Friday, May 2, 2014

Stingy Tim



GAME SUMMARY:

 Tim Lincecum and the brilliant relief corps held the talented Brave lineup in check as Angel Pagan and Mike, er sorry...Michael Morse supplied the "dingers du jour" for a nifty 2-1 victory.  This tightly played game smacked of a (dare I say it?) play-off preview.  It is also a fabulous way to start the gnarliest road trip of the early season.

TIM FACTS:
 Start #6  WIN!  (2-1, 5.12)   6 innings  6 hits  1runs  1 earned  3 walks  4 strikeouts  0 hr

 He made not have had his best stuff of the early season, but Timmeh found a way to wriggle out of each tricky spot and deliver one of his better starts so far.  Sure, he gave up a few baserunners ( I bemoaned Lincecum's WHIP problem in my last post) but he never gave up the big hit. It was totally solid, not dominating but tough when he needed to be. If this is the new Tim quality start ... I can definitely live with it.

HIGH and/or LOWLIGHTS: 

DingerLoveFest 2014 continues!  Angel Pagan hit another lead-off jack and Morse smacked a ridiculous opposite field deep fly and THAT WAS IT.  We no longer know how to score without a home run. Well, not quite, but it sometimes feels that way. What can I say? It worked tonight.

Brandon Crawford made another sweet play late in the game. It was especially nice for him to do that in Atlanta where they think they have the best defensive SS, Andrelton Simmons.  Both these guys will be around for quite a while, probably on these teams. After all, you don't give up those kinds of gloves.

Good start to the first tough road trip of the year!  Let's see if we can't grab this series tomorrow. Granted, a tough match-up, but Vogie may very well be in a good mode.  The team, as a whole, sure is.  Go Giants!

4 comments:

Brother Bob said...

Yay Timmeh! I thought he looked pretty good, and Sanchez did a good job with him.
So the Giants have only lost one game in the past week and guess which one it was- the one I attended. Figures.

JC Parsons said...

I did notice that, dear Brother, and mentioned it to MOC. Oh well, too bad you can't go to any more games this year.

JC Parsons said...

Re: Sanchez. He does seem to handle Tim better, doesn't he? Flem made it sound like Sanchez was blind in the first couple innings; couldn't see Tim's stuff. In other words, just like last year. But that went away! Maybe weird lighting? Maybe the drugs wore off?

M.C. O'Connor said...

Hector is improving his game, give him some credit! Even Buster has a hard time with Tim--it's not just the nasty break, it's the unpredictability. Tim's ball doesn't always go where the target is. Anyway, he was effective, and that's what matters. Quality starts, man, that's what the guys have to deliver.

Sandoval and Hicks also made some tough plays late in the game to turn hits into outs.

Morse has had a really nice month: 28 hits including 6 2B and 7 HR in 98 PA. The strikeouts are little scary (23), and the paucity of walks (6), but you can't argue with the contributions he's made to the team's wins. Bochy has been able to keep him fresh and give him a chance to get a big hit and also get a glove man in there late in games and keep his weakness from being exposed. So far Morse has handled all the routine stuff and made the plays he was supposed to and has flashed a good arm, too. If he stays healthy he could be the next Aubrey Huff/Sabean Reclamation Award winner.