Saturday, May 4, 2013

¡Adios, pelota!

Ho-hum, just another laugher, this one a walk-off win against the Dodgers. Tonight's hero was last man Guillermo Quiroz, who has racked up just under 300 PA in parts of nine big league seasons. The 31-year old from Venezuela has logged over a thousand games in the minors in his long career, and his new job has him backing up the best player in the National League. Big swing in a big AB for the big fella, and the Giants go home happy once again.

Perhaps Buster Posey is not quite perfect--in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded and one out he had a chance to win it with a sac fly but instead offered up an easy DP grounder. Of course, he probably knew his backup would get the chance to deliver the big bomb in extras, and being a gentleman, deferred to the other fellow. Buster can turn failure into success. What a guy.

Unlike last night, tonight was not about the pitching. Santiago Casilla came up with the best stretch at the best time, getting the last six outs and giving the team a chance for a walk-off. Marco Scutaro (on base five times), Pablo Sandoval, and Posey were a combined 7-for-11 with six walks and six runs scored, but it was almost all for naught because Ryan Vogelsong had a meltdown in the 5th inning. He was charged with seven runs! The funny thing is that he looked good in the first four innings, much like the guy we saw last fall smoking the best teams in baseball. Fellow starter Matt Cain has yet to put it all together this season as well, yet the team is playing .600 ball and tied for first place. I imagine Ol' Boch will push his horse tomorrow and expect lots of innings as the 'pen has been well-used in the first two games.

Congratulations to "Q" for his huge homer off a tough closer, and for inserting his own interesting story into the great LA-SF rivalry. I didn't think the 2013 Giants would be full of so many surprises, but that's what makes every season so much fun as you just never know what is in store. And there's lots more to come.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. Tonight the Giants had a player hobble off the field as Angel Pagan tweaked a hammy. I hereby promise not to make any more cracks about the crippled Dodgers. Bad karma, man. Perhaps Francisco Peguero will get a start.


6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, it's not-so-Anonymous back again after a long hiatus. How is everyone? Sorry if it seemed like I died, lots of stuff happened within the last year or so, just checking up on the blog again. Hope all is well. As always, Go Giants!

M.C. O'Connor said...

¡Francisco!

Brother Bob said...

Welcome back, Anonymous!
(How do you get those cool upside-down exclamation points?)
I guess it's time to officially worry about Vogelsong. It's so hard for pitchers to maintain a high level of performance. Maybe one great Major League season is all Vogelsong ever had in him. It's more than most athletes get in a lifetime.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Alt-173

Hold down the 'alt' key and use your keypad (not the numbers above your letters) to enter 173. There are 'alt' codes for everything.

Shankbone said...

Great games the past 2 nights. Here is hoping this site's namesake can have a better May. Go Gigantes!

Brother Bob said...

¡Gracias!