The Giants lost for the fourth straight game and got bounced out of the top spot in the NL West. The four-game skid is tied for the longest of the season. They also lost four in a row right at the end of June and the beginning of July. The Giants were in first place for 100 days, from the 31st of May to the 31st of August. Speaking of August they finish the month with a 19-9 record.
They have their best shot at a win this afternoon (12:45 PT) with Logan Webb taking the hill. He's been the best pitcher on the team since his two wins against the Dodgers at the end of July. In fact, I think his emergence as a legit starter has been the best story of the year, and this has been a year for lots of good stories. Speaking of the Dodgers, they come to town this weekend, so that's a chance to bounce them out and reclaim first place.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
p.s. Speaking of 100 days, here's some Sharon Jones for your listening pleasure.
6 comments:
You seem to be channeling Thomas Enger.
I had to look him up, but I get it now. More like I was too cranky to be clever and one-word titles were the easy way out.
I've read the Henning Juul series, it's quite good. Oslo newspaperman spends 5 books investigating his child's death from arson. Nordic Noir.
Having attended that endless 500-pitch Game last night, I feel that I must comment on a number of things:
- Baseball Games take way too long now. 3:45 hours for such a Game is obscene.
- The Giants were generally embarrassing clowns in the Field. However, the play that Gausman & Posey pulled off to end the 2nd Inning, & keep the score at 2-0 was a beautiful thing. So many things had to work perfectly on that play for it to succeed (including Posey even finding Urias's arm to tag), & all of them did. If you haven't actually seen the play, find it, & watch it here, under the heading 'Kevin Gausman nabs Luis Urias'. 'https://www.mlb.com/gameday/brewers-vs-giants/2021/09/01/632661#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=videos,game=632661'
- Stadium Announcer Renel Brooks-Moon cost us the Game. She failed to announce the appearance of Hunter Strickland to start the 3rd Inning. Doing so would have instantly animated the crowd, transmitting energy & intensity to everyone in the Stadium, resulting in an immediate 5-run rally. Instead, it was well into his 2nd surprisingly effective Inning of work that most of the crowd even realized who was pitching. If we end up in the Wild Card Crap Shoot Game, I'm putting some of the responsibility on Renel.
- I have been to 3 Games this Season. We won the first in stirring fashion. In the other two, we have grittily fought back from an early deficit to tie the score. Then, Dominic Leone has either immediately or almost immediately, coughed it back up. I realize that Dominic Leone has had a generally good year for us. But, not if I'm there.
- I realize that, from where we sat (above the Arcade Wall 'K' Counter), it was difficult to judge inside & outside pitches. However, many, many pitches appeared to be at a perfect height to be called Strikes. As we later found out, several of them were also over the plate, too. Home Plate Ump Ted Barrett had a bad night.
- Not having La Stella available was very damaging, & could have changed things for us. He was really needed to PH in a couple of situations. Not having Donovan Solano around has really hurt, too.
- The struggling Dickerson's reward for a big, rally-starting 2B wasn't to remain in the Game for an obvious double-switch, when he would have soon been back up at the plate very quickly. It was to get an immediate shower. That was weird.
- Brebbia? Really? His perpetual worried facial expression alone conveys lack of confidence. Then, in addition to that, he's not very good. Why he was brought into a 3-2 Game in the 9th is a mystery. Three Hitters absolutely smoked balls off of him, including the leadoff HR. On the other hand, he's probably just physically & emotionally exhausted from having been called up & sent down 3 times in the last week - how does that even happen?
That's all that I can think of for now. We need to hit & win TODAY, & stop thinking prematurely about the weekend - everyone's been focusing on the weekend series for 2 weeks now. TODAY is first on the Agenda.
The umpiring in calling balls and strikes, may have had an effect on the outcome of a game or more in this series. Although the giants have had some calls go their way, the majority have gone the other way. Far too many. Even the hit that brought in the go ahead third run, was questionable. There was a pitch that seemed to catch the plate called a ball. Shudda been strike two. The next pitch was a strike two, instead of strike 3. Then, like Milwaukee has done all series with men in scoring position, the went the opposite way to get a hit. The giants continue to be bad these last few weeks at getting runs in with men in scoring position and less than 2 outs. If it had not been for Posey's serendipitous Cue shot drippling in just the right place down the line, he would have continued to be in a terrible slump. Even opposing pitchers have been squaring the ball up better than Buster during this slump. He must be hurt. Heard that Flores has taken his 17 homers to the I.L. and Dubon is back. Hopefully we can regain a tie for first place after today. How did they call Cain's double a home run. Seems bizarre.
Posey is exhausted, & it's showing in his AB's. Aside from the normal wear-&-tear on a Catcher in his mid-30's, being off last Season probably had some impact on his general readiness for a long, 162-Game grind. He should be off today, & get a short opportunity to recharge.
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