Wednesday, July 29, 2015

14th Team Shutout

Boxscore
Jake Peavy pitched a strong game with six scoreless frames and got some help from Hunter Pence in right field. The gangly one made a terrific running grab in the 3rd to turn a triple into an out and save a run and also pulled off a superb catch-and-throw in the 4th to nail a runner, this time Jonathan Lucroy at third base. Great fielding once again by the entire squad--that sort of thing just sucks the life out of other teams.

Peavy's day ended after a clutch strikeout of Ryan Braun with two on to end the 6th and preserve the shutout. Milwaukee starter Mike Fiers had a gem of his own going with only two hits allowed through six, but lightning struck in the 7th with the heart of the Giants order. Matt Duffy, looking like he had a plan, roped the first pitch to right-center for a single. Not to be outdone, Hunter Pence hit the second pitch he saw for a double to left-center and Duffy scored all the way from first. It was a thrilling sequence and it seemed to energize the team. Four hits, two sac flies, one walk, and two relief pitchers later it was 5-0 and Duffy was batting again. He made the last out and that was the final score.

Hunter Strickland and Sergio Romo added a little drama to their innings but got the requisite six outs without damage; both guys can throw some nasty-looking stuff when they really need to. Javier Lopez had an easy 9th to put the win in the books. A superb victory today to take the series! The Giants go on the road for ten tough ones and face a daunting August schedule after that. Should be some exciting baseball.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. The Dodgers lead the majors with 15 team shutouts, the A's are third with 13, and the Cubs fourth with 12.


12 comments:

nomisnala said...

The heat is now on the Dodgers tonight, after the giants took their game.
This long road trip has to be a winning one for the giants. It will be
a tough one, but it will start with 2 days off for Posey, 3 for Panik,
and a day off for the rest of the crew. Giants struggled in the warm
climate vs. Washington and Miami (even though Miami was indoors), lets
hope Bochy can get the team highly motivated for this long road trip.

Brother Bob said...

The Giants didn't get Hamels, instead they probably get to face him, presumably Saturday night in Texas.

JC Parsons said...

Last time we faced Hamels it was kinda fun but I guess I can't count on that happening again. Surprising that the Rangers got him since they are not in a race this year but he is under contract for awhile so that made him a good deal for anyone. Looks like Price is last big name rental out there and I suppose he would be a great addition. Those are so costly though, giving up a big prospect for 10 starts!

The Cards picked up Brandon Wood and they already got that nasty reliever, Cishek. Anyone that wants the championship is going to have to go through them and they are very well prepared for that. The Pirates also look very tough, plus they are probably very hungry since they got such a little taste last year. They will push the wildcard well over the 90 win threshold. We need to give that worry to the doggers.

This road trip could easily be the turning point in the season. We are clearly on a nice run but if we keep winning at these HOT nasty places then that shows we are the real deal. Of course, we might go 5-5 and that would not be so bad either. Long way to go!

M.C. O'Connor said...

Yeah, I agree, this is crunch time. This month will show us what the Giants are made of with 17 road games (18 if you count Friday) and quality foes.

I'm really happy LA did not get Hamels. I did not expect him to come to SF. I hope the Jays get Price for the same reason. Even with Latos (and now Alex Wood) I like the matchup with LA, I think the Giants can hang with them. A player like Price or Hamels may have tipped the balance, though you never know. Bring 'em on!!

Ron said...

The Hamels thing certainly falls into the category of WTF:

- Joins a shitty team playing in a shitty place.
- Pitches (once again) in a lousy Pitchers' park.
- The so-called Southern California draw didn't pan out (luckily).
- There was no money involved as a kicker, because the Contract was already in-place.
- Texas gave up much too much.
- Philadelphia took on an enormously out-of-proportion salary for an injured guy (Harrison).

I am completely baffled by this one.

I hope that the Giants don't give up much to try to get Price. This is 'rental' all the way. They don't seem to do sign-and-trades in baseball, so there's not a lot of upside.

Shields is available, but his Contract is so backloaded that that looks unattractive, too. Better to let the Padres stew in the diminishing returns of that poor decision.

So, that leaves us chasing Relief Pitchers - I am a little confused as to why we wouldn't be thinking about Kimbrel (non-rental) or Chapman (rental), when our Closer(s) are a bit shaky. But, we're probably looking more along the lines of the Affeldts & Lopezes.

On the other hand, nothing makes sense to me anymore, & the rumors are generated by Agents talking to Ken Rosenthal (who is usually wrong), then Heyman & Morosi, who get played into writing just about anything.

Zo said...

Shields is a Blue Jay.

carmot said...

So, I hope our Giants are resting up well today for the test ahead of them. 39 games in 41 days. Determines this season. Notice that both off days will require travel.

3 @TEX, 3 @ATL, 4 @CHC
--day off--
2 HOU, 4 WAS, 3 @STL, 4 @PIT
--day off--
3 CHC, 3 STL, 3 @LAD, 4 @COL, 3 @ARI

Wow, I feel underwhelmed by the return PHI finally chose for Hamels. Huh. After all the asks for awesome prospects. Huh. Well, there's no state income tax in TX. 4 Rangers = 50%+ of 2016 payroll.

And now Price goes for Daniel Norris?! Dang, I really, really think Norris can be an awesome #2 starter (by mid-2016 or in 2017). I've liked him for a long while. More than Aaron Sanchez when he was getting all the hype. Holy crikey, DET is *also* getting Matt Boyd?! Whoa, (IMO) if the Jays don't win it all this year, they will definitely regret this trade for yearssss. Damn. No way we could've matched nor beaten that offer. And shouldn't have if we could.

We need to get more creative. Create a good trade. If we're going for a reliever, I want Jake McGee. Starter, Danny Salazar. Utility, Brock Holt. The odds on any of those = ZERO. LOL, "kicking tires."

If we're going to spend large next winter, to pair a co-ace w/ Bum... At least some won't be tagged with a Q.O. Hey, dream big. Dream GIANT... (right?)

Ron said...

Unless Zo has channeled his inner Jon Paul Morosi, I amreading that Price is Blue Jay, not Shields. Still, we should stay a million miles away from Shields - crappy Contract.

M.C. O'Connor said...

I would be surprised if SD would trade with the Giants at this point, what with the intra-division thing and six more games against them, they may be sellers but they can also still play spoiler. They may not want to "help" the Giants (or LA for that matter). Secondly, it is all about what to give up. For Kimbrel I think the Padres would want something substantial, probably something they know the Giants don't want to part with. Chapman as you say is a rental, the "cost" in youngsters may not be worth it to the Brian Trust. The upgrade would have to be significant--the Giants have a good 'pen. They've been a little rocky, but that may just be the normal ups and downs of a long season. I think they have faith in the Core Four and would rather look at a specialist or an extra arm that can get both lefties and righties, an Affeldt type. They've been good at finding those guys. And don't forget that we've seen exceptional work from Kontos, Strickland, and even Osich.

obsessivegiantscompulsive said...

I'm not sure why people are so worried about all the good teams in August. We are one of the few teams who are actually above .500 against winning teams. There are only 5 NL teams above .500, and LA aint one of them.

I am worried about August because of all the games with only two days off. I would like to see Blanco and Adrianza get a lot of starts to rest key players. Each should get 3 starts per week. And if Posey gets a rest at 1B, I would like to see Belt in LF and Aoki in CF, once his bat returns, and give Pagan rest that way.

I would like to see Vogelsong get starts so that the SP get roughly regular rest instead of losing a day of rest. I looked through the schedule. It is actually bad to Sept 9, with only 2 days off from tomorrow to the 9th, covering 39 games. Then there are no days off during the last 13 games of the season, starting Sept 22. Given our current rotation, if we insert Vogelsong (or other) starts on Aug 5, Aug 16, Aug 30, Sept 5, and Sep 27, that only takes one start away from Bumgarner plus ends the season with Cain, Peavy, Bumgarner so that if the Giants can rest Bumgarner, Vogie or a rookie can take that last start so that he can start first game of playoffs, or if in wild card, can push Bumgarner to pitch WC game.

Zo said...

You are, of course, right, Ron. I was reading Price and thinking "that dick on the Pads."

M.C. O'Connor said...

It's Mike Leake, everyone!