Jordan Hicks pitched 6 shutout innings but it was the 5-spot he gave up in the first inning that the Giants lineup was not able to overcome. Key Lines:
Matt Chapman 3B- 2 for 4, HR(3) R, 3 RBI. BA= .239. Heliot Ramos hit a 2-out single in the first inning and scored on Chapman's single. Then in the 6'th inning Ramos reached on an error and scored ahead of Chapman's home run which narrowed the score to 5-3.
Tyler Fitzgerald 2B- 1 for 4, HR(2), R, RBI. BA= .309. Fitz continues his hot hitting with a solo HR in the 9'th to close the gap to 6-4 but it was too little, too late.
Jordan Hicks RHP- 7 IP, 6 H, 5 R, 4 BB, 5 K's, 9/2 GO/AO. ERA= 6.04. There was some bad BABIP luck involved in the the disaster first inning as there were 3 groundball singles including an infield single and the triple to drive in the final run was landed right in Luis Matos' glove in CF and popped out. Not the easiest catch but on most days, if the ball lands in the middle of the fielder's glove it's going to be caught. I can't say for sure if Jung Hoo Lee, who had the day off, would have had it. I think Matos is a tad taller so it might have been hit above Lee's reach. It's remarkable to me that Hicks settled down and went 7 full innings without giving up another run. He only gave up one more hit the rest of the way.
The Loss drops the Giants overall record to 13-6. They are 4-3 on the 10 game road trip so far against two good teams and in very challenging weather conditions so the team should feel good about that.
The Giants fly to Anaheim for the final 3-game series of the trip starting tomorrow night with Logan Webb RHP facing former Giant(they're everywhere!) Tyler Anderson LHP.
Matos dropped a couple just like thar last year; can’t seem to gauge balls over his head in CF. Makes me cringe when he has to go straight back. Not a CFer.
ReplyDeleteI think Matos could not see the ball - the slo-mo replay clearly showed him closing the glove after the ball hit and bounced out.
DeleteBullpen is robust / not-exhausted although we're still not at middle of this 2.5 week run. Walker didn't pitch in Phil. Good feeling about team with the way SPs, in weird weather on road v good teams, have gotten stressed & rocked early, in large part because things other than ineffective stuff (walks, GB singles, catch-able triple), and consistently did their best pitching a couple innings in and piled up high pitch counts / respectable innings counts, and kept bullpen demands lean, and sometimes Giants came back to win. At this point I think Hicks SP conversion is succeeding.
ReplyDeleteI think Hicks tenacity yesterday may have been a positive turning point for him. He showed some mental toughness out there and picked up his bullpen.
DeleteFlemming noted on the TV broadcast Hicks was suspected of tipping his pitches early in spring training. He got it worked out, but Lopez pointed out Phillies hitters in the first inning of this game seemed to be heavily leaning into his pitches as if they had an idea what was coming. That might explain the turnaround by Hicks in the next inning.
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