The Giants got a superb start from Logan Webb but couldn't get anything going against Brewers starter Corbin Burnes. Solo shots--one by Avisail Garcia in the 2nd and one by Brandon Belt in the 6th--were all the scoring in regulation. The Big Three of Dominic Leone, Tyler Rogers, and Jake McGee took care of the 7th, 8th, and 9th but Jarlin Garcia gave up a hit to the first batter in the 10th and the automatic runner scored the winner. If you like low-scoring pitchers' duels this one was for you as the teams managed only five hits apiece, combined for 21 strikeouts against only three walks, and were 1-for-11 with RISP leaving 12 men on base. The Brewers (66-44) are a good team and lead the NL Central by seven games. The Giants (69-41) stayed four ahead of LA who lost to the Angels. The Giants have nine walk-off losses this year.
Aaron Sanchez gets the start this afternoon at 4:10 PT.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
6 comments:
I live a mile away from Elk Grove High, home of the Thundering Herd, (presumably a herd of elk) where Rowdy Tellez went, as well as a number of other ML players. It's one of those sports programs that has produced a "dynasty." My great-nephew Ned is a ballplayer there now, soon to start his sophomore year.
You gotta like Rowdy. One of the announcers said he looks like he belongs in Wisconsin, which I found hilarious. I think it means he looks like he belongs in a beer commercial.
I'm aware that the Giants won a couple of extra inning games recently, but I really, really despise the magic runner rule. Fire Rob Manfred NOW!
I suspect some sort of regular-season tiebreaker scheme will become permanent. No one likes the magic-runner rule but everyone likes the results. (A very Manfredian outcome, don't you think?) To wit: the shortened game times, less strain on bullpens and catchers, and less disruption to team travel plans.
This sort of thing is done all over the world in baseball and in softball. If you go three innings of extras before engaging in a magic-runner that allows one more full turn through the lineup,and the tie-breaking event would start in the 13th. Most games would end before resorting to it.
As we have seen over the last few seasons, bullpens are handling more and more of the total innings load. Teams are increasingly dependent on a squad of one-inning guys who may or may not get "hot" at the right times. Bullpens have a huge variation in performance. Consequently there are more blown leads in the later innings. All teams have this problem, even the top teams. Thus, more extra inning games as well.
Old fans like us love the drama of extra innings but the teams don't. I don't so much mean the ballplayers themselves, just the gigantic corporate apparatus that hauls the ballplayers around and takes cares of them.
I think the regular season extra inning game is going to change because most people in the game want it to. MLBPA will go along with it--they have no real incentive to fight it. Players will find a way to perform in any format.
Plenty of fans are OK with the changes. For every fan that hates it there's one that loves it. Some fans, enough of them anyway, are OK with changes and I think MLB knows that.
I am one of those loyal fans that spends a lot of money on baseball every year. If starting extra-innings with a runner on second, (an unearned run to be) was so great, they would have started it 100 years ago. I cringe every time I see a game go to extra innings. The great Marichal-Spahn 16 inning game that ended with a Willie Mays home run probably never would have happened in this format. Some of the great giant post season wins less than a decade ago, would never have been as awesome in this new format. I few little tinkers with the game over the years is okay. But changing the rules in MLB for extra innings is a bummer. Giants had a man on third several times yesterday but could not bring them home. One has to give credit for the home run hit by Milwaukee on a good pitch and with an off balanced one arm swing. I could not believe that ball went out. (Check the bat). Slater's swing at a ball in the dirt 2 feet outside was disappointing. Webb is turning into that pitcher we all hoped he would become. For this year however, I see the team continuing to limit his innings. What worked out nicely for the giants was that both the Padres and Dodgers blew their leads and lost respectively to the Diamondbacks and Angels. Home games for the Pads and the bums.
If shortened game times, less strain and simplified travel schedules are desirable, why not just call the game a tie and figure out a way to rank teams accordingly? Say 2 points for a win, 1 for a tie, 0 for a loss and be done with it. I realize that I am just an old grump, but really, if your going to change the rules of the game because after 9 innings you haven't resolved things, just end it there.
I'd be OK with ties, but it's not really an American thing. Real common in soccer and rugby, of course, but not here. American sports have flirted with ties. I remember the only regular season NFL game I ever went to was a 20-20 tie. 49ers and Saints at The Stick, Bruce Gossett last second FG, maybe 1972? Ties just aren't popular. They used to be more common in college FB when I was a kid.
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