Ryan Vogelsong came up with a big start (Game Score 60) to lead the Giants over the Dodgers tonight. I was surprised after the walk, triple, and long fly ball that ended the 6th that Bochy let him pitch the 7th, but Jean Machi was brilliant in relief and it all worked out. Vogie was most likely out of gas despite the low pitch count, and the hit-by-pitch and single to start the inning was all-too predictable. But Boch is a manager of men, and sometimes you have to show faith in a player even if the calculations say otherwise. I imagine a manager has to bank that confidence so he can draw on it later. Vogie strikes me as a particularly amenable athlete to that sort of handling, but that's all just blogger jive, so pay it no mind.
The highlight of the evening for me was definitely the 1-2-3 double play on the comebacker by Juan Uribe to end the 7th. If a game can have a tipping point then that was it right there. The Giants got the go-ahead run in the bottom of the inning and held on thanks to the three-headed beast of Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez, and Sergio Romo. Machi may prove to be a very valuable guy--he sure bailed out Vogie and the team with some stout relief in this game. My second favorite moment was Pablo Sandoval delivering the big hit after Hunter Pence was intentionally walked. Take that, Donnie Baseball! And my third favorite moment was Matt Kemp being picked off in the 2nd. Or maybe it was Donnie B's challenge being denied, I don't know. They were both beautiful.
Madison Bumgarner squares off with Hyun-Jin Ryu tomorrow at noon. Should be another nail-biter.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
1 comment:
A good game, made better by being able to watch it with my bro, JC. I especially enjoyed the ending with a classic effort from Romo. I love that guy.
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