The Giants gained back a game on the Dodgers with a wild see-saw battle agains the Braves extending into extra-innings.
Logan Webb RHP gave up a 2-spot in the first inning but pitched like an ace the rest of the way through 7 innings: 7 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 9 K's, GO/AO= 9/1. Right now he's the Giants #1 SP, their stopper. He might have the best 3-pitch stuff in MLB right now.
Brandon Belt 1B hit his 26'th HR and 5'th in 7 games to pick up Webb in the bottom of the first. With 14 games to go, Belt has a real shot at hitting 30 bombs on the season.
With the emphasis on WAR to judge player value, Brandon Crawford SS probably won't win the NL MVP. Bryce Harper OF(Phillies) probably has the strongest case(sorry all you Harper Haters). But Crawford deserves to be in the discussion and get votes. He doubled and homered(21) last night and added 2 sparkling defensive plays. On one that I saw on TV, he laid out to stop a 110 MPH scorcher on the OF grass, got up and threw a bullet to nail the runner and it wasn't even that close. That earned him a tip of the cap from the batter/runner, Austin Riley 3B. The arm. The arm is special!
Another guy who deserves some award votes is LaMonte Wade Jr OF/1B. What a season he is having! Jonathan India 3B(Reds) has the top rookie WAR but Wade Jr may have had as much or more impact for the team with the best record in MLB(up to this point). His 18'th HR last night cleared the RF arcade and splashed down WAY out on McCovey Cove. With all due respect to YtY, Wade Jr is turning into the Giants version of Max Muncy UT(Dodgers). It's starting to look like Wade Jr has beaten out Alex Dickerson OF for a roster spot.
FZ made a hard choice to send out Thairo Estrada UT to bring back Donovan Solano IF from the COVID IL. Solano rewarded that decision with a game-tying HR in the bottom of the 9'th with the Giants down to their last strike. Unbelieveable!
It seems pretty clear that Tyler Rogers RHP is more comfortable and better in the 8'th inning than the 9'th. He gave up his 6'th Blown Save last night on Travis d'Arnaud's 3-run blast and even the outs were hard hit. With Jake McGee LHP on the IL with an oblique strain, Gabe Kapler is going to have to dig deep to come up with a 9'th inning plan. Tony Watson LHP has closing experience but a rather checkered history in the role. Dom Leone RHP is a consideration too.
Starting an extra inning with a runner at 2B is not a role Kap might be ready to trust Camilo Doval RHP with but he didn't have much choice in the 11'th inning last night. Doval kept his cool. He gave up a couple of rockets but they were right at fielders to hold the line for Kevin Gausman RHP to deliver the walk-off Sac Fly. In the process, Doval threw one pitch registering 100 MPH that impressed the Braves announcing team with how easy he threw it.
Kap used up all his position players by the 11'th inning so had to turn to Kevin Gausman to pinch-hit with 1 out and the bases loaded. Not only did Gausman deliver the Sac Fly, he put together a very impressive AB spitting on a couple of close high-90's FB's that could have been called strikes. He finally got a pitch he could handle and hit it far enough in the air to get Crawford home with the walk-off run. I was seriously worried about Gausman getting hurt in the immediate post-game celebration!
The Giants now have a 2 game lead on the Dodgers. The Giants have 96 wins with 14 games to go. What's your over-under for the number of wins to take the NL West? I'm thinking it might take 106 to get it done. Giants can get there with a 10-4 while the Dodgers would have to go 12-2. I'm also thinking a 1 game playoff to determine the NL West Champ is getting more and more likely(is that how it works or do they use tie-breakers?).
Last night was pretty wild. This team is certainly capable of 10-4 if the bats are live, but losing McGee is a big concern as everyone was pitching well in their roles and now things are a bit discombobulated, gotta adjust quick and maybe last night will help, as Rogers truly got picked up by the team.
ReplyDeleteFYI re Bellinger's rib injury:
https://www.msn.com/en-us/sports/mlb/dodgers-cody-bellinger-suffers-non-displaced-rib-fracture-as-former-mvp-s-nightmare-season-continues/ar-AAOAfUy
Giants will host the championship game (since they won the regular season series) in case of a tie.
ReplyDeleteI'll just add: Say what you will about the extra inning rule and I completely understand the concern about it undermining the integrity of the game, but it does make for incredible drama in extra innings where the stakes are raised for every pitch. Two of the most intense games I recall seeing in my life happened this season the intensity was largely due to the runner at 2B extra-inning rule.
ReplyDeleteThe thing I don't care for in extra innings is, for the home team, if it's tied in the bottom of the inning, all they have to do is bunt the runner over and then a fly ball or grounder deep wins it. It reminds me of how overtime used to be in the NFL.
ReplyDeleteExcept I don't really remember it happening that way too often. Bunting the runner over is easier said than done as is getting the Sac Fly.
DeleteBTW, from several minor league games I've seen it seems like standard procedure if potential walk-off runner reaches 3B to walk the next two batters to create a force at every base as well as DP opportunities. I have not seen that strategy at the MLB level which is interesting.