Every Giant pulls for Matt Cain, who emerged with no decision but at least was spared another luckless defeat by Molina's homer. This was the 17th game since the beginning of last season in which the Giants scored no more than one run for Cain while he was on the mound. As is often the case, Cain pitched well enough to win, surrendering one run and five hits in seven innings. (Chris Haft article, emphasis mine)
Mr. Hard Luck had the story already written for him: Giant-killer Greg Maddux, an inept offense, and history to the 17th power. But thanks to Señor Clutch and a big, big jack in the 9th off Hoffman, Matt Cain was spared another "L." Sure, M.C. spent his post-game party time sucking brews and getting "N.D." tatooed on his chest, but damnit, 0-2 is way better than 0-3. Just ask Da Beezy.
I thought Matt looked wild--he seemed to miss a lot and by a lot. Three walks, 27 batters and 98 pitches was in stark contrast to the Master's zero, 25 and 75 in the same 7-inning span. But Matt looked real strong in the last two innings, getting guys to put balls in play rather than trying to fool them or blow them away. The Puds have almost as lousy an offense as ours, and they chased pitches out of the zone--that helped, too. The RBI hit by Giles in the 5th was off a fat ugly thing up around his eyes that he slashed at and just missed Eugenio Velez with. A DP right there would have been "just what the doctor ordered" but it didn't happen, and I despaired that the game was a done deal at that point. But the fat lady was still in the dressing room and El Gamerino Gordito saved the day with the last-gasp homer. At that point I was happy, and probably failed to appreciate the rest of the game's highlights: studly relief, clutch hits, and youthful verve and speed. Watching Burris streak around the bases was beautiful. The new fella, Captain Gomer, sorry, Gamer, seems to have found his stroke. Can't complain about 3 hits and an insurance run that proved decisive.
5 comments:
No wonder Zito is pitching scared, with run support like that...
Got a good feeling about Timmy tonight. C Young (the pitching version) is off to a rough start. Just what the doctor ordered...
Look at the standings this morning. With a loss by the doggers (what is with Arizona - does anyone else get the feeling that they are getting a large amount of luck to go with their considerable talents?) and a win by the loveable cubbies, the Giants could wind up in second place. I am giddy with the thought.
I hadn't thought of Zito's lack of run support--his pitching has been so lousy it overshadowed all the other aspects of the games he's started. Has he lost it? I mean for good?
2nd place? Zo, you are a glutton for punishment. You don't read the standings with 2008 Giants. Or league-wide stats for that matter. Whatta ya thinkin'? AZ will cool off, naturally, but they will be tough. They seem to have all the pieces.
The Linkster has been dealin' right out of the gate. And SD looks bad at the plate. Prediction: complete domination. We scratch out 1 maybe 2 with our pesky speed burners and we get an unexpected bomb from . . . insert name here . . .
Castillo?
Ortmeier?
And win!
The simple facts are that the Giants have scored 70 runs and allowed 105. You could send Johan Santana to the hill every day (I think the Mets might be considering the possibility), and you still wouldn't win very many games. We have a lot of work to do on offense before any of our pitchers can count on many W's.
And, for what it's worth, our Pythagorean record at this point is 7-15, so we're actually overachieving. Whether that makes you feel better or worse about our position in the clusterf*ck that is the NL West at the moment is, I suppose, a matter of personal disposition...
Good prediction by MOC!! Of course, calling for a low score is nothing tricky, but predicting a HR!! And Aurilia SURE qualifies as an "unexpected" source.
Looking at standings??? My god man, WHY??? I am currently using that kind of energy to follow the minor league lines. Go Augusta GreenJackets!!!
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