The Giants were one out away from winning a very well-played game when another old nemesis, Ketel Marte, hit a walk-off, 3-run home run in another bullpen failure. Key Lines:
Rafael Devers 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(6), R, RBI. BA= .246. Devers bat is officially alive. He hit the first of back-to-back HR's in the Giants 3-run 2'nd inning. He also made several outstanding defensive plays at 1B and looked like he was having fun out there.
Willy Adames 1 for 3, HR(5), BB, R, RBI. BA= .240. Adames shook off the hand injury from Monday's game to hit the back side of B2B home runs. He also made some sparkling defensive plays. I did see him shaking his right hand during an AB though.
Daniel Susac C- 2 for 3, 2B, BB, RBI. BA= .412. Susac continues to hit while using all fields. His catcher's interference call put the go-ahead run on base ahead of Marte's walk-off HR, but he also threw out a base-stealer on a strike out/throw out double play in the 2'nd inning.
Landen Roupp RHP- 6 IP, 7 H, 1 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, 9/1 GO/AO. ERA= 3.27. Nice bounce back start for Roupp after a couple of subpar outings. He was helped by strong defense and 3 double plays, one on the aforementioned strikeout/throw out and another with Keaton Winn, who inherited two runners from Roupp in the 7'th.
Keaton Winn RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.21. Winn did a great job of getting over to cover 1B on an outstanding GIDP including a classic first baseman's stretch. The play started with the bases loaded and it looked like Arraez was going to be lucky to get a force out, but Adames unloaded a strong throw and Winn's stretch completed the inning ending out on the back end.
Caleb Killian RHP- 1.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. ERA= 2.53. Not sure where to start on this one. After getting the last out of the 8'th inning, Kilian came back out for the 9'th to try for a 4-out Save. Ildemaro Vargas dug out a knuckle curve at the shoe tops for a lead off single. On the broadcast, Krukow said Kilian should have bounced the pitch. Kilian got two outs but Vargas advanced to 2B on catcher indifference, a play I hate in that situation. Ryan Waldeschmidt then reached on a catcher's interference on what should have been strike two.
Tony Vitello then decided to bring in Matt Gage LHP to face the switch-hitting Marte, except that Marte is historically a better hitter from the right side. Marte also dug out a low pitch that maybe was intended to be a back-foot slider that caught too much air? It also seems curious to me that Gage's first two pitches were changeup-slider.
So many questions here: Was it bad luck, poor execution or poor decision making? Were the pitches called by Susac or from the dugout? What was the thought process in bringing in a lefty to face an extremely dangerous hitter who is historically better from the right side?
The Giants season from hell marches on. It's now up to Tyler Mahle RHP to salvage one win out of the series and a split of the 10-game road trip facing another long time Giants nemesis, Merrill Kelly RHP in an afternoon game.
I think it's time to try Hentges in the closer spot. How bad will paid attendance dip over the Summer at this rate? I'm quickly seeing that this vibes thing is just not working out for Vitello right now.
ReplyDeleteI had the misfortune of only catching the last half of the 9th inning on the radio. Once Ketel Marte got up the outcome became predictable. I would have given Marte an intentional walk.
ReplyDeleteHoping Devers gets hot enough to trade...
ReplyDeleteHow did Eldridge do last night?....It was a crazy game, but Giants still have a manger in over his head, an ill-defined and chaotic bullpen and easily the worst offensive OF in MLB (even with Ramos and Lee healthy!)...Nothing new here although Schmidy as a regular OF would help.....On the bright side, good stuff from Susac (maybe JROD should go back down to AAA with Eldridge (if he's not gonna play)?) and two of the core vets showing power....
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
Ooof…so the 2027 draft class is projected to be even stronger than the 2026 class, especially for college pitchers. But who knows- baseball karma might work against the Giants next year
ReplyDeleteI'm a little unclear on the draft rules now; so do we not get a 2027 first round pick now?
DeleteWhat I am hearing and reading is because the Giants moved up so far in the lottery for this year, the highest they draft in 2027 is #10 overall. Still not a bad spot to draft in.
DeleteOh, that's right...I'm so used to thinking of the Giants having middle-of-the-pack, 14-16 pick. It's been a staple for while now. I didn't even consider the no-higher than #10 was going to hurt us in '27...but, look at us go.
DeleteCurious why they didn't walk Marte(?)
ReplyDeleteDisappointed that bullpen meltdown cost Roup a win. He's developing into a permanent member in the rotation. Nice to see Winn pitching well. Like to see McDonald in the rotation. Bullpen-I think Jason Foley will end up being closer once rehab done. Killan and Gage are good pitchers but not closers. I've wondered if a manager like a Bruce Bochy could do better with this bullpen. Hard to say. Bochy is the master at bullpen usage, but still remember how bad the bullpen was in 2016. That team needed a closer too. I'm hoping the team finishes strong and Tony V is given a chance. Dont think some of this is his fault.
ReplyDeleteOn KNBR this morning, someone noted that Tony V voiced his bullpen philosophy in spring training that any reliever should be able to pitch any inning. Apparently, he believes too much is made of closer vs. setup roles. It was funny, because the commentator pointed out that when Dave Righetti was asked about the differences between closing and coming out of the bullpen earlier in a game, he indicated that some relievers clenched up too much in the 9th inning and that's why the closer role wasn't a good fit for everyone.
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