Monday, June 27, 2016

Giants Get Spanked

8-3 loss in SF
Dr. Jeff and Mr. Samardzija have been battling it out lately for control of number 29. The Dr. has good stuff and uses it effectively to rack up quality innings and lead the team to wins. The other guy serves up BP and gets whiplash watching screaming liners and soaring bombs fly off bats. Sometimes both guys play in the same game. You can guess who mostly showed up tonight. The Giants couldn't get much going off Oakland starter Daniel Mengden and the A's had a lopsided win. It's been a couple of weeks since the Giants got handed their hats like that. Let's hope that's the trend for the rest of the season--lots of wins bunched around occasional losses!

Three more games with the A's: Suarez tomorrow night in SF, then Peavy and Bumgarner in Oakland the next two nights.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

9 comments:

Russian River said...

Take me out to the Ball Game…………….
Well we did and what a clunker to watch live. It all came down to batting practice in the 2nd inning and that was that. Being at the game, you notice things that a television broadcast just doesn’t translate. The “crack” of the bat, the hushed crowd, or the young lady upchucking in the isle next to you. That to me, summed up last night’s game versus our cross Bay rivals.

There’s a Pink Floyd album called, “A Momentary Lapse of Reason”. That sums up Jeff Samardzija’s performance last night. He started well and then came the 2nd inning. Crack, crack, crack, and I don’t mean the drug. The A’s came up swinging and spanking hits all over the field including a 3 run dinger. They hit a bunch of doubles all over the place last night. What did they have? 5 doubles? My hat’s off to them. Get a runner on base and advance or drive him in. The Giants looked like they were sleep walking in quicksand. Other that the 2nd and 6th, Jeff looked pretty good, but the lads just couldn’t string together any hits.

The score board displayed the sum total of Oakland starter Daniel Mengden major league career – 17 days. Really? 17 days and the Giants made this guy look like a seasoned veteran. Swinging and grounding or popping out on first pitches. You turn around for a sec and the side was out. What happened to patience and working the count?

I guess it’s hard when you watch strikes one and two go by and you’re forced into swinging at anything to try and stay alive. The kid looked good and we were overwhelmed. The crowd was never into the game and didn’t have much to cheer about. What did MC say, why is it that other teams can hit home runs in our park and not us?

Other than the game itself, it was a blast being at the park and here are some of my recollections:

The between innings scoreboard games, hi-jinks and watching kids be kids, as they’re caught on camera. The guy who figured out how to get on the stadium cam and catch him proposing to his girlfriend, while we all watched on the BIG SCREEN. He proposed, she said yes and we all shed a tear of joy while Frank Sinatra crooned “Strangers in the Night”. That was a Moment. Eating Cracker Jack and Giant’s peanuts at a ball game, along with a lamb burger and hot link, washed down with a couple of margaritas. A good time and I’ll be back, hopefully to celebrate a win.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Samard**** needs to get it back together. I expect cromulence! He doesn't have to be Cy Young, just tougher and more consistent.

Going to the game is so unlike other forms of entertainment. Sporting events are so random, you never know what the outcome will be or what you will see. You're an old pro so you know how to have a good time regardless. Getting older, I realize that's the secret to everything--have a good time regardless! Results and outcomes are up to the gods, all we can do is be in the moment and appreciate the process. Ballplayers have to go through so many ups and downs and encounter so much failure that the mental approach really is the difference-maker. The Giants have a great team-wide ability to forget the past and go forward, focusing on the next challenge. I try to live more like that every day. (It's hard!)

See you in a month, tovarish!!

carmot said...

Nice thoughts, M.C. Enjoy the journey and the process. Absolutely. And, "he doesn't have to be Cy Young..." Yeah, I know... What a slacker that guy was, ONLY 3.4 SO/9?

Totally kidding. Kinda. G's have been on a fantastic run of late. Somehow the A's always seem a tough match up. Oh, and why oh why do the G's consistently have a tough time when facing young/inexperienced arms? Is it lack of scouting? Seems like one of the most common themes these past few years.

Stack and rack up more wins, please. Second half of the season will be full of tough opponents and scheduling. Cheers.

campanari said...

Glad to see you commenting, carmot!

As to Dr Jeff and Mr Samardzija, I will only comment that "Samardzija" is Serbian, and the Serbian word for DEATH is "smrt." (This last is courtesy of Google translate.) "-zija" is the suffix -SION--English "expansion," for example, is Serbian "expanzija." When the Shark is bad, then, he is Mr Deathness, or something of the sort. I suppose Serbian has no suffix meaning "by the long ball given up."

M.C. O'Connor said...

Damn, the things we learn following baseball! Serbian etymology--love it.

carmot said...

Thanks, campanari. I'm around a bit. So, Mr. Expanded Deathness? I love etymology lessons! Thanks! I recall others here do, too. So... How to say the one thing we all "need to know how to say?"

BEAT LA!

-----------------------------

Totally separate topic. Anybody planning to go to Fresno for the 4th of July River Cats game?

Should be Mejia starting. And some very familiar Giants, of course. Oh, and I'm really interested in Alex Bregman, if he's getting promoted in time. Definitely up there on my radar for other teams' prospects. Like George Springer was, Aaron Judge was, Marcus Semien, Khris Davis, Daniel Norris, Nick Kingham, Jen-Ho Tseng, Yoan Moncada, Jung Ho Kang, and others over the years. Cheers.

campanari said...

WE'RE DOOMED! I typed smrd into Google Translate, to see if it meant something different from smrt (= death) in Serbian. And it does mean something different, damn it. SMRD means STINK. Oh, Shark, how I hope and pray that your Jeff-ness prevails over your smrt-ness and smrd-ness, so we fans can rejoice in sacrificing our first-round draft choice for your mighty right arm, alive and sweetly odoriferous.

M.C. O'Connor said...

We could turn it around a make Samardzija the Spreader of Stink and Death. Opponents will quake with fear instead of salivate over fat ones. He'll need a mask, of course.

carmot said...

Yeah, not everything has to be perfectly literal. I mean, say I were fishing with my friend, er chum. Doesn't mean I'd push him overboard at the first sign of a Shark- errr SMRD, uhhh, Samard. Oh, never mind.

Can Jeremy Renner pitch? I know, not fair... He's been doing better more recently...