This is the first of the Giants three trips to Chavez LAtrine--they won't go back again until after the All-Star Break. The Dodgers set a record last season by winning their first 13 home games, and the Giants were the first three victims. They rode that hot start (15-8 April, 20-9 May) all the way to a title despite a post-ASB record (39-35) that matched the Giants. So far LA has split its series with Arizona at home, and Dan Haren goes today for the Snakes.
Friday night we send our no. 5, Todd Wellemeyer, against Vicente Padilla. Padilla has been knocked around in 2 starts on the road (8-2/3 IP, 14 hits, 3 HR, 11 ER), while Wellemeyer was a nice surprise against the Braves at AT&T on Saturday (6-1/3, 4 ER) and probably deserved a better fate.
Tim Lincecum, who is tied** for the NL lead in strikeouts with 17, is matched up with Charlie Haeger on Saturday. A knuckelballer, can you believe it? Just the kind of guy that will give us fits. He struck out 12 in Florida in a loss in his last start.
Barry Zito, who looked sharp against two weak foes (Houston and Pittsburgh), will get the ball on Sunday. The Dodgers have yet to announce a starter. It will be interesting to see how BZ fares against a good-hitting lineup. They are tied with the Giants for 3rd in the NL in runs scored (45) and are second to Philadelphia in OPS (.869). Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Manny Ramirez, Ronnie Belliard, and Russell Martin are all sporting an OPS over 1.000, and Casey Blake is right behind at .991.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
**Jonathan Sanchez and Roy Halladay also have 17 K.
1 comment:
"Teams can no longer put together a decent set of players and hope that with a little luck they’ll win the pennant." I disagree with this statement. It is an easy call to make, take a look at the Phillies and draw an analogy that you assume will carry forward in time, but that is a big assumption. The trick is getting into the playoffs, then with a little luck you can indeed win the pennant. I cite as an example 2000. The Mets got hot enough to squeak into the wild card spot and then took out the only 97 win team in the major leagues in 4 games. Then they did it again to put themselves into the World Series. Then, they played like they did all season and went down to the Yankees unceremoniously. The road goes through Philadelphia? There is absolutely no reason that Colorado or any other wild card team could not take 3 games out of 5 from the Phils with just a little luck. In any case, don't worry about the Giants - we got either cash OR a player to be named later for Lewis.
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