Blake Snell again failed to get out of the 5'th inning and left with another apparent injury but it was a 9'th inning meltdown by Closer Camilo Doval that allowed the Yankees to complete a weekend series sweep. Key Lines:
Heliot Ramos LF- 2 for 5, HR(3). BA= .286. Is Ramos currently the Giants best position player? He is playing with confidence and seems to be getting better with experience batting .320 over his last 7 games.
Jorge Soler DH- 3 for 4, 2B. BA= .215. Soler has has scattered good games but has never found traction. Maybe this is the start?
Casey Schmitt SS- 2 for 4, HR(2). BA= .233. 2 HR in 2 games in the current call up. Maybe like Heliot Ramos before him, the third call up is a charm?
Blake Snell LHP- 4.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 9.51. Snell looked pretty good through 4.1 IP the wheels came off, probably from fatigue. There was some bad BABIP luck on a GB single and a bunt single but he then walked Giancarlo Stanton. He got to a 1-1 count against Alex Verdugo but grabbed his left groin during the follow through on the last pitch. It looks like he's headed back to the IL and more and more like a lost season. I guess the silver lining is he'll be back next season with a full spring training and in incentive to bounceback.
Erik Miller LHP- 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 4.00. The line looks good but Miller really had just one job and that was the get the final out of the 5'th inning to bail out Snell agains the LH hitting Alex Verdugo. Verdugo was looking for a fastball on his first pitch and Miller blew it past him. Instead of trusting his power stuff and going back to the same pitch Verdugo couldn't handle, Miller hung an inside curveball that dipped right into a lefty batter's wheelhouse and Verdugo golfed it into the RF corner for a 2-run double thing the game at 3. IDK who called that pitch but it was probably the worse possible pitch to throw in that situation.
I don't think there is any point in reviewing Doval's meltdown. Even the best Closers have them but Doval has been playing with fire all season and needs to find another gear if he is to become an elite Closer.
The Loss dropped the Giants 8.5 games behind the Dodgers and 0.5 games behind in the race for the third Wild Card playoff spot.
The Giants head out on the road for a series against the D'Backs with TBD facing Ryne Nelson RHP.
After the game, mlbtraderumors noted: “Only five National League teams have winning records, so the 29-31 Giants still hold the third wild card slot despite all their struggles.”
ReplyDeleteAs of this AM the MLB standings show the Giants 0.5 games behind in the Wild Card race but still very much in contention.
DeleteSeems like no one in the NL WC "race" is running very fast: only one (AZ) has won 2-in-a-row (after losing 6 of 7)!
DeleteGiants have L4 but still in the hunt, could be a lot worse than ½ game out. Series with D'back looms...
I think games that the Giants can't hold the lead in the 9th inning bother me the most. It turned the home stand from an acceptable 3-3 to a 2-4 record. The Yankees are a hot team with great players but it shouldn't be that easy for them to score 4:runs against your primary closer! I don't know what to make of this team. Late innings have been odd but interesting the past 2 weeks they've come from behind to win 4 games and lost 3;games leading in the 9th inning, which is too many. I agree with you on Miller, bad relief pitching, I can see why they're thinking about Reggie Crawford as a future option. Maybe things will settle down once the injured players start coming back. I thought I heard FZ say last week on knbr that if Ramos keeps playing well, he's not going to be sent down. I just hope Doval doesn't keep blowing 9th inning leads otherwise that will become a major problem.
ReplyDeleteRoupp probably comes up as the bulk guy for a possible bullpen game for Snell's next turn before Keaton Winn returns. Now the pressure is on Robbie Ray to get on a rehab assignment sooner than later.
ReplyDeleteRoupp is on the IL so strike that idea. Chances are now Villar can sneak through waivers to create a roster spot for Seymour or Romero. I also think they should kick tires on Zack Grienke as a possible stopgap in the rotation until Robbie Ray is ready to return. I just hope Spencer Howard isn't another Teng/Black situation and can stick.
DeleteDo you think 6 days off might not have helped Doval? He last pitched Monday, May 27.
ReplyDeleteYes, Soler woke up on June 1st: in 2 games he was 4-6, 2 doubles, 0 K's.
ReplyDeleteIF he continues at a productive rate albeit much reduced from 4-6, he will help:
With 102 games to go, there is plenty of time.
It's far to early to despair.
Will they bounce back from this past week which was very predictably bad?
The schedule until the Dodgers come to town June 28th, 22 games til then, is favorable.