Two young Giants pitchers got lit up in the early innings while Forever Giant Tyler Anderson played rope-a-dope with the Giants lineup. Heliot Ramos' 3-run homer in the 8'th inning capped a 5-run rally to make this blowout game look a lot closer than it was. Key Lines:
Mike Yastrzemski PH/RF- 1 for 1, 2B. BA= .220. YtY came in as a PH in the 8'th for Austin Slater who started against the LHP and went 0 for 4. With runners on first and second. YtY hit one off the bricks in Triples Alley that probably would have been a HR in many ballparks to drive in the lead runner and put runners at 2'nd and 3'rd with Heliot Ramos coming to the plate.
Heliot Ramos CF- 2 for 3, HR(7), 2 BB. BA= .314. Ramos drew two walks earlier in the game then powered a breaking ball with just a bit too much hang time over the CF wall to narrow the score to 8-6 and get the crowd all excited. Alas, that was the end of the Giants scoring.
Tyler Anderson LHP(Angels)- 5.1 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 5 BB, 5 K's. ERA= 2.58. Anderson's strategy resembled the old bend-but-don't-break football defense or Muhammed Ali's Rope-A-Dope. He seemed to go to 3 ball counts on every batter and allowed 10 baserunners but resisted the temptation to come in over the plate. That tenacity paid off in a ton of LOB's. He had an 8-run lead by the time the Giants scored their first run in the 4'th inning.
With the Loss, the Giants fell out of 3'rd place in the Wild Card race to a 1-game deficit. They trail the first place Dodgers by 8.5 runs in the NL West.
Keaton Winn RHP gets the start tomorrow against Patrick Sandoval LHP.
Churn Watch:
Nick Ahmed SS was activated off the IL and went 2 for 4 in the game. Casey Schmitt IF was optioned to AAA Sacramento. Marco Luciano SS was also optioned off the IL.
Baseball is too strange to explain:
ReplyDeleteSlater is in there to hit the lefty and gets an oh-fer while leaving runners in scoring position,
Ahmed is there for defense but gets 2 hits unfortunately at the wrong times,
RBI guys (Bailey, Chapman, Flores, Soler, and Conforto) all leave enough runners to have won the game going away,
Howard who has looked splendid lived up to his reputation,
Rodriguez who also has looked good combined with Howard to pitch batting practice.
Another lefty today?
Let's hope Winn brings his A game which has disappeared in his last 4 starts with an ERA over 17, but if you compare 2024 records, Winn v Snell (comparison available on B-R), Winn looks better. Go figure.
Common thought is Soler needs to get on track for the Giants to separate themselves from the middling pack.
ReplyDeleteWell, that goes for Flores, too.
There is little to choose between the two: Soler has more power and Flores is a better fielder, but BOTH are Giant brakes on the team! With OPS's in the .600's, they are not providing the punch that is needed.
The absence of Wade is MAX as Flores (and the nearly useless LHB Brooks) do not compare/compensate: OPS+ is double: 167 for Wade to 84 for Flores.
The Giants may stumble into the playoffs but it will take a miracle to advance without contributions from Soler and Flores.
Unless something spectacular happens on or before July 31st.
BUT, with the way things are going, 25 of 30 teams have a shot at a division win OR a wild card, leaving ONLY 5 teams who might trade a star.
Why did Melvin burn up 4 extra pitchers on Friday when he was down 8-1?
ReplyDeleteWhy did he leave Winn in for 6 innings with the 2-run lead when he hadn't pitched more than 5 since April 28th, and he had been bashed in his last 4 starts?
Why can't Soler, Flores, Estrada, Yastrzemski, Slater, and Casali move a runner up or drive in a run?
Why does the youngest guy playing get all the RBI's?
That was a pathetic performance...