The top of the Giants lineup led a sustained offensive attack to back a strong pitching performance by Madison Bumgarner. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski RF- 2 for 4, HR(18), BB. BA= .267. YtY should have had a triple added into this line as he hit a sharp grounder under the glove of The Hos to lead off the Giants half of the first inning and ended up at 3B. Hos was charged with an error and probably would have fielded it 9 times out of 10, but it was a hard hit. The error made him 0 for his last 19, but he emphatically broke out if his slump with an opposite field HR, single and BB before the night was over.
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 5, 2B, HR(16). BA= .234. Speaking of breaking out of slumps, Belt aggressively turned on an 0-1 pitch after YtY's "triple" and hit a towering shot that landed at the back of the arcade about 10 feet inside the RF foul pole. He later added a double and single. He drove in 3 runs and he and YtY combined to score 6 of the Giants 8 runs. Belt is 5 for 12 over his last 3 games with homers in his last 2. He is hitting .360(9 for 25) over his last 7 games.
Evan Longoria 3B- 2 for 5, 2B. BA= .265. The top 3 hitters in the lineup went a combined 7 for 14 with 2 2B, 2 HR, BB. I understand folks frustration with Belt, Crawford and Posey. Longo is no spring chicken, but he appears to be in good shape physically, has hit well and played solid D all season. You may rightfully not like the length of his contract, but he's held up his end of the bargain this season. First impressions die hard and I'm afraid Longo has not overcome a bad first impression set last season with Giants fans.
Buster Posey C- 3 for 4, BB. BA= .251. Buster reached base 4 times but did not get credit for any scoring plays. His single off the RF wall in the 7'th kept a rally going that led to another run in a SF by Kevin Pillar. Speaking of Kevin Pillar, there was a scary moment in the first inning when he took a Dinelson Lamet pitch off the left side of his jaw that left him shaken up and spitting. I did not see any blood or teeth come out contrary to Kuip's commentary. Pillar stayed in the game and seemed to be OK.
Madison Bumgarner LHP- 7 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 2 BB, 9 K's. ERA= 3.62. Bummy immediately buried concerns about his velocity with a humming 92 MPH FB which he used to strike out the side in the first inning with 6 K's in the first 3 innings. The W tied him with Matt Cain for most at Oracle Park with 60.
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The Giants remain 7 games off the pace for a Wild Card playoff spot. It's probably not realistic to think they will overcome that.
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Logan Webb takes the mound tonight for his third MLB start facing LHP Joey Lucchesi.
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To hypothesize the Giants making the playoffs, the following records would create a 6-way tie for the 2nd WC for some sort of play-in for the WC:
ReplyDeleteGiants 18-12 .643
Cubs 13-15 .464
Phillies 17-12 .586
AZ 17-10 .630
Brewers & Mets 18-10 .643
It's not unimaginable for Philly, AZ, Mil and NY to do that -- even all of them falling short.
Chicago could have a losing record in their final 28 games.
But the Giants would nearly have to duplicate the unimaginable July they had when everything was clicking.
Could it happen?
ESPN's odds are 0.1%
As Doc writes: "It's probably not realistic to think they will overcome that."
!
Brewers and Mets are probably out of the playoff picture too at 5 GB. Brewers were in the WC hunt all season until recently and the Mets won like 8 in a row and I thought they might grab WC2. So the G's are in VG company.
DeleteSF only has 28 games -- they need to go 18-10 in the above scenario, but the .643 is correct.
DeleteI think Bummy has a good chance to stay very good for several more years because of how easy his delivery is and how big and strong he is. He looks like he's almost casually slinging a frisbee his delivery is so easy and natural. And combine that with his strong, big country frame; not to mention his focused and determined mental make up and I think he has a good chance to be good for longer than I thought. I have no idea what his contract is and I'm too lazy to take 2 seconds to look it up, but I'd consider resigning him. Then again, it's gonna be for a ton of money and I always hate giving older players big contracts. Tough decision.
ReplyDeleteI agree about the easy delivery. I watched his 2014 game 7 performance today and it is identical. He was throwing 90 - 93 then also!!
DeleteIt looks as though Bum could pitch for 7 or 8 more years. I want him back.