A familiar mix of not starting pitching, not enough hitting, defensive mistakes and failure of the bullpen to stop the bleeding, in other words a failure in all phases of the game, led to another disheartening loss of the game and the series to the Mariners. Key Lines:
Bryce Eldridge DH- 1 for 3, HR(10), BB, SB(1), R, RBI. BA= .275. Eldridge homered to CF off a 98 MPH FB from Logan Gilbert in the first inning. He became the first 21 yo Giants player since Jack Clark to hit at least 10 HR's and is on track to beat Clark's record of 13 HR in 1977. Orlando Cepeda hit 27 as a 21 yo in 1959.
Casey Schmitt 3B- 1 for 4, SB(9), R. BA= .278. Schmitt singled, stole a base and scored in the first inning but then committed 2 fielding errors leading to 2 unearned runs and adding to Robbie Ray's pitch count.
Robbie Ray LHP- 4 IP, 7 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 3.33. Ray did not have his best command but he also had to battle the above described defensive breakdowns which added to his pitch count. He allowed singles to the first two batters in the 5'th inning and one scored when Sam Hentges LHP got a GIDP which tied the game.
Adrian Houser RHP- 3 IP, 4 H, 3 R, 1 BB, 1 K, 2 HR. ERA= 5.10. Houser entered a tie game and failed to hold the line. Of course, the lineup also failed to add any runs.
The Giants move on to Kansas City with Trevor McDonald RHP facing the ageless Michael Wacha RHP who comes in with an ERA of 3.77.
It seemed to me the Giants have scored exactly 3 runs in a lot of game this season so I decided to tally it up. Here is the distribution:
Jack Clark is a classic case of “what might have been”- huge talent with questionable attitude. Orlando Cepeda - part of one of the worst trades ever. I think he had a bad knee but he was able to deal with it and put up a great career- imagine what he could have done with today’s medical procedures. I still think Eldridge’s accomplishments are underrated based on his age. He’s been rushed thru the system and proven to be up to every challenge . I’ve seen some comparisons to Brandon Belt, Joey Gallo and Adam Dunne- I think he has far more potential than those three. Another mentioned Jim Thome - I like that one more.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Belt was ever able to fully get to his power. I think Eldridge will.
DeleteImagine a fully healthy Mickey Mantle…
DeleteOr for you (somewhat) younger folks, Eric Davis without all the injuries…
DeleteI had to look it up, but there is an antonym of the word “synergy.” It is “dysergy.” Not a bad word to describe this team. It appears to require disassembly.
ReplyDeleteAlthough 4th in hits, they are dead last in drawing walks knocking their OBP to 25th (it's 25th but only .006 ahead of last)!
ReplyDeleteI wonder what the Giants record would be if they had a closer like Anthony Munoz.
ReplyDeleteIt would be better but not all that great. The Giants are nowhere near the top(bottom?) of the league in Blown Saves. They are at or near the bottom in Save Opportunities. Now, if they gave their Closers more Save Ops they might have a whole lot more Blown Saves but you have to get there first and they are not doing that.
DeleteGood observation about hitting. I'm not sure if there's a way to control the stats for home ballpark factors, but I have long felt that playing at Oracle favors pitchers (i.e. pitchers want to sign with Giants), but discourages hitters. Why not pad your stats at Great American or Coors or Wrigley rather than Oracle? But the noticeable trend this year is much fewer bases on balls, perhaps due to an organizational shift in philosophy?
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