So, on a day after Tim Lincecum was good enough for a win, Madison Bumgarner was good enough for a win. Not his most dominant self, although Madison did give us 8 innings. He threw 98 pitches, almost 80% of them strikes. Madison gave up 6 hits and 5 runs, including 2 home runs. Again, he did not walk anyone and, in contrast to Tim, struck out 11. Madbum has only walked 13 batters in 11 games, and it seems like a bunch of those must have come in just a couple games. Madison's troubled frame was the 4th, when one of those home runs came with the bases loaded. Two singles and a batter hit by pitch loaded the bases before there was a single out. Madison then struck out the next batter before Jeff Francoeur homered. The second home run came from Andres Blanco in the 8th for a final score of 7 to 5, Giants. I do not know if Andres is any relation to Gregor.
The Giants did not hit any home runs. Nori Aoki, returning from the flu, had 2 rbi, and the other rbi were scattered among Angel Pagan, Brandon Belt, Matt Duffy and Madison Bumgarner. Aoki had 3 hits, and Matt Duffy and Madison each had 2, among the 12 total for the Giants. Many hits make good things. Matt Duffy has had some really good games lately. Not sure how you can pull him from the line-up, even though Casey McGehee has, reportedly, fixed the problems with his swing. I think Jon already used "good enough." Today was an example of the Giants being good enough. That makes for a win, though, and that is what counts. The doggers have not been playing well, they are 3 - 7 in their last 10 even when the Giants were 5 - 5. Let us hope that kind of play continues, for them.
4 comments:
Having a day off and then getting to face the Phillies has definitely been the perfect cure for a 5 game losing streak. These guys have some serious pitching problems. Tomorrow will make the third guy in a row with an ERA over 5.00 starting for them. Needless to say, I'm looking for the sweep. Which would be quite the sweet accomplishment since Hunter Pence will sit out the whole series. Like I said, playing these guys now looks like a very good break.
I'm pretty sure that MadBum takes a different approach in a tie game with Francour(sp?) but maybe not. Either way, I think you are a little tough on him. Just as I was tough on TIm. They both won and that is the key. Neither had their best game by any means, but they sure didn't explode either. Solid, and right now our offense makes that "good enough."
Actually MadBum's game was incredibly good, except the 5 earned run part. I guess his game score of 61, which is pretty good, is rare for a 5 run start. Eighty percent strikes is very much god-like. Eleven strikeouts with zero walks in eight innings, sorry, even MadBum can't do much better than that. But then, FIVE RUNS. Weird...
Tim's game score was 45 , I think. Yuck. I spent the first two innings yelling at the radio and figuring out who to use in long relief. Can't remember getting too worried with MadBum, even after the grand slam, a bit shocked, but not expecting the worst. The only comparison is they both gave up big homers and they WON. Otherwise, they did it in completely different fashions. Two amazing pitchers with a whole lot more of their stories left to tell. Happy, winning stories, of course!
Looks like Duffy gets the start this morning. Interesting. There was some talk that McGeHee would be in today, I thought I read that Bochy said that. But maybe the hot hand of the youngster has caused a change. Matt has played terrific in Philly. Still, isn't Bochy the veteran-gets-every-possible-chance kind of guy? I like it. Duffy should play until he has to give some sad speech and get his number (5, right?) retired.
Yeah, Bochy had said that. But with Duffy hot again, you know he likes to play the hot hand. Plus, he did say that Duffy will get the bulk of the playing time, so he gets first dibs in Bochys eyes.
No, Bochy is the guy who sits the vet, Roberts, Rowand, when the rookie starts producing, when the rook shows to Bochy satisfaction that he is ready for his close up.
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