I've spent time waiting in dentists' offices that was more engaging and fulfilling than last night's turgid display by the two NL West front-runners. The Padres continued their mastery of the Giants by exploiting 12 walks, 8 hits, 1 error, and a perfect night by Grit-Meister David Eckstein, who also had a 2-run hit that broke the collective will of the local lads in the 2nd inning. For the Padres, it was an offensive explosion, highlighted in the 5th when their enormous left-fielder, the 6'-6" 270-lb Kyle Blanks, walked, stole second, and scored on a hit by Yorvit Torrealba. That was the finisher, the clincher, the soul-crushing moment when the Giants knew they had just been doomed by a bottom-feeding offense (.317 wOBA and .699 OPS, both 12th of 16 NL teams) that gives hope to teams like the Astros. I always liked that quote attributed to Earl Weaver about "pitching and fundamentals" winning pennants. Oh yeah, there was that extra part about "three-run homers" but we'll ignore that for now as both San Diego and San Francisco eschew that sort of old-school, esoteric baseball. I got briefly excited when the Panda roped one into Triples Alley, and later when Juan Uribe got the same hit to the same spot, but somehow those clutch, little ball, speed-and-savvy moments didn't turn into game-winning runs.
Here's my message to Matt Cain and the rest of the Giants staff: THROW FUCKING STRIKES. There is only ONE GUY in the Padres lineup that can hurt you! And to the lineup? How about a CLUTCH FUCKING EXTRA-BASE HIT WITH MEN ON BASE?? Is that too much to ask?
--M.C.
p.s. Ah, the Mark DeRosa Saga--what wonderful window into the mind of Brian Sabean. I feel for DeRosa, I'm sure he's frustrated, and he seems like a dedicated pro. But it was Brian Sabean who signed a 35-year old utility player coming off wrist surgery to a 2-year deal to be a "force" in the middle of the lineup. Chew on that one, me buckos.
p.p.s. Did anyone else notice Ol' Boch's brain fart in the 5th inning? Righetti had come out to talk to Zito, who promptly threw 2 balls to the next hitter. Ol' Boch then leapt to his feet and ran on to the field in order to . . . we aren't sure, because the 2nd base umpire promptly ordered him back to the dugout! Kruk and Kuip then commented that after a visit, the pitcher is supposed to complete his pitching to the current batter before a change can be made. Zito then finished the inning--no pitching change made. The CSN camera showed Ol' Boch rummaging around in the dugout for a bit, with the coaches acting like nothing had happened. The big fella had a kind of "deer-in-the-headlights" look before resuming his normal expression, which is kind of like a wise, crafty old deer caught in the headlights. It was a weird and funny sequence that got lost in the rest of the ugliness.
6 comments:
What the fuck is with this team? They are rapidly becoming as dislikable as the Los Angeles fuckfacesmogsuckers. I don't care what their current record is, they are a shitty, crappy, disgusting team. Why aren't we beating them?
I think that was probably the worst showing of baseball I have seen in a long time.
Just pathetic, both teams put a ton of guys on base and couldn't do anything with them.
It was a pillow fight between elementry school girls. This easily could have been a 10 to 9 game instead of 3 to 2.
I think that the DeRosa thing wasn't too hard to forsee. I am disapointed that he is hurt and I really don't want him to play if he is only going to be 60 percent. Get the surgery and try to be 100 percent for next season.
I know, both pitchers were too chicken shit to throw strikes. Both teams aren't that scary hitting-wise. Bring in the Matt Cain!
I wrote the same comment on another site this evening about bochy and deer in the headlights before I saw your comments. I did not plageurize, but having seen your post now and the time on it, you definitely had it first. Sorry for the redundency and had I seen your post I would not have duplicated it, but referenced it. Sorry for being slower than Bengie when it came to posting an idea others obviously had and posted before me.
One difference between the weak hitting and strong pitching giants and pads is that the giants starting pitching has been better and the Padres relievers have been truly superior. But as of now the Pads relievers are truly putting up a lot of innings, and so far, they are not showing the effects, but as the year goes on the Pads will need replacements in the pen or they will implode. The giants starter have over 20 quality starts while the pads starters only have 15, and thusly the pads relievers have thrown a couple of games of innings more than the giants relievers. That being said the giants starters are not being overly taxed. I will be surprised if the Pads are still there at the end of the year unless they trade for some new relievers. But moves like signing Derosa and letting Lewis go, (for nothing) are moves that will not help. Essentially he gave DeRosa the 6 million he refused to give to a healthy Brad Penny.
@ nomisnala
No worries, mate.
The Pads are playing smart baseball, too, taking full advantage of their (limited) opportunities with speed, situational hitting, etc. The Giants are feeble with the sticks and fail to capitalize on breaks. Our starters are great, despite two sub-par starts in a row, but the 'pen is still a work in progress. We need some goddamn hitting.
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