As usual, Cain did extremely well only to have the team keep from producing. Ron Ray let five runs pass in the fourth inning, and Misch gave up three in the sixth. Why were they kept in for those innings, and the bullpen warming only after the damage was complete? I think Bochy may have made a number of decisions already. Also, Burriss made two errors in that sixth inning, and it was hugely surprising.
The only reason I kept listening (enough to hear that Aurilia was involved in a 3-run sixth to counter the Rockies, and Rohlinger hit his second ninth-inning HR in as many games) was because of Jon Miller. So, before I forget to encourage you, please don't forget to buy your tickets for the 8/7 bobblehead giveaway for Jon! :)
One piece of information worth considering: We haven't had a day off yet. In other words, I'm a little exhausted for them, so they must be as well.
FINAL
COL - 9
S.F. - 7
The Boys Who Showed Up: Cain, Posey, Bocock, Aurilia, Torres, Rohlinger
Showing posts with label Aurilia. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Aurilia. Show all posts
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
The Fruit of Youth
When Pat Misch has to rescue your SP, you get disappointed. Zito did well at first, but nullified a stunning teamwork-built 3-1 lead with a WP and then a 2-R HR to Ethier. Thank goodness Richie got a taste for his swing and gave us the lead back. And then Sandoval chipped in with one of his own. The addition of yet two more runs still couldn't keep the bullpen from allowing trouble once again, walks loading the bases after the Dodgers closed it to 7-5. Sadler removed, we barely escaped the inning 7-6.
The comforting bliss after that storm came through Roberts; a vet who is deliberately taking the fifth OF slot in the depth chart produced two more RBI. But once again teamwork was key: the bases had to be loaded in order to score two with a single. Bowker scored from Posey's second hit of the day: 10-6. The Dodgers kept threatening, per the usual, but in the end what matters not in spring is the score...
While the pitching situation is still very much unclear, even with Howry and Affeldt, what is obviously positive is how well the offense is gel-ing. We had nine hits by the fourth inning, and the only people without a hit were vets. We have not been this young and interdependent in a while, and it's refreshing. Burriss, Lewis, Sandoval (3-3, HR; spring average of .471 now), Velez and Kawa (2-2, 2B) are all doing well together, and it's definitely because of the time spent with the team last year. I won't make predictions, but I am not expecting last place again. Hallelujah.
FINAL
L.A. - 8
S.F. - 10
The Boys Who Showed Up: Sandoval, Aurilia, Roberts, Posey
The comforting bliss after that storm came through Roberts; a vet who is deliberately taking the fifth OF slot in the depth chart produced two more RBI. But once again teamwork was key: the bases had to be loaded in order to score two with a single. Bowker scored from Posey's second hit of the day: 10-6. The Dodgers kept threatening, per the usual, but in the end what matters not in spring is the score...
While the pitching situation is still very much unclear, even with Howry and Affeldt, what is obviously positive is how well the offense is gel-ing. We had nine hits by the fourth inning, and the only people without a hit were vets. We have not been this young and interdependent in a while, and it's refreshing. Burriss, Lewis, Sandoval (3-3, HR; spring average of .471 now), Velez and Kawa (2-2, 2B) are all doing well together, and it's definitely because of the time spent with the team last year. I won't make predictions, but I am not expecting last place again. Hallelujah.
FINAL
L.A. - 8
S.F. - 10
The Boys Who Showed Up: Sandoval, Aurilia, Roberts, Posey
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
The Latest Rumor
Per the usual, Aurilia is being discussed by the Mets this time.
The reason I'm not very excited about this, other than just liking Richie but realizing the desire to free up more time for Bowker, is three-fold:
1) This kind of thing was talked about before; I spent probably 3-4 posts discussing trade rumors that didn't materialize, but spent no posts on Durham's trade until it was done.
2) Richie's departure would mean that the IF would consistently have Castillo at 3B; though, next year I am seriously hoping that we at least get Frandsen to expand his already-vast IF repetoire to replace OMS.
3) The reporter says it's "likely" that he's on waivers... not that he actually is on waivers. Of course he wouldn't necessarily know, because management doesn't even have to inform the player. But it would still help to have a basis for the use of "likely".
For those of us unfamiliar with the trading schedule, the deadline to just pass was the "non-waiver deadline"; that means that any player that gets put on waivers now is eligible to be (a) traded per the usual with a team that attempts to "claim" him, (b) released to the team that claims the player without a trade of any kind (teams sometimes do this just to clear salary and roster space), or (c) to be traded to any team at all after not being claimed by anyone. Here's a good synopsis in case my description needs clarification.
-MSH
The reason I'm not very excited about this, other than just liking Richie but realizing the desire to free up more time for Bowker, is three-fold:
1) This kind of thing was talked about before; I spent probably 3-4 posts discussing trade rumors that didn't materialize, but spent no posts on Durham's trade until it was done.
2) Richie's departure would mean that the IF would consistently have Castillo at 3B; though, next year I am seriously hoping that we at least get Frandsen to expand his already-vast IF repetoire to replace OMS.
3) The reporter says it's "likely" that he's on waivers... not that he actually is on waivers. Of course he wouldn't necessarily know, because management doesn't even have to inform the player. But it would still help to have a basis for the use of "likely".
For those of us unfamiliar with the trading schedule, the deadline to just pass was the "non-waiver deadline"; that means that any player that gets put on waivers now is eligible to be (a) traded per the usual with a team that attempts to "claim" him, (b) released to the team that claims the player without a trade of any kind (teams sometimes do this just to clear salary and roster space), or (c) to be traded to any team at all after not being claimed by anyone. Here's a good synopsis in case my description needs clarification.
-MSH
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
The Necessity of Warming Up
Kruk & Kuip gave a great "discussion" on the necessity and goodness of reinstituting the extra warmup before batting practice. Not many teams do this anymore, honestly, but the Giants used to all the time until a few years ago. I agree with them: it was good to see it being practiced again, and it did feel like a long time since that was done. Something I think we are eager to forget already in S.F. is the role of the veterans in that strategy of practicing early and training the youth; the guys knew that without the bets being supportive of it, it wouldn't happen for the kids. So, you "old and grey" gentlemen: thank you for looking out for the good of the franchise. I would also like to repeat something I've known for a long time, since my grandmother raised me on Giants radio: we are spoiled rotten as to the thorough, to-the-person quality of our broadcasting and coverage.
There are a lot of reasons why pregame warmup is important. The primary one is team mentality. Anyone who's been on a team, especially a champion, knows that single-minded teams do best. This is accomplished when serving the greater good of the franchise and doing things together, entirely as a team. The second reason pregame warmup is important has to do with the obvious: you don't lose the basics. Sure, when you've been playing enough you do well most of the time and can make rare spectacular plays when pressed. But the most undeserved losses in the game come from blowing routine plays. If you don't have "the routine" continuously ingrained in you, you can forget about nailing all the close games, and even some of those "in the bag".
For symbolic purposes: The first pitch from Sanchez was a strike, and the next pitch didn't miss by much. He completed the out with a strikeout, repeating a pitch that had been called a ball just three pitches earlier. The other two outs were straightforward, and his command was excellent. In this way he does actually differ from Cain, since Matt usually has his warmest innings when most pitchers are starting to tire.
Things looked good from Sanchez, but the strikezone was a little small so he went outside to "stretch the zone" like a rubber band, in order to get more calls. This was a very aware strategy by Sanchez, and a good tactic to establish a wide zone early on. I was proud.
The Giants hit the ball hard at the beginning of the game; first out was a deeply hit ball to the warning track in RF, and Ochoa singled to LF on an 0-2 pitch. Jon mentioned that someone with more power would have completely thrashed the pitch, but of course I'll take Ochoa at SS and hitting second, since he's done well since he's been in both of those positions. Rowand grounded to SS on a 3-1 count; at least Ochoa advanced on the 6-3 (FC). Didn't get any further, though.
Sanchez got his second K on a last-pitch changeup, a pitch he's been working on. This meant he'd been doing quite well in those workouts, to be using that pitch in those circumstances. Sanchez got the next out on a high fastball K. The third out was on a close-call throw from Castillo to Aurilia, 5-3. And just like that, Sanchez seemed back to his old non-July self.
Aurilia got robbed on a great defensive play in the hole right of 3B in the bottom of the 2nd, but that was all to mention. Don't be surprised: OMS was playing. OMS gave Hampton his first K by swinging at a pitch in the dirt. At least he was batting seventh.
A leadoff single to CF put Sanchez in a bit of tough spot in the 3rd. Another, more sharply hit single to LCF made it even more difficult, and I was thinking at that point that Sanchez's return to old form was premature. Thankfully, Hampton made a mistake by fouling a bunt, and the next batter grounded into a DP thanks to, once again, great play from Ochoa and Burriss.
For his part, Burriss started the side by garnering a BB, but almost got called out after Sanchez popped up a bunt to Hampton (the throw was awfully close). This obviously rattled the poor guy because he was picked off on the very next pitch. So instead of a leadoff walk leading to runs as it usually does, the 4th would have to start scoreless.
Kotsay wore on Jonathan, getting six pitches after starting a count 0-2. Thankfully, Castillo actually made a nice play at 3B to get the slow roller in time. Kotchman battled as well, getting 11 pitches before swinging in the dirt. Sanchez did really well in that AB, using Kotchman's fouling technique against him, slowly drifting the pitches out of the zone and away until Kotch couldn't reach it. A beautiful changeup got the first strike on Infante, the same got a second strike, the fifth pitch was caught by Ochoa on the IF dirt. It was very clear that Sanchez's slider and changeup had vastly improved from the previous two starts, and even though he had already thrown 67 pitches through four innings, no one was anything but pleased with his performance. They probably should have been concerned, in hindsight.
Ochoa grounded out easily, but still had an 11-33 beginning to his batting average. Rowand struck out looking (to make 89 Ks for the year). The Giants were gone in order very quickly after Bengie popped out to CF.
Burriss made a rare miss for a pop-up at 2B to start the 5th, and things again looked initially sticky for Jonathan. They didn't get any better from then, really. McCann got to 3B after a slap-single by Francoeur to RCF. Corners, 0 out. This led to the first run of the game being scored, but at least not without yet another 6-4-3 DP. Kelly Johnson did not miss a belt-high pitch, and barely missed a HR, hitting directly below the 421ft. mark in RCF. Winn played it nicely, though, and held him to a double. Then Sanchez went 3-1 to Hampton. Pitchers should not have 3-ball counts, even if they do get to be full later. Johnson scored easily after Hampton himself got a double to LCF, at the base of the 404ft. marker this time. This obviously got a talk from Righetti, and Hinshaw up in the 'pen. That arrangement looked guaranteed after Escobar doubled to Lewis in LF and the inning ended on a routine grounder to Burriss, but not without the Braves scoring three in one inning. Score: 3-0, ATL.
Lewis, in response, blooped a single to the same area of LF to leadoff with a single. Aurilia chased a changeup twice in one AB, but at least Richie was disgusted with that behavior. Richie retaliated by blooping his own single to CF (on a 2-strike pitch, no less), making the trip to 3B easy for Freddie. Castillo. OMFS. He hit a DP ball, of course, but was really fortunate that the 2B double-clutched and missed the 1B. Freddie scored. Castillo advanced to 2B on a quick-reflex dive from Kotchman next, whose only play was at 1B for the second out. And then Sanchez's night was over: Vizquel pinch-hit, with two outs, to try to get Castillo home. Omar chased a sinker by the ankles on a 3-1 count, but watched the same kind of pitch next time (vets learn quickly), and gained the BB. Tying runs on base, Winn came up with some extra time because of a mound visit. The first pitch was a called strike, borderline on the outside. Winn usually takes the first pitch anyway. But the next pitch was a slow roller to force out Vizquel, and that was it.
End of five: 3-1 ATL. Sanchez would finish with 5 IP, 3 ER, and 91 pitches.
Hinshaw would take over in the 6th. For some unknown reason (probably his ERA), I keep liking Alex by default. Hinshaw got the first out on three pitches. He got Infante on a K. Hinshaw looked to walk with three straight balls after a first-strike, but got a close call at the knees, and the next pitch was swung at because it was close, ending up in shallow LF, a.k.a. "Ochoa's glove". The Braves were down in order. I still liked Alex.
Ochoa has the privilege of leading off the 6th for us, and grounded out 6-3 as Matos warmed up in the bullpen to relieve Hinshaw. Rowand drove one deep to CF, but it came off the end of the bat and was thus caught at the warning track. A one-pitch out for Aaron; the pitch was worth it, though. A one-hopper to 3B retired the side.
Matos should have been warm for the 7th, but given his performance so far this year the short time to warm up in the first place caused me to doubt this. This doubt would have been assuaged, had it not been for OMS trying to make an unnecessary bare-hand play at 3B, and thus failing to get the out. As it stood, Castillo merely justified my doubt as rational: his play may have shaken Osiris, who went high inside to almost hit the next batter and give up a single to RF on the next pitch. Thanks again to Winn, a runner was held at 2B, but there were two on with no outs. A shallow bloop to CF wasn't necessarily a scoring hit, but it still wasn't close enough for Rowand, whose throw was way offline. Francoeur scored easily. A sac bunt put someone at 3B with one out. Matos needed to be replaced at this point, but the self-destruction was so fast that no one was ready. Matos threw eight pitches, and allowed two runs and five batters reaching. Even a few foul-offs to get a 3-2 count were possible scoring hits. Kotsay walked on the next pitch; Matos was replaced. He threw 15 pitches; the two outs he got were sacrifices; he allowed 3 H, 1 BB, and 2 R, one of them earned (thanks OMS!). Espineli took the ball and Velez was put in for Ochoa, but at 2B so that Burriss moved to SS, to complete the double-switch.
No, the tirade did not end. Espineli's second pitch was a WP, and a run came in anyway. The last out was a roller to Richie. The damage was so fast, I had to check the MLB Gameday to keep up with the runs and how people got there: 6-1, ATL.
Honestly, at this point, I was just keeping this up for you. A bit cynical, perhaps, but more borne from realism. But I was rewarded: Lewis, who had been giving good ABs all night, hit a solo HR to RCF, over the 20-foot-high wall. It was the first HR for S.F. in 13 games. That's good news enough at this point, don't you think? Well, I do. And I'm the Fanatic here. After all, no one likes to bring attention to Richie's disgust at his own performance; he hit the bat to the ground after grounding to Hampton next. Castillo and Burriss were easy outs.
But it got better. Espineli recovered very well in the top of the 8th: Infante BB, McCann grounds into a DP (a testament not just to Velez's short-term defensive ability, but also Burriss' ability to be an anchor in the IF to turn them no matter which man is in there with him), Francoeur grounded out to Velez at 2B. 1-2-3.
Velez led off the 8th. Is anyone else noticing this pattern of the last man to make an out for us then starts the next inning at the plate? It happened three times tonight: Ochoa in the 4th, Lewis in the 5th, Velez in the 8th. Velez grounded out, but Winn started something by lining a basehit into CF. Bowker PH for Espineli in the double-switch slot, and Winn got to 2B off of a WP by the Atlanta reliever. Bowker is chasing a lot of high pitches; the Braves coaching knew that, but Bowker worked it full. And what a good boy: he took a high fastball to get the BB.
Aaron Rowand. Did not ground out. He lined a single to the gap, scoring Winn and sending John to 3B. Bengie Molina was the tying run. He had been 0-3 to this point, and fouling off the first pitch didn't put me at ease. Molina lined a single to CF, getting over top of a high pitch to sling it. Bowker scores. Aaron moves to 2B. 1 out; two on; pitching change. 6-4, ATL.
Unfortunately Lewis struck out, but there was hope in Aurilia. A light rain began as he came to bat. He dealt with a called strike first, and fouled one next. 0-2 counts are not favorable, really. A curveball was a called K. Poor Richie. Rain in S.F.; but I really like the rain. Even more disappointing.
Holm replaced Molina in the 9th, Roberts replaced Lewis in LF, and Romo came in to throw - a triple-switch. Romo did not start well, either. He hit the first batter. Aurilia hurried a throw to 1B on a sac bunt, but Velez never made catching the ball his first priority, so Richie got the only error, for the throw. Not sure what I could say about that kind of play. Except that the next batter hitting a single and scoring someone didn't surprise me. No one out at this point, mind you. He did manage to get a foul ground pop-out to Velez, but Kotsay singled another run home. Romo had a ball in the dirt to Kotchman, and then gave up a ground-roll double; another run scores, baserunner to 3B. I was hoping the rain would have been harder. Another double in LF to a batter who had until that point been hitless scored two more runs. Roberts had to make a great diving play for the next batter to steal a second out. It was at this point Jon Miller started mentioning Lincecum pitching tomorrow and the Dodgers being in town over the weekend. Burriss also had to make a really close, very sparkling play out directly behind 2B to save a sure basehit.
Castillo surprised the crowd (audibly) with a hit in the bottom of the 9th. Obviously, you should have foreseen the DP before I mentioned it just now, courtesy of Burriss. Velez, a compassionate batter, just ended the game with a ground out.
FINAL: 11-4, ATL
OK, let's try to make this fun, shall we? Award Time! Lots of overlapping tonight. I might end up calling this "PNL Time" later.
Player(s) To Be Pitied: Rich Aurilia (he resented his bad ABs, and got just plain screwed with the 8th inning K); Jonathan Sanchez (5IP, 7H, 3ER, 5K - needing a great start, he looked that way early but lost it anyway, and quickly); Fred Lewis (a great night otherwise, but struck out with one out and two men on in the 8th inning rally); Emmanuel Burriss (a ridiculously rough night at the plate); everybody playing while our bullpen literally threw the game away (obviously not paying attention to Kruk & Kuip's pregame focus).
Player(s) To Be Noted: Ivan Ochoa (1-3, good defense); John Bowker (PH BB, R - good personal adjustment at the plate); Aaron Rowand (key RBI single); Emmanuel Burriss (another flawless defensive game, with at least three momentum-stopping plays at 2B & SS).
Player(s) To Be Lauded: Randy Winn (only 1-4, but somehow in scoring position regularly, and great defense to hold two potential runs at 2B); Fred Lewis (2-4, 2H, RBI, HR).
What's that song I hear, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"? Ah, Ben Folds.
-MSH
There are a lot of reasons why pregame warmup is important. The primary one is team mentality. Anyone who's been on a team, especially a champion, knows that single-minded teams do best. This is accomplished when serving the greater good of the franchise and doing things together, entirely as a team. The second reason pregame warmup is important has to do with the obvious: you don't lose the basics. Sure, when you've been playing enough you do well most of the time and can make rare spectacular plays when pressed. But the most undeserved losses in the game come from blowing routine plays. If you don't have "the routine" continuously ingrained in you, you can forget about nailing all the close games, and even some of those "in the bag".
For symbolic purposes: The first pitch from Sanchez was a strike, and the next pitch didn't miss by much. He completed the out with a strikeout, repeating a pitch that had been called a ball just three pitches earlier. The other two outs were straightforward, and his command was excellent. In this way he does actually differ from Cain, since Matt usually has his warmest innings when most pitchers are starting to tire.
Things looked good from Sanchez, but the strikezone was a little small so he went outside to "stretch the zone" like a rubber band, in order to get more calls. This was a very aware strategy by Sanchez, and a good tactic to establish a wide zone early on. I was proud.
The Giants hit the ball hard at the beginning of the game; first out was a deeply hit ball to the warning track in RF, and Ochoa singled to LF on an 0-2 pitch. Jon mentioned that someone with more power would have completely thrashed the pitch, but of course I'll take Ochoa at SS and hitting second, since he's done well since he's been in both of those positions. Rowand grounded to SS on a 3-1 count; at least Ochoa advanced on the 6-3 (FC). Didn't get any further, though.
Sanchez got his second K on a last-pitch changeup, a pitch he's been working on. This meant he'd been doing quite well in those workouts, to be using that pitch in those circumstances. Sanchez got the next out on a high fastball K. The third out was on a close-call throw from Castillo to Aurilia, 5-3. And just like that, Sanchez seemed back to his old non-July self.
Aurilia got robbed on a great defensive play in the hole right of 3B in the bottom of the 2nd, but that was all to mention. Don't be surprised: OMS was playing. OMS gave Hampton his first K by swinging at a pitch in the dirt. At least he was batting seventh.
A leadoff single to CF put Sanchez in a bit of tough spot in the 3rd. Another, more sharply hit single to LCF made it even more difficult, and I was thinking at that point that Sanchez's return to old form was premature. Thankfully, Hampton made a mistake by fouling a bunt, and the next batter grounded into a DP thanks to, once again, great play from Ochoa and Burriss.
For his part, Burriss started the side by garnering a BB, but almost got called out after Sanchez popped up a bunt to Hampton (the throw was awfully close). This obviously rattled the poor guy because he was picked off on the very next pitch. So instead of a leadoff walk leading to runs as it usually does, the 4th would have to start scoreless.
Kotsay wore on Jonathan, getting six pitches after starting a count 0-2. Thankfully, Castillo actually made a nice play at 3B to get the slow roller in time. Kotchman battled as well, getting 11 pitches before swinging in the dirt. Sanchez did really well in that AB, using Kotchman's fouling technique against him, slowly drifting the pitches out of the zone and away until Kotch couldn't reach it. A beautiful changeup got the first strike on Infante, the same got a second strike, the fifth pitch was caught by Ochoa on the IF dirt. It was very clear that Sanchez's slider and changeup had vastly improved from the previous two starts, and even though he had already thrown 67 pitches through four innings, no one was anything but pleased with his performance. They probably should have been concerned, in hindsight.
Ochoa grounded out easily, but still had an 11-33 beginning to his batting average. Rowand struck out looking (to make 89 Ks for the year). The Giants were gone in order very quickly after Bengie popped out to CF.
Burriss made a rare miss for a pop-up at 2B to start the 5th, and things again looked initially sticky for Jonathan. They didn't get any better from then, really. McCann got to 3B after a slap-single by Francoeur to RCF. Corners, 0 out. This led to the first run of the game being scored, but at least not without yet another 6-4-3 DP. Kelly Johnson did not miss a belt-high pitch, and barely missed a HR, hitting directly below the 421ft. mark in RCF. Winn played it nicely, though, and held him to a double. Then Sanchez went 3-1 to Hampton. Pitchers should not have 3-ball counts, even if they do get to be full later. Johnson scored easily after Hampton himself got a double to LCF, at the base of the 404ft. marker this time. This obviously got a talk from Righetti, and Hinshaw up in the 'pen. That arrangement looked guaranteed after Escobar doubled to Lewis in LF and the inning ended on a routine grounder to Burriss, but not without the Braves scoring three in one inning. Score: 3-0, ATL.
Lewis, in response, blooped a single to the same area of LF to leadoff with a single. Aurilia chased a changeup twice in one AB, but at least Richie was disgusted with that behavior. Richie retaliated by blooping his own single to CF (on a 2-strike pitch, no less), making the trip to 3B easy for Freddie. Castillo. OMFS. He hit a DP ball, of course, but was really fortunate that the 2B double-clutched and missed the 1B. Freddie scored. Castillo advanced to 2B on a quick-reflex dive from Kotchman next, whose only play was at 1B for the second out. And then Sanchez's night was over: Vizquel pinch-hit, with two outs, to try to get Castillo home. Omar chased a sinker by the ankles on a 3-1 count, but watched the same kind of pitch next time (vets learn quickly), and gained the BB. Tying runs on base, Winn came up with some extra time because of a mound visit. The first pitch was a called strike, borderline on the outside. Winn usually takes the first pitch anyway. But the next pitch was a slow roller to force out Vizquel, and that was it.
End of five: 3-1 ATL. Sanchez would finish with 5 IP, 3 ER, and 91 pitches.
Hinshaw would take over in the 6th. For some unknown reason (probably his ERA), I keep liking Alex by default. Hinshaw got the first out on three pitches. He got Infante on a K. Hinshaw looked to walk with three straight balls after a first-strike, but got a close call at the knees, and the next pitch was swung at because it was close, ending up in shallow LF, a.k.a. "Ochoa's glove". The Braves were down in order. I still liked Alex.
Ochoa has the privilege of leading off the 6th for us, and grounded out 6-3 as Matos warmed up in the bullpen to relieve Hinshaw. Rowand drove one deep to CF, but it came off the end of the bat and was thus caught at the warning track. A one-pitch out for Aaron; the pitch was worth it, though. A one-hopper to 3B retired the side.
Matos should have been warm for the 7th, but given his performance so far this year the short time to warm up in the first place caused me to doubt this. This doubt would have been assuaged, had it not been for OMS trying to make an unnecessary bare-hand play at 3B, and thus failing to get the out. As it stood, Castillo merely justified my doubt as rational: his play may have shaken Osiris, who went high inside to almost hit the next batter and give up a single to RF on the next pitch. Thanks again to Winn, a runner was held at 2B, but there were two on with no outs. A shallow bloop to CF wasn't necessarily a scoring hit, but it still wasn't close enough for Rowand, whose throw was way offline. Francoeur scored easily. A sac bunt put someone at 3B with one out. Matos needed to be replaced at this point, but the self-destruction was so fast that no one was ready. Matos threw eight pitches, and allowed two runs and five batters reaching. Even a few foul-offs to get a 3-2 count were possible scoring hits. Kotsay walked on the next pitch; Matos was replaced. He threw 15 pitches; the two outs he got were sacrifices; he allowed 3 H, 1 BB, and 2 R, one of them earned (thanks OMS!). Espineli took the ball and Velez was put in for Ochoa, but at 2B so that Burriss moved to SS, to complete the double-switch.
No, the tirade did not end. Espineli's second pitch was a WP, and a run came in anyway. The last out was a roller to Richie. The damage was so fast, I had to check the MLB Gameday to keep up with the runs and how people got there: 6-1, ATL.
Honestly, at this point, I was just keeping this up for you. A bit cynical, perhaps, but more borne from realism. But I was rewarded: Lewis, who had been giving good ABs all night, hit a solo HR to RCF, over the 20-foot-high wall. It was the first HR for S.F. in 13 games. That's good news enough at this point, don't you think? Well, I do. And I'm the Fanatic here. After all, no one likes to bring attention to Richie's disgust at his own performance; he hit the bat to the ground after grounding to Hampton next. Castillo and Burriss were easy outs.
But it got better. Espineli recovered very well in the top of the 8th: Infante BB, McCann grounds into a DP (a testament not just to Velez's short-term defensive ability, but also Burriss' ability to be an anchor in the IF to turn them no matter which man is in there with him), Francoeur grounded out to Velez at 2B. 1-2-3.
Velez led off the 8th. Is anyone else noticing this pattern of the last man to make an out for us then starts the next inning at the plate? It happened three times tonight: Ochoa in the 4th, Lewis in the 5th, Velez in the 8th. Velez grounded out, but Winn started something by lining a basehit into CF. Bowker PH for Espineli in the double-switch slot, and Winn got to 2B off of a WP by the Atlanta reliever. Bowker is chasing a lot of high pitches; the Braves coaching knew that, but Bowker worked it full. And what a good boy: he took a high fastball to get the BB.
Aaron Rowand. Did not ground out. He lined a single to the gap, scoring Winn and sending John to 3B. Bengie Molina was the tying run. He had been 0-3 to this point, and fouling off the first pitch didn't put me at ease. Molina lined a single to CF, getting over top of a high pitch to sling it. Bowker scores. Aaron moves to 2B. 1 out; two on; pitching change. 6-4, ATL.
Unfortunately Lewis struck out, but there was hope in Aurilia. A light rain began as he came to bat. He dealt with a called strike first, and fouled one next. 0-2 counts are not favorable, really. A curveball was a called K. Poor Richie. Rain in S.F.; but I really like the rain. Even more disappointing.
Holm replaced Molina in the 9th, Roberts replaced Lewis in LF, and Romo came in to throw - a triple-switch. Romo did not start well, either. He hit the first batter. Aurilia hurried a throw to 1B on a sac bunt, but Velez never made catching the ball his first priority, so Richie got the only error, for the throw. Not sure what I could say about that kind of play. Except that the next batter hitting a single and scoring someone didn't surprise me. No one out at this point, mind you. He did manage to get a foul ground pop-out to Velez, but Kotsay singled another run home. Romo had a ball in the dirt to Kotchman, and then gave up a ground-roll double; another run scores, baserunner to 3B. I was hoping the rain would have been harder. Another double in LF to a batter who had until that point been hitless scored two more runs. Roberts had to make a great diving play for the next batter to steal a second out. It was at this point Jon Miller started mentioning Lincecum pitching tomorrow and the Dodgers being in town over the weekend. Burriss also had to make a really close, very sparkling play out directly behind 2B to save a sure basehit.
Castillo surprised the crowd (audibly) with a hit in the bottom of the 9th. Obviously, you should have foreseen the DP before I mentioned it just now, courtesy of Burriss. Velez, a compassionate batter, just ended the game with a ground out.
FINAL: 11-4, ATL
OK, let's try to make this fun, shall we? Award Time! Lots of overlapping tonight. I might end up calling this "PNL Time" later.
Player(s) To Be Pitied: Rich Aurilia (he resented his bad ABs, and got just plain screwed with the 8th inning K); Jonathan Sanchez (5IP, 7H, 3ER, 5K - needing a great start, he looked that way early but lost it anyway, and quickly); Fred Lewis (a great night otherwise, but struck out with one out and two men on in the 8th inning rally); Emmanuel Burriss (a ridiculously rough night at the plate); everybody playing while our bullpen literally threw the game away (obviously not paying attention to Kruk & Kuip's pregame focus).
Player(s) To Be Noted: Ivan Ochoa (1-3, good defense); John Bowker (PH BB, R - good personal adjustment at the plate); Aaron Rowand (key RBI single); Emmanuel Burriss (another flawless defensive game, with at least three momentum-stopping plays at 2B & SS).
Player(s) To Be Lauded: Randy Winn (only 1-4, but somehow in scoring position regularly, and great defense to hold two potential runs at 2B); Fred Lewis (2-4, 2H, RBI, HR).
What's that song I hear, "Raindrops Keep Fallin' On My Head"? Ah, Ben Folds.
-MSH
Saturday, August 2, 2008
The 46th & 21st
Remember the First Inning Rule? "Straight Up, Straight Down", all that? Well, that's what happened for S.F. at first. Winn flied out, Ochoa called out on strikes, Lewis swinging on strikes. But it also happened in favor of S.F. And it was beautiful.
1st: Zito did OK at first, nothing out of the ordinary, but he did get the first out swinging on a changeup after a full count, and the second out was obtained by a fantastic defensive stop by Burriss who was starting at 2B again. (I could not have been happier to see this for Emmanuel, and he proved my confidence right immediately, once again.) Wheels loosened quickly, though. A single next, and then another full count. But this time a BB to Adrian Gonzalez. Zito got the last out on a 6-4 grounder, but the usual precedent was there for the taking: little offense, excellent foundational defense, struggling pitching from Zito.
Top 2nd: The most notable thing is that Rowand got HBP again. He must have a stance that eggs pitchers on to just try and hit him. Have you ever seen it from the side? It's... interesting. From the front, though, there's not much to hit - he's straight as an arrow, there. My team scapegoat, Castillo, was in for Richie at 3B and naturally struck out on three straight pitches; Dave Flemming even relayed that Castillo's swings were obviously late.
Bottom 2nd: Things were a little smoother for Zito. A fly out, a strike out and a 1-3 ground out. Only one full count, and down in order. Better, which is unfortunately worth noting given Zito's current record.
Top 3rd: Burriss, youthful genius, just put down a bunt single to begin the side; in the minors, he was well-known for such a skill. Unfortunately, Burriss got a little greedy and after Zito's sac bunt was handled by Peavy solely, Burriss saw 3B uncovered and tried for it; he was tagged out. The attitude is good, especially for his speed (he scored from 1B last night in the 10th after a RF single), but the calculation needs work. Rookie mistake; perfectly acceptable. Winn flied out for the second time; less acceptable, but understandable.
Bottom 3rd: Zito fielded his position well - he handled another grounder off a 1-2 count, for the first out. Then Zito seemed to lose the strikezone, walking his second batter. Zito got out of it through a double-play, with a beautiful turn by Burriss which made up for a poor feed from Ochoa. Notice how many times Emmanuel's name has come up in a positive light since starting at 2B last night? I hope so.
Top 4th: Straight Up; Straight Down. Although Molina did have a drive to RF that made Giles misjudge and have to backpeddle onto the warning track.
Bottom 4th: Straight Up; Straight Down. Hello: 'tis for Zito. I was pleasantly amused... the kind of amusement that indicates normalcy for a Major League team. And a six-pitch inning at that! Even if we didn't win, at this point I was thinking that this outing for Zito may have been worth taking pride in.
Top 5th: Rowand works a full count, but strikes out. This full count work paid off a little though, because Bowker lined a single to RF next. Personally, I think the kid just needs more time, because the hitting skill is there. But, Oh My Scapegoat, Castillo, went 0-2 on the count. I think I will make that an acronymn, OMS. Castillo isn't so bad that he deserves no aphorisms from me, is he? Proof of this is that he at least worked a full count for that. But proof against it is that on that full count pitch, he looked while Bowker ran. Castillo was called out looking; Bowker was thrown out without effort. Way to go, Scapegoat. OMS; OMFS.
Bottom 5th: Zito got an immediate full count, which he managed to get an easy pop-out for; the luck seemed to be continuing. This luck was confirmed with another 1-2-3 inning for him. 15 pitches suggested the luck particularly.
Top 6th: Straight Up; Straight Down.
Bottom 6th: Zito got Peavy on the second pitch for a 6-3 ground out. A side thing to note at this point is that even given Ochoa's weak toss to Burriss, his defensive play has been solid so far. The next batter hit it straight to Castillo, so OMS, he knocked it down but couldn't throw the batter out. That's right, the Scapegoat had an error. I believe that ever since the trading deadline, Castillo has committed at least one error per game. Zito struck of brilliance, a dangerous thought, when he struck out Iguchi on that signature 12-6 curveball. The most unfortunate thing was that at once, Zito's luck and Burriss' seemed to run out at the same AB. Giles popped up to Burriss at 2B, which he misjudged in such a way that Giles had a double. Thank God the Padres don't run, because Hairston was kept at 3B. Zito was told to intentionally walk Adrian Gonzalez (looks like my blog - and my advice - is actually being heard!). In a pseudo-karmic streak for doing that, Zito struck out Kouzmanoff, and the inning was over. Still, scoreless for Barry. And only 88 pitches!
Top 7th: Ochoa was robbed by a rare jumping Gonzalez - probably ticked that we paid heed and walked him in the inning prior. Peavy showed frustration despite this, however, and it seemed a bit illogical given how well the pitchers were doing this evening. Peavy himself was doing well at getting Lewis, and others, to foul off instead of get a hit; but I think the frustration worked to our advantage because Lewis singled. Lewis then stole 2B successfully, taking a hint from an awkward pitch thrown just before the attempt, and the count was 2-0 to Molina with a RISP. Molina worked it to 3-0. Rowand was on-deck, but they didn't walk Molina. I'm sure a number of intelligent Padres fans were wondering why in a wildly frustrated manner, because after that count filled, the payoff pitch was a soft single to RF, perfectly placed. Gonzalez couldn't get it, and Giles' throw was offline and not nearly in time. Lewis scored. This was especially sweet for us since Rowand struck out on three straight pitches (his 87th of the year, by the way; I don't make mention of Lewis' 100 Ks at the plate, because he scores - a lot). A missed slider to Bowker made Peavy... well, peaved. The interesting thing is that after Peavy stared at the umpire following that pitch, the next pitch was almost exactly the same and was called a strike instead. The count again was full (a common theme for both pitchers tonight). Bowker was good at fouling off and buying more pitches; he was rewarded with his second hit of the game, a pull to RF again. The hit was so good, Molina reached 3B. This running helped us immensely, because it put another RISP (Molina can't score from 2B on a single, trust me). Do you know what happened next? Here's a hint: OMFS. Castillo swung at the first pitch AGAIN and lined out to CF. O, O, OMS. "2-0?" "No, no; but you do have a pretty reasonable candidate for Scapegoat!"
Bottom 7th: Thank God, Aurilia was put in for defensive purposes. But no, wait: put in not for the Scapegoat, but for the man who has just gone 2-3. I know Aurilia's a better 1B. However, Castillo was the main reason we weren't going to win, if we didn't. Another full count for Zito ended in a very lucky K. The last thing you want to do is walk the leadoff in a tight game, especially when you're riding the Luck Train. After this strike out, Zito got Bard on two pitches for a 5-3 ground out. Gonzalez completed the order-downing with a lineout to Winn. That's a 10 pitch inning for Zito, leaving him at a comfy 98 total through seven innings, giving up only two rightful hits, both to the same man. (A side-tip: this last fact is especially important because, as a pitcher, you know that if you are to continue and you are struggling in the AB against said batter, you can save yourself in the current game and walk him to gain momentum and confidence through other batters.)
Top 8th: Peavy was replaced by Hensley; Bud Black must have realized Peavy's consternation and attitude. Burriss tried his first-pitch, first AB of the inning bunt trick again; but it still didn't work, although I give him credit for at least trying to be both unconventional and playing-to-his-strength at the same time. Zito got a single from a 0-2 count because of Kouzmanoff's glove-error. Winn got a 2-0 count immediately following that. Winn managed to strike out, on the next three consecutive pitches; I believe this AB made him 0-4. Ochoa worked a BB next, and Lewis - clearly more dangerous of the two - came up with a chance to really do damage. Lewis got a single up the middle, but because it was Zito at 2B (slower than fielders and not wanting to be in a collision at HP), he was held by Flannery. Unfortunately, this didn't matter: Molina popped up the first pitch. All I'm going to say is this: luck felt ironic. The man who had an unusually hot 2-hit shutout going and got a basehit off an error was also a reason why we had to go into the eighth with him at almost 100 pitches and only a one-run lead.
Bottom 8th: Zito got a PH to pop up easily to Rowand in CF, with just two pitches. Zito got a generous call for a 0-2 count, but a flair single on the third pitch just in front of Winn to RCF made the inning tense for me. Zito struck out Iguchi swinging, a pitch that Iguchi had not been able to handle all night - a slider in on the hands. Zito still looked as if it were the first inning, for the control he displayed. Yet a BB to Giles. Adrian Gonzalez next. Bochy talks to Zito; Zito stays in. Taschner was the option, and obviously given last night against Gonzalez, Zito was a better choice. I applaud the decision, even without knowing the outcome. Someone up top must be listening to this, and paying attention. Here was their reward: one pitch grounded Gonzalez out to Burriss easily, and Zito finished eight shutout innings. 116 pitches; three hits. In the postgame interview, Zito said he'd run around his old neighborhood today; it does in fact help to center oneself by remembering home. There is no question that Bochy's act of trust with Barry was huge, though; not only did Zito conquer the erratic umpiring here (even Tony Gwynn was overheard saying "wow" to the minimalist-umpire's strikezone), he cut off his own problems, restored his own self-confidence, and took care of Jake Peavy as his opponent.
Top 9th: Rowand went 0-5. Richie singled up the middle; good ol' Richie. If those consecutive ABs are not a contrast for the reader, I know not what one would be. At least Richie can make contact; he's much older, yet can play more positions, has better defense, runs better (he avoided getting thrown out at 2B from Scapegoat's grounder just after reaching base), and is getting paid a lot less. Same for Burriss. So naturally, Burriss singled hard to LF. And Aurilia, God bless him, he held up a bit but scored easily since the throw from Henley in LF was way off. Burriss, a smart youth, advanced to 2B on the throw automatically. Cla Hensley was replaced on the mound. 2-0, S.F. Vizquel replaced Zito to hit, since Wilson was already ready to throw down in the 'pen. Vizquel worked a 0-2 count to a full count, but popped out. It would be up to the Animal.
Bottom 9th: Wilson gives a signature sprint out from the bullpen. He gives a signature outside-corner fastball at 96mph; he repeats the same pitch at 97mph. Wilson blows Kouzmanoff away after a ball, to finish the first out. Next, Wilson makes Headley's bat explode after a full count to ground him out to Aurilia at 1B. A break for Brian, before throwing to Bard. First pitch, low. Second pitch, inside strike. Third pitch, 95mph fouled off. Begging in my head. Next pitch barely misses. How appropriate: final pitch, grounded to Richie. Richie is the shizzle.
FINAL: 2-0, S.F.
That's 21 save opportunities in a row. Brian is The Animal. Zito relayed in the postgame interview that Wilson once made a joke: he was the only guy without a jersey for sale in the Giants' Dugout team store, yet he was an All-Star. Zito laughed at the truth of it; so did I. I want one, right now. I'll say it again, and again, and again:
HIT THE DECK, IT'S THE GHOST OF ROD BECK.
-MSH
1st: Zito did OK at first, nothing out of the ordinary, but he did get the first out swinging on a changeup after a full count, and the second out was obtained by a fantastic defensive stop by Burriss who was starting at 2B again. (I could not have been happier to see this for Emmanuel, and he proved my confidence right immediately, once again.) Wheels loosened quickly, though. A single next, and then another full count. But this time a BB to Adrian Gonzalez. Zito got the last out on a 6-4 grounder, but the usual precedent was there for the taking: little offense, excellent foundational defense, struggling pitching from Zito.
Top 2nd: The most notable thing is that Rowand got HBP again. He must have a stance that eggs pitchers on to just try and hit him. Have you ever seen it from the side? It's... interesting. From the front, though, there's not much to hit - he's straight as an arrow, there. My team scapegoat, Castillo, was in for Richie at 3B and naturally struck out on three straight pitches; Dave Flemming even relayed that Castillo's swings were obviously late.
Bottom 2nd: Things were a little smoother for Zito. A fly out, a strike out and a 1-3 ground out. Only one full count, and down in order. Better, which is unfortunately worth noting given Zito's current record.
Top 3rd: Burriss, youthful genius, just put down a bunt single to begin the side; in the minors, he was well-known for such a skill. Unfortunately, Burriss got a little greedy and after Zito's sac bunt was handled by Peavy solely, Burriss saw 3B uncovered and tried for it; he was tagged out. The attitude is good, especially for his speed (he scored from 1B last night in the 10th after a RF single), but the calculation needs work. Rookie mistake; perfectly acceptable. Winn flied out for the second time; less acceptable, but understandable.
Bottom 3rd: Zito fielded his position well - he handled another grounder off a 1-2 count, for the first out. Then Zito seemed to lose the strikezone, walking his second batter. Zito got out of it through a double-play, with a beautiful turn by Burriss which made up for a poor feed from Ochoa. Notice how many times Emmanuel's name has come up in a positive light since starting at 2B last night? I hope so.
Top 4th: Straight Up; Straight Down. Although Molina did have a drive to RF that made Giles misjudge and have to backpeddle onto the warning track.
Bottom 4th: Straight Up; Straight Down. Hello: 'tis for Zito. I was pleasantly amused... the kind of amusement that indicates normalcy for a Major League team. And a six-pitch inning at that! Even if we didn't win, at this point I was thinking that this outing for Zito may have been worth taking pride in.
Top 5th: Rowand works a full count, but strikes out. This full count work paid off a little though, because Bowker lined a single to RF next. Personally, I think the kid just needs more time, because the hitting skill is there. But, Oh My Scapegoat, Castillo, went 0-2 on the count. I think I will make that an acronymn, OMS. Castillo isn't so bad that he deserves no aphorisms from me, is he? Proof of this is that he at least worked a full count for that. But proof against it is that on that full count pitch, he looked while Bowker ran. Castillo was called out looking; Bowker was thrown out without effort. Way to go, Scapegoat. OMS; OMFS.
Bottom 5th: Zito got an immediate full count, which he managed to get an easy pop-out for; the luck seemed to be continuing. This luck was confirmed with another 1-2-3 inning for him. 15 pitches suggested the luck particularly.
Top 6th: Straight Up; Straight Down.
Bottom 6th: Zito got Peavy on the second pitch for a 6-3 ground out. A side thing to note at this point is that even given Ochoa's weak toss to Burriss, his defensive play has been solid so far. The next batter hit it straight to Castillo, so OMS, he knocked it down but couldn't throw the batter out. That's right, the Scapegoat had an error. I believe that ever since the trading deadline, Castillo has committed at least one error per game. Zito struck of brilliance, a dangerous thought, when he struck out Iguchi on that signature 12-6 curveball. The most unfortunate thing was that at once, Zito's luck and Burriss' seemed to run out at the same AB. Giles popped up to Burriss at 2B, which he misjudged in such a way that Giles had a double. Thank God the Padres don't run, because Hairston was kept at 3B. Zito was told to intentionally walk Adrian Gonzalez (looks like my blog - and my advice - is actually being heard!). In a pseudo-karmic streak for doing that, Zito struck out Kouzmanoff, and the inning was over. Still, scoreless for Barry. And only 88 pitches!
Top 7th: Ochoa was robbed by a rare jumping Gonzalez - probably ticked that we paid heed and walked him in the inning prior. Peavy showed frustration despite this, however, and it seemed a bit illogical given how well the pitchers were doing this evening. Peavy himself was doing well at getting Lewis, and others, to foul off instead of get a hit; but I think the frustration worked to our advantage because Lewis singled. Lewis then stole 2B successfully, taking a hint from an awkward pitch thrown just before the attempt, and the count was 2-0 to Molina with a RISP. Molina worked it to 3-0. Rowand was on-deck, but they didn't walk Molina. I'm sure a number of intelligent Padres fans were wondering why in a wildly frustrated manner, because after that count filled, the payoff pitch was a soft single to RF, perfectly placed. Gonzalez couldn't get it, and Giles' throw was offline and not nearly in time. Lewis scored. This was especially sweet for us since Rowand struck out on three straight pitches (his 87th of the year, by the way; I don't make mention of Lewis' 100 Ks at the plate, because he scores - a lot). A missed slider to Bowker made Peavy... well, peaved. The interesting thing is that after Peavy stared at the umpire following that pitch, the next pitch was almost exactly the same and was called a strike instead. The count again was full (a common theme for both pitchers tonight). Bowker was good at fouling off and buying more pitches; he was rewarded with his second hit of the game, a pull to RF again. The hit was so good, Molina reached 3B. This running helped us immensely, because it put another RISP (Molina can't score from 2B on a single, trust me). Do you know what happened next? Here's a hint: OMFS. Castillo swung at the first pitch AGAIN and lined out to CF. O, O, OMS. "2-0?" "No, no; but you do have a pretty reasonable candidate for Scapegoat!"
Bottom 7th: Thank God, Aurilia was put in for defensive purposes. But no, wait: put in not for the Scapegoat, but for the man who has just gone 2-3. I know Aurilia's a better 1B. However, Castillo was the main reason we weren't going to win, if we didn't. Another full count for Zito ended in a very lucky K. The last thing you want to do is walk the leadoff in a tight game, especially when you're riding the Luck Train. After this strike out, Zito got Bard on two pitches for a 5-3 ground out. Gonzalez completed the order-downing with a lineout to Winn. That's a 10 pitch inning for Zito, leaving him at a comfy 98 total through seven innings, giving up only two rightful hits, both to the same man. (A side-tip: this last fact is especially important because, as a pitcher, you know that if you are to continue and you are struggling in the AB against said batter, you can save yourself in the current game and walk him to gain momentum and confidence through other batters.)
Top 8th: Peavy was replaced by Hensley; Bud Black must have realized Peavy's consternation and attitude. Burriss tried his first-pitch, first AB of the inning bunt trick again; but it still didn't work, although I give him credit for at least trying to be both unconventional and playing-to-his-strength at the same time. Zito got a single from a 0-2 count because of Kouzmanoff's glove-error. Winn got a 2-0 count immediately following that. Winn managed to strike out, on the next three consecutive pitches; I believe this AB made him 0-4. Ochoa worked a BB next, and Lewis - clearly more dangerous of the two - came up with a chance to really do damage. Lewis got a single up the middle, but because it was Zito at 2B (slower than fielders and not wanting to be in a collision at HP), he was held by Flannery. Unfortunately, this didn't matter: Molina popped up the first pitch. All I'm going to say is this: luck felt ironic. The man who had an unusually hot 2-hit shutout going and got a basehit off an error was also a reason why we had to go into the eighth with him at almost 100 pitches and only a one-run lead.
Bottom 8th: Zito got a PH to pop up easily to Rowand in CF, with just two pitches. Zito got a generous call for a 0-2 count, but a flair single on the third pitch just in front of Winn to RCF made the inning tense for me. Zito struck out Iguchi swinging, a pitch that Iguchi had not been able to handle all night - a slider in on the hands. Zito still looked as if it were the first inning, for the control he displayed. Yet a BB to Giles. Adrian Gonzalez next. Bochy talks to Zito; Zito stays in. Taschner was the option, and obviously given last night against Gonzalez, Zito was a better choice. I applaud the decision, even without knowing the outcome. Someone up top must be listening to this, and paying attention. Here was their reward: one pitch grounded Gonzalez out to Burriss easily, and Zito finished eight shutout innings. 116 pitches; three hits. In the postgame interview, Zito said he'd run around his old neighborhood today; it does in fact help to center oneself by remembering home. There is no question that Bochy's act of trust with Barry was huge, though; not only did Zito conquer the erratic umpiring here (even Tony Gwynn was overheard saying "wow" to the minimalist-umpire's strikezone), he cut off his own problems, restored his own self-confidence, and took care of Jake Peavy as his opponent.
Top 9th: Rowand went 0-5. Richie singled up the middle; good ol' Richie. If those consecutive ABs are not a contrast for the reader, I know not what one would be. At least Richie can make contact; he's much older, yet can play more positions, has better defense, runs better (he avoided getting thrown out at 2B from Scapegoat's grounder just after reaching base), and is getting paid a lot less. Same for Burriss. So naturally, Burriss singled hard to LF. And Aurilia, God bless him, he held up a bit but scored easily since the throw from Henley in LF was way off. Burriss, a smart youth, advanced to 2B on the throw automatically. Cla Hensley was replaced on the mound. 2-0, S.F. Vizquel replaced Zito to hit, since Wilson was already ready to throw down in the 'pen. Vizquel worked a 0-2 count to a full count, but popped out. It would be up to the Animal.
Bottom 9th: Wilson gives a signature sprint out from the bullpen. He gives a signature outside-corner fastball at 96mph; he repeats the same pitch at 97mph. Wilson blows Kouzmanoff away after a ball, to finish the first out. Next, Wilson makes Headley's bat explode after a full count to ground him out to Aurilia at 1B. A break for Brian, before throwing to Bard. First pitch, low. Second pitch, inside strike. Third pitch, 95mph fouled off. Begging in my head. Next pitch barely misses. How appropriate: final pitch, grounded to Richie. Richie is the shizzle.
FINAL: 2-0, S.F.
That's 21 save opportunities in a row. Brian is The Animal. Zito relayed in the postgame interview that Wilson once made a joke: he was the only guy without a jersey for sale in the Giants' Dugout team store, yet he was an All-Star. Zito laughed at the truth of it; so did I. I want one, right now. I'll say it again, and again, and again:
HIT THE DECK, IT'S THE GHOST OF ROD BECK.
-MSH
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Manny Paparazzi
Since we have the day off today, and it is the trading deadline, I thought I would take this opportunity to show y'all just how biased ESPN really is towards Eastern teams, particularly the Red Sox and Yanks. Notice I did not say "against Western teams". Here's a prime example why:
You remember all the trading rumors I (and other Giants' bloggers) have been telling you about? Winn to the Mets? Molina to the Yanks, or the Marlins? Aurilia to the Twins? Other than that last one, ESPN has covered none of it. The MLB has mentioned them in passing, but no major network wasted time on them. Now, this is actually normal; you see, trading rumors go in and out all the time, even with the most direct of evidences (for example, Mike Jacobs' own quote about Molina). That's because trades get hung up in details, far more than those that succeed, and such is what makes a possibility a bad story.
Enter ESPN, female-dog pet of the AL East. The purse they've been carried around in this time is the Manny Ramirez trade debacle. Certain rumors start like this, and they catch like wildfire, but they don't get covered by national press because it's all speculation. But now that ESPN covered this, the "blockbuster fizzling" is the new story instead. Hmm.
Welcome to "OK! Celebrity Magazine".
-MSH
You remember all the trading rumors I (and other Giants' bloggers) have been telling you about? Winn to the Mets? Molina to the Yanks, or the Marlins? Aurilia to the Twins? Other than that last one, ESPN has covered none of it. The MLB has mentioned them in passing, but no major network wasted time on them. Now, this is actually normal; you see, trading rumors go in and out all the time, even with the most direct of evidences (for example, Mike Jacobs' own quote about Molina). That's because trades get hung up in details, far more than those that succeed, and such is what makes a possibility a bad story.
Enter ESPN, female-dog pet of the AL East. The purse they've been carried around in this time is the Manny Ramirez trade debacle. Certain rumors start like this, and they catch like wildfire, but they don't get covered by national press because it's all speculation. But now that ESPN covered this, the "blockbuster fizzling" is the new story instead. Hmm.
Welcome to "OK! Celebrity Magazine".
-MSH
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
The First-Inning Rule
If there existed a kind of "Hall of Fame" for game records, and you listened to it's echoing halls, you would from time to time hear a faint whispered truth: the first inning foretells the future.
It certainly seemed that way last night, as the top of the first for S.F. was, as I like to say now, "Straight Up? Straight Down." - down, down in order easily.
And Sanchez gave a leadoff walk to the Dodgers' hottest hitter (16 straight games with a hit - to be exact), Matt Kemp. Kemp stole second easily after the ball flew out of Molina's hand. Dramatic Irony: the pitch struck out the series' most visible Dodger, Casey Blake. Sanchez also went to a 3-ball count with each of the first three batters. Predictably, Martin got a fastball middle-in and singled home Kemp. He also didn't get a first-pitch strike until the sixth batter - who came up to start the second inning. Given Sanchez's previous outing (though I did give him the benefit of the doubt), I was seriously wondering if it would be repeated. And I still did, although Molina did make up for his first slip and threw out Martin on a steal attempt, albeit closely.
Once again, Castillo's presence at 2B was highly questionable. In addition to moving to the bag on a pitch that wasn't a pick-off idea when Kemp was at second, leaving the left side WIDE OPEN, he also ran out on a Kent popper farther than he should have and dropped a ball that Rowand could have easily caught instead, one that hit his glove square in the heel. How we got out of that inning down only 1-0 was like getting picked up by your mom at school just as the bully walks out onto the front lawn.
Henceforth lay proof that the First-Inning Rule be true:
Top of the second inning? "Straight Up? Straight Down."
Top of the third? "Straight Up? Straight Down."
Bottom of the third? Sanchez finally gets a talking-to from Righetti after two batters reach in a row - Blake being walked. A base-hit to Martin gives the Dodgers 2-0, runners at the corners, 1 out, and three batters reaching in a row. Kent doubles easily in the gap, 3-0. Sac fly next, and a clever move by Sanchez to get the realistic tag-out at third, but the run scores anyway (once again because of a rule I don't understand - a force-out for the last out of the inning won't allow a run, but a tag-out for the last out will?): 4-0.
Top of the fourth? "Straight Up? Straight Down."
The only comforting sign through the first four innings was Sanchez getting Ethier in a double play in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to Castillo. But then of course, Castillo was playing too close to 2B, and Berroa was allowed to slap a single easily in the right infield gap.
(I don't mean to be negative by the way, just realistic in showing the truth of a first-inning assessment. It's not, as some may think, a book-cover judgment.)
Top of the fifth? Molina got a hit! Too bad Rowand double-played his AB that followed.
Even so, Sanchez was removed for Osiris Matos in the bottom of the fifth, whose name was humorously alluded to as "Greek" by Vin Scully here, though of course the explanation was for Egyptian culture. Matos managed to get runners at the corners with no one out. Aurilia, by far my favorite veteran on the team, made another fantastic defensive play at third from a hot liner to save a run and make the next outs at least forceable. A fly out would do, and Osiris escaped with no ERA damage. Looks like the First-Inning Rule is technically "out of play" when the first SP leaves; but of course with the pattern already established by that time, very little changes historically.
Let me say to you that I like Gino Espineli a lot. He's a young, wild lefty, a Filipino (probably the second of such a background to make it to the bigs as a pitcher), and his windout is beautifully unconventional, stepping mostly to first than to home. As I may have mentioned before, he was named to the Olympic team but was replaced indirectly in the hands of fate by Nate [Scheirholtz] as a representative after being called up. His stirrups are old school. The only one on the team who wears them that way regularly is, you guessed it, good ol' Richie. He retired the side in the bottom sixth easily.
Winn got a hit in the top of the seventh, but Rowand - again - couldn't produce.
What I will say about Espineli is that his wacky delivery isn't all that great to hitters that know how to go with the direction of most of his pitches and slap it to RF. Blake did just that. Unfortunately for Gino, that hit also lost him his momentum and he walked Martin before being replaced by Romo. (A note: Bochy is getting quicker on replacements lately. This is something I like.) Romo is slowly warming up the likability factor; he struck out Kent on a nasty but precise curveball, and he's actually been effective in this series for limiting pre-existent danger.
Top of the eighth? "Straight Up? Straight down."
I don't have to mention the top of the ninth, except that Velez got the brunt of a close call and Castillo continued the ironic punishment of his existence and hit a double off the wall (too late, my friend); Flannery even sent him to home plater irrationally off a bloop single by Winn. Flannery is another story entirely; I once heard him interviewed saying he sends most of his runners because more often than not the throw to home was offline. I'm sorry, sir, but shouldn't you be thinking about particular circumstances more than gambling procedures?
There's really nothing to say about the Giants' offense; it doesn't exist. I don't know what's more pitiable: (A) the fact that the Giants went through 23 scoreless innings against L.A., or (B) that Vin Scully thought that was exceptional for us. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was just biased towards making Billingsley look good, probably better than he really is. Looks like S.F. ought to pay me to go to games, since apparently they score multiple runs and win even when they don't deserve to.
Moral of the story? Stay honest; at least watch the first inning. And for those who run fantasy-league teams, I would suggest looking at the probable pitcher lineups against the Giants and Padres, and pick them up if they're available. Chad Billingsley, who is now just 11-9, had a CG shutout. Final: 4-0, Dodgers.
All that's left to say is that still, once again the Dodgers are not in first place ;). And that I feel horrible for the boys in the radio studio who have to do postgame right now. KNBR knows; they've cut the postgame short.
-MSH
It certainly seemed that way last night, as the top of the first for S.F. was, as I like to say now, "Straight Up? Straight Down." - down, down in order easily.
And Sanchez gave a leadoff walk to the Dodgers' hottest hitter (16 straight games with a hit - to be exact), Matt Kemp. Kemp stole second easily after the ball flew out of Molina's hand. Dramatic Irony: the pitch struck out the series' most visible Dodger, Casey Blake. Sanchez also went to a 3-ball count with each of the first three batters. Predictably, Martin got a fastball middle-in and singled home Kemp. He also didn't get a first-pitch strike until the sixth batter - who came up to start the second inning. Given Sanchez's previous outing (though I did give him the benefit of the doubt), I was seriously wondering if it would be repeated. And I still did, although Molina did make up for his first slip and threw out Martin on a steal attempt, albeit closely.
Once again, Castillo's presence at 2B was highly questionable. In addition to moving to the bag on a pitch that wasn't a pick-off idea when Kemp was at second, leaving the left side WIDE OPEN, he also ran out on a Kent popper farther than he should have and dropped a ball that Rowand could have easily caught instead, one that hit his glove square in the heel. How we got out of that inning down only 1-0 was like getting picked up by your mom at school just as the bully walks out onto the front lawn.
Henceforth lay proof that the First-Inning Rule be true:
Top of the second inning? "Straight Up? Straight Down."
Top of the third? "Straight Up? Straight Down."
Bottom of the third? Sanchez finally gets a talking-to from Righetti after two batters reach in a row - Blake being walked. A base-hit to Martin gives the Dodgers 2-0, runners at the corners, 1 out, and three batters reaching in a row. Kent doubles easily in the gap, 3-0. Sac fly next, and a clever move by Sanchez to get the realistic tag-out at third, but the run scores anyway (once again because of a rule I don't understand - a force-out for the last out of the inning won't allow a run, but a tag-out for the last out will?): 4-0.
Top of the fourth? "Straight Up? Straight Down."
The only comforting sign through the first four innings was Sanchez getting Ethier in a double play in the bottom of the fourth, thanks to Castillo. But then of course, Castillo was playing too close to 2B, and Berroa was allowed to slap a single easily in the right infield gap.
(I don't mean to be negative by the way, just realistic in showing the truth of a first-inning assessment. It's not, as some may think, a book-cover judgment.)
Top of the fifth? Molina got a hit! Too bad Rowand double-played his AB that followed.
Even so, Sanchez was removed for Osiris Matos in the bottom of the fifth, whose name was humorously alluded to as "Greek" by Vin Scully here, though of course the explanation was for Egyptian culture. Matos managed to get runners at the corners with no one out. Aurilia, by far my favorite veteran on the team, made another fantastic defensive play at third from a hot liner to save a run and make the next outs at least forceable. A fly out would do, and Osiris escaped with no ERA damage. Looks like the First-Inning Rule is technically "out of play" when the first SP leaves; but of course with the pattern already established by that time, very little changes historically.
Let me say to you that I like Gino Espineli a lot. He's a young, wild lefty, a Filipino (probably the second of such a background to make it to the bigs as a pitcher), and his windout is beautifully unconventional, stepping mostly to first than to home. As I may have mentioned before, he was named to the Olympic team but was replaced indirectly in the hands of fate by Nate [Scheirholtz] as a representative after being called up. His stirrups are old school. The only one on the team who wears them that way regularly is, you guessed it, good ol' Richie. He retired the side in the bottom sixth easily.
Winn got a hit in the top of the seventh, but Rowand - again - couldn't produce.
What I will say about Espineli is that his wacky delivery isn't all that great to hitters that know how to go with the direction of most of his pitches and slap it to RF. Blake did just that. Unfortunately for Gino, that hit also lost him his momentum and he walked Martin before being replaced by Romo. (A note: Bochy is getting quicker on replacements lately. This is something I like.) Romo is slowly warming up the likability factor; he struck out Kent on a nasty but precise curveball, and he's actually been effective in this series for limiting pre-existent danger.
Top of the eighth? "Straight Up? Straight down."
I don't have to mention the top of the ninth, except that Velez got the brunt of a close call and Castillo continued the ironic punishment of his existence and hit a double off the wall (too late, my friend); Flannery even sent him to home plater irrationally off a bloop single by Winn. Flannery is another story entirely; I once heard him interviewed saying he sends most of his runners because more often than not the throw to home was offline. I'm sorry, sir, but shouldn't you be thinking about particular circumstances more than gambling procedures?
There's really nothing to say about the Giants' offense; it doesn't exist. I don't know what's more pitiable: (A) the fact that the Giants went through 23 scoreless innings against L.A., or (B) that Vin Scully thought that was exceptional for us. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if he was just biased towards making Billingsley look good, probably better than he really is. Looks like S.F. ought to pay me to go to games, since apparently they score multiple runs and win even when they don't deserve to.
Moral of the story? Stay honest; at least watch the first inning. And for those who run fantasy-league teams, I would suggest looking at the probable pitcher lineups against the Giants and Padres, and pick them up if they're available. Chad Billingsley, who is now just 11-9, had a CG shutout. Final: 4-0, Dodgers.
All that's left to say is that still, once again the Dodgers are not in first place ;). And that I feel horrible for the boys in the radio studio who have to do postgame right now. KNBR knows; they've cut the postgame short.
-MSH
Aurilia Does Rhyme
With Minnesota. It's possible, but so was Winn to the Mets and Molina to the Yanks.
That idea for a blogging tribute to Richie feels more important with time, though.
And then there's the new rumor, from one of the players involved no less, that Mike Jacobs from Florida and Bengie are being swapped... *sigh*. Stop teasing me.
-MSH
That idea for a blogging tribute to Richie feels more important with time, though.
And then there's the new rumor, from one of the players involved no less, that Mike Jacobs from Florida and Bengie are being swapped... *sigh*. Stop teasing me.
-MSH
The Strangeness Continues
The title is a bit misleading, I'll grant that. But the game was full of potentiality that was robbed by a mixture of odd play, and our good ol' fashioned tom-foolery. There were a few bright spots in the 2-0 loss, including Matt Cain's strong and gutsy performance - as usual. Here's a quick run-down by notable inning:
Top 1st: Castillo is robbed of a hit by Blake with the kind of play at 3B that I am certain the Dodgers were finally hoping to see again. Given the rest of that inning's half, that may have prevented a run.
Bottom 2nd: Aurilia makes an error at 3B, to contrast Blake's play, though to be fair he was at least in the process of diving to get it. Thankfully, Matt is always in the mood to save himself from bad situations, and got out of the inning alive.
Top 4th: Classic Giants' veteran baserunning naivete; Winn had an easy steal of 2B, but on a poor throw decided to go around to 3B immediately. That's right, without checking to see if the backup player had the ball. Berroa did indeed, and Winn was caught a mile out from 3B, missing his helmet for comedic flair. Again, because of the deep fly to RF next, and Rowand's single, Winn would've scored. That makes the potential score 2-0 Giants, not Dodgers.
Bottom 6th: Richie had a brilliant stab at a line drive to make up for his error. The problem is that it led to another by Lewis. This because after Loney singled in a run - off a hanger that Cain hated himself for - and the Dodgers had been effectively forcing Cain into deep counts (without working 3-ball counts, mind you), Lewis' fielding error on a Blake bloop single moved the ball: from fair territory, onto, and then over the foul-ground wall. Lewis had to "reach over" the wall to get it, so the "ground-rule double" call was put into effect, allowing Kemp to score and Blake to go to 3B untouched.
(I would like a bit of explanation about this "out of play" deal, because I'm confused why it was ruled that way when it was clear that Lewis could still play it easily. Bochy's smart -- apparently he told the umps that OFs make catches over walls for outs all the time when they said the ball had gone "out of play", and that caused the second conference. The result of the second conference? "Two umpires saw it go out of play." Still no explanation of "out of play", and gang-up tactics to boot.)
This play from Lewis is solely responsible for the post title. This also means that the score was now 2-0 Dodgers, not Giants. And by the end of the inning, Matt had thrown 36 pitches thanks to 15 foul-offs, and still he only allowed 1 ER. Cain had also toughed out a ball hit off his right shin earlier, without so much as rubbing it.
Top 7th: Rowand (already 1-1 that night), was HBP for the second time in the evening. Intriguing, given his AVG against L.A.
Bottom 7th: Cain still threw in the 90s, but because he still has the 3rd-worst run support in the NL, and his pitch count a season-high 118, he had to come out after this scoreless inning. He finished with 8 Ks. And also my personal title of "The Player to Be Pitied".
Top 8th: Vizquel ended his night with being very good defensively, but grounding into two double plays and striking out once - the expected. Lewis did reach - but on an error. I'm a little confused on this ruling as well, because the error was given to Berroa even though Loney's glove clearly had the ball and the ball simply dropped as he was raising it off the ground, meaning Loney had a good chance and controlling the ball but could not.
Bottom 8th: Ozuma was caught on a pick-off from first, but in the relay process Bowker dropped the ball. I'm beginning to get worried about this from Bowker, as it's become more "commonplace" than "rookie mistake"; however, Hinshaw was able to strike out two and maintain his ERA.
Top 9th: Straight up, straight down.
It was a decent game, and certainly fit the rivalry with its odd occurrences. I would say that of anyone, Cain was the man to watch. Toughness, precision, and perseverance. Other than that, typical average-quality play from S.F.
-MSH
Top 1st: Castillo is robbed of a hit by Blake with the kind of play at 3B that I am certain the Dodgers were finally hoping to see again. Given the rest of that inning's half, that may have prevented a run.
Bottom 2nd: Aurilia makes an error at 3B, to contrast Blake's play, though to be fair he was at least in the process of diving to get it. Thankfully, Matt is always in the mood to save himself from bad situations, and got out of the inning alive.
Top 4th: Classic Giants' veteran baserunning naivete; Winn had an easy steal of 2B, but on a poor throw decided to go around to 3B immediately. That's right, without checking to see if the backup player had the ball. Berroa did indeed, and Winn was caught a mile out from 3B, missing his helmet for comedic flair. Again, because of the deep fly to RF next, and Rowand's single, Winn would've scored. That makes the potential score 2-0 Giants, not Dodgers.
Bottom 6th: Richie had a brilliant stab at a line drive to make up for his error. The problem is that it led to another by Lewis. This because after Loney singled in a run - off a hanger that Cain hated himself for - and the Dodgers had been effectively forcing Cain into deep counts (without working 3-ball counts, mind you), Lewis' fielding error on a Blake bloop single moved the ball: from fair territory, onto, and then over the foul-ground wall. Lewis had to "reach over" the wall to get it, so the "ground-rule double" call was put into effect, allowing Kemp to score and Blake to go to 3B untouched.
(I would like a bit of explanation about this "out of play" deal, because I'm confused why it was ruled that way when it was clear that Lewis could still play it easily. Bochy's smart -- apparently he told the umps that OFs make catches over walls for outs all the time when they said the ball had gone "out of play", and that caused the second conference. The result of the second conference? "Two umpires saw it go out of play." Still no explanation of "out of play", and gang-up tactics to boot.)
This play from Lewis is solely responsible for the post title. This also means that the score was now 2-0 Dodgers, not Giants. And by the end of the inning, Matt had thrown 36 pitches thanks to 15 foul-offs, and still he only allowed 1 ER. Cain had also toughed out a ball hit off his right shin earlier, without so much as rubbing it.
Top 7th: Rowand (already 1-1 that night), was HBP for the second time in the evening. Intriguing, given his AVG against L.A.
Bottom 7th: Cain still threw in the 90s, but because he still has the 3rd-worst run support in the NL, and his pitch count a season-high 118, he had to come out after this scoreless inning. He finished with 8 Ks. And also my personal title of "The Player to Be Pitied".
Top 8th: Vizquel ended his night with being very good defensively, but grounding into two double plays and striking out once - the expected. Lewis did reach - but on an error. I'm a little confused on this ruling as well, because the error was given to Berroa even though Loney's glove clearly had the ball and the ball simply dropped as he was raising it off the ground, meaning Loney had a good chance and controlling the ball but could not.
Bottom 8th: Ozuma was caught on a pick-off from first, but in the relay process Bowker dropped the ball. I'm beginning to get worried about this from Bowker, as it's become more "commonplace" than "rookie mistake"; however, Hinshaw was able to strike out two and maintain his ERA.
Top 9th: Straight up, straight down.
It was a decent game, and certainly fit the rivalry with its odd occurrences. I would say that of anyone, Cain was the man to watch. Toughness, precision, and perseverance. Other than that, typical average-quality play from S.F.
-MSH
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
How (And How Not) To Get It Done
S.F. is now 1 for 1 when I am at Dodger Stadium. For those who like it straight-up, here's the box and wrap. Thank you; I am quite proud of them, myself. Hence the title.
But the title also implies how not to get things done. And what I was not proud of, visibly and vocally (in an explanative, not expletive, fashion), was further proof of my "(mis)management conspiracy" theory to throw this team into the Bay with player rotation. In addition to Ralph Barbieri's fantastic tirade this afternoon which furthered my post on Lincecum's removal Saturday, I got to witness first-hand what Bochy's idiocy means for this team. More on that later.
We can allow a little indulgence into the good of the game itself, but it was honestly a weird game. Strange. Had a humid "feel" to it's weirdness. First of all, we scored seven runs without first allowing the Dodgers a hit. I was feeling proud of Kevin Correia. Especially since our own run seemed to start when he got a two-run single himself with two outs, after Vizquel struck out chasing (bad) sliders.
I was also feeling proud of the umpires from a biased point of view, because there were three consecutive, very close calls in a row that kept our run-streak alive in the fourth: a plate tag (couldn't see it), Lewis beating a throw at first (did see it and it looked a tie, which means I functionally didn't see it), and Ethier's "catch" in RF hitting the ground before his glove (which I couldn't see for other people in the way). After those were done, we played a contact-hitting game. This is really the only way we score, and it explains why we score in bunches. Think of it like the baseball equivalent to bopping squirrels on the head at an arcade. It's frenzied, and it's erratic, but you get on a roll.
However after the run amazement, and the umpiring amazement (which was not done for the night), came the necessary growing pains of our youth. In the fourth, we almost gave up a run. Bochy left Correia in. OK, maybe. Then in the fifth, the Dodgers actually scored five runs, with no one out. Righetti talks to Correia after the second run comes in. Nice talk. Lewis misfielded what should have been a single, making it a two run double.
Then on a bunt, Bowker starts towards the ball. Too bad the ball had only gone six inches - an easy play for Molina. Except Bowker wasn't at first, and because he was moving back while Molina had the ball, Castillo didn't know whether to stand at first or not. Bowker decided that for him by backing off but too late, and Molina threw it. Why? Who knows. But Castillo, who should have been there to back Bowker up anyway, was not in place for it and lost it entirely. Did I mention that earlier in the inning, Castillo had made an erroneous throw to let Loney on base in the first place? Let me say this: You shouldn't be surprised.
Given that Correia was still in at this point, the following is the second piece of evidence for the mismanagement theory: Castillo at 2B. Excuse me, but you already have Bowker to play 1B, and Rich Aurilia to play at 3B, and sometimes 1B. Castillo can split time at 3B, though everyone in their right mind prefers Richie, which they should. (He was one of the only consistent areas of hope on both sides of the ball tonight - he hit when he had to and fielded where it would be necessary to make the best play. And of course he still has the right spirit about him on the field: gritty, versatile, calculating, and unsung.) The point here is that you've just freed Durham so that Burriss and Velez can grow out of their youth. Castillo has no place at 2B, ever.
The third piece of evidence, and the rest of it actually, is pitching. After giving up five runs in the fifth, Bochy left Correia in to bat, and then in to get one out in the sixth. This was insane; when Correia left, a runner was on second and it was 7-6. Bochy gained nothing by leaving Correia in, except another way to self-destruct his team.
Fourth piece of evidence: bringing in Hinshaw, who has the best ERA in the 'pen, to face one batter. Yes, Hinshaw walked him; yes, lefty-to-lefty is a good matchup; but this was the bottom of the sixth. Let the man finish it out. Romo did that instead, and awkwardly. Romo did not return.
Instead (the fifth piece), Walker was given the ball in the seventh. Yes, Mr.-Blow-It. Did we have luck? Fortunately, yes. But the first out was a mistaken swing at a bad pitch in the dirt, the second out was a fly out, and the third out was Rowand at the track. Kent's hit for that out looked gone to me immediately. Toward any other place in that park except dead-center, it would be. Walker did not do that smoothly, at all.
Then came the fun (no more evidence for this game). Taschner is now the setup man, apparently, and so got the ball in the eighth. (By now, of course, the Giant offense had committed to its default attitude of forcing the pitching to win the game - I believe it possible that we were hitless for the last 5 1/3 innings.) The best out was the second one, because newcomer Casey Blake was called out on a check swing. Now, I don't have a problem with Dodger fans wanting to see it as a bad call; I understand it. But Blake both crossed the plate with his bat, and had his bat angled towards the pitcher - even if just for a split-second, either of those things counts. Blake had done both. I won't argue it, but I was looking right at it, from the first base side, perpendicular to the right face of the plate. Blake argued it, because it was appealed to the 1B umpire, and after going into the dugout was then thrown out for God-knows-what by the home plate umpire. Blake ran from the dugout to the 1B umpire, for a moment as if it were an impending brawl. Welcome to the rivalry, Mr. Casey-At-The-Bat.
Then Torre was there with him; soon - and also inevitably - Torre was thrown out. I understand that you need to stand up for your players, and argue, but getting thrown out when you still have a (very) realistic chance at winning apart from a possible (but not actual) bad call is a huge mistake. The Dodgers never recovered from it, though Torre left to a standing ovation.
Something to further the weirdness was the arrest and manhandling of an errant and surprising fan by four or five security officers, who had to follow the man into the Giants' dugout. It was actually a bit frightening. We were on the 1B side, as I mentioned, and it was an absolute treat to see the boys in orange that close again (the first time in years, actually, because of the proximity to the dugout itself). But it also gave a great view for the man getting cuffed and carried out like a hot dog, being held face-down and parallel to the ground. I have no clue what he wanted, but he had a black jacket on and if he was a S.F. fan, that's completely uncalled for. I can understand if a Dodger fan gets in there because, hey, it's rivalry. But don't do that to your own team when they're losing a huge lead and just barely hanging onto it.
There was also the incident with Vizquel tossing his hat from the dugout to a lucky guy in the premiere box. This poor man then had it taken from him by a security guard so that Vizquel, obviously a little confused, had to give the man a ball instead. What, a player's hat is illegal to give out? Why? "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that could encourage a fan to keep being devoted to the game; I'll make sure not to do that ever again." What's next, no baseballs tossed to fans? I already miss the old-school gray on the under-bill of the cap, for autographing. Idiocy, everywhere. I don't get it.
But all is well that ends well. Brian Wilson is the workhorse of this team right now, without question. At least in his attitude. Aurilia has the attitude, and Lincecum and Cain have it by-default, but Wilson has it every day: the stonefire eyes, the chiseled stance, the passion, tenacity, and hardcore intensity that we've not seen since Nen, and perhaps Beck. For God's sake, the man threw one inning, struck out two, threw over 80% of his pitches for strikes, and hit 100mph or more on the radar at least five times. The man's a human animal.
I love it. I may even adopt his facial hair pattern.
-MSH
But the title also implies how not to get things done. And what I was not proud of, visibly and vocally (in an explanative, not expletive, fashion), was further proof of my "(mis)management conspiracy" theory to throw this team into the Bay with player rotation. In addition to Ralph Barbieri's fantastic tirade this afternoon which furthered my post on Lincecum's removal Saturday, I got to witness first-hand what Bochy's idiocy means for this team. More on that later.
We can allow a little indulgence into the good of the game itself, but it was honestly a weird game. Strange. Had a humid "feel" to it's weirdness. First of all, we scored seven runs without first allowing the Dodgers a hit. I was feeling proud of Kevin Correia. Especially since our own run seemed to start when he got a two-run single himself with two outs, after Vizquel struck out chasing (bad) sliders.
I was also feeling proud of the umpires from a biased point of view, because there were three consecutive, very close calls in a row that kept our run-streak alive in the fourth: a plate tag (couldn't see it), Lewis beating a throw at first (did see it and it looked a tie, which means I functionally didn't see it), and Ethier's "catch" in RF hitting the ground before his glove (which I couldn't see for other people in the way). After those were done, we played a contact-hitting game. This is really the only way we score, and it explains why we score in bunches. Think of it like the baseball equivalent to bopping squirrels on the head at an arcade. It's frenzied, and it's erratic, but you get on a roll.
However after the run amazement, and the umpiring amazement (which was not done for the night), came the necessary growing pains of our youth. In the fourth, we almost gave up a run. Bochy left Correia in. OK, maybe. Then in the fifth, the Dodgers actually scored five runs, with no one out. Righetti talks to Correia after the second run comes in. Nice talk. Lewis misfielded what should have been a single, making it a two run double.
Then on a bunt, Bowker starts towards the ball. Too bad the ball had only gone six inches - an easy play for Molina. Except Bowker wasn't at first, and because he was moving back while Molina had the ball, Castillo didn't know whether to stand at first or not. Bowker decided that for him by backing off but too late, and Molina threw it. Why? Who knows. But Castillo, who should have been there to back Bowker up anyway, was not in place for it and lost it entirely. Did I mention that earlier in the inning, Castillo had made an erroneous throw to let Loney on base in the first place? Let me say this: You shouldn't be surprised.
Given that Correia was still in at this point, the following is the second piece of evidence for the mismanagement theory: Castillo at 2B. Excuse me, but you already have Bowker to play 1B, and Rich Aurilia to play at 3B, and sometimes 1B. Castillo can split time at 3B, though everyone in their right mind prefers Richie, which they should. (He was one of the only consistent areas of hope on both sides of the ball tonight - he hit when he had to and fielded where it would be necessary to make the best play. And of course he still has the right spirit about him on the field: gritty, versatile, calculating, and unsung.) The point here is that you've just freed Durham so that Burriss and Velez can grow out of their youth. Castillo has no place at 2B, ever.
The third piece of evidence, and the rest of it actually, is pitching. After giving up five runs in the fifth, Bochy left Correia in to bat, and then in to get one out in the sixth. This was insane; when Correia left, a runner was on second and it was 7-6. Bochy gained nothing by leaving Correia in, except another way to self-destruct his team.
Fourth piece of evidence: bringing in Hinshaw, who has the best ERA in the 'pen, to face one batter. Yes, Hinshaw walked him; yes, lefty-to-lefty is a good matchup; but this was the bottom of the sixth. Let the man finish it out. Romo did that instead, and awkwardly. Romo did not return.
Instead (the fifth piece), Walker was given the ball in the seventh. Yes, Mr.-Blow-It. Did we have luck? Fortunately, yes. But the first out was a mistaken swing at a bad pitch in the dirt, the second out was a fly out, and the third out was Rowand at the track. Kent's hit for that out looked gone to me immediately. Toward any other place in that park except dead-center, it would be. Walker did not do that smoothly, at all.
Then came the fun (no more evidence for this game). Taschner is now the setup man, apparently, and so got the ball in the eighth. (By now, of course, the Giant offense had committed to its default attitude of forcing the pitching to win the game - I believe it possible that we were hitless for the last 5 1/3 innings.) The best out was the second one, because newcomer Casey Blake was called out on a check swing. Now, I don't have a problem with Dodger fans wanting to see it as a bad call; I understand it. But Blake both crossed the plate with his bat, and had his bat angled towards the pitcher - even if just for a split-second, either of those things counts. Blake had done both. I won't argue it, but I was looking right at it, from the first base side, perpendicular to the right face of the plate. Blake argued it, because it was appealed to the 1B umpire, and after going into the dugout was then thrown out for God-knows-what by the home plate umpire. Blake ran from the dugout to the 1B umpire, for a moment as if it were an impending brawl. Welcome to the rivalry, Mr. Casey-At-The-Bat.
Then Torre was there with him; soon - and also inevitably - Torre was thrown out. I understand that you need to stand up for your players, and argue, but getting thrown out when you still have a (very) realistic chance at winning apart from a possible (but not actual) bad call is a huge mistake. The Dodgers never recovered from it, though Torre left to a standing ovation.
Something to further the weirdness was the arrest and manhandling of an errant and surprising fan by four or five security officers, who had to follow the man into the Giants' dugout. It was actually a bit frightening. We were on the 1B side, as I mentioned, and it was an absolute treat to see the boys in orange that close again (the first time in years, actually, because of the proximity to the dugout itself). But it also gave a great view for the man getting cuffed and carried out like a hot dog, being held face-down and parallel to the ground. I have no clue what he wanted, but he had a black jacket on and if he was a S.F. fan, that's completely uncalled for. I can understand if a Dodger fan gets in there because, hey, it's rivalry. But don't do that to your own team when they're losing a huge lead and just barely hanging onto it.
There was also the incident with Vizquel tossing his hat from the dugout to a lucky guy in the premiere box. This poor man then had it taken from him by a security guard so that Vizquel, obviously a little confused, had to give the man a ball instead. What, a player's hat is illegal to give out? Why? "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that could encourage a fan to keep being devoted to the game; I'll make sure not to do that ever again." What's next, no baseballs tossed to fans? I already miss the old-school gray on the under-bill of the cap, for autographing. Idiocy, everywhere. I don't get it.
But all is well that ends well. Brian Wilson is the workhorse of this team right now, without question. At least in his attitude. Aurilia has the attitude, and Lincecum and Cain have it by-default, but Wilson has it every day: the stonefire eyes, the chiseled stance, the passion, tenacity, and hardcore intensity that we've not seen since Nen, and perhaps Beck. For God's sake, the man threw one inning, struck out two, threw over 80% of his pitches for strikes, and hit 100mph or more on the radar at least five times. The man's a human animal.
I love it. I may even adopt his facial hair pattern.
-MSH
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Winning A Series At Home
... is something the Giants seemed to have a phobia against. Until last night. Thanks to Bengie Molina (who went 3-4 with 2 doubles), Vizquel (who apparently got Bochy's hint and has finally starting heating up - he had 3 hits), and Aurilia showing his old form with a well-placed 2-run gapper in the 8th inning, S.F. came from behind to win 6-4 last night.
Granted, it was against the Nationals. But I ain't picky, this season. The last time they won back to back at home it was, I believe, April. What can I say, the kid was wearing his gear yesterday:
Wilson is single-handedly and quite literally saving our season. The man has 27 saves in 29 attempts. His ERA, once a concern, has been steadily dropping for the past [playing] month. I will say it again: Hit the deck; it's the ghost of Rod Beck.
I'm feeling a tribute-to-Richie post.
-MSH
Granted, it was against the Nationals. But I ain't picky, this season. The last time they won back to back at home it was, I believe, April. What can I say, the kid was wearing his gear yesterday:
Wilson is single-handedly and quite literally saving our season. The man has 27 saves in 29 attempts. His ERA, once a concern, has been steadily dropping for the past [playing] month. I will say it again: Hit the deck; it's the ghost of Rod Beck.
I'm feeling a tribute-to-Richie post.
-MSH
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