HOU 3 SF 1
Dereck Rodriguez made the best start of his young career last time out, a seven-inning, three-hit, one run effort against the Padres on July 31st that resulted in an extra-inning win for the Giants. D-Rod got an ND, of course. Tonight the rookie righty topped that performance with a seven-inning, three-hit, zero-run effort against a much better club, the Astros. Brandon Crawford backed him with a solo shot in the 6th and the Giants went to the 9th with a 1-0 lead. Alas, closer Will Smith was not sharp and gave up a two-out, three-run homer to Marwin Gonzalez that tipped it for Houston. It was Smith's first blown save, he's been a rock in the 'pen otherwise. D-Rod, of course, had another ND.
It was a tough loss for the team especially because it was so close to being one of the best wins of this frustrating season. Charlie Morton, having a great year, delivered seven strong and the Astros 'pen did the rest. The Giants never got anything going on offense, BCraw's blast was the only breakthrough. The takeaway from tonight of course is the fine work, once again, by Dereck Rodriguez. I'm sure you all remember the many heartbreaking losses and no-decisions accumulated by Matt Cain in his early seasons. D-Rod has enjoyed a little more success (he's 5-1, after all), but his two best starts have resulted in two "atta-boys" and that seems particularly Cain-esque. The Giants are back to .500 and seem determined to stay there, but at least we can get excited about a new young arm no matter what else happens.
--M.C.
4 comments:
I know that Smith has earned the closer spot, but every once in a while one can see that the closer does not have his best stuff. We have seen it happen before, once before to Smith, and once or twice to Strickland. When these guys have their stuff, they are gold, but when the do not, it too often nullifies a great prior performance in the game. Not sure if Dusty would have changed pitchers there, but I was thinking Alou might. It has even happened to Jansen of the dodgers this year too. You can see them sweat. They don't look the same as when they have their stuff. He did get two outs, he had no help from the ump, although most of his misses were pretty bad, one or two were questionable. Then in the bottom of the ninth, the strike zone became an Xmas present to the Astros, although Longo's swinging at certain pitches, left his pitch selection a lot to be desired. All in all it went from what could have been one of the best wins of the year, and a great game for D. Rod, instead it ended up being one of the most disappointing games of the year. Nice to see Crawford starting to hit again.
All closers have failures. Nen blew 5 or 6 a year, so did Beck, so did Wilson. It happens. But last night was not the time to blow a save. It was almost one of the most inspiring wins of the year and became a gut punch. A reminder of the Giants mediocrity (back to .500!). It was a beautiful game until then. It opens the door for Strickland to make a return, who was completely unnecessary up to this point. If this team can tip their caps and move on, or whatever the fuck they do after a loss, then good for them. I am not sure I can do that.
Jay Jaffe at FanGraphs gives his take on the 2018 Giants. Hard to argue with, he hits on a lot of points that have been already much-discussed in GiantsLand.
The pen has been great except in those really tight games where they need to hold the lead against a good team. There are blown saves and there are blown saves. Clearly Smith did not have his usual stuff, and we have a bullpen of closer types.
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