Rafael Devers' grand slam home run in the 5'th inning broke the game open and the Giants hung on for the win. Key Lines:
WillyAdames SS- 1 for 4, 2B, BB, 2 R. BA= .233. I am not a big fan of Adames leading off but he got the job done today against a talented but inexperienced lefty.
Luis Arraez 2B- 0 for 2, 2 HBP, Sac. BA= .320. Arraez got hit twice. Recall the Giants hit 3 White Sox batters in one inning on Friday. Was this payback or just a wild rookie pitcher? Seems a bit suspicious that the first one hit him in the butt and the second in the right kidney area of his back, but why Arraez? Schultz was taken out of the game right after the second plunk.
Casey Schmitt 1B- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(11), BB, 3 R, 3 RBI. BA= .296. Schmitt is having himself a breakout season, at least so far. He showed plus bat-to-ball skill in the minors but swung at everything. It's been fun to see him improve his pitch recognition and put that hit tool to work. He didn't have to become a walk machine. Just lay off the easy takes which he mostly does now.
Rafael Devers DH- 2 for 4, 2B, HR(7), R, 5 RBI. BA= .245. The double was hit harder and went farther but bounced off the brick wall in Triples Alley. The White Sox CF played it well holding Devers to a double. Jon Miller said it would have been a HR in every other ballpark.
Matt Chapman 3B- 2 for 4. BA= .240. Chapman is batting .400 over his last 7 games. So now the Giants finally have the "big three" all hitting well at the same time. Time to put together a winning streak!
Robbie Ray LHP- 4 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 7 BB, 3 K's, 6/1 GO/AO. ERA= 4.60. Ray huffed and puffed his way through 4 tough innings of his own making. He threw 92 pitches in 4 innings. Giants have only had one SP go 6 innings out of the last 5 starts.
Keaton Winn RHP- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 4/1 GO/AO. ERA= 1.93. When Winn came on in the 5'th inning I texted my family and said, "Is it just me or does Tony Vitello choose his relief pitchers using a random number generator?" Winn did give him 2 scoreless frames but that is a different role than he has had lately.
Caleb Kilian RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's, Save(3). ERA= 2.42. Kilian is now tied with Ryan Walker for the team lead in Saves. The Giants have had only 10 Saves all season and only 16 Save Ops. Kilian appears to have the stuff for it. Hopefully appearances like this will help him settle into the role.
Those nasty D'Backs are coming in for a 3-game series starting tomorrow afternoon with Landen Roupp RHP facing long time Giants nemesis Merrill Kelly RHP.
This is baseball ... is a winning streak really so out of the question, at least enough of one to get them back into the playoff picture? This next series seems like a perfect set up for the Giants to make a move in their division.
ReplyDelete10 game win streaks are very rare. That's what it will take to get to one game over .500. They have to play over .600 win percentage the rest of the way to even have an outside shot at a playoff spot. The lineup has come around for now but I think it's very likely each of the "big 3" has another slump in them somewhere long the way. So, count me as pessimist, at least for this season.
DeleteThe best part about Schmitt today was not the homerun. It was that he battled back to force a 8 pitch walk right before Devers grand slam. Showed a lot of maturity. Loaded the bases and set up the first pitch get over that Devers pounced upon. Great stuff.
ReplyDeleteAt bats like that one have me convinced Schmitts breakout is the real deal.
DeleteFun game to watch. Devers grand slam was nice opposite field shot.. Loved how Schmidt stood at home plate admiring his long Home run. Didnt understand why the front office was looking to trade for a 2nd baseman in the off-season when they have Casey Schmidt. Seemed like front office didn't have faith in him? Lol seems like the bullpen has no roles assigned but Winn did a nice job in his outing, allowing both inherited runners to score , but kept the game tied until Devers grand slam. Ray's command was way off. They need both Ray and Webb to come back and pitch well again.
ReplyDeleteEven though the giants bulllen is doing good overall, I believe they have an atrocious bulllen. No high leverage guys and very few if any relievers who will be on the mlb roster in two years. I’m not sure that Bochy or Kapler ever had this sketchy of a bullpen.
ReplyDeleteIt's about finding roles. Bullpen by committee or interchangeable parts has never worked. You must have a Closer and secondary Closer. My main criticism of the Vitello/Posey approach is putting too much faith in Ryan Walker as the presumptive Closer and then sticking with him too long and their odd faith in Ryan Borucki.
DeleteAgreed Doc, hopefully Kilian can be the closer. I don't put too much of the blame on TonyV going him with Walker. What choice did he have? Just thinking it's a big adjustment going from managing a bullpen in college vs MLB mainly due to playing 50 games in college season vs 162 MLB.
DeleteMaybe they think Borucki is better than the alternatives: the pen isn't exactly loaded, he's close to what's left after you take 6 or 7 RP's, and no closer.
Delete5 hits and 2 walks plus a critical error today against 11 hits and 4 walks: you are going to lose those games most of the time.
The hitting is improving, the SP are imploding, the RP are stretched, and there is no Closer.
Will it improve?
AZ is the 6th team in the playoffs at this moment, 7½ games ahead of SF, and likely to win the next 2.
Yes, it "could" all come together, but there has to be a LOT of imploding above them AND winning 60% of their renaming games...
That was true for awhile but I don't think it's reasonable to say there were/are no better options than Borucki for a few weeks now.
DeleteThey don't need 4 lefties in the bullpen. I think when Foley is ready, Borecki goes to AAA
DeleteA productive but unorthodox L/U: the OFers batted 7, 8, & 9 and in that order, left-center-right..
ReplyDeleteThe 5 who played the OF got 4 hits, 0 runs, & 0 RBIs.
Hey, it worked!
Was hoping for a big Ray season so he would fetch value from a contender. That looks unlikely at the moment.
ReplyDeleteTwo good offensive games in a row from the entire lineup, bullpen maybe finding an equilibrium...(and with Foley on the way!)..Now they have to fix Ray (unless hurt) and get the SP the team will need when this offensive flare up goes away. That said, way to go SCHMIDTY! And Devers looking like the Devers of old nd the Devers we will likely see the next 3-4 years--the best Giants hitter.
ReplyDeleteSteveVA
It's SCHMITT
DeleteSCHMITTY, Steve, from SCHMITT
DeleteRay may need an IL stint, velo is down on top of the walks
ReplyDelete