The Giants took 2 of 3 from the Nationals, in their stadium. The Nats have not exactly owned their home field, they are now 15 - 16 at home. The Giants, in contrast, are 19 - 11 at home, but not so good on the road. Maybe that will change.
The Nats threw Max Scherzer. Max Scherzer is the only NL pitcher with 10 wins (Cory Kluber also has 10). Max Scherzer has 142 strikeouts so far in 2018, the next nearest pitcher has 18 fewer (Gerit Cole) and the next strikeout leader in the NL (de Grom) has 106. Max Scherzer has an ERA of 2.00, that is the best in the National League. The best Giants pitcher, Derek Holland, is 32nd in the National League at 4.54. Brandon Crawford, however, is on the Giants, not the Nationals.
In the 4th inning, Pablo Sandoval walked. Brandon Crawford, hitting next, put a Max Scherzer cutter into the 2nd deck. Brandon Crawford hit over .400 in May and is currently hitting .462 for June. That was it for the Giants scoring. Meanwhile, Derek Holland was quietly throwing 5 innings of 3 hit shutout baseball. He struck out 4 and walked 2 in 95 pitches. The many-headed sort-of-monstrous bullpen took over after 5, neither Melancon, Dyson, Watson or Strickland allowed a hit (1 walk from each of Melancon and Dyson). I think that is kind of becoming the formula - get 5 out of young starters, more if they're able, but don't hesitate to go to the MH SoMB. It's working so far. The final score was Giants 2 - Nationals 0.
So I leave you to ponder the question as a lovely Sunday slowly sinks into the west - could this be the start of a real good road trip?
5 comments:
Happy to see I was wrong about Pablo - amazing turnaround.
You won't believe who swings at the fewest 1st pitches in MLB:
https://is.gd/bIG9Ke
WooHoo! Monday morning and I am home catching up on the blog. That means : VACATION has begun! School is out! A 70 day weekend! And it means that I will have more chance to comment. Although I did catch a bunch of fish last night and I’m thinking that may be my number one time grab for awhile.
Anyway, the boys are hanging tough, aren’t they? If JohnnyC and MadBum decide to be great, we may have a fun last month. Clearly the bullpen is the early season MVP. Can they keep it up? My favorite, from day one really, has been Watson. What a pickup! Dude is a machine, which is a good thing.
I get the sense that we may do a hot and cold thing, at times being a contender, the next week a weak sister. That adds up to a .500 ish team, which is pretty damn good. Maybe this road trip will break us out of that inconsistency but I doubt it. Of course, healthiness helps too.
Oh well, talk to ya soon. Yayyyy!
MH SoMB!!
I heard on my camping adventure that the Giants had won yesterday but I did not know it was by beating Scherzer. That guy is amazing and having a great season so it is very exciting to get that series win in DC against him.
The Giants lose their best players on a rotating basis (Bum, Cueto, Belt . . .) but are still holding tough. 8 wins out of the last 10 games!
I don't think too far ahead with this team. Something like "just-get-through-this-road-trip-in-good-shape" is about it.
El - the announcers were talking about this. Pablo has swung at 4 first pitches this season. The thing is, he is still getting pitched like he'll swing at anything. That will probably change quickly.
Glad they mentioned the Pablo thing.
It surprised me as much as if my 5', 98 yr-old Mom was named the #1 shot-blocker in the NBA.
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