The Giants were toast against their bête noire Mat Latos. Latoast? No matter. It wasn't pretty. Now I know how Reds fans felt on Friday night. For the second straight game the home squad gets a run in the 9th to prevent a shutout, but that's it. Barry Zito had a can't-throw-a-strike stretch, and it cost the game. He got 18 outs, otherwise, and was as effective as a guy can be with 11 baserunners (6 walks, 5 hits). But it was all Latos this afternoon, and despite a few hard-hit balls he shut the lineup down with ease (Game Score 86). The big news for Giants fans was the 2-1/3 perfect innings thrown by Brad Penny to finish the game. You never know who the surprise will be in the bullpen, and Brian Sabean has a way of finding diamonds in the relief market rough. We all know Big Brad from his short but excellent 2009 stint with the club, back when he was a starter. Unfortunately he's been released by two other teams since then, so it is hard to say what he has left. But it's an intriguing move, and he just may have the stuff to help out in the 'pen. George Kontos did not inspire in his brief outing in relief of Zito, immediately giving up what proved to be the winning run, so it can't hurt to try out another guy. Let's hope they can hit Bronson Arroyo tomorrow.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
3 comments:
Giants can sure use a win on Sunday. Melky needs to get hot, and Belt needs to play. Losing to a jerk like Latos is unfathomable, but with Zito pitching I expected it. One of Zito's 6 (six) walks was intentional. The guy has 45 walks and only a few more K's on the year. He has to have good control to win, he certainly is not going to throw by some guys. Even though Ethier was in the dodger lineup for most of the 3 shutouts the giants tossed, it is looking as if the accomplishment was not so astonishing, as the Mets have just thrown back to back shutouts against the dodgers. Of course Ethier is out, but still, they are hardly hitting anything hard.
I'm sure in LA the big story is the collapse of the home team. Blame the injuries, but they were probably never quite as good as they seemed early this season.
Zito pitched well enough for a win. Our offense is flat. Since Tuesday, we have scored 2, 3, 5, 1 and 1.
Fortunately, we got two shutouts in that stretch. Latos was exceptional, but Leake was not.
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