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

The Day After Caray

The title exists because it's more important to acknowledge the death of Skip Caray, and also to indicate the kind of feel this game had before it had even begun. No win on this particular day would be so important to overshadow the continuing Caray family legacy. He had his own personality on air, and he had just as much class off the field.

Nevertheless, there was a game to be played, and the Braves put on the mound a man who has been a diamond in the rough of injuries and trades, a 10-game winner that point: Jair Jurrjens. Jair came in winning his last four road starts with an ERA of 0.30. S.F., on the other hand, put the ball in the right hand of a should-be-at-least-a-10-game winner: Matt Cain; a man for whom the Giants have scored eight runs in his last seven starts. (Just to emphasize the tragedy of this, Cain is fifth in the NL for strikeouts; we've also won less than 50 games with Lincecum first and Sanchez tenth on that same list.) Even though Matt had given up only four runs in his last 29 innings, do you think the 0.30 ERA was going to be a toughie to continue for Jurrjens? Well guess what? It was. More on that later. But still, the only thing that could neutralize the fact that the Braves have the third-worst record on the road is the fact that we have the worst record at home.

This expectation about our offense when Matt starts is one of the reasons, most likely the primary one, you're not getting a perfectly-ordered per-inning rundown tonight. Here's the wrap, to compensate. If you're really upset about that lack of viewer-nuancing of mind, do something productive and write a letter to players like Randy Winn. Hey, Vizquel is man enough to encourage the youth to play in his spot and learn from him.

Beautiful once again to see, the youth were in full force: our "Great Frisco Hope". Ochoa (SS), Lewis (LF), Holm (C) and Burriss (2B) started, to join the 23-year old Cain. I really like Holm, and the fact both that he's been doing well offensively and catching Cain regularly (every time for the last three weeks, too), is telling me that both may be sticking around a long time. Burriss delights particularly of late - though each is worth seeing for this time in the franchise's transition. For example, he always looks for where the OFs are playing when he's on-base, to try and read the pitch and his ability to score given certain circumstances. His awareness, gutsy play and knowledge of little things like that make him "The Player To Be Watched" for us for the rest of the season, without question.

He and Ochoa turned a nice double-play in the 1st inning. Burriss' made a nice play to get a close out in the 3rd, the second of two such plays in a row.

Burriss got a hit early on; unfortunately he got the brunt of a close call on a pitchout and didn't get a chance to make good on his speed; he was clearly safe on the replay.

Oh My Scapegoat was in tonight at 3B. That's pretty much the only thing productive to know about him.

One hard luck occurrence at 3B on the other side of the ball as well: in the bottom of the 1st when after having runners at 1B and 2B with one out, Rowand - you Offensive Genius, you (you'll read why later) - grounded in such a way to have Winn thrown out at 3B. Bowker retired the side with a slow roller to 2B. Inning over.

The interesting thing is that Winn himself reached base in his first two ABs. He advanced the second time because Ochoa singled up the middle.

Another interesting thing tonight for the lineup was that Lewis was in the three-hole. Apparently, along with making a decision to start the youth almost every day, Bochy's also decided to make Lewis a run-producer. His seven HRs as a leadoff do make it a novel idea, but I wasn't complaining in the 3rd. Lewis showed his speed then (which is why he was a leadoff in the first place), and avoided being the second out of a DP. Lewis ran on the first pitch of the next AB, and Rowand showed a surprising RBI single. Winn scored easily from 3B, and Lewis made it to 3B as well.

So we were up 1-0, with one out and runners at the corners. A botched grounder to Escobar by Bowker led to Lewis scoring, 2-0 S.F. Castillo grounded out to Kotchman to end the inning, but two runs by the end of just three innings is never anything to cause disappointment. Especially when Cain is pitching. And he was pitching well.

It was at this point the fog rolled into the park. Yes, I'm being surreal, because McCann walked and then Kotchman was HBP - very rare for Matthew. Thankfully, Cain got a pop-up to Winn and a grounder to "The Man"ny Burriss to escape completely unscathed. Well, I do love the fog you know. Gotcha there, didn't I? The problem is that even my love of the fog couldn't keep Matt out of trouble.

There were two very unusual things to happen from that moment. We scored more than two runs, and Matt couldn't get out of trouble with his own control. Granted, this loss of control could have been because of all his action in the bottom of the 4th. Matthew singled in the bottom of the fourth with two out and no one on; Winn reached because of an error by the 2B; and because of a fielding error by the same guy on a hit by Ochoa and a late throw home, Cain scored to help his own cause - which, by the way, he does an awful lot. Matt is a perfect NL pitcher; he strikes people out, he has fantastic control (he's not all about one pitch), he gets out of most jams, and he hits. You can't take it easy on his ABs. End of four: 3-0.

Unfortunately, Kotchman got a 2-out triple in the top of the 5th (the first of only two baserunners allowed past second by Cain for the night), and Infante singled him home. Matt got out of it, but the seventh was not so kind, which brings us to another surprise: Winn's perfomance.

Randy went an amazing 3-4 with a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, thanks again to another youngster showing up before him: Steve Holm. In addition to this, he possibly saved the game defensively by making an amazingly calculated catch on a deep drive by Norton in the seventh. This was important, because the next batter walked, the following batter doubled, and the third batter to follow Norton walked as well. Yes, that's bases loaded. So that would be all for Matthew, too, but he ended with 6 2/3 innings, 6 Ks, and only 1 ER. Thanks to going 1-3 with R on the other side of the plate, he also ended with a W. Congratulations Matt. You are no longer The Pitcher To Be Pitied.

7th: Cain was removed for Tasch, and Tasch got out of the inning. He got McCann with the bases loaded - the only guy who could have realistically done damage, and historically 3-7 (now) against Jack.

8th: Walker almost blew it after relieving Tasch in the eighth, but only gave up one run.



9th:
Brian Wilson. Is. The Shizzle. A ground ball out to compensate for a bad opening count for the first out; a called strikeout for the second; a low-low-high fastball combination for a swinging K. End of game. 22 saves in a row; 31 saves to lead the NL. To hell with the stats, this kid's on fire. Unreal. Say it with me, please: "Hit the deck; it's the ghost of Rod Beck."

A few awards now.

Player(s) To Be Pitied: NONE.

Player(s) To Be Noted: Ivan Ochoa (2-3, RBI, BB); Steve Holm (2-3, BB, R); Jack Taschner (huge final out in 7th)

Player(s) To Be Lauded: Randy Winn (3-4, BB, RBI, R, steal, defense); Matt Cain (W, 6.2IP, 6K, 1ER); Brian Wilson (SV - 31, 2K)

FINAL: 4-2, S.F.


We've won three of the last four,
and the fog keeps rolling.
Enough said.

-MSH