Game Wrap 8/2/2020: Rangers 9 Giants 5

The Giants offense steamed forward on a another comeback voyage only to crash on the rocks of bad pitching.  Key Lines:

Hunter Pence LF- 1 for 3, 3B, BB.  BA= .038.  Pence's first hit of the season was a good one, a triple all the way to the corner of Triples Alley.  Hopefully this is the kickstart to his season which as been a bust so far.

Donovan Solano 2B- 2 for 2, 2 BB.  BA= .484.  Donnie Barrels continues to live up to his name.  Too early to start the .400 BA watch?

Chadwick Tromp C- 1 for 4, HR(1).  BA= .250.  The Joey Bart era just got pushed back a little further.  Tromp's calling card is power.  His 2-run blast in the 6'th got the Giants to a 5-5 tie. Alas, it did not last long.

Jeff Samardzija RHP- 5.2 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 9.31.  I read somewhere that Shark's FB was up to 92 by the end of his appearance.  The highest I saw was 89 MPH.  After the game it came out that he has a blister issue that prevents him from throwing a splitter, which is his main out-pitch.  Maybe he should consider an IL stint to let it completely heal?

Andrew Triggs RHP- 0.1 IP, 0 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 0 K.   ERA= 81.00.  I don't remember Triggs recording an out, but I guess he did.  Otherwise he walked the bases loaded and all 3 runners eventually scored.  Triggs got called up when Drew Smyly hit the DL.  Never been too impressed with Triggs.

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The Loss evened the Giants record at 5-5.  That left them tied with the BrewCrew for 7'th place in the NL, with the top 8 teams making the playoffs.

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The Giants now hit the road for a 4-gamer at Coors Field with the ubiquitous TBD facing Chi Chi Gonzalez RHP.

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Roster News:  As mentioned, Andrew Triggs RHP was called up from remote camp to replace Drew Smyly on the 30 man roster.  Triggs had to be added to the 40 man roster first so Jandel Gustave RHP was designated for assignment to make room.  Dany Jimenez RHP cleared waivers so was returned to the Blue Jays per Rule 5 rules.  When was the last time a Rule 5 guy stuck for the Giants?

Drew Smyly was diagnosed with an index finger strain, whatever that is.  There was mention of a "pulley injury" which would seem to indicate a strain of one of the long tendons in the finger.

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The Giants traded Billy Hamilton OF to the Mets for Jordan Humphreys RHP.  To get anything at all for Billy Hamilton, who was signed to a minor league deal and never added to the 40 man roster, is a big win for FZ.  Humphreys is 24 years old.  Drafted in 2015.  He is 6'2", 223 lbs.  His last full minor league season was 2017 when he went 10-1 with a 1.79 ERA and 83 K's against just 12 BB in 80.2 IP.  I assume he missed a season due to TJ surgery.  He returned to pitch just 2 innings for the Rookie GCL last year. He then had 11.2 IP, 8 K's and 4 BB's in the Arizona Fall League.  He is being assigned to remote camp.  Nice pickup with some upside.