Jon Miller was giving the usual radio patter about the Phillies "taking advantage of their opportunities" as our reinforced road squad put up another quick 1-2-3-and-out, and my lovely bride burst out "that's what good teams do!" Exasperated with our feeble lineup, she looked at me and said "the Giants don't take advantage of sh--!!"
I thought it summed things up rather well.
Tim tomorrow.
Go Giants!
12 comments:
The Giants have not won after an off day since June 19. I just thought I would point that out. The implications I leave to others.
Isn't it Penny tomorrow and Tim on Thur?
They scored once. That means they took advantage of ONE opportunity.
Turns out the key difference between Sanchez and Hamels was the ability to hold runners, Funny how the littlest things make the difference.
Pathetic to watch our team impatiently flail away at bad pitches, again. Molina's at bat was the worst to watch. How many times have we seen the team do this and let us down, yet come back the next day and give us another thrilling win. It may not happen tomorrow with Penny, but it will happen.
But hey, if these guys won't listen to our batting coach as he alleges he preaches patience at the plate, maybe we need someone they will listen too! It is just painful to watch these guys go down so quickly. What was Hammels pitch count? I didn't get to watch much of the game, but I'm sure that Molina was not the only one helping him out.
By the way, did you notice Torez was actually safe at second on that pickoff? That's one guy I would like to see get more playing time. Would also like to see Velez and others get some winter baseball just to learn how to steal! A weapon missing from our arsenal that is much needed by a supposed "run manufacturing" team.
So, the only plus from this game was yet another great performance by Sanchez. If he keeps this up, our starting four would be formidable in the playoffs, if we can only get there! Cheers mates, Joe
I was happy that Sanchez pitched well. They made him throw a lot of pitches, and put some pressure on him, but they have a tough lineup with a lot of weapons. They can do "little ball" if they have to and they can hit the bombs if they need to.
I think I would rather let Sandoval hit than have Torres running in that situation, but that's me. I'm not sure if he was just picked clean or it was a designed steal that went badly. Regardless, we had nothing going on all night. Hamels is good, but we did score 7 runs off him last month at home.
You're right, Lincecum is Thursday. I just got a look at Penny in a Giants uniform--what a douchebag! I sure hope he can shut me up with some quality innings.
The "stolen base-and-productive out" offense we are so enamored with does depend on excellent baserunning and situational hitting, and our speedy guys have to be able to execute. We've seemed pretty raw and unpolished in that respect this season, maybe some instructional time would pay off. Mostly, I'd like to see us take some pitches, work some counts, and hit some balls hard. Whole lotta hackin' goin' on, and that gets old.
The Phillies rookie--Happ--is having a big year. Be nice to see us use some VSC and wear him out early. I don't expect more than 5 IP from Penny. I think we can win a "bullpen battle."
Tim on Thursday.
My lovely bride also said:
"The Giants don't understand hitting."
When I replied in the affirmative, she responded:
"No, they REALLY don't understand how to hit."
I could only grunt in agreement.
The key difference between Sanchez and Hamels is that Sanchez had to pitch to the Phillies and Hamels got to pitch to the Giants.
Our batters flailing away is because they're all latinos. I know it's a racist cliche, and of course there must be a disciplined latino batter somewhere, but it's true nonetheless. Anyway, it's more fun. Watching disciplined hitters is like watching paint dry.
I read where Brad Penny despises the Doggers. They did not part amicably. So good for him. I hope he does great tonight.
Nate Schierholz is a hack-meister of the highest order. Aaron Rowand had 44 walks and 126 K's last year. Travis Ishikawa has 20 walks this year. Edgar Renteria and Pablo Sandoval LEAD THE TEAM, albeit with only 37. Albert Pujols has 99 walks. Carlos Pena has 84. Marco Scutaro has 79 (same as Chase Utley). Bobby Abreu has 75. They are in the top 20 ML-wide.
I'm willing to bet Latin ballplayers, as a whole, are more aggressive. They say "you don't walk off the island." These guys get noticed by scouts for hitting. That's where minor-league instruction is supposed to help--refining the raw talent and teaching new skills (like patience and discipline). I wonder if our young guys are getting that. The older hackers like Molina will never change.
As usual, I must jump in when Randy Winn is dissed - he is our other co-walk leader. Other than that, Mark's examples are solid.
Now, the other factor in all of this is the ridiculous variable & often shrinking strike zone called by many umpires in baseball today. Sometimes, the only way for a pitcher to get a strike call is to just groove one right down the middle ... which further emphasizes why hitters should be patient at the plate, because, somewhere along the line, the pitcher will have to groove one. For all of their 'bad ball' hitting reputations, people like Bengie Molina still have a 'hot zone' right down the pipe.
As Mark said, the Bengies of the world will never change. But, some of the younger hackers should take some notice. This is another reason that the Rockies are such good hitters at home - they know that the zone will get squeezed & that a fat one will eventually come their way.
Brad Penny all the way!
SCHPILKAS ALERT - BUSTER POSEY CALLED UP!!!
Dan Runzler, too? Pinch me, I'm dreaming ... OK, OK, so I had never heard of him before 2 minutes ago, but "[he] rose from low Class A Augusta to AA Connecticut. He ... struck out 77 in 54 1/3 innings."
I like it. I was worried they would try not to start Buster's "service time clock" until 2010, but necessity demands we get to see him.
I hope Penny helps us, but I'm not excited. I'd rather give Runzler a start.
Runzler is there to get Howard, Utley, & Ibanez out in the 6th or 7th innings, before Affeldt gets them in the 7th or 8th innings. I have Runzler-mania!
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