The Giants blew a 3-run lead in the 9'th inning but came back in the 10'th inning for the Win. Games Notes:
This game had pretty much everything that is great about baseball in it: Escapes from bases-loaded jams, go ahead 3-run HR's, game-tying 3-run HR's, game-saving catches, blown saves and an extra-inning win.
Everybody in the ballpark including the Dodgers TV announcers thought Albert Pujols PH/1B hit a walk-off HR B2B with Austin Barnes PH game-tying jack, but Mike Tauchman LF got up from lying on his back with the ball in his glove and replays showed him reaching above and beyond the wall to pull it back out of the air. That turned out to be not just a great catch but a momentum shifter which had clearly been on the Dodger's side a few seconds earlier.
LaMonte Wade Jr got the start at 1B and batted leadoff. He had himself an night reaching base 4 times with 2 walks, HBP and game-winning RBI single in the 10'th inning.
Buster Posey's 3-run HR in the 8'th was his 150'th of his career and 10'th of the season. Per sfgiants.com, 7 of his 10 HR's have come after a day off. Kap is keeping him to a hard schedule of every third game off which seems to be working as intended.
Steven Duggar CF hit a game-tying solo HR of his own in the 5'th inning. Duggar might be the hottest hitter on the team with a .471 BA over his last 7 games and .345 over his last 15.
SP Anthony DeSclafani RHP pitched out of the stretch and threw 90 pitches in 4.2 IP but mananged to keep the game close. The Bullpen shut it down until Tyler Rogers RHP gave up the 3-run lead in the 9'th inning.
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The Win put the Giants in a second place tie with the Dodgers, 1.5 games behind the division leading Padres. They are also tied with the Dodgers for the second best record in the NL. The Giants and Dodgers lead the Wild Card race by 2.5 games over the Cubs.
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Logan Webb RHP comes off the IL to try for a series lead today facing Julio Urias LHP. Wilmer Flores IF is also slated to come off the IL and will likely start at 1B.
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Down on the Farm:
AAA:
Bryce Johnson CF- 2 for 5, SB(8). BA= .364.
Justin Bour DH- 2 for 4, 2 HR(4). BA= .237.
High A:
Franklin Labour RF- 2 for 3, HR(3). BA= .220.
Chris Wright LHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 0.00.
Low A:
Marco Luciano SS- 2 for 4, 2B. BA= .273.
Carson Ragsdale RHP- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 12 K's.
Juan Sanchez LHP- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 4 K's.
This was Marco Luciano's third multi-hit game in a row.
Crazy game. Plenty to talk about. But, I am just popping in to say thanks for your blog and thanks for making it easy to keep track of the goings on “Down on the farm.” WhentheGiantscometotown and a good cup of coffee is a great way to start the day.
ReplyDeleteThank you. Much appreciated!
DeleteIt's really hard to qualify for a batting title just playing 2 of 3 games, although individual achievements may not be important to Posey.
ReplyDeleteIt also may be why Kapler is batting him so high in the line-up, to get more PAs.
Playing 2/3's of the games would need about 4.5 PAs per game to qualify.
If Kapler put him in at 1B on every third 3 game cycle that would make it more likely. This could readily happen when there is a day off in the schedule.
The real question as far as this goes, does it matter to anyone? As a border line potential HOFer, it could tip that in his favor.
By WAR he was borderline but with all the intangibles and accolades I think the writers would have eventually voted him in knowing that without the hip injury he was on the trajectory of a first ballot inductee. This season confirms this line of thinking (writers love being "right" in their reasoning) and so I believe he's essentially in. In fact, I think he'll be a first ballot inductee as the best two-way catcher of his generation.
DeleteHe should be top 10 in career fWAR for catchers by the end of this season. Add in ROY, MVP and 3 rings I don't see how they keep him out.
DeleteBuster is just currently light on the counting stats. Two solid years should erase any doubt. I'm hoping he can play just solidly. If he can keep this level of play up...wow!
DeleteAnd a batting title
DeleteTim Kawakami May 31, 2021 The Athletic:
Delete"...Both Posey and 38-year-old Yadier Molina are statistically borderline HOF candidates right now. They currently rank 14th (Posey) and 21st (Molina) among all-time catchers in career bWAR. They both could use a little more productive career length to push them over the top. But they’ve been central parts of multiple World Series champions and they’re having strong late-career moments on winning teams right now."