I'm not sure how to start this. Perhaps with these words:
Today finalized our first series win in Atlanta since 1993. That's 22 straight, and 18 of those were straight series losses down in Georgia. The victory today made the series three games out of four.
How did it happen? Glad you asked. Multiple ways:
The Braves pitcher, Campillo, was messy all day, especially in the 1st when we set the pace early with three runs. Zito was fantastic (note again, on the road), allowing just five hits and no runs over seven innings. Yabu actually pitched well in relief again, as he used to early in the season. Burriss was 1-4 with a run; Ishikawa the same. Roberts 1-3 with a run; Rowand 1-3 with a HR. Pablo Sandoval was 2-4 with a run as well. Even Romo, recalled from Fresno, retired the 9th inning easily.
FINAL: 5-0, ATL
Unreal. Just unreal.
-MSH
PS -> Please notice, this is once again after starting multiple youth.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
A Pitcher's Importance
Jack Taschner owes Wilson one-half of his salary for this game. He owes Lincecum the other half.
Remember that Tim was coming off a potentially freak injury to his knee from last game. Lincecum had two hit shutout going into the 8th inning and leading 3-0, when a walk and single after getting two outs was cause enough (?) for Bochy to replace him. With Jack Taschner. "Lefty specialist", is what they call Jack. He certainly isn't any better than against right-handers. With a three-run cushion, Tasch gave up a single and a run in his only batter faced: 3-1, S.F. Wilson was called in to clean up before closing, which he did in typical Manimal style, striking out the last two outs of three.
By far, the most notable players were Burriss, Winn and Ishikawa. Winn was only 1-3 today (he's hitting around .450 for the month), but it was a triple, and he scored because Burriss knocked him in. Burriss himself was 2-4. But the real note was Ishikawa. Not only does this guy know how to play defensively, but he's continuing his hot hitting from the minors: today, 2-4, with a HR in the 2nd inning. Did we mention this is his third major league game?
FINAL: 3-1, S.F.
Remember that Tim was coming off a potentially freak injury to his knee from last game. Lincecum had two hit shutout going into the 8th inning and leading 3-0, when a walk and single after getting two outs was cause enough (?) for Bochy to replace him. With Jack Taschner. "Lefty specialist", is what they call Jack. He certainly isn't any better than against right-handers. With a three-run cushion, Tasch gave up a single and a run in his only batter faced: 3-1, S.F. Wilson was called in to clean up before closing, which he did in typical Manimal style, striking out the last two outs of three.
By far, the most notable players were Burriss, Winn and Ishikawa. Winn was only 1-3 today (he's hitting around .450 for the month), but it was a triple, and he scored because Burriss knocked him in. Burriss himself was 2-4. But the real note was Ishikawa. Not only does this guy know how to play defensively, but he's continuing his hot hitting from the minors: today, 2-4, with a HR in the 2nd inning. Did we mention this is his third major league game?
FINAL: 3-1, S.F.
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Blowout Awaiting
The first thing you need to know for your expectations for tonight's game is this:
Sanchez was scratched for shoulder strain, and Matt Palmer - someone I'd never heard of, even out of the bullpen - got the start. Palmer's a callup, but he's 29 years old.
Molina grounded into a DP in the 1st, though we had a runner on 2B to start the inning, and another runner on 1B with one out. Palmer hit someone on a 0-2 count, and then walked the third batter.
Sandoval got his first major-league hit in the 2nd with two out, while Burriss walked to follow. Palmer, amazingly, nearly hit a double but was foul with it. Strike three was called. Palmer walked the leadoff, giving them three free baserunners in the first two innings - with no hits. That first hit would come as a RBI double on a 2-0 pitch. The next batter? Sacrifice. The next batter? RBI single. 2-0, ATL
The top of the 3rd was worse for us, because it was three straight ground outs. Ground outs are worse than strikeouts, in my opinion, because they waste more of the batter's energy - thus wearing the batter down more than necessary; and on average they are also committed on far less pitches - thus not wearing the pitcher down as much. S.F. was lucky while giving up another run; McCann gave us an out by misreading baserunning signs. Nevertheless, the Braves scored a run easily on Infante's hit, who advanced to 3B because of the out at home. The next batter walked; the following batter had a RBI single; the batter after him had a RBI single. Hinshaw would come in from the 'pen... in the 3rd inning. At this point, I honestly stopped keeping track of everything. It was blown beyond recognition. But they did add another run. 6-0, ATL
Please don't blame me if I have nothing further. What else can I say, honestly? So I'll spare you the rest. Yes we got runs; yes the youth was solid; no it wasn't near enough:
FINAL: 11-5, ATL
-MSH
Sanchez was scratched for shoulder strain, and Matt Palmer - someone I'd never heard of, even out of the bullpen - got the start. Palmer's a callup, but he's 29 years old.
Molina grounded into a DP in the 1st, though we had a runner on 2B to start the inning, and another runner on 1B with one out. Palmer hit someone on a 0-2 count, and then walked the third batter.
Sandoval got his first major-league hit in the 2nd with two out, while Burriss walked to follow. Palmer, amazingly, nearly hit a double but was foul with it. Strike three was called. Palmer walked the leadoff, giving them three free baserunners in the first two innings - with no hits. That first hit would come as a RBI double on a 2-0 pitch. The next batter? Sacrifice. The next batter? RBI single. 2-0, ATL
The top of the 3rd was worse for us, because it was three straight ground outs. Ground outs are worse than strikeouts, in my opinion, because they waste more of the batter's energy - thus wearing the batter down more than necessary; and on average they are also committed on far less pitches - thus not wearing the pitcher down as much. S.F. was lucky while giving up another run; McCann gave us an out by misreading baserunning signs. Nevertheless, the Braves scored a run easily on Infante's hit, who advanced to 3B because of the out at home. The next batter walked; the following batter had a RBI single; the batter after him had a RBI single. Hinshaw would come in from the 'pen... in the 3rd inning. At this point, I honestly stopped keeping track of everything. It was blown beyond recognition. But they did add another run. 6-0, ATL
Please don't blame me if I have nothing further. What else can I say, honestly? So I'll spare you the rest. Yes we got runs; yes the youth was solid; no it wasn't near enough:
FINAL: 11-5, ATL
-MSH
Historical Pose
OK, I don't mean to be presumptuous, but the signing of Buster Posey last night could be huge, and here's why:
- He won every major college award for 2008.
- He won the Golden Spikes award. The last two Giants to do that are Tim Lincecum and Will Clark. Hello.
Read it and enjoy.
-MSH
- He won every major college award for 2008.
- He won the Golden Spikes award. The last two Giants to do that are Tim Lincecum and Will Clark. Hello.
Read it and enjoy.
-MSH
Friday, August 15, 2008
Gifts and Gaffs
That's how I'd describe tonight's game in a phrase. Here's why:
Fred Lewis was given 2B in the 1st, which Molina turned into a run with a single. Dave Roberts' steal of 2B in the 3rd was more work, but Jurrjens' WP gave Roberts 3B. Winn sac flied; Roberts scored easily. 2-0, S.F. Roberts got the brunt of a close call later in the game, which would've widened the margin more.
Kotsay was given 3B on a WP from Cain as well, who otherwise pitched very well - solid as usual. Kotsay scored off of Jones' single, however. 2-1, S.F.
When Jurrjens was replaced, things fell apart for the Braves. Ohman gave up a solo shot to Winn - 3-1, S.F. Ohman was replaced, but that didn't help either - Lewis scored again off of a single by newcomer (who can really play, by the way) Travis Ishikawa. 4-1, S.F. Runners advanced on the LF error (another gift), and hen the Braves loaded the bases with a BB.
This is biggest gaff of the rundown: we had the bases loaded with no one out, and couldn't score anymore.
We made up for that, however, when Mr. Winn got another hit, this a near triple that bounced over the wall. Lewis got a gift BB; Molina singled. Lewis was thrown out at 3B, but Winn scored easily. 5-1, S.F. Lewis would have scored on the subsequent double by Ishikawa, but Burriss struck out to end the inning.
All I really have to say about this game is: "Yay For Youth!" Ishikawa is now 3-8 in his first two Major League games, playing unbelievable 1B defense; he credits God (as Lewis does) and relaxes. I like him - a lot. His enthused but stoic approach is a lot like the 23-year-old Cain, who was solid again - and this time he got a W. Ochoa's defense is still incredible, and reliable. Burriss adds a work ethic to position playing I have rarely seen in this team for the last few years, apart from Winn (who was 4-4, again). Wilson closed the game impeccably with the exception of a walk, again. I can't remember the last time we won this handly, although I'm sure we've done it a few times this year. All I'm going to say is that it is obviously easier when you have excited, young talent instead.
Magic number to avoid the second 100-loss season in team history: just 12.
FINAL: 5-1, S.F.
-MSH
Fred Lewis was given 2B in the 1st, which Molina turned into a run with a single. Dave Roberts' steal of 2B in the 3rd was more work, but Jurrjens' WP gave Roberts 3B. Winn sac flied; Roberts scored easily. 2-0, S.F. Roberts got the brunt of a close call later in the game, which would've widened the margin more.
Kotsay was given 3B on a WP from Cain as well, who otherwise pitched very well - solid as usual. Kotsay scored off of Jones' single, however. 2-1, S.F.
When Jurrjens was replaced, things fell apart for the Braves. Ohman gave up a solo shot to Winn - 3-1, S.F. Ohman was replaced, but that didn't help either - Lewis scored again off of a single by newcomer (who can really play, by the way) Travis Ishikawa. 4-1, S.F. Runners advanced on the LF error (another gift), and hen the Braves loaded the bases with a BB.
This is biggest gaff of the rundown: we had the bases loaded with no one out, and couldn't score anymore.
We made up for that, however, when Mr. Winn got another hit, this a near triple that bounced over the wall. Lewis got a gift BB; Molina singled. Lewis was thrown out at 3B, but Winn scored easily. 5-1, S.F. Lewis would have scored on the subsequent double by Ishikawa, but Burriss struck out to end the inning.
All I really have to say about this game is: "Yay For Youth!" Ishikawa is now 3-8 in his first two Major League games, playing unbelievable 1B defense; he credits God (as Lewis does) and relaxes. I like him - a lot. His enthused but stoic approach is a lot like the 23-year-old Cain, who was solid again - and this time he got a W. Ochoa's defense is still incredible, and reliable. Burriss adds a work ethic to position playing I have rarely seen in this team for the last few years, apart from Winn (who was 4-4, again). Wilson closed the game impeccably with the exception of a walk, again. I can't remember the last time we won this handly, although I'm sure we've done it a few times this year. All I'm going to say is that it is obviously easier when you have excited, young talent instead.
Magic number to avoid the second 100-loss season in team history: just 12.
FINAL: 5-1, S.F.
-MSH
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Changing (Farm) Guards
Good news for us. I love McGowan; he saved the team from moving to Florida. He knew how to run the team from a business perspective. But his new successor has a much different focus, one that I completely agree with. Here's a quote from the article, with words out of his own mouth that I might actually be proud of if it's backed up:
I do hope that he means it; and with the signing of our top three picks in this year's draft, we're ready to follow through.
-MSH
The change at the top may signal a different direction. Under Magowan, the Giants spent freely on aging free agents, a tactic that some critics claim has led to their recent downfall. Under Neukom, expect the Giants to continue building the farm system.
"I don't pitch or field or hit," Neukom said. "My job is to work with professionals on the baseball side to make sure we have the talent that shows skills on the field. That means we've got to keep building our farm system and our coaches, because those are the people who teach so the kids can play the game in the Major Leagues at the highest level."
I do hope that he means it; and with the signing of our top three picks in this year's draft, we're ready to follow through.
-MSH
Hurricaning Youth
For the first time this season, and that I can remember, the Giants had six out of nine starters under the age of 29, thanks to the Giants sending up three new Fresno sensations. The starters' ages for today are as follows:
Velez: 26
Ochoa: 26
Rohlinger: 25
Ishikawa: 25
Sandoval: 22
Correia: 28
Lewis got in during the 2nd inning as well, for Rowand. Notice please from the list above that the oldest is the starting pitcher; all the rest are position players. If you count Burriss who was on the bench today, this means that we have six position players aged 26 or under. This lineup shocks, is far overdue, and therefore worth the majority of the post itself. The possibility of winning is not worth even a good portion, since you've seen what we're doing in Houston already, and apparently the Astros had won 7 in a row, and were 17-8 since the All-Star Break.
What else can I say when the Giants got two runs in the top of the 1st? Velez-Ochoa-Ishikawa also turned a DP in the bottom of the 1st. Velez himself got two 2-out singles, that eventually led to runs. Even Sandoval, who didn't have a notable game offensively, was great for sacrifice contact. Ochoa and Rohlinger hit hard as well, and were simply robbed by great defense out of the Houston 2B.
The problem, since there naturally has to be one, was Correia's lack of control; it's mostly mental. So, in my mind I sense that he pitches like Zito: the minute the other team gets any kind of momentum at all, he relies completely on the defense and his pitches get all kinds of off-center. We had a 2-0 and 3-1 leads, but Correia blew that by the 3rd inning. In the 4th, Ochoa made a "fantabulous" DP by running to the bag and then throwing to Ishikawa while rolling to the ground. Proof of this Zito Effect for Correia: after that play, he struck a batter out.
In the 6th, Lewis (replacing Rowand earlier in the game) hit a HR and then Ishikawa finally settled the nerves and had a standup double, although he did keep from advancing easily. I'm not really sure what to say about Correia, except that he usually has trouble in the middle of his starts, but does quite well after the first troubling inning. He retired eight batters in a row, and had only 79 pitches through six full innings.
Velez was robbed of another up-the-middle hit because the ball hit the pitcher and bounced perfectly to the 2B. Otherwise, we didn't have much to speak of on the Astro bullpen. But I'll tell you this: these kids must feel for each other, because Ochoa made a diving catch to save the tying run on 3B in the bottom of the 7th. He was barely there, too; just as so many of our batters had been robbed. The defense for our team is stellar, whether young or old. Without question. Except for Sandoval. I'm glad he's in, but I wonder why Holm was sent down, because although Sandoval had a few sacrifice hits, the unfortunate thing about him is that he had two passed balls. Both of those PBs made things very difficult. Bochy has told the players that he doesn't mind them making mistakes after just coming up, which I think is a good attitude; relaxed players do better anyway. Of course, you know that relaxing only does so much. Like when Taschner came in to face a lefty, instead of leaving Correia in, and ended up with a one-pitch single - giving up the lead. Correia wouldn't get the win. Taschner threw just the one pitch. Yabu got out of the inning.
In the 8th, Ishi walked. That was it. When Yabu gave up a leadoff single, he was replaced by Hinshaw. In two pitches, Hinshaw gave up a HR to Berkman. Granted that the pitch wasn't bad, such an outing isn't normal for Alex, Berkman is strong, and this park favors Berkman's strength... but the game was pretty much up at that point. It was clear that the management thought so at least, because they put Walker in, who of course gave up yet another run. Ochoa made a nice play to Velez to finish the inning, but Jon and Dave had to joke about Michael Bourn's Class-A hitting performance by calling him "The Bourn Out" to make this inning an honest laugher. Which leaves the primary positive for the game the same as it should have been all year: "Yay For Youth."
FINAL: 7-4, Houston.
We were swept.
Hope B.S. wept.
-MSH
Velez: 26
Ochoa: 26
Rohlinger: 25
Ishikawa: 25
Sandoval: 22
Correia: 28
Lewis got in during the 2nd inning as well, for Rowand. Notice please from the list above that the oldest is the starting pitcher; all the rest are position players. If you count Burriss who was on the bench today, this means that we have six position players aged 26 or under. This lineup shocks, is far overdue, and therefore worth the majority of the post itself. The possibility of winning is not worth even a good portion, since you've seen what we're doing in Houston already, and apparently the Astros had won 7 in a row, and were 17-8 since the All-Star Break.
What else can I say when the Giants got two runs in the top of the 1st? Velez-Ochoa-Ishikawa also turned a DP in the bottom of the 1st. Velez himself got two 2-out singles, that eventually led to runs. Even Sandoval, who didn't have a notable game offensively, was great for sacrifice contact. Ochoa and Rohlinger hit hard as well, and were simply robbed by great defense out of the Houston 2B.
The problem, since there naturally has to be one, was Correia's lack of control; it's mostly mental. So, in my mind I sense that he pitches like Zito: the minute the other team gets any kind of momentum at all, he relies completely on the defense and his pitches get all kinds of off-center. We had a 2-0 and 3-1 leads, but Correia blew that by the 3rd inning. In the 4th, Ochoa made a "fantabulous" DP by running to the bag and then throwing to Ishikawa while rolling to the ground. Proof of this Zito Effect for Correia: after that play, he struck a batter out.
In the 6th, Lewis (replacing Rowand earlier in the game) hit a HR and then Ishikawa finally settled the nerves and had a standup double, although he did keep from advancing easily. I'm not really sure what to say about Correia, except that he usually has trouble in the middle of his starts, but does quite well after the first troubling inning. He retired eight batters in a row, and had only 79 pitches through six full innings.
Velez was robbed of another up-the-middle hit because the ball hit the pitcher and bounced perfectly to the 2B. Otherwise, we didn't have much to speak of on the Astro bullpen. But I'll tell you this: these kids must feel for each other, because Ochoa made a diving catch to save the tying run on 3B in the bottom of the 7th. He was barely there, too; just as so many of our batters had been robbed. The defense for our team is stellar, whether young or old. Without question. Except for Sandoval. I'm glad he's in, but I wonder why Holm was sent down, because although Sandoval had a few sacrifice hits, the unfortunate thing about him is that he had two passed balls. Both of those PBs made things very difficult. Bochy has told the players that he doesn't mind them making mistakes after just coming up, which I think is a good attitude; relaxed players do better anyway. Of course, you know that relaxing only does so much. Like when Taschner came in to face a lefty, instead of leaving Correia in, and ended up with a one-pitch single - giving up the lead. Correia wouldn't get the win. Taschner threw just the one pitch. Yabu got out of the inning.
In the 8th, Ishi walked. That was it. When Yabu gave up a leadoff single, he was replaced by Hinshaw. In two pitches, Hinshaw gave up a HR to Berkman. Granted that the pitch wasn't bad, such an outing isn't normal for Alex, Berkman is strong, and this park favors Berkman's strength... but the game was pretty much up at that point. It was clear that the management thought so at least, because they put Walker in, who of course gave up yet another run. Ochoa made a nice play to Velez to finish the inning, but Jon and Dave had to joke about Michael Bourn's Class-A hitting performance by calling him "The Bourn Out" to make this inning an honest laugher. Which leaves the primary positive for the game the same as it should have been all year: "Yay For Youth."
FINAL: 7-4, Houston.
We were swept.
Hope B.S. wept.
-MSH
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Zito At His Most Expected
All you need to know for this game is that Zito had a one-hitter going into the bottom of the 6th, when we led 1-0. From that point, the Astros got an infield single and a bloop that no one could catch. This sent Zito reeling, unnecessarily.
The Astros did not get a single hit from that point on, but they somehow managed
to get six runs in. Zito walked four batters, including the pitcher, and hit a man (this was classic, by the way, since Zito had an 0-2 count on that one). Sadler came in to relieve him and the first batter he faced got hit. The second batter he faced got hit as well. Jon once called it horrifying; after this, he couldn't help being silent and then obviously flabbergasted. Three out of the last four batters were HBP. Hello? THREE OUT OF FOUR.
Twelve men batted for Houston that half-inning; two got hits, which were singles; four were hit; six of them scored.
Can you blame me for not giving anymore about the game? :) The only good news was that Castillo was not playing because we finally called up someone to play 3B: Ryan Rohlinger. In addition to this, two others were called up while Bowker (hitting fiasco) and Holm were sent to Fresno. The best news? Castillo was "designated for assignment".
Hallelujah!
FINAL: 6-2, Houston
Hell of a way to get swept, boys.
-MSH
The Astros did not get a single hit from that point on, but they somehow managed
to get six runs in. Zito walked four batters, including the pitcher, and hit a man (this was classic, by the way, since Zito had an 0-2 count on that one). Sadler came in to relieve him and the first batter he faced got hit. The second batter he faced got hit as well. Jon once called it horrifying; after this, he couldn't help being silent and then obviously flabbergasted. Three out of the last four batters were HBP. Hello? THREE OUT OF FOUR.
Twelve men batted for Houston that half-inning; two got hits, which were singles; four were hit; six of them scored.
Can you blame me for not giving anymore about the game? :) The only good news was that Castillo was not playing because we finally called up someone to play 3B: Ryan Rohlinger. In addition to this, two others were called up while Bowker (hitting fiasco) and Holm were sent to Fresno. The best news? Castillo was "designated for assignment".
Hallelujah!
FINAL: 6-2, Houston
Hell of a way to get swept, boys.
-MSH
When The Pitcher Gets Hit
All you need to know for this game is that Lincecum limped off the field in fifth inning off a come-backer; he later went to get his right knee x-rayed.
We got a few runners home on sac flies as we should to lead 3-2, but we had over a dozen runners left on base. And when Timmy the Kid leaves the game the following facts from last night should be expected:
Yabu retires a side; gets replaced by Hinshaw.
Hinshaw retires a side; gets one out in the 7th, walks someone, gets replaced by Walker. (An eerie note for our OMS Conspiracy: this is a double-switch here, Castillo defensively replacing Hinshaw.) However, please be reminded that at this point the score is still 3-2; the Astros have only two hits all game.
You can guess what happens next.
Walker faces two batters, giving up a hit and two runs; Walker gets replaced by Taschner.
Taschner faces four batters, giving up a GRANDSLAM and a double; replaced by Espineli.
Espineli faces batters, giving up a HR in three pitches first, before getting an out (which was the same batter as the first out of the inning: Michael Bourn), and then finishing the inning.
How good is your scorekeeping? Did you just realize that in 2/3 of an inning, three pitchers gave up 8 runs on 6 hits? In the 8th Hunter Pence had a HR, and Tejada doubled another run home, just to rub it in.
FINAL: 12-4, Houston
Here's the wrap, if you really want to verify this monstrosity. I wouldn't recommend it. What I would recommend is the wrap for Texas v. Boston tonight, the final score of which will floor you.
Not that this game wouldn't do the same thing. Just want you to be happily floored instead.
-MSH
We got a few runners home on sac flies as we should to lead 3-2, but we had over a dozen runners left on base. And when Timmy the Kid leaves the game the following facts from last night should be expected:
Yabu retires a side; gets replaced by Hinshaw.
Hinshaw retires a side; gets one out in the 7th, walks someone, gets replaced by Walker. (An eerie note for our OMS Conspiracy: this is a double-switch here, Castillo defensively replacing Hinshaw.) However, please be reminded that at this point the score is still 3-2; the Astros have only two hits all game.
You can guess what happens next.
Walker faces two batters, giving up a hit and two runs; Walker gets replaced by Taschner.
Taschner faces four batters, giving up a GRANDSLAM and a double; replaced by Espineli.
Espineli faces batters, giving up a HR in three pitches first, before getting an out (which was the same batter as the first out of the inning: Michael Bourn), and then finishing the inning.
How good is your scorekeeping? Did you just realize that in 2/3 of an inning, three pitchers gave up 8 runs on 6 hits? In the 8th Hunter Pence had a HR, and Tejada doubled another run home, just to rub it in.
FINAL: 12-4, Houston
Here's the wrap, if you really want to verify this monstrosity. I wouldn't recommend it. What I would recommend is the wrap for Texas v. Boston tonight, the final score of which will floor you.
Not that this game wouldn't do the same thing. Just want you to be happily floored instead.
-MSH
Monday, August 11, 2008
"Houston, We Have A Problem"
Please forgive the overused quote for a title. I promise it's the most appropriate quote available.
Tonight, we started a series in Houston, a place that Jon Miller likes to say "has a sweat index of 96". Contrary to the temperature, Houston is one of those teams this year that has honestly underperformed, in a division that has quickly become a perennial hotbed of surprising talent. They were 58-59 before this game; by contrast, the Cubs have won 71, the Brewers 68, and the Cardinals 65. This has caused a lot of confusion about what role the Astros can have for the rest of the season, and what they should be doing personnel-wise. At least they can afford to mull over that kind of question, though honestly I'd rather have our situation: playing the youth, and winning the last three series matchups.
The stadium, Minute Maid Park, is well-known among engineers for its completely retractable roof, that pulls and pushes from just the right side. They also have this very odd separate piece of raised lawn in CF, that makes a serious jump from the fielder in danger of going over the wall. Seriously. I would not want this park, but I would want to be from S.F. playing in it: the Giants had been 21-7 since the park opened.
To begin the game, Winn got a leadoff BB, but was thrown out because Ochoa couldn't make contact on a hit-n-run. Lewis also drew a BB in that 1st Inning, but no runs. In the 2nd Inning Aurilia got a squib double past Berkman at 1B, but that was left unattended to as well. The 3rd Inning saw Ochoa give a two-out double for the cause, showing his quick learning by trying to get into scoring position in that situation. Lewis tried to double as well, but luckily before he was tagged out, Ochoa scored easily. Backe's reputation for a bad WHIP looked somewhat valid. Finally, consummation. 1-0, S.F.
Sanchez retired eight in a row before walking the pitcher (who, in honesty, had a .297 AVG before tonight). But it didn't cost Jonathan anything. He retired the first three innings very easily, especially given his last three starts.
The 4th Inning gave something that made me think a very strange thought, given my youth mantra: Bowker struck out. That in itself is not bad, but it made him 9 for his last 72 plate appearances. Really. Realizing that playing every day is not a great idea, I'm now moderating my "give the youth some experience" quota to one day off a week. Sanchez did his part, however; ground outs were the key for him this time - instead of riding the wave of his amazing first-half K ratio. The more he pitches in the second-half, and the more his effectiveness is based on not necessarily striking people out, the more I believe he tapered from his own game because of that first-half K total.
Aurilia went 2-2 with a leadoff double in the 5th Inning. Our team apparently likes doubles lately; we had a number of them in the Dodger series, and the run was scored tonight because of one - though that inning ended because tried to stretch into one unnecessarily. Aurilia got to 3B off of Burriss' sac fly to RCF. The fact that Sanchez was next up was somewhat countered in my heart by the fact that Winn was next. Alas, a ground out left yet another runner on-base. The first strikeout for Sanchez came in the last of that inning, but regardless the Astros were still hitless.
A few painfully fluke basehits on grounders, the first a broken-bat to Ochoa and then bunt to Sanchez, led not to outs but to runs after a sac bunt and a single. Tejada's pop-up and a very nice K of the big threat, Lance Berkman, salvaged our defensive anomaly. But two runs still scored, and our comeback attitude would have to continue if we wanted to win. By the end of the 6th Inning: 2-1, Houston.
The best part about the 7th Inning might have been that Backe was still throwing; but he had thrown 94 pitches before starting it, which means without a lead by this inning, our chance at getting a win on the WHIP King was minimal at best. Thankfully, the night was not over for him, and visible disagreement between he and his catcher looked good for us. This led to Aurilia gaining a BB, because almost every time Backe disagreed he would throw a breaker and Richie watched for it. Burriss DP-ed, and got Backe out of a mess, and unfortunately made it difficult to foresee a W, even with this year's renewed vigor on the team for playing hard until the last out.
This wasn't helped by the fact that Sanchez was left in. He had been having rough starts, and this was his best in the last four. But his 6th was shaky, and common sense was vindicated by the 7th. A double and a HBP before two outs came, and then another base hit looked bad. But because Houston's Bourn wasn't paying attention to the coach holding a man at 3B, Aurilia and Molina had Loretta tied up and tagged him to end the inning. Common Sense is not necessarily a cruel mistress.
Sanchez had a PH in the 8th Inning, which was the only good news. The rest of that inning proved nothing but the fact that our offense is the problem, not Backe's "turnaround performance" tonight. Jonathan's replacement on the mound being Sadler, there was hope; but Sadler gave up a deep fly out on the wall and then a one-pitch HR to Wigginton, both to LF, both off of consecutive hanging curves. A single to Tejada, then a BB to Berkman. Walks were the reason he was sent back down in the first place, unfortunately. Runners advanced on a ground out. A good recovery after a coaching talk for Sadler: A curveball struck out the last batter, and my mind's sole consolation was sparked: how much sweeter Sadler's K of Ramirez on Saturday night.
The 9th was much the same. Lewis Ks; Molina grounds out, 5-3; Rowand Ks. No comebacks tonight, kids. But definite frustration over a practically undeserved loss.
FINAL: 3-1, Astros.
Player To Be Pitied: Jonathan Sanchez (no-hitter through five, and a nice rebound performance)
Player To Be Noted: Rich Aurilia (2-2)
Player To Be Lauded: Ivan Ochoa (2B, R)
-MSH
Tonight, we started a series in Houston, a place that Jon Miller likes to say "has a sweat index of 96". Contrary to the temperature, Houston is one of those teams this year that has honestly underperformed, in a division that has quickly become a perennial hotbed of surprising talent. They were 58-59 before this game; by contrast, the Cubs have won 71, the Brewers 68, and the Cardinals 65. This has caused a lot of confusion about what role the Astros can have for the rest of the season, and what they should be doing personnel-wise. At least they can afford to mull over that kind of question, though honestly I'd rather have our situation: playing the youth, and winning the last three series matchups.
The stadium, Minute Maid Park, is well-known among engineers for its completely retractable roof, that pulls and pushes from just the right side. They also have this very odd separate piece of raised lawn in CF, that makes a serious jump from the fielder in danger of going over the wall. Seriously. I would not want this park, but I would want to be from S.F. playing in it: the Giants had been 21-7 since the park opened.
To begin the game, Winn got a leadoff BB, but was thrown out because Ochoa couldn't make contact on a hit-n-run. Lewis also drew a BB in that 1st Inning, but no runs. In the 2nd Inning Aurilia got a squib double past Berkman at 1B, but that was left unattended to as well. The 3rd Inning saw Ochoa give a two-out double for the cause, showing his quick learning by trying to get into scoring position in that situation. Lewis tried to double as well, but luckily before he was tagged out, Ochoa scored easily. Backe's reputation for a bad WHIP looked somewhat valid. Finally, consummation. 1-0, S.F.
Sanchez retired eight in a row before walking the pitcher (who, in honesty, had a .297 AVG before tonight). But it didn't cost Jonathan anything. He retired the first three innings very easily, especially given his last three starts.
The 4th Inning gave something that made me think a very strange thought, given my youth mantra: Bowker struck out. That in itself is not bad, but it made him 9 for his last 72 plate appearances. Really. Realizing that playing every day is not a great idea, I'm now moderating my "give the youth some experience" quota to one day off a week. Sanchez did his part, however; ground outs were the key for him this time - instead of riding the wave of his amazing first-half K ratio. The more he pitches in the second-half, and the more his effectiveness is based on not necessarily striking people out, the more I believe he tapered from his own game because of that first-half K total.
Aurilia went 2-2 with a leadoff double in the 5th Inning. Our team apparently likes doubles lately; we had a number of them in the Dodger series, and the run was scored tonight because of one - though that inning ended because tried to stretch into one unnecessarily. Aurilia got to 3B off of Burriss' sac fly to RCF. The fact that Sanchez was next up was somewhat countered in my heart by the fact that Winn was next. Alas, a ground out left yet another runner on-base. The first strikeout for Sanchez came in the last of that inning, but regardless the Astros were still hitless.
A few painfully fluke basehits on grounders, the first a broken-bat to Ochoa and then bunt to Sanchez, led not to outs but to runs after a sac bunt and a single. Tejada's pop-up and a very nice K of the big threat, Lance Berkman, salvaged our defensive anomaly. But two runs still scored, and our comeback attitude would have to continue if we wanted to win. By the end of the 6th Inning: 2-1, Houston.
The best part about the 7th Inning might have been that Backe was still throwing; but he had thrown 94 pitches before starting it, which means without a lead by this inning, our chance at getting a win on the WHIP King was minimal at best. Thankfully, the night was not over for him, and visible disagreement between he and his catcher looked good for us. This led to Aurilia gaining a BB, because almost every time Backe disagreed he would throw a breaker and Richie watched for it. Burriss DP-ed, and got Backe out of a mess, and unfortunately made it difficult to foresee a W, even with this year's renewed vigor on the team for playing hard until the last out.
This wasn't helped by the fact that Sanchez was left in. He had been having rough starts, and this was his best in the last four. But his 6th was shaky, and common sense was vindicated by the 7th. A double and a HBP before two outs came, and then another base hit looked bad. But because Houston's Bourn wasn't paying attention to the coach holding a man at 3B, Aurilia and Molina had Loretta tied up and tagged him to end the inning. Common Sense is not necessarily a cruel mistress.
Sanchez had a PH in the 8th Inning, which was the only good news. The rest of that inning proved nothing but the fact that our offense is the problem, not Backe's "turnaround performance" tonight. Jonathan's replacement on the mound being Sadler, there was hope; but Sadler gave up a deep fly out on the wall and then a one-pitch HR to Wigginton, both to LF, both off of consecutive hanging curves. A single to Tejada, then a BB to Berkman. Walks were the reason he was sent back down in the first place, unfortunately. Runners advanced on a ground out. A good recovery after a coaching talk for Sadler: A curveball struck out the last batter, and my mind's sole consolation was sparked: how much sweeter Sadler's K of Ramirez on Saturday night.
The 9th was much the same. Lewis Ks; Molina grounds out, 5-3; Rowand Ks. No comebacks tonight, kids. But definite frustration over a practically undeserved loss.
FINAL: 3-1, Astros.
Player To Be Pitied: Jonathan Sanchez (no-hitter through five, and a nice rebound performance)
Player To Be Noted: Rich Aurilia (2-2)
Player To Be Lauded: Ivan Ochoa (2B, R)
-MSH
The Usual Evidence
The D-Backs just finalized a deal for young hitter Adam Dunn (OF, CIN). Now, I know waivers is a messy business, but a thought struck me while reading this:
Why are the Giants just hoping someone will claim their vets; why not try to claim someone like Dunn and work out a deal with the guys getting put on waivers (or prospects) instead?
-MSH
Why are the Giants just hoping someone will claim their vets; why not try to claim someone like Dunn and work out a deal with the guys getting put on waivers (or prospects) instead?
-MSH
The Comeback Kids
This was the most exciting weekend I've seen this year from S.F. It also helps affirm my upbringing never to leave a game before it's over, even when it's late and cold.
Proof: two consecutive last-chance comebacks against the Dodgers at home. This is our first winning homestand of the season (which is sad, but huge), and our first series win over L.A.
Here's a quick run-down, though I don't want to simply recap what you can find at the wrap for Friday, at the wrap for Saturday, at the wrap for Sunday, or at the recap of the entire thing.
Friday:
Zito gives up five runs in five innings. That's enough.
Saturday:
Bonds shows up to the 50th Anniversary OF ceremony, walking in from LF while Mays, his godfather, walks in from CF. Mays was thankful; Bonds was humorous. "I just have to say that it's odd not being in uniform and the Dodgers are right there" (pointing and looking ominously to the dugout), "Torre, I beat you before, and I'll beat you again", and of course the awkward but eventually amusing end: "I haven't retired; thank you."
Correia pitches six solid innings; Billy Sadler pitches two beautifully complete innings in relief (including striking out Manny Ramirez in a close situation to end a game-blowing threat); The Manimal does not blow the game even though he wasn't in a save situation; Walker blows the game, giving up a solo shot to Kent in the 10th, but gets rescued; Roberts goes 3-3 with two leadoff doubles; S.F. gets a walk-off win after Roberts doubles, Winn singles, Burriss reaches after an error-throw home (scoring Roberts), Ochoa gets HBP, and Rowand singles after previously going 0-3 to win the game. Sadler's outing would later become a huge debate, because, just up from the minors, he fist-pumped this strikeout or Ramirez, which caused Kent to give a glare to our bullpen when hitting the go-ahead HR; that glare, in turn, probably fired us up enough to put them away. Good, old-fashioned S.F.-L.A. baseball.
Sunday:
Cain pitches well, though it wasn't his best start. He did manage to hit Manny Ramirez in the first inning, though if one looks at the replay, because Manny bent down he got hit in the head instead of, oh, getting hit in the hamstring or perhaps not at all. Winn gets all three of our first runs somehow, either with a single early or a double mid-late in the game. Ramirez gave the Dodgers the lead with a 2-run double late, but that wasn't enough for the Dodger 'pen. Winn led off with a single in the 9th, going 3-4 that day. A botched bunt pop-up by Vizquel and a perfect DP-ball thanks to Mr. Castillo wasn't even enough, because the newly-acquired Blake had an error at 3B off that DP-ball, and Kuo couldn't handle a soft grounder from Velez (who ran it out, thank God) -- walk-off win again.
No question: the best weekend of the season. I was so hoarse from Saturday night that I couldn't speak regularly for half of Sunday, and I still can't sing normally in my usual range.
-MSH
Proof: two consecutive last-chance comebacks against the Dodgers at home. This is our first winning homestand of the season (which is sad, but huge), and our first series win over L.A.
Here's a quick run-down, though I don't want to simply recap what you can find at the wrap for Friday, at the wrap for Saturday, at the wrap for Sunday, or at the recap of the entire thing.
Friday:
Zito gives up five runs in five innings. That's enough.
Saturday:
Bonds shows up to the 50th Anniversary OF ceremony, walking in from LF while Mays, his godfather, walks in from CF. Mays was thankful; Bonds was humorous. "I just have to say that it's odd not being in uniform and the Dodgers are right there" (pointing and looking ominously to the dugout), "Torre, I beat you before, and I'll beat you again", and of course the awkward but eventually amusing end: "I haven't retired; thank you."
Correia pitches six solid innings; Billy Sadler pitches two beautifully complete innings in relief (including striking out Manny Ramirez in a close situation to end a game-blowing threat); The Manimal does not blow the game even though he wasn't in a save situation; Walker blows the game, giving up a solo shot to Kent in the 10th, but gets rescued; Roberts goes 3-3 with two leadoff doubles; S.F. gets a walk-off win after Roberts doubles, Winn singles, Burriss reaches after an error-throw home (scoring Roberts), Ochoa gets HBP, and Rowand singles after previously going 0-3 to win the game. Sadler's outing would later become a huge debate, because, just up from the minors, he fist-pumped this strikeout or Ramirez, which caused Kent to give a glare to our bullpen when hitting the go-ahead HR; that glare, in turn, probably fired us up enough to put them away. Good, old-fashioned S.F.-L.A. baseball.
Sunday:
Cain pitches well, though it wasn't his best start. He did manage to hit Manny Ramirez in the first inning, though if one looks at the replay, because Manny bent down he got hit in the head instead of, oh, getting hit in the hamstring or perhaps not at all. Winn gets all three of our first runs somehow, either with a single early or a double mid-late in the game. Ramirez gave the Dodgers the lead with a 2-run double late, but that wasn't enough for the Dodger 'pen. Winn led off with a single in the 9th, going 3-4 that day. A botched bunt pop-up by Vizquel and a perfect DP-ball thanks to Mr. Castillo wasn't even enough, because the newly-acquired Blake had an error at 3B off that DP-ball, and Kuo couldn't handle a soft grounder from Velez (who ran it out, thank God) -- walk-off win again.
No question: the best weekend of the season. I was so hoarse from Saturday night that I couldn't speak regularly for half of Sunday, and I still can't sing normally in my usual range.
-MSH
Thursday, August 7, 2008
After The Storm
In lieu of the game, here's an excellent story on ESPN about our own Fred Lewis, and his family's trauma.
In fact, I would even post this instead of a game.
-MSH
In fact, I would even post this instead of a game.
-MSH
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
55 Is Greater Than 16.
Here's the first thing I heard before today's game from Bruce:
Matos and Romo are gone; Sadler and Yabu are back in. Yabu's "been waiting the last few days" and wants to get back in. They actually think he'll "shore up the bullpen".
I found this hard to understand. Yabu is the only one in the pen who's failed to keep a run from scoring (or keep himself from hitting a batter) in any of his last four appearances. I guess we'll find out if his problems really were for injury's sake. Bochy also admitted that Lincecum has shown "no signs of wearing down at all". Hmm. Maybe you should let him go a full eight innings this time? The lineup is the same as last night, which tells me that it's well known that the bullpen was the issue last night.
Lincecum is up against one Chuck James, who's had a rough year of it. Initially expected to be foundational to the Atlanta rotation, he lost control early (he's a finesse pitcher), and just got recalled from AAA. His only start since that recall was not very pretty. Of course, it was against Milwaukee, so I'm not sure it was going to be good anyway.
First pitch: outside, ball one. Second pitch: fastball, strike. Third pitch: fastball in at the knees, strike. Fourth pitch: ground out to Ochoa, 6-3. The hitters may not be messing around because they do in fact know that Timmy the Kid don't be messin' around. In 150 innings, he has 54 BBs, 167 Ks, and only 131 Hs. Ochoa almost collides with Rowand in short CF, but the second out is as quick as the first. Kotchman walks, but the next pitch is a strike, fastball inside. But off a 1-2 count, the ball is hit right to Castillo at 3B -- had he been playing straight. But he is not, and it's an easy basehit. Another liner is rocketed by Infante, and Lewis makes a perfect throw to Molina -- Kotchman out by plenty, but luckily. 1st Inning: rocky.
For our half, Winn gets a leadoff single. Tied for ninth in the NL for steals, he's not an idle threat there, so it is advantageous. The interesting thing about James is that he hesitates with his leg lifted, thereby making it a bit difficult to know where he's going with a pitch. The nice thing is that it's consistent, and Rowand tracked him immediately. He falls behind in the count, but that is because he knows he can hammer something. And he does; tags a changeup for a HR (our second in less than two days - something of note for this team) to LCF, giving us an immediate 2-0 lead. Apparently, James has allowed 10 HRs in 26 IP, more than 3 HRs per game. Which is just what this team needs. The throw from Escobar on Molina's AB was much wild - a mental mistake because he had a lot of time. But instead, Molina is safe at 1B. A few easy outs ends it, but leaving the first inning with two runs and escaping a rough start is excellent.
Lincecum strikes the first batter of the 2nd out with that beautiful changeup. The same happens for the second out, the changeup sliding away. A shady call leads to a BB next, and that shadiness obviously throws Tim: the pitcher got a 3-0 count. Timmy is resilient, though, and strikes James out on three straight. 2nd Inning: shady.
Our bottom of the 2nd contains nothing, but the 3rd Inning starts the same way in our favor. The first out is an easy roller to Burriss. The second is a one-pitch fly out, and so is the third. Four pitches, three outs; I'll take that. At all times, I will take that.
The bottom is not so easy for James. A leadoff hit by Winn to LF (again!), and Ochoa bunts him over to 2B. James, obviously shaken from his previous facing of Rowand, gets a balk called on him. Winn to 3B. James needed not be scared; Rowand hadn't hit many HRs at all. But Aaron does get this AB for a sac fly, probably because of that mind game advantage, and scores Winn. 3-0, S.F. Molina lines one past Infante at 3B and became 1-2. The 3rd ends on a fly out, but Kotsay has to make a catch at the warning track. Not bad, boys. Not bad. Keiichi Yabu should not be in my head at this point.
4th Inning now. A liner makes Lincecum hit the mound. Timmy laughs, because he avoided it. McCann could be expected to have hit that: he is now 4-7 against him. But the next batter is a one-pitch fly out to Winn. Kotsay walks after another close inside called-ball; Lincecum's third BB of the day. Thankfully, a fly out to RCF is another one-pitch out. Lewis makes a great running catch on a strongly hit ball, and two are stranded, while the third out was off of two pitches. Timmy's 59-pitch count looks too high, but that stat does not reveal how easy the last two innings have been for him. All seems well.
Aurilia pops up to start our half, his second one of the day, and throws his bat straight up in the air with a sarcastic feel. OMS does nothing; Burriss gets a two-out single to CF; Lincecum Ks, but that's not unusual for pitchers anyway. 4th Inning: even-keel.
The 5th Inning begins with a stand-up double, a carom out of the bullpen area. A sac bunt is almost a disaster, because Burriss and Lincecum meet at 1B. A beautiful play from deep SS Ochoa saves a hit if not a run. 3-1, S.F. Lewis squares at the LF track and marks the halfway point of the game.
Winn starts our 5th going 3-3 with another single. A strange foul off the plate allows Winn to stay at 1B during Ochoa's AB against the new pitcher, Buddy Carlyle, but Ochoa strikes out for failure to foul off any more pitches he simply doesn't like. A single through the hole between SS and 3B made Rowand 2-3. Unfortunately, Molina ground into his 15th DP of the year. Strong start, weirdness gives a chance to score, but in the end: nothing.
Winn and Rowand miscommunicated, and because of the breeze blowing out to LF, Winn ends the first AB of the 6th Inning wishing he'd at least overrun it, first. A double by the 421 ft. mark. McCann, fast becoming a Lincecum-killer, gets 3B for free on a WP. Tim counters that slip-up as he usually does by striking out Infante, but unfortuantely a routine ground out gets McCann home. Aurilia makes a potentially disastrous ball that hit 1B a routine out to save the inning. 3-2, S.F.
Lewis hits a strong, strong stand-up triple to the deepest part of the yard. Aurilia's single to RF looks golden, but Francouer makes a great throw (which Krukow would later call "the best I've ever seen in my life") with an instant's hesitation. Lewis is not close to home - maybe 12 feet away. A single to CF puts runners at 1B and 2B, but we are robbed of a key run in a tight game. Lincecum's second strikeout at the plate leaves I and the bullpen nervous.
Tim may have been as well; although, his first out in happens as a strong K of the man who threw out Lewis at the plate: Francoeur. Lincecum's next strike for the 7th Inning comes after three straight balls. Flemming called it a "BP fastball", at 90mph. The out is gained, though, by getting a high fly out. Tim then walks Blanco on four straight, a man who has no batting strength but plenty of speed. Taschner now warms up. A chopper to Ochoa ends the inning, and at this point I am sure that Timmy the Kid is done, this time rightfully. He's done well, but obviously struggled for his ability. Proof: lots of changeups, and no fastball over 94mph, all day long.
Tavarez becomes the third pitcher for ATL on the day. Please sit down: Winn gets a hit by outrunning a sharp grounder to 3B. He is now 4-4. Ochoa once again gets a great sac bunt down; Winn to 2B. Rowand is intentionally walked after a near-WP. Two on, one out, Molina... grounds into a DP. Again. #16. Big issue.
I am shocked that Lincecum is left in the 8th Inning. Bochy's listening? It seems an odd time to do so, but honestly even though Tasch was warm already, a mild Lincecum is better than the best Tasch (sorry, Jack). Timmy proves me correct with that signature changeup-K. But Tim's slight nemesis, McCann, now bats. Again, a changeup strikes the batter out. A curveball strikes Infante out brilliantly after a full count. Lincecum gets a standing ovation: once again, he strikes out the side.
Freddie's leadoff double is not sacrificed over by Richie, but a WP by the Braves' fourth pitcher, Will Ohman, puts him at 3B. OMS hits a ball that actually would have scored Lewis quickly, but it is caught on a stab instead. Burriss nearly beats out a grounder to SS, and S.F. gives the ball to the Manimal with just a one-run give. Timmy The Kid ends with 8IP, 5H, 2ER, 4BB, 8K, and a season ERA at 2.68.
9th Inning: The hopes of S.F. were on Wilson once again, this time for Lincecum's first decision in three very strong starts. Wilson gave the Braves their first pitch over 95mph immediately. A chopper to Ochoa was money, and one out was stapled to the ground. Wilson was just playing with Johnson, getting an 0-2 count before going outside on a close call. Burriss handled a routine play in a solid way (thanks for doing that extra pregame practice, Emmanuel): two out. Francouer up. Wilson lit him up with one around the shoulders at 101mph to get the 0-2 count. Ochoa charges a slow roller, gets the close play. GAME OVER.
Hit the deck, people, 'cause it be the ghost of Rod Beck. I remember Mark Gardner once saying about Robb Nen that once Nen came in from the bullpen, "You could relax; you knew it was over." Say hello to that feeling once again. 32 saves, 23 in a row.
FINAL: 3-2, S.F.
And just in case you are curious, yes my son is in fact wearing his uniform!
-MSH
***PNL Time***
Player(s) To Be Pitied: NONE, except maybe the Braves. They now haven't won any 1-run games on the road (19), and 26 consecutive going back to last year.
Player(s) To Be Noted: Ochoa (excellent defense, two very important sac bunts)
Player(s) To Be Lauded: Winn (an unreal 4-4, with 2R); Rowand (2-2, R, BB, 3RBI, HR - gettin' out of that funk, mos def); Lincecum (masterful W, with his second-best stuff); Wilson (SV - 32)
Matos and Romo are gone; Sadler and Yabu are back in. Yabu's "been waiting the last few days" and wants to get back in. They actually think he'll "shore up the bullpen".
I found this hard to understand. Yabu is the only one in the pen who's failed to keep a run from scoring (or keep himself from hitting a batter) in any of his last four appearances. I guess we'll find out if his problems really were for injury's sake. Bochy also admitted that Lincecum has shown "no signs of wearing down at all". Hmm. Maybe you should let him go a full eight innings this time? The lineup is the same as last night, which tells me that it's well known that the bullpen was the issue last night.
Lincecum is up against one Chuck James, who's had a rough year of it. Initially expected to be foundational to the Atlanta rotation, he lost control early (he's a finesse pitcher), and just got recalled from AAA. His only start since that recall was not very pretty. Of course, it was against Milwaukee, so I'm not sure it was going to be good anyway.
First pitch: outside, ball one. Second pitch: fastball, strike. Third pitch: fastball in at the knees, strike. Fourth pitch: ground out to Ochoa, 6-3. The hitters may not be messing around because they do in fact know that Timmy the Kid don't be messin' around. In 150 innings, he has 54 BBs, 167 Ks, and only 131 Hs. Ochoa almost collides with Rowand in short CF, but the second out is as quick as the first. Kotchman walks, but the next pitch is a strike, fastball inside. But off a 1-2 count, the ball is hit right to Castillo at 3B -- had he been playing straight. But he is not, and it's an easy basehit. Another liner is rocketed by Infante, and Lewis makes a perfect throw to Molina -- Kotchman out by plenty, but luckily. 1st Inning: rocky.
For our half, Winn gets a leadoff single. Tied for ninth in the NL for steals, he's not an idle threat there, so it is advantageous. The interesting thing about James is that he hesitates with his leg lifted, thereby making it a bit difficult to know where he's going with a pitch. The nice thing is that it's consistent, and Rowand tracked him immediately. He falls behind in the count, but that is because he knows he can hammer something. And he does; tags a changeup for a HR (our second in less than two days - something of note for this team) to LCF, giving us an immediate 2-0 lead. Apparently, James has allowed 10 HRs in 26 IP, more than 3 HRs per game. Which is just what this team needs. The throw from Escobar on Molina's AB was much wild - a mental mistake because he had a lot of time. But instead, Molina is safe at 1B. A few easy outs ends it, but leaving the first inning with two runs and escaping a rough start is excellent.
Lincecum strikes the first batter of the 2nd out with that beautiful changeup. The same happens for the second out, the changeup sliding away. A shady call leads to a BB next, and that shadiness obviously throws Tim: the pitcher got a 3-0 count. Timmy is resilient, though, and strikes James out on three straight. 2nd Inning: shady.
Our bottom of the 2nd contains nothing, but the 3rd Inning starts the same way in our favor. The first out is an easy roller to Burriss. The second is a one-pitch fly out, and so is the third. Four pitches, three outs; I'll take that. At all times, I will take that.
The bottom is not so easy for James. A leadoff hit by Winn to LF (again!), and Ochoa bunts him over to 2B. James, obviously shaken from his previous facing of Rowand, gets a balk called on him. Winn to 3B. James needed not be scared; Rowand hadn't hit many HRs at all. But Aaron does get this AB for a sac fly, probably because of that mind game advantage, and scores Winn. 3-0, S.F. Molina lines one past Infante at 3B and became 1-2. The 3rd ends on a fly out, but Kotsay has to make a catch at the warning track. Not bad, boys. Not bad. Keiichi Yabu should not be in my head at this point.
4th Inning now. A liner makes Lincecum hit the mound. Timmy laughs, because he avoided it. McCann could be expected to have hit that: he is now 4-7 against him. But the next batter is a one-pitch fly out to Winn. Kotsay walks after another close inside called-ball; Lincecum's third BB of the day. Thankfully, a fly out to RCF is another one-pitch out. Lewis makes a great running catch on a strongly hit ball, and two are stranded, while the third out was off of two pitches. Timmy's 59-pitch count looks too high, but that stat does not reveal how easy the last two innings have been for him. All seems well.
Aurilia pops up to start our half, his second one of the day, and throws his bat straight up in the air with a sarcastic feel. OMS does nothing; Burriss gets a two-out single to CF; Lincecum Ks, but that's not unusual for pitchers anyway. 4th Inning: even-keel.
The 5th Inning begins with a stand-up double, a carom out of the bullpen area. A sac bunt is almost a disaster, because Burriss and Lincecum meet at 1B. A beautiful play from deep SS Ochoa saves a hit if not a run. 3-1, S.F. Lewis squares at the LF track and marks the halfway point of the game.
Winn starts our 5th going 3-3 with another single. A strange foul off the plate allows Winn to stay at 1B during Ochoa's AB against the new pitcher, Buddy Carlyle, but Ochoa strikes out for failure to foul off any more pitches he simply doesn't like. A single through the hole between SS and 3B made Rowand 2-3. Unfortunately, Molina ground into his 15th DP of the year. Strong start, weirdness gives a chance to score, but in the end: nothing.
Winn and Rowand miscommunicated, and because of the breeze blowing out to LF, Winn ends the first AB of the 6th Inning wishing he'd at least overrun it, first. A double by the 421 ft. mark. McCann, fast becoming a Lincecum-killer, gets 3B for free on a WP. Tim counters that slip-up as he usually does by striking out Infante, but unfortuantely a routine ground out gets McCann home. Aurilia makes a potentially disastrous ball that hit 1B a routine out to save the inning. 3-2, S.F.
Lewis hits a strong, strong stand-up triple to the deepest part of the yard. Aurilia's single to RF looks golden, but Francouer makes a great throw (which Krukow would later call "the best I've ever seen in my life") with an instant's hesitation. Lewis is not close to home - maybe 12 feet away. A single to CF puts runners at 1B and 2B, but we are robbed of a key run in a tight game. Lincecum's second strikeout at the plate leaves I and the bullpen nervous.
Tim may have been as well; although, his first out in happens as a strong K of the man who threw out Lewis at the plate: Francoeur. Lincecum's next strike for the 7th Inning comes after three straight balls. Flemming called it a "BP fastball", at 90mph. The out is gained, though, by getting a high fly out. Tim then walks Blanco on four straight, a man who has no batting strength but plenty of speed. Taschner now warms up. A chopper to Ochoa ends the inning, and at this point I am sure that Timmy the Kid is done, this time rightfully. He's done well, but obviously struggled for his ability. Proof: lots of changeups, and no fastball over 94mph, all day long.
Tavarez becomes the third pitcher for ATL on the day. Please sit down: Winn gets a hit by outrunning a sharp grounder to 3B. He is now 4-4. Ochoa once again gets a great sac bunt down; Winn to 2B. Rowand is intentionally walked after a near-WP. Two on, one out, Molina... grounds into a DP. Again. #16. Big issue.
I am shocked that Lincecum is left in the 8th Inning. Bochy's listening? It seems an odd time to do so, but honestly even though Tasch was warm already, a mild Lincecum is better than the best Tasch (sorry, Jack). Timmy proves me correct with that signature changeup-K. But Tim's slight nemesis, McCann, now bats. Again, a changeup strikes the batter out. A curveball strikes Infante out brilliantly after a full count. Lincecum gets a standing ovation: once again, he strikes out the side.
Freddie's leadoff double is not sacrificed over by Richie, but a WP by the Braves' fourth pitcher, Will Ohman, puts him at 3B. OMS hits a ball that actually would have scored Lewis quickly, but it is caught on a stab instead. Burriss nearly beats out a grounder to SS, and S.F. gives the ball to the Manimal with just a one-run give. Timmy The Kid ends with 8IP, 5H, 2ER, 4BB, 8K, and a season ERA at 2.68.
9th Inning: The hopes of S.F. were on Wilson once again, this time for Lincecum's first decision in three very strong starts. Wilson gave the Braves their first pitch over 95mph immediately. A chopper to Ochoa was money, and one out was stapled to the ground. Wilson was just playing with Johnson, getting an 0-2 count before going outside on a close call. Burriss handled a routine play in a solid way (thanks for doing that extra pregame practice, Emmanuel): two out. Francouer up. Wilson lit him up with one around the shoulders at 101mph to get the 0-2 count. Ochoa charges a slow roller, gets the close play. GAME OVER.
Hit the deck, people, 'cause it be the ghost of Rod Beck. I remember Mark Gardner once saying about Robb Nen that once Nen came in from the bullpen, "You could relax; you knew it was over." Say hello to that feeling once again. 32 saves, 23 in a row.
FINAL: 3-2, S.F.
And just in case you are curious, yes my son is in fact wearing his uniform!
-MSH
***PNL Time***
Player(s) To Be Pitied: NONE, except maybe the Braves. They now haven't won any 1-run games on the road (19), and 26 consecutive going back to last year.
Player(s) To Be Noted: Ochoa (excellent defense, two very important sac bunts)
Player(s) To Be Lauded: Winn (an unreal 4-4, with 2R); Rowand (2-2, R, BB, 3RBI, HR - gettin' out of that funk, mos def); Lincecum (masterful W, with his second-best stuff); Wilson (SV - 32)
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
His Mom Prefers "Emmanuel"
And he's the infield/2B sensation whom I'm already looking forward to being here for a long time. He was just interviewed on the "Razor & Mr. T" this afternoon.
Highlights:
He was vocal about doing the best job he can do, and not worrying about "replacing veterans". He knows he has flaws, and he's seeking the "right preparation" all the time, so that "I can do what I need to". It's clear he's long in the tooth. He's also hilariously fresh; he told the guys to "hold on one second" to make sure the background noise respected them. He doesn't want to "be the one who wears on the umpires", even though he realizes the logical reality of consistent play-calling. He left to make sure he was on-time to early batting practice.
The main point:
He's not arrogant; he's driven, instinctive, wise, eager and relaxed.
He's a Giant.
-MSH
Highlights:
He was vocal about doing the best job he can do, and not worrying about "replacing veterans". He knows he has flaws, and he's seeking the "right preparation" all the time, so that "I can do what I need to". It's clear he's long in the tooth. He's also hilariously fresh; he told the guys to "hold on one second" to make sure the background noise respected them. He doesn't want to "be the one who wears on the umpires", even though he realizes the logical reality of consistent play-calling. He left to make sure he was on-time to early batting practice.
The main point:
He's not arrogant; he's driven, instinctive, wise, eager and relaxed.
He's a Giant.
-MSH
Monday, August 4, 2008
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
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
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