His numbers aren't too bad (game score 42)
6.1 innings 10 hits 5 runs no walks 9 strikeouts
and maybe the heat got to him, but Timmeh absolutely fell apart in the the seventh inning. He gave up a couple runs early on singles and strike out pitches that Whiteside couldn't handle, but generally he had good stuff. And when Huff finally delivered a big hit to give him a lead late, I thought we had it made. Then: triple (by a guy from my hometown!), homer (the first ever by a pinch-hitter off Tim, by a guy from my alma mater), single, single, showers. That is NOT your typical Lincecum last inning. I was, shall we say....despondent.
But Nate Schierholtz (with not one but TWO huge RBI's), Cody Ross (with four hits), Freddie Sanchez ( with three hits), even frigging Aubrey Huff (with a homer and a HUGE two out walk in the ninth) all conspired to outslug the mighty Cardinals. How could I stay sad? Is it my imagination or is Brandon Crawford stirring the offensive pot? We sure seem a bit more capable at turning double plays as well. Its getting clear that Miguel Tejada (0-6 tonight although a couple were hard hit) will be left behind soon.
A road win against a good team when your ace lets you down is a rare and precious thing. Let us savor it.
OK, done? Good. Now, let's go kick their ass tomorrow!
8 comments:
Best game of the year.
Is it just my imagination, or is Nate Schierholtz finally progressed from an AAAA hitter to a major league hitter? Couple that with his glove, arm and speed, and he suddenly seems like a valuable outfielder. Crawford, too. He is looking good on defense and seems to be coming up with some key hits. Youthful enthusiasm? Works for me. I wouldn't mind seeing an infield of Belt/Huff, Sanchez, Crawford, Panda and an outfield of Scheirholtz, Torres, Ross/Belt.
I agree with both of you.
I suppose we'll continue to see a lot of shuffling of the lineup, with Rowand, Fontenot and Burrell getting their turns. Burriss seems to deserve a chance to play. And when Ford is healthy again, how do you leave him out of the game?
As for Crawford, I believe he's our shortstop, ladies and gentlemen. It's his job to lose.
"It's his job to lose" sounds terrible. I retract that.
I agree, Tejada was the SS for too long, and the worst one offensively AND defensively in baseball. I really can't see Crawford losing it. He's the best defensive SS on the roster. So long as his defense is better than Fontenot and Tejada, he should stay put.
That was the best game of the year.
Although things ended with the euphoria of the Giants' win, I was treated to a momentary flashback of the following game, which I attended at Busch Stadium with Jim Streeter & my Friend, Tracy Dethloff (a Cardinal Fan), from Lawrence, Kansas. When those lights malfunctioned, I thought "Oh, no ... here we go again":
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN198304290.shtml
The box score states that the game was on April 29, 1983. That only tells part of the story. It was actually played over 2 nights.
[This was the famous 'what are you doing here?' game, when, as the 3 of us reached our seats on the 3rd base line, I saw Johnnie LeMaster warming up & yelled 'Hey, Johnnie'. He looked at me & said 'What are you doing here?' It's when I really knew that there weren't too many of us Johnnie Fans out there.]
Anyway, there were numerous rain delays during the course of the 16-inning game. Finally, at around 12:55 AM, with the game in the top of the 15th, it started raining again. The Cardinals had the turf field with the pop-up automatic tarp (the same one that later attacked Vince Coleman in the 1985 playoffs). The tarp came out part-way, then jammed. The Umpires met with Frank Robinson & Whitey Herzog. They all agreed to 'suspend' the game due to the equipment malfunction. Otherwise, it would have been a rainout & the entire game would have had to be re-played. Unfortunately, when all of this happened, Renie Martin, a Giants' long reliever had just come in & had only pitched one inning. But, the game was resumed before the start of Saturday's game, so the Giants had to go to Mark Calvert, who couldn't get the job done.
See this link for another byline on the game which, prior to today, I knew nothing about:
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/baseball/professional/article_9e282312-7b2e-11e0-a611-0019bb30f31a.html
Meanwhile, since Tracy & I had driven from Kansas to the Stadium (via the St. Louis Airport to pick up Jim), we left the Stadium at 1 AM without even having found a motel room. That was a bit scary, but we found something satisfactory & survived.
The Giants won the regularly-scheduled Saturday game, 5-0, behind 7.1 strong innings from Andy McGaffigan & Johnnie's 3-for-4 with a 2B & a 3B.
On Sunday, St. Louis won a wild game, 10-9. The Giants rallied for 3 in the 9th off of Bruce Sutter, including an RBI triple by Darrell 'Shithead' Evans, an RBI single by Jeffrey 'Hac Man' Leonard, & an RBI single by Duane Kuiper, but the rally ended on a ground out by Johnnie, who finished the series 6-for-16.
We headed back to the Airport, then to Kansas, really tired, but pumped up, after having seen an action-packed series.
Oh ... carrying a full-time pinch-runner on a roster is silly. No Darren Ford, please. Also, please don't hurry Panda back - make sure that he's really ready. As chronic as Tejada is, I still keep thinking that he's going to contribute. Sure, the Crawford/Panda things looks like the real deal, but don't rush it.
Schierholtz and some other giants 4A players could be major league hitters if they get to play. Neal is next.
@ Ron,
"I really knew that there weren't too many of us Johnnie Fans out there"
Truer words were ne'er writ.
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