In a game I thought would be about pitching and fielding, the Giants scored 10 RUNS on 19 HITS to make all the drama and close plays academic. Matt Cain looked sharp and efficient through the first six innings, but started to miss his spots in the 7th. It took him 23 pitches to get two outs, give up three hits, and allow three earned runs to tie the game and rack up his first ND of 2010. With two on and one out, Dave Righetti had a chat with no. 18 who then struck out J.R. Towles. But lefty pinch-hitter Cory Sullivan got a 2-1 fastball to drive and he hit it hard to right-center. Cain kept the ball in the yard, it was just short of the track, but Rowand took a bad route on it, overran it, and then had to reach back for it and dropped it. It was ruled a triple and that was it for Cain with the score 4-3 Giants. Jeremy Affeldt got Michael Bourn to hit a little dribbler to second but the speedy leadoff man beat it out to drive in the run that tied it (charged to Cain). 98 pitches, 27 batters faced, 4 runs, 3 earned, ZERO walks, 5 strikeouts. Matt got 10 groundball outs, but the fly ball did him in. Aaron Rowand made up for it with 4 hits and 2 RBI, Edgar "The Rejuvenator" Renteria logged a perfect 5-5 day (with a walk), and John Bowker hit a 2-run bomb to RF in the 2nd. Pablo Sandoval and Juan Uribe got two hits apiece, and Travis Ishikawa homered as a pinch-hitter to start the 9th. The Giants scored 1 in the 7th, 2 in the 8th and 4 in the 9th. That's SEVEN RUNS in the final three innings! The Berkman-less Astros were pretty punchless, with Pence and Lee going 1-24 in the series. The Giants got three solid starts. Cain had given up only 3 hits and 1 unearned run on 75 pitches before his trouble in the 7th, overall his Game Score was 53 (Zito and Lincecum were 70 and 76 respectively). In all, Giants pitchers allowed only six runs, five earned. A sweet, sweet sweep before a travel day. Home Opener Friday afternoon with Jonathan Sanchez getting the ball and facing the Atlanta Braves and Tim Hudson. That's a good club and we'll get a chance to see their 20-year old phenom Jason Heyward. Should be some great baseball this weekend.
GO GIANTS!!
--M.C.
2 comments:
I really like this team. Many of them will be here for a while and that's fine by me. I've seen walks, clutch hitting, Edgar being the best player on the team, Bowker getting his rightfully deserved chance to play, Pablo not in the spotlight just yet but still showing that he can still get on base, I've seen DeRosa (who I am especially glad is here - Jersey boy), Zito being not Zito, etc. Such a great story for this team. They went from being on top of the world (almost) a few years ago, in decline for a few more years, and then manage to rise back up refreshed and rejuvenated with a different outlook and cast. Man screw the Dodgers, this team has so much more depth and personality to it. It's amazi--magical. I have a feeling that the Giants will be a thorn in the side of the other NL West teams for years to come. I'm not saying that we'll win this year, I'm not saying that we won't, but I do believe that sometime last year, the guys realized that they had something special, this year is their first of not coming off feeling sorry for themselves and riding the coattails of older players, this team has been built freshly out of the system and...I dunno. There's just something about all of that. It makes me feel good. Let me tell you, my week has been pretty shitty but the Giants have been one of the few glimmers of hope. It is on that note that I thank you starting pitchers of RMC, Tim Lincecum's Dad, Matt Cain himself, and Pablo (of course), for opening my eyes. Sorry for the long comment. I just had to let it out.
Thanks for "letting it out"!! It felt like a long off-season, didn't it? I bet we all have a ton of pent up emotions. Feel free to pour it out here...good and bad...all season long.
I, too, have a real good feeling about this team...but then I ALWAYS predict undefeated seasons. That's just how I roll...when I get it right one year, no one will be laughing then.
Post a Comment