You didn't really think that Tim Lincecum would make it easy in his 2013 debut, did you? Well, he didn't. But he won ( something he failed to do much of last year ), and that is all that counts. The Giants took the rubber match over the much ballyhooed doggers, 5-3, and we can now officially say we are off to a "good start."
Tim's performance sure did nothing to address any of last year's demons. Quality start? Who am I kidding. Five innings, three of which were nightmarish. Get used to Timmeh's games featuring the ENTIRE bullpen. To be fair, he didn't give up an earned run, and that is ALWAYS a good thing. Command? Yeah, right. Seven walks says it all. First inning woes? Could have been way worse, but the gratuitous run was coughed up. Actually, "could have been way worse" pretty well sums up the whole night for Tim. Not inspirational, but it worked. Except for his RBI groundout, that was a little inspirational. Good AB, Tim.
Good night for some offensive highlights! Pablo Sandoval hit the first Giant homer of the season with a tomahawk job off Josh Beckett. Hunter Pence followed that with a beautiful opposite field shot. Exactly the type of hit that we all dreamed he would deliver. However, my favorite hit of the night was the first extra base hit of the season, a two strike double by Brandon Crawford that led to our first couple runs. He may be the offensive surprise of the year.
New guy Chad Gaudin looked strong in some very high leverage situations. His last pitch to sit down Matt Kemp was big time NASTY. We may have two or three guys that can handle the eighth inning responsibility. Sweeeeeet.
The dogger defense looked stanky. I sure hope that is a season long problem for them.
9 comments:
Ugly win are still wins, by God!!
BTW I am heading south tomorrow and will be at the Opener on Friday!! Can't say when I'll be at a keyboard next so I may be "off-line" for the weekend. I'll post an update on Sunday, for sure.
GO GIANTS!!
Its nice to win some ugly ones, because you know we are going to lose a few that we should have won. Lincecum must regain control 7 walks in 5 innings, gosh he is becoming the mirror image of Jonathan Sanchez.
Jon, in own your lovable way, despite your better efforts to acknowledge some of the shortcomings, you have sugar-coated what was a pretty miserable opening performance by young Tim, very reminiscent of the worst of his 2012 efforts. Let's get a couple of things straight:
- The PB called on H. Sanchez was a WP, so, in my book, Tim did give up an earned run.
- Based upon Hector's mannerisms in receiving the ball, it appeared that the 2 of them were on totally different planets on about 50% of the pitches thrown. This was very disturbing.
I was very impressed by his RBI.
That Home Plate Umpire was a fricking joke (independent of who was pitching). His ball & strike calls were inconsistent throughout the entire game. Just when you thought that he was giving the inside part of the zone, but not the outside part, he'd call an outside pitch a strike - & vice versa. Several pitches right down the pipe were called balls. Who is that chump?
B. Crawford's 8th inning play on C. Crawford was worthy of Omar Vizquel or Ozzie Smith's Top 10 Plays - that was a major, major gem in a vital situation. The recognition that that was the only way to make the play & the timing involved in when & how to pick up the ball was staggering. Top that off with an incredible throw, & you have a truly classic play by an excellent SS. Wonderful!
BCraw is something special. That was just one of many great plays he will make this year.
For all the hand-wringing about Tim and etc. remember that the "W" at the end of the night is what matters most. Giants just need to keep grinding out those "series wins" and they will be back to the top of the heap for another go-round.
We are off on our road trip. You guys keep RMC afloat until I get back.
Ron: I really have to call you on the notion that Tim's effort was as bad as last year. No earned runs (BTW that was clearly a PB and, yes, Sanchez is a horrible receiver that made several strikes get called balls, he is agony to watch and I have no clue why we think he can hit either, but that's a whole other post). Last year he LED THE LEAGUE in giving up runs. Last year he would have given up an extra base hit with men on. Sure the walks were bad but there were other aspects of good. If Barry Zito throws the same game we would hear all about his win streak, so I'm gonna focus on the W.
Not defending Hector - the fact that they were on 2 different planets further illustrates the ludicrous notion that someone has a personal Catcher, something I abhor. I know that this isn't Tim's idea - it's a mechanism to insure that Buster gets days off. But, the decision about when to use Sanchez should depend more upon whether the other team is throwing a tough lefty, so Belt can get a day off here-and-there, too.
OK, OK - I was trying to wind you up a bit ... sorry. Tim didn't give up the ill-timed extra-base hit, which I figured would come in the 5th inning. But, the wildness was scary.
Yes, he & the team got the Win, & we won the series - that's most important.
I think Joaquin Arias needs another mention here. He looked like a solid first baseman for two nights. Crawford's barehanded pickup and throw in the eighth would have been for nothing with Arias, stretch. He looks like he knows what he is supposed to be doing at first. He has played every infield position, and probably all the outfield ones too. He's got to be the number one bench guy by a mile.
Another three gidp last night. We won the last two games after hitting into 7 double plays. A sign of enough offense to beat a pretty good club, or a sign of impatience and poor bat handling at the plate?
If Bruce Dreckman had any consistency at all behind home plate, it was to call low pitches balls and high pitches strikes (well, really he wasn't consistent in that, either). That hurt Tim. As for me, I'm fine with sugar coating. Makes me want a doughnut right now. Glazed.
I fear the little guy may keep us in suspense for a while. Which Tim will we get?
Then we probably get to be pulled through the ringer once again by Zito. Was last season the fluke, or were the 5 years prior to that?
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