Gabe Kapler continued to pull the right strings as Caleb Baragar's Opener assignment seemed to take pressure off Logan Webb. They combined to hold the Rockies to 2 runs into the 7'th inning while the offense did the rest. Key Lines:
Alex Dickerson LF- 3 for 5, 2 2B. BA= .307. Leadoff Hitter, Austin Slater went 0 for 5 after getting on base 5 times in game 2 of the series, but Dickerson picked him up out of the 2-hole with 3 hits in game 3. Dickerson's all-out assault on Rockies' pitching continues with a .483 BA against them. He is 7 for 10 with 3 doubles and 2 HR's in this series so far.
Brandon Belt 1B- 3 for 3, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .313. It was Belt's turn to get on base 5 times. He is OBP'ing .429 with an OPS of 1.018 after this game.
Evan Longoria 3B- 1 for 2, HR(7), 2 BB. BA= .263. Longo got the Giants their first run in the 4'th inning with a solo bomb over the CF wall while his family cheered him on from a Zoom cam in their home which showed on the TV broadcast. Even the family mutt was celebrating with a lot of licked faces.
Mauricio Dubon CF- 1 for 3, HR(3), BB. BA= .286. One of the more exciting developments of this season, no matter how it turns out in the standings, is watching Dubon grow and become more confident as a player. He looks like a huge breakout candidate for next season.
Joey Bart C- 1 for 4, 3B. BA= .244. Speaking of growing.....Bart has 3 doubles in his last 2 games and appears to be controlling his AB's a lot better since a day off to clear his head.
Steven Duggar RF- 1 for 3, BB, SB(1). BA= .129. Duggar gets the callup as Luis Basabe hits the IL.
Caleb Baragar LHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.35. Kapler hasn't used an Opener for awhile but called on Baragar in this game, apparently to take some SP pressure off Logan Webb and allowing him to face the second half of the Rockies order in his first inning of work. That strategy seemed to backfire when the lefty hitting Charlie Blackmon doubled off Baragar to lead off the second inning forcing Webb into the game with a runner already on 2B. Webb calmly got out of it with 3 GB outs while working around a fielding error by Brandon Crawford.
Logan Webb RHP- 5.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 1 K, GO/AO= 13/0. ERA= 5.50. Webb had the Rockies killing worms at Oracle Park and took the game into the 7'th inning earning the W. Q: Do "Bulk Innings" pitchers have a better chance for W's following an Opener or as SP's?
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The Win got the Giants back above .500 at 27-28 and into a tie with the Reds and BrewCrew for the 6'th best record in the NL, but the Marlins are in 2'nd place in the NL East at .500 so if the season ended now, the Giants would still be left out due to tiebreaker rules.
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Kevin Gausman RHP tries to maintain traction today facing Chi Chi Gonzalez RHP in an afternoon game.
mlb.com has Giants at 7th seed, ahead of the Reds even though they have the same winning % and Reds have tiebreaker advantage. I think this might be because 1st round playoffs tries to avoid intra-division? Not sure but matchups for the Giants seem favorable going forward with Gausman pitching today and with San Diego already having clinched with Clevinger out they'll adjust rotation for the playoffs and not for the 4-game series. Also Brewers and Cardinals playing 5 games. Likely one gets knocked out by the other. Marlins have another tough game against Braves and then 3 with Yankees. Phillies @ Rays and Reds @ Twins. Go Giants and the start of another even year BS!
ReplyDeleteGiants winning percentage is .5090909 and the Reds is .5087719...both round to .509 but the Giants is higher...
DeleteGiants win second "most important" game of the season in a row. No matter how it turns out, I am really enjoying these last games and the team is rising to the occasion. Good stuff-keep it going Kevin Gausman.Keep Dickerson in the lineup-he is red hot!
ReplyDelete