Egads! 9 - 0. One hit. One lousy hit. Well, two really, but the last one showed up a bit too late to really help. A couple of walks. Bronson Arroyo made sure the Giants were never really in this one. He breezed through 7 innings on 91 pitches. Was able to control his pitches, all of them. I am pretty sure he started every batter with a strike and started every inning with an out. Ryan Ludwig homered off of Madison Bumgarner in the second for 1 run, but then the Reds scored 3 more on a bunch of singles in the fourth. A team with plenty of power, they were taking advantage of situations and hitting, 7 hits plus one walk in just over 4 innings. Kontos came on to bail out Madison in the 5th, he pitched superbly. Tim Lincecum followed and was - inspirational. If memory serves (and it rarely does these days) he also pitched in relief in 2010 against Philly. He went two, gave up one hit, but his appearance was just uplifting. At least for the fans, not sure about the team because they did not respond. Mijares, Casilla, Moto - all in the eighth and it was a mess - 5 more runs scored.
Ryan Vogelsong starts Tuesday and that is appropriate. Game three had to go to Zito or Vogie even before Timmy was used in relief, and Cincinnati has mostly right-handed hitters. Cincinnati is a very, very good team with stunning defense, good pitching and great relief and hitting that just doesn't end, but you have to believe that the Giants can go in there and sweep. They did it against LA, so they can do it here. And by "you have to believe" I mean YOU HAVE TO BELIEVE.
Thus far in this post season, the visiting team has won every game, putting to rest that "the-teams-with-the-best-records-got-screwed" theory. I would be thrilled to see that trend continue all the way through the league championships.
12 comments:
Oakland lost both games in Detroit.
Vogie deserved to get the start if you base it on regular season performance.
Giants have to find their "A" game!
What a disaster the last 2 nights have been. And, how 'bout those loyal Giants' fans, sitting on their hands & sticking around until the 7th inning. They started deserting the place, even when the score was 4-0. I guess that they were worn out from attending the 49ers' game earlier in the afternoon. What a joke.
I have a lengthy rant, but I'll restrain myself to just a couple of comments about last night:
- Suddenly, the Giants appeared to be under orders to take the first strike. Normally, that's a pretty good philosophy, but Bronson Arroyo walks one guy per start, so he can obviously throw strikes whenever he wants to. Consequently, he did, & every hitter was instantly behind on the count.
- When the Giants didn't sign a helpful veteran Relief Pitcher at the trade deadline I was astounded. It seemed like a guaranteed Sabean move in a playoff drive. It turned out that the Giants' equivalent roster move was to wait for that sack of crap, Mota, to get off of the drug list. Boy, what a great move that has turned out to be. I really don't want to see him pitch ever again. His last few appearances have resulted in bombardments of epic proportions. He is washed up & needs to retire.
- Lincecum's relatively effective appearance (other than that the first batter he faced hit a ball that would have been an HR in any other ballpark) was encouraging to see. His passion was nice to see, too. When Vogelsong wins Game 3, it will be a decision about the Game 4 starter. Some think Cain, some think Zito. Maybe, some should think Lincecum.
- Gregor Blanco has taken a called 3rd strike twice now. On Saturday, it was in a crucial situation & really hurt us. Yesterday, it was just part of the Arroyo flurry of K's. Nady, on the other hand, has some pop & made a great catch yesterday - other than Lincecum's work, it was the only Giant highlight. Nady may deserve a start, even though Homer Bailey is right-handed.
Yeah, I tend to forget about Oakland. Sorry that.
A sickening downer any way you look at it. Fortunately I missed the last 5 Reds runs because I watched the new Simpsons "Treehouse Of Horror." Honestly, lots of things are more important than baseball. I can never get bothered by people leaving early. I almost always do this myself now. Although I don't think I ever would for a post-season game.
Vogie pitched great his last start, and pretty well before that. You don't base starts on regular season performance entirely, although to some extent you "dance with who brung you." Which is the thing about Tim. He didn't bring us, and he hasn't been sharp lately. He is forgiven after last night (I mean really, the crowd noise on the radio mike was great), but let's hold off talk of a start until next series, if we can get there. Bochy has had a lot of success lately with keeping starters on a short leash and using a rotation of relievers. Last night the Mijares (who was, by the way, a very good pick-up) and Mota and Casilla inning was a mess, but the Giants had one hit and zero runners in scoring position to that point. But that means that you don't have to use them next time when the game is actually close.
Actually the Reds scored later, while I was watching "Family Guy." During "Bob's Burgers" I actually watched the game and part of Lincecum's performance. Have you ever tried to watch "Bob's Burgers?" It's just awful.
Mota may be stinkin' it up but he isn't the reason their "backs are to the wall" as Zo so aptly put it. The relief corps is there--they have the arms. Once they got Mijares and then Kontos stepped up they had the guys they needed. The Giants aren't short of guys, they are short of guys producing.
Zito gets the call Game 4. Yikes. I'd have Tim ready at a moment's notice. That's assuming a Game 3 win. I'm glad it's Vogie. He's a beast, and I think he will deliver. Gotta get some hits, score some runs, man. They are on the road so that should help.
Where do you get that Zito is the game 4 starter? I saw one listing that said Cain, and on the Giants web site, Bochy is saying he hasn't decided, but Cain could be a possibility.
Y'all gotta follow the tweets on the site. This site, that is. I know, I hate twitter, too, but the sidebar with the feed from Andrew Baggarly (yes, that one, on the left, a little lower) has breaking news. Baggs's story is here:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/baseball-san-francisco-giants/giants-talk/Zito-will-start-potential-Game-4?blockID=785987&feedID=10850&utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter
JC, you been tweetin' our posts like you said you would?
Philips defense at second, make it almost look as if scutaro is not even playing second for the giants. Might as well just be a hole out there. Philips shows how second should be played. Even Ludwick made some nice plays despite his reputation as a poor fielder.
Giants have to hit. No reason to hold back scoring. For three games now coming up the giants need to score and keep pouring it on. If not, we will have to "wait til next year" and you can bet the division will be a lot tougher next year.
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