6-5 loss in AZ
Jeff Samardzija pitched well in a tough place and left after 7-1/3 with a man on and a 5-3 lead. Two batters (and two pitchers) later it was 6-5 Diamondbacks and that was that. Josh Osich walked lefty Jake Lamb and Hunter Strickland gave up a homer to righty Wellington Castillo and the Giants snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. It should have been a better outcome. Back-to-back homers by Brandon Crawford and Mac Williamson (a 460-foot moon shot off the scoreboard) gave the good guys a 5-1 lead in the 4th but Samardzija gave both back in the bottom half to keep it close. He then retired--impressively--nine of the next ten get to the 8th. A leadoff double to Michael Bourn and a fly out by Paul Goldschmidt sent him packing and set up the southpaw but things didn't go as planned. Giants bullpen gets hit with another tough loss.
If there is good to be taken from this it's that Jeff Samardzija delivered a quality outing that gave the team a genuine chance to win. He wasn't overpowering and relied on his defense (BCraw was particularly dazzling) but he made a lot of big pitches and kept a lid on things. Arizona is a terrible place to pitch and like Johnny Cueto last night he did what was needed. Unfortunately the team couldn't turn it into a win.
Albert Suarez tomorrow at 1:10 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
2 comments:
Quite the game, with several big positives that can easily be overshadowed by the relief disaster. First, BCraw is as good as it gets right now and he put on a display. Both sides of the plate. He may be the most under rated joy in sports. Is he getting better every month? Secondly, Mac Williamson hit a homer they should sing songs about. He broke the scoreboard!!! I'm not a dingerphile but that was cool. He and Parker are doing a good job of filling some Pence void.
But then there is the bullpen. I expect big out cry but what can be done? Are improvements available? Even if we mortgage the future (yuck) can we match others? Can Romo make enough of a difference? Is this list of questions really helping anyone?
Even though Parker managed a base hit in the ninth, Green and Tejada were clearly overmatched by a none-too-impressive closer. There seems to be a bit of panic in Giants land about the relief staff. It varies day to day from impressive to choke-a-rific. I guess the big question is whether improvements are available. Romo should be available soon, and Matt Cain may be close, also. That gives us Suarez, who has looked darn good. I'm not sure that panic is warranted, although it does FEEL like our lead (which we have impressively maintained so far) could too easily evaporate.
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