The Giants almost managed to ruin a sparkling start by Anthony Molina but hung tough and Drew Gilbert's 2-run homer in the 10'th inning was just enough to hold on for the game win and series win. Key Lines:
Jonah Cox CF/2B- 3 for 4, BB, 2 SB(13), R, RBI. BA= .294. Jonah Cox is showing what a classic leadoff hitter can do for a lineup. When was the last time the Giants had one?
Drew Gilbert PH/CF- 1 for 1, HR(10), R, 2 RBI. BA= .233. Bryce Eldridge was the designated runner to start the 10'th inning. Tony Vitello made a double move puting Grant McCray in to pinch-run for Eldridge and Drew Gilbert to pinch-hit for Brett Harris 3B against a RHP. Both moves were the right call but Eldridge could have walked home ahead of Gilbert's bomb to CF. Gilbert gets to double-digit HR's and seems to be fearless in clutch situations.
Andrew Knizner C- 3 for 4, R, RBI. BA= .212. Knizner is batting .238/.333/.429 over his last 7 games.
Anthony Molina RHP- 5.2 IP, 2 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.18. Nice bounceback from a disaster start. Tony Vitello made an aggressive move to bring in Philip Abner LHP to fact Alec Burleson with 2 outs in the 6'th and no runners on base. Molina was at 82 pitches. Maybe Vitello figured this was Molina's last inning anyway and why risk losing the 1-0 lead on one swing when you can bring in the lefty for a more favorable matchup. It ended up working out.
Carson Seymour RHP- 0.2 IP, 0 H, 2 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. ERA= 5.06. Walking two batters was far from ideal but Seymour was victimized by horrible defense including his own muff of a short toss covering first base. Then Christian Koss yanked a throw that looked like Bryce Eldridge whiffed on the standard TV angle but from a LF camera you could see the throw was at least 3 feet beyond Eldridge's stretch. Trent Harris RHP came on to get the final out of the inning and then pitched a scoreless 8'th.
Dylan Smith RHP- 0.2 IP, 2 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 1 K. ERA= 3.50. This was Smith's 5'th blown save and he looks gassed.
Joel Kuhnel RHP- 1 IP, 0 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 0 K's, Save(8). ERA= 4.54. Torture! Kuhnel had to protect a 2-run lead so could concentrate on getting the batters out rather than worrying about the designated runners. He walked two batters to add to the drama but got out of it on 3 fly ball outs. Not ideal but the plane flight to LA will be happy.
The Giants get a travel day tomorrow then face the Dodgers for a weekend series with Cesar Perdomo LHP pitching Friday evening against TBD. Maybe with the off day the Giants flew home and will then fly to LA tomorrow evening or Friday AM?
To top off the two error inning, the second run scored on a wild pitch.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the first run was scored in an interesting way. First and third, cox on third. A double play ball to first base. But he stepped on the bag. Allowing Cox to score from third while they had to tag Eldridge. And that was the difference in the game.