5-1 win in Tampa Bay
After a run of five scintillating starts--six runs allowed in 38-1/3 innings--Jeff Samardzija put up a trio of stinkers--thirteen runs allowed in 14-2/3 innings--and cast a bit of doubt about what was to come. But tonight the man they call The Shark sank his teeth into the Tampa Bay Rays and finished them off with a complete game four-hitter that seemed destined to be a shutout. Such hopes were cruelly dashed by a two-out two-strike homer by Brad Miller. It takes nothing away from the effort by the big righty. A complete game is a rare and special thing these days, something to savor. The shutout, even rarer, was tantalizingly close. I think we all felt kicked in the gut--Samardzija included--when that ball cleared the fence. Nice work, Jeff!
Giants keep the good vibes going with their 42nd win.
Albert Suarez gets the ball tomorrow, not Jake Peavy. Ol' Jake tweaked his neck, it seems. Santiago Casilla is on paternity leave, Steven Okert takes his spot. The game is at 1:10 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
4 comments:
I must admit that my confidence in Samardzija was shaken by his last few outings. In fact I have been very slow to warm up to the Shark, rather unfairly. Yesterday was very different for me. His complete control of the game was wonderfully soothing. He doesn't have to strikeout everyone to be very effective. It was truly sad when he lost the shut out, I was really rooting for him. But no big deal, it just shows how hard those things are to come by. Way to go Jeff! I'm sure the doggers noticed our #3 guy being a beast. I bet the entire league noticed.
Yesterday was an impressive day for Matt Duffy. Certainly not at the plate, where his struggle with any consistency continues. However these hard offensive times have not hurt his defense at all. Yesterday he made three or four sweeeeet plays at third. Diving left, charging in, everything with rock solid throws. To play with that quality in the field while you are sucking at the plate is no small feat. Matt is really showing me something this year. Not great things at the plate YET, but his glove work is a big strength of this team.
The Duff-man has a .247 batting average, a .309 obp and incredible splits. He has a .356 batting average and a .412 obp at home, and a .126 average and a .192 on the road. Weird, huh? Matt Duffy is 23.
FanGraphs rates JohnnyC at 3rd in baseball among 99 qualified starters with 3.1 WAR, MadBum 10th at 2.6 WAR, and Samard*** 40th at 1.6 WAR. That's OK by me, man. Only 17 guys have 2.0 or more WAR, I'll call those 'number ones' and the Giants have two of them! Only 39 guys have 1.5 or more. Samard*** is in that next group, the 22 'number twos'. 58 of the 99 are rated a 1.0 WAR and above.
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