoff guy gets on base 3 of 6 PA's. Doesn't figure in the scoring.
Pablo Sandoval 3B- 1 for 6, HR(12). BA= .261. See Intro. He'll get a rest with Jon Lester going today.
Alex Dickerson LF- 2 for 5, 2B, HR(6). BA= .351. This year's Pat the Bat. Dick, Dick Dick! Dickerson has been a transformative acquisition so far.
Kevin Pillar CF- 2 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .247. The stats say he is not very good, but he's been the other transformative acquisition. He helped the team win a few games during the Dark Days and has been a solid contributor over the last 30 games hitting .282.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.66. Bummy left with the lead, but the bullpen gave it up sending it way into extra innings.
Bullpen- 6 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 8 K's. This bullpen is so good, you are surprised when they give up a lead, but that's still a darn good combined pitching line! After being unavailable yesterday, Will Smith goes 2 innings as does Mark Melancon. Bochy took a look at the matchup for Game 3 and decided to go all in for this one. Still, with a day off Thursday and another on Monday, it's likely everyone will be available today, but Boch will hope he doesn't have to use Melancon or Smith.
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The Win put the Giants two games above .500. They remain 2 games behind the surging Cardinals in the race for the 2'nd Wild Card spot and just 2.5 games behind the Nationals for the first WC spot.
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Tyler Beede goes against Jon Lester, who always seems to dominate the Giants, in the finale of the series and the homestand. Hoping for a sweeeeep!
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To those who point to overall W-L to compare negatively to the teams from the Glory Days, I say you also have to look at what other teams are doing and deficit in the standings. At this point in 2010 or even later, the Giants were still so far behind the Padres in a race where it was win the division or go home, Aubrey Huff was filmed giving a couple of teammates a pep talk by saying if they made up 1 game per week the rest of the way, they would win the division. That's pretty much what happened. I don't recall the standings in 2012, but I do recall that things looked so bleak on the day Hunter Pence was acquired the TV broadcast spend more time filming the curb outside the stadium where he was expected to disembark than the game and Lou Seal was standing out there to greet him! 2014 is a blur in my mind. About all I remember is Madison Bumgarner putting the entire team on his shoulders and carrying to the finish. So yeah, I still say those of you who still insist this team has to sell were probably saying the same thing in 2010, 2012 and 2014.
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So what should the Giants be buying if, IF, they buy? Well, they still need a RH power bat for either LF or 2B. They could also use a #2/3 SP who they can count on to rack up QS's and get deep into games to preserve the bullpen. I have no idea where the Giants are going to find those, but I wouldn't put it past Zaidi to go bold. The CW is he is desperate to hang onto his prospects and build the farm system, but don't forget he traded for Manny Machado just last year. I think he just might be arrogant enough to think he can trade a couple of top prospects and still build up the farm system, especially if what he's getting back has an extra year or two of control. I'll put a couple of names out there: Mike Minor, Noah Syndergaard. Package Mike Minor and Hunter Pence? What about Whit Merrifield?
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On the morning of July 24th, 2010, the Giants were 3 games back of the Pads in the West and were in possession (single) NL Wild Card spot. That single birth into the Wild Card was a lot more valuable back then as you got right into a 5 game series rather than a single game sudden death. I don't think anyone was thinking sell 9 years ago.
ReplyDeleteThe Giants did fall further behind in '10, falling 6.5 games back in the West by August 24th. That's probably around the time of Aubrey's speech. However, they were still tied with Philly for the Wild Card spot. I don't think, at any time, sell was a consideration.
July 31st, 2012, The Arrival of Hunter, the Giants were leading the West by 1 game over the Bums. And Melky hadn't quite yet gotten busted. I'm not sure things were dire. But, yeah, the Giants had wanted Hunter since 2011. (I honestly think they wanted him more than Beltran in '11.) It WAS a huge moment. I remember waiting for him arrive the whole game. And when he finally walked in through the left field gates after the game, cameras in his face, I looked at him and thought, "Yeah, that's the guy." He felt like the final piece, the outfield (temporarily) being Melky, Pagan & Pence with the Blanco at the height of his super-sub powers.
I can also say this about the Wild Card in 2014, which supports at least not selling: That year, the 2nd spot in the Wild Card only needed a record of 83-79 to secure it. Giants won 88 that year. There is a lot of parity in the NL right now. Maybe, maybe, maybe 85 wins gets the 2nd Wild Card. That asks the Giants to 33-27 from here on in, .550. If the Giants need 88 wins, then its 36-24, .600, a little more daunting.
I really do think all those World Series teams, even though none were powerhouses, were considerably better than the current team the Giants are fielding. Especially the starting pitching. Doesn't mean crazy things won't happen this year. This really IS fun right now. (Bum said this is best stretch he's ever been a part of. Wow)
Dickerson arrival reminds me of the McGriff trade to Atlanta in 1993 - Braves went on epic run and ended up catching Giants.
ReplyDeleteIn the doldrums last night with Panik unable to get a hit or even put a bunt down (do not understand how a MLB player can not bunt) I said to myself - this team is not complete until they address the lack of plate production from 2B.I guess the FO does not have sufficient confidence in Slater to place him there. Of course they could give Solano the job but Panik's light bat does not exactly play out for pinch hitting duties.
Unless the Giants faceplant in San Diego, they will keep Bumgarner short of getting an offer they can't refuse. They will QO him and he might just take it, figuring he can do even better with a good 2020 at $20-million and no QO.
ReplyDeleteAs for trading a bullpen piece, the Giants would NOT be where they are without those guys -- all of them -- even with a power hitting 2B or LF.
According to the Mercury-News: "In his final season as the Giants’ manager, Bochy believes his club has done more than enough over the last two months to convince the front office it can find a way to make the playoffs."
They won't continue this 17-3 run since June 30, but they could do 4 of 7: with 60 left, that's 34 more wins or 86 total, .531 overall. At this moment, that is 5th best in the NL, and could squeak in if they don't help anyone in the NL out.
Remember that Cueto will be back with the team by early September, that's gonna be huge, healthy Cueto fresh and ready to go... OMG!
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