The Giants have relied on their starters so far this year and ace Kevin Gausman did not disappoint. He allowed a short-porch oppo-shot to Fernando Tatis, Jr. (who else?) in the 1st but that was it. He also got a hit and scored two runs! The Giants needed a stopper today and he delivered. His final line was 6 IP, 6H, 1 R, 1 W, and 6 K, throwing 97 pitches to 25 batters. The big blow was a three-run homer in the 3rd from FNG Mike Tauchman. He also drove in a run later on a bases-loaded walk. I should note he was robbed of extra bases in the 1st with a big play from RF Jurickson Profar. Tommy La Stella had two hits including a triple, two runs scored, and two RBI before leaving the game with an apparent injury. The Giants kept the pressure on, scoring two more in the 5th and another in the 9th to take the heat off the pitchers.
The bullpen has been a source of frustration for Giants fans so far this year but today they stepped up with three scoreless in relief of Gausman. Caleb Baragar was a strike-throwing beast last season but has struggled with command in the early going. He went 3-0 on the first batter he saw in the 7th but fought back to get a foul-out. He gave up a two-out infield single to Trent Grisham but then struck out Tatis. Tyler Rogers got two quick ground ball outs, gave up a single to Jake Cronenworth, but got Tommy Pham to ground out. In the 9th Camilo Doval struck out Profar (who'd homered off him last night) and Victor Caratini in succession, then induced a pop-up from Ha-Seong Kim to end it. Good show, lad!
The Giants played a good game when they needed to and avoided a sweep. They've split six games in San Diego so far and get their first chance at home against the Padres this coming weekend. Their 17-11 record keeps them in first place by a half game over the Dodgers.
Aaron Sanchez starts tomorrow night (5:40 Pacific) in Colorado.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
2 comments:
Phillies had a home run overturned into a double. I don't see how they had a definitive view to overturn the call on the field. Finally LaStella did some hitting, and then he got hurt. First his hand, and then possible his leg or hip. A lot of bad luck with the injuries. Not sure if Flores had had a good AB since the devastating bad call AB the other night vs. Melancon. We could have had a couple of more runs in the ninth if guys would not swing at terrible pitches, especially Longoria. He clearly took himself out of the AB. I would understand it better, if the pitcher on the mound was showing a modicum of control, but Longo took some swings at balls in another zip code. So far this year he was showing success by taking more walks, and going to the opposite field. Perhaps he has already abandoned the approach as it has been too successful for him. The Padres have certainly made a lot of errors this year, but they also seem to have made up for it by making a lot of really good plays. Hoping the giants can field a halfway healthy team in Denver, and take a series on the road. Story was hit on the hand today, and may or may not be in the lineup tomorrow.
FanGraphs has a good article about Buster Posey!
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