Sunday, June 26, 2011

Sixteen strikeout sweep

Madison Bumgarner made history last week when he gave up hits to the first eight guys he faced. Today he made a little history as well with a career-high eleven strikeouts. Seven of his final nine outs (the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings) were by strikeout. It was a great show by the young lefty. The old lefty, Jeremy Affeldt, then struck out five of the six batters he faced in his perfect two-inning save. That's 16 strikeouts for the hapless Indians today, and only four runs scored in the series. The Giants plated a whopping eight runs in the three games, let's hope they saved some of this month's allotment for the upcoming road trip.

The doubleheader in Chicago on Tuesday will feature the return of Barry Zito. Erstwhile number two man Jonathan Sanchez has been DL'd for some official medical reason but it seems more likely to be a brief mental health holiday for the mercurial southpaw. The Giants seem to use the disabled list as a way to avoid roster decisions, which is fine by me as the Zito quandary will take some time to sort out. I'd like to see him get in a couple of quality starts and put the pressure on Sanchez for a roster spot. I suppose the odd man out is Guillermo Mota if both Sanchez and Zito perform. Either one could work out of the 'pen and give the team a lot of flexibility. I'd miss Mota, actually. He endeared himself to me with those gritty long relief appearances and general willingness to take the ball in any situation and do what needs doing. He's pitched in almost 700 games in his 13 years, all in relief.

--M.C.

2 comments:

Zo said...

Jonathan Sanchez was DL'ed June 25. That means that he won't be eligible, and the Giants will not have to make a decision, until after the All-Star break.

Brother Bob said...

MadBum proved that his abysmal outing was nothing but a fluke. He's going to be a stud for many, many years. And Affeldt was amazing. That may have been the nastiest slider I've ever seen, and that includes Rob Nenn.