If you want to beat Julio Urias LHP it's generally a good idea to get to him early then hope your pitching holds up. The Giants played that game plan perfectly to complete a sweep of the Dodgers in Oracle Park.
Austin Slater CF led off the Giants half of the first inning with a solo HR to CF. Mike Yastrzemski RF followed an out later with an oppo-field blast to stake Carlos Rodon LHP to an early 2-0 lead. That was the end of the scoring for the day. Rodon and three relievers made it stand up.
Rodon looked more relaxed and in command of his pitches than in recent starts: 6 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 8 K's. ERA= 3.18.
The Dodgers got three leadoff doubles and left them all stranded.
Austin Slater made at least three catches average CF's probably would not have made. He also went a long way to back up YtY on a missed diving catch of a sinking liner that not only prevented a run from scoring but kept the hit to a single.
Jake McGee LHP closed it out with a perfect inning. His FB looks a tick or two faster with much better command since he came off the IL. The first two batters he faced, Bellinger and Muncy both hit lefty which probably explains why Jake got the Save Opp.
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With the sweep, the Giants closed the gap between themselves and the first-place Dodgers from 6.5 to 3.5 games. Alex Wood LHP tries to keep the winning ways going tomorrow evening against Brady Singer RHP as the Giants open a three game series against the Royals in Oracle Park.
Which is worse:
ReplyDelete#2 pick in 2018 draft needs to figure out how to make contact at the plate or
#1 pick getting TJ surgery?
A good catcher always has some future although not what you'd hope for your high 1st round pick.
TJ surgery isn't always a death sentence but Casey Mize had problems in 2019 and this was predicted by Pedro Martinez in 2020 (https://fansided.com/2022/06/11/pedro-martinez-predicted-tommy-john-surgery-casey-mize/).
Quite an accomplishment in sweeping the Dodgers. Had the sweep gone the other way against Buehler, Kershaw, and Urias, SF would have been 9.5 games behind not the 3.5 they find themselves with a pair of winnable series against the Royals and the Pirates before 4 games in Atlanta against the red hot Braves, winners of 11 in a row and facing a pair of weaklings also before the Giants come to town.