Jose Guillen had quite a day, whacking a 1st-inning grand slam and stroking a 2-run single in the 5th, thus making a mockery of my complaints about him. Sure, he moves like Bengie Molina, but when you pound the crap out of the ball and lead the way in a must-win game, you get at least a nod and a tip o' the tam o' Shanter from yours truly. The offense-starved Giants found the soft underbelly of the Brewers pitching staff (finally!) and racked up 9 runs on 10 hits and 7 walks. Barry Zito put together a solid start and got a "W" next to his name for the first time since July 16th. While it's true he lacked run support in some fine outings (q.v. 7/31, 8/6, and 9/8), he did run off a spectacularly wretched stretch from August 11th to September 3rd, with Game Scores of 40, 34, 28, 13 and 39, throwing 23-2/3 innings and allowing 38 hits, 14 walks, and 27 runs. That included a loss in relief as well! The Giants need all the cylinders firing here at crunch time, and quality starts (Game Score 60 today) from Barry Zito are a necessary part of that, so I was happy to see some good work from him.
One thing about the 40-man roster that's puzzling me: where is our no. 3 catcher? In a blowout, I'd like to see Buster Posey sit out the last few innings. Eli Whiteside can do the job, and if we had a third catcher we could use him. Why is Steve Holm in Fresno? Forty guys on the roster and no catcher in the bunch? Buster Posey is the best player on the team, the most valuable hitter in the lineup as well as an exceptional fielder. He had another awesome day (2 hits, 3 walks, 3 runs). But he gets dinged up every time he goes out there--all catchers do. This is precisely why you have a 40-man roster in September! Ah well, just add it to the list of things I don't understand.
The Giants won a big game today and in a big way. The Padres lost. No complaints there. The Giants have a travel day tomorrow, then head for Chicago on the last road trip of the year. It ends with three games in Coors Field! It looks like Lincecum-Zito-Cain for Friday-Saturday-Sunday. Like I said yesterday, don't trim your nails, you'll need 'em to gnaw on.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
8 comments:
Rocks lost too! Hooray for the Not-Rockies! Now, get the fuck out!
Also, Go Giants!
The torture parade rolls into Chicago... Keep it going Gigantes!
Who would have thunk that in September the Giants would be living or dieing by the Home Run. Thank Willie that Sabian made some moves that are paying off big time when it counts. Now if we can sit The Great Panda for the whole road trip, we might have a better chance.
I'll let my nail grow back for the Rockies Series!
The Giants' first inning was loaded with irony, I thought. First Braun robs Ross of a leadoff homer with a spectacular catch, then the home-plate ump robs Narveson of an inning-ending strikeout of Burrell (that 2-2 pitch was right over the plate). Burrell walks and Guillen hits the slam. It should have been a very frustrating inning for us, instead it's happy happy fun time. The outcome could have been entirely different. You can't assume those other 5 runs get scored.
For a while, I, too was perplexed about why we hadn't activated a third catcher. Then, I realized that Pablo Sandoval is probably regarded as the Emergency Catcher. Not sure that that is a brilliant strategy, but there you have it.
If you're in the mood a little out bizarre, try watching this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BNln4WU-8yA&feature=related
Baggs today talking about what happens if the Giants, Rockies and Padres finish with identical records. But I say, No Way, dude! The Giants play the Pads and Rox. If they beat them 2 out of 3 each, then that means that the Giants win 4 out of 6 and these teams win only 2 out of 6. Each of these teams has one more game to play than the Giants, let's say they both win that game. That means that there are 6 games remaining and if the Giants only win 3 of the 6 (although 4 would be better), the other teams would have to win 5 of 6 to make up the difference. So as you can see, the Giants, at 0.5 games up in the standings, are in the driver's seat. As long as they beat our competition head to head.
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