The Giants 3-2 win on Monday night was the 144th game of the season, the end of the eighth seasonal inning. Last night's slugfest was the first of the final 18 game stretch of this miserable 2013. How miserable, you ask? This miserable:
1st inning: 11-7
2nd inning: 10-8
3rd inning: 8-10
4th inning: 8-10
5th inning: 3-15
6th inning: 9-9
7th inning: 7-11
8th inning: 9-9
And they've opened the ninth with a loss. Only 17 more games to go. Ryan Vogelsong had one of those nightmare innings in the 5th where he turned a 6-0 lead into a 6-5 lead. To be fair, Michael Cuddyer (who also hit the game-winner) is having a monster season, and giving up bombs to guys like that is going to happen sometimes. Those ugly innings have been a curse all season long--our pitchers have thrown a lot of them. Hunter Pence had a career night with six runs batted in, all for naught as the pitching couldn't keep the Rockies off the board. In the 1st, when the Giants had two on and Pence up, I kept hoping and praying for that rarest of animals in AT&T Park to appear--the three-run homer--and sure enough, it did. He hit one that was obviously deep enough, it just had to stay fair, and it clanged off the pole to make it 3-0. Careful what you wish for, eh? Cuddyer's was also a three-run homer. When the Giants get good work from the hurlers, they can't hit. When they hit, they can't pitch. It's not a winning combination.
Yusmeiro Petit gets the ball this afternoon in the rubber match, then the team hits the road for four in Los Angeles. A strong showing down there would be a small consolation for this wretched year. At least the Dodgers can't eliminate the Giants--that's already happened. Their magic number (13 games ahead of Arizona, 18 remaining for both) is six. In theory they could clinch the West this weekend as they've got one more game against the Diamondbacks at home tonight. After the Giants leave town the Dodgers go to Phoenix for four. Let's hope they settle it there. At least there is some comfort knowing they won't clinch in San Francisco in the penultimate series at the end of the month.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
1 comment:
So that mess of a game finally ended? The box score looks like a large basic file run through a confetti maker. We are now 9-9 against the rookies with the series to be decided today. The Giants could have passed them, now we will have to rely on the goodness of others not to end up in last place. The 2013 Giants are fucking laughingstocks.
Post a Comment