SF 4 AZ 3 (10)
I was OK with leaving Chris Stratton in to pitch the 8th, it was the bottom of the lineup after all, and it's not like the Giants bullpen was necessarily a better bet. It didn't work out--he gave up two booming hits and a run. And then it did--Tony Watson miraculously got out of the inning with a 2-1 lead. And then it didn't--Hunter Strickland blew the save in the 9th. And then it did--Brandon Belt launched a two-run blast in the 10th to make it 4-2 Giants. It was Belt's 100th career homer. Cory Gearrin tried to blow the save in the bottom of the inning, but held on for a 4-3 win. Evan Longoria was the other half of the Giants offense, he hit a two-run homer in the 6th.
I'm happy that Stratton has looked very strong in his last two outings: 14 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 W, 12 K. Tonight was only his fourteenth ML start--he's yet to top 100 IP for his career. We are just starting to see what the former 1st-rounder is capable of, at age 27 (28 in August) he seems to be putting his game together. That bodes well for this season and beyond, I think.
Ty Blach matches up with Zack Greinke tomorrow. Go Giants!
--M.C.
3 comments:
I'm glad Belt got to be the hero. I was getting ready to give up on him. Year after year he has streaks where his ability shines through, and then longer streaks where he's useless at the plate.
Belt is a very accomplished hitter. He's been remarkably consistent with a lifetime OPS over .800 (and career OPS+ of 126). He's frustrating because when he's going bad he LOOKS really bad. But overall he's been a solid, productive player. He did some fancy glove work last night, too.
As far as the game went, I often would like to see the starter go longer, but it was early in the season, and Stratton started to look a little tired. I thought 7 strong, go to the pen. Not a guarantee that the pen would do any better, but it seemed to me that Stratton had done his job and his night was over. I do not think any hard core fans were surprised when he came out to pitch in the 8th and they instantly teed off on him. He did not get the win, but at least the giants got one. Now can the giants score more than one run, or fall right back into their rut. Pre-season projections of this team scoring 4.59 to 4.73 runs a game, have been highly optimistic. They do hit good in Spring Training though.
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