I'm not sure what really happened tonight but the Giants managed to win against a determined Diamondbacks squad. They jumped to a 5-0 lead but squandered it, then went up 7-5 and squandered it, and finally got a run in the bottom of the 9th to end it. Buster Posey had two hits (one a homer) and three walks and three runs scored in five trips to the plate. Mike Yastrzemski may have saved the game in the 8th when he threw out Nick Ahmed at third base to put the brakes on a burgeoning Arizona rally. Zack Littell bailed out Jake McGee in the 9th to set up the winning chance in the bottom half. Kris Bryant's run-scoring winner was ruled an error on first baseman Christian Walker. (It should have been a hit.) The winning run was LaMonte Wade who'd led off and reached first on an error by Walker!
Kevin Gausman gets the start tomorrow at 6:45 PT.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
11 comments:
Wade's should have been a hit. He smoked it, and the ball took a wicked bounce. I suspect less than half of first basemen would have had that ball. Wood just imploded after essentially being unhittable. Seems that every time the giants staff gives up a solid hit to the opposing pitcher they just fall apart. Perhaps Wood is just a 5 inning pitcher at this point of the year. Arizona positioned themselves nicely in the outfield after the first inning. Bryant rifled several shots. The double, and then two fly outs on line drive rockets that were well played. His grounder to walk off the game was hit hard as well. Hoping for a great outing from Gausman against a pitcher that gives the giants fits. Every time I see the Dbacks pitcher on the mound tonight I will see Chris Eliot in my mind. Hoping for a quality start win for the giants. The Padres got the Marlins this year at a time when they are depleted. Both the Pads and the Bums continue to keep pace with the giants.
I'm so impressed with Wade. His diving catch was outstanding. It looked painful. And he's a fine hitter. Bryant continues to have fun. Besides his game-winning non-hit, he also made a great play at third.
The dbacks are a much better team since the break. They are winning at a .400+ clip, which doesn't seem very impressive until you consider that before the break, they didn't even crack .300. The Roxies, too. They're .500 since the break. Those are the only two non-competitive teams that we play from here on out (except for a series in Chicago with the Scrubs).
They sent Duggar down, not Wade, and it was an easy choice because Wade is hitting so well. He is 27 and should be in his prime years. Duggar is the real glove man in CF but as we saw last night Yaz can make a game-altering play out there, too. This is the deepest Giants team I've ever seen. They use every guy and they get different heroes every night.
When's the last time we saw an IF-OF combo player like Bryant? I should say 3B-OF as a lot of LFs have played 1B and we've seen some 1Bs try to play LF! When's the last time the Giants had a 3B-OF guy?
That being said, our starters are running on fumes. Maybe Wood should have been yanked after five, I don't know. They look, as a group, a little run down. Webb has been the best lately, and he's the youngest. It sure seems like they could use another young arm.
But I can't nitpick about first place. They've done an amazing job assembling this staff and keeping them going. It's up to the guys now, and their tendons and ligaments and whatnot.
Big start for Gausman tonight. Let's hope he can get back to that groove he had goin' on earlier this season.
First 3B/OF that I thought of was Jim Ray Hart (I just checked - for Career, 683 G at 3B, 264 G in OF).
Joel Youngblood!
745 G in OF
218 G at 3B
(plus, 173 G at 2B)
And, of course, who can forget Derrel Thomas ...
542 G in OF
116 G at 3B
(plus, 608 G at 2B, & 339 G at SS)
Ron, I knew you were the man for the job.
I thought of Jim Ray Hart, but forgot about Joel Youngblood. Of course Derrel Thomas, the man who played everywhere!
Hart's the closest comp. He was an All-Star in his heyday. That was a long time ago. I mostly remember Jim Ray Hart as a part-time player.
I can't believe that the first guy that I didn't think of was Kevin Mitchell - one of my all-time favorites!
That's right, he came up as a 3B before moving to LF.
Darrell Evans played 35 games at 3rd and 80 games in left field (and 41 at 1st) in 1977. But of course, his whole life was a joke.
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