I was sure the Giants were going to win today. I felt good about Jake Peavy and expected a strong outing from him. I liked the vibe from last night's win. So much for momentum. Brandon Crawford made a crucial error, a bad throw that cost a run when he should have held the ball in the 6th, that broke the scoreless streak. Peavy, who'd been excellent, then got burned by Mets pitcher Jacob deGrom on a hit-and-run in the 7th which led to another run. That was enough as deGrom overpowered the Giants with big-time heat, allowing only two hits and whiffing ten in his eight innings. I can't fault the lineup too much as the 2014 Rookie of the Year looks like the real deal. No sophomore slump for this guy, he's emerging as one of the best in the league. Jean Machi let things get out of hand in the 9th after good work from rookie southpaw Josh Osich in the 8th and it went to the 9th 4-0. Joe Panik and Hunter Pence conjured up a run for the home squad off reliever Bobby Parnell, but it was the Mets all the way today.
I hate the team being at .500 and I want to see them string together some goddamn wins.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
base running mistake probably cost the giants
ReplyDeletesome runs, and cost Panik a hit. Would have
been bases loaded and 1 out instead of first
and second and 2 outs, then Duffy crushes one
in the gap, only to be caught, and becoming
the third out, instead of a sac fly, with
runners on, and two out. That cost us.
Then a rare error but another costly one from
Crawford cost us a run. He makes a rare error
but every time it seems crucial. Then Pence
misses a dinger by about a foot foul. He follows
that up by striking out. The giants finally woke
up to score a run in the ninth. But of course
it was off of a reliever. Susac's slow leg speed
could not beat out the grounder up the middle to
keep the game going. The giants avoided a shutout
but could not avoid the loss. Machi just is not
the same guy he was last year before the allstar
break. His sinker just does not have the bite it
had last year.
Nomisnala's way of evaluating the game is one way. A different way would be to say that Peavy pitched very well for the second straight time, and together with Cain pitching so well yesterday, Giant fans might feel their anxiety levels lowering. If we get the same level of performance from them on a regular basis, and the same level of performance from Bumgarner and Heston which we have been getting, the Giants will have a pretty strong rotation, adding Vogelsong when needed and Hudson when needed. Pence showed how much he brings to the team which we have been missing.
ReplyDeleteAs to Crawford's error, it could have happened only because he made a miraculous stop on a ball that otherwise would have been into left field for a single, putting men on first and third. The man on third would have scored a moment later, on a single by the next batter. I would say the Crawford error was rare and not crucial.
Peavy pitched a well pitched game. Unfortunately, he went up against a better pitcher who pitched a better game. I think that pretty much ends the story, stuff like that happens all the time in baseball.
ReplyDeleteTo Acorn's astute point, I feel a lot better with what Cain and Peavy has done so far. I'm frankly amazed at what Peavy has done, the prognosis wasn't good, they said the goal was not 100% health but to get him effective again. And boy, has he been very effective so far!
And Vogie has actually been been our second best starter in terms of DOM starts (per PQS) since he entered the rotation full time. Since then, he has a 3.28 ERA over his last 14 starts.
With Bumgarner, Vogie, Cain, Peavy and Heston, we are in pretty good shape if they can just continuing doing what they have done so far.
Per Acom's evaluation, which covered more than one game, it covered the
ReplyDeletenew revamped rotation, and if one takes the optimistic view, and expects
dominant starts all the time from these guys, you have to have less anxiety.
But, will these guys continue to have dominant starts? Peavy looks better
now, than he did last year, even during his hot streak. If Cain has back
his full health and timing, there is no telling how good he can be. The guy
has been pitching the last few years with a large bone spur in his elbow. I do
like the rotation, but happening a year after going all the way to win the World
series, some of the guys must be tired, by some of the guys I especially mean
Bumgarner. Perhaps we can limit his pitches for a little while. Pitching well
or poorly, the key to the giants post all star game success will rely heavily
on their offense.