Marco Luciano got his first big league knock, as Kruk would say, and scored his first MLB run all in front of his parents but in a losing cause as once again the Giants offense struggled. Key Lines:
Joc Pederson DH- 1 for 3, HR(11), BB. BA= .245. And once again, a Giants solo HR is too little, too late. Pederson hit his in the 8'th inning to close the gap to 3-2 but that's how the game ended.
Logan Webb RHP- 7.1 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 0 BB, 4 K's, GO/AO= 14/2. ERA= 3.49. Here's where you might question Kap's pitching management. With the Giants trailing 2-1, Webb gave up a single to lead off the 8'th inning. After a sac bunt Kapler took him out after 88 pitches for Taylor Rogers to face Jarren Duran. The Sox countered with Rob Refsnyder who singled on a GB through the hole to drive in what ultimately proved to be the winning run. After the game, Webb said he still had some gas left in his tank.
The Dodgers lost so the Giants remain 3 games behind them in the NL West but drop into a tie for the last wild card playoff slot with the Marlins, 0.5 games behind the Phillies and Reds.
Ryan Walker RHP will be the Opener in a late afternoon game facing oft-injured James Paxton LHP who is pretty good when he's not on the IL.
For God's sake Farhan pull the trigger, already.
ReplyDeleteRichard in Winnipeg
Best play last night: tag on attempted steal!
ReplyDeleteTauchman goes over the wall in the bottom of the 9th with 2 out to take victory away from St Louis preserving the Cubs 7th consecutive win (9 of last 10) to inch closer to a Playoff berth.
ReplyDeleteWill Chicago switch from Seller to Buyer by Tuesday?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUUxVLEcFTU
BTW check out Ian Happ’s reaction after getting hit by Mikolas intentionally. It was in retaliation for a backswing that hit Contreras so weird to begin with but he took it like a pro and just walked to first without a peep. That was an old school baseball play and he handled it just like n old school ballplayer. Umps overreacted and threw Mikolas out which might not have happened if Happ had put on a show but nice to see the game played the right way every once in a while.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it's an overreaction to throw out a pitcher for intentionally hitting a batter. It's basically assault with a deadly weapon. I'm even in favor of umps throwing out pitchers who are wildly out of control like the guy who almost hit Austin Slater in the face the other night.
DeleteThe days of Bob Gibson owning the inside part of the plate are long gone
DeleteBaseball has changed a lot, but nothing like the $$ value of players and the importance to the game to keep them playing.
There's big difference between owning the inside part of the plate and intentionally trying to hit a batter. There's also a big difference between what Gibby was doing and that kid the other night who was just raring back and heaving it as hard as he could with no idea where it was going.
DeleteFYI: Bob Gibson had 0.24 HBP/9 in his career. Juan Marichal had 0.10. In his minor league career, Angel Felipe, the kid who Austin Slater criticized Wednesday night, had 0.98. Takeaways: 1. You don't have to "own" the inside of the plate to be a HOF pitcher(Marichal). 2. What Bob Gibson did is not comparable to Angel Felipe and is not the same as intentionally throwing at a batter in retaliation for a previous incident.
Delete...and BTW, Sandy Koufax' HBP/9 was just 0.07.
Delete...So yeah, Gibson's rate was a lot higher than Marichal's and Koufax's which may have been a function of him pitching inside more, but if and when he was obviously intentionally trying to hit batters he should have been ejected from the games.
Delete....and Miles Mikolas has hit 7 batters in 127 IP which is .50. Yeah, that's twice Bob Gibson's career rate. Mikolas deserved to be ejected from the game and suspended.
DeleteAs a long time Cardinal fan from back in the 50's (I actually remember my parents, also St Louis natives, listening to a WS game against the Red Sox - in 1946!), he did throw at batters at times, but he wasn't a "headhunter" -- he routinely did threw inside and hard which affected opponents who crowded the plate, and he did brush many a batter back. He was fiercely competitive and actually hit a guy on purpose:
DeleteGibson plunked Pete LaCock in an Old Timers' Game because had the gall to hit a grand slam off Gibson in the last inning of Gibson's career in the major leagues. After he hit LaCock, Gibson shouted, “I've been waiting years to do that.”
He was considered by many to be the most intimidating pitcher in history (see https://baseballhall.org/hall-of-famers/gibson-bob).
Nothing wrong with throwing inside and hard. There is something very wrong with hitting batters on purpose. If he did that, he should have been ejected and suspended, just like Mikolas.
DeleteNot happy with Kap pulling Logan Webb out of the game. Webb had thrown 88 pitches and as you noted, "Still had gas in the tank." Taylor Rogers then gives up the eventual winning run on his first pitch. An ace should be treated like an ace.
ReplyDeleteScherzer to Rangers for shortstop prospect bringing a big basket of bucks along
ReplyDelete