Rookie Patrick Bailey blasted a three-run homer in the 8th inning off Mets closer David Robertson to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 lead. And if that weren't enough he gunned down would-be base-stealer Starling Marte who was pinch-running in the 9th. That snuffed out a rally and Camilo Doval whiffed Brandon Nimmo to end it. It was a massive performance by the switch-hitting 24-year old who seems to have a knack for big moments. Wilmer Flores also homered--he is still beloved in Citi Field. In other good news Alex Cobb is back in the rotation and Brandon Crawford got his 729th career RBI (that ties him with Buster Posey for 13th place on the all-time NY/SF Giants list).
Thursday's agonizing 2-1 loss in Toronto was the 81st game of the season, the half-way point. Today's dramatic win in New York City puts the Giants at 46-36 with 80 games to play. They have the eighth-best record (.561) in baseball, sandwiched between the Dodgers (.563) and the Yankees (.556). They followed up their 17-12 May with an 18-8 June.
Anthony DeSclafani and Justin Verlander go at it tomorrow (1:10 PT).
Go Giants!
--M.C.
10 comments:
Sean Manaea got the W. I missed a real opportunity with the post title. It should have been "They Call the Win Manaea" !!
The radio announcers commented that Marte got a good jump when he was thrown out, and Flores agreed on the post-game interview. A fast, experienced base-stealer gets thrown out when he has a good jump? That will be noticed around the league.
He's already thrown out Mookie Betts and Fernando Tatis, Jr., too!
tough loss on Saturday. Lindor has always had DeSclafani's number. Nevertheless, A.D. has seemed just a little bit off his last few starts. His sharpness seems to come and go, with too many poorly placed pitches. Giants still have a tendency of making too fat a pitch after they have a 2-2 pitch that looks like strike 3, called a ball, then boom right over the plate and gone. Happens too often. I do not know if it is concentration, or just a small tweak that is keeping A.D. from pitching like we have all seen he can. Winn is starting to remind me of Jason Schmidt. 98-99 mph fastball with a wicked splitter. A little more tweaking and we have our Jason Schmidt.
Noticed so far today, that Brandon Belt has hit 2 home runs and the game is still going. Gausman left the game with a 2 run lead, but The bullpen could not hold it. I guess whether he plays for the Giants or Toronto, these things just keep on happening.
WTF was Wood doing in there in relief? Today was a terribly played game by the Giants with terrible managerial decisions. Not only is it disheartening to see the Mets win, ever, against anyone, it was bad, bad baseball. Have the Giants suddenly decided to tank the season?
If you read the game story that was apparently the plan. Wood came in to face a lefty (Baty) and was supposed to cover the middle innings. Wood said the humidity made it hard for him to grip the ball.
Neither Stripling (who opened) nor Manaea have been effective as starters so far this year. And both have seen time on the IL. Kap is trying to get them back on track by using them in relief and bulk roles. So far the results are mixed but it seems like a better effort than continuing to use them as starters.
Wood looked good in his last long relief role. Obviously they want him to start, too, but he's been up and down and had stints on the IL.
Of course we all want to see five regular starters but you can't pitch what you don't have. With DeSclafani once again struggling the team is down to two effective starters--Webb and Cobb.
The fact that the Giants have a winning club despite a shaky starting rotation actually shows that management is doing a good job! They are trying to cover as many innings as they can. They just have too many guys who aren't pitching anywhere close to their career norms.
We'll see if the Giants trade for a starter or two by the deadline. I suspect we will see guys like Winn, Beck, Hjelle, Walker, etc. get more opportunities. The Stripling and Manaea signings looked good at the time but both have bombed. They are both signed for 2024. DeSclafani is signed for 2024 as well. If out of those three (four if you add Wood) the team could get two serviceable average-ish starters the second half looks pretty good. Otherwise get used to bullpen games.
From: https://theathletic.com/4662086/2023/07/03/extra-baggs-camilo-doval-all-star/?source=freedailyemail&campaign=601983
"Their usage patterns worked well at times, including Tuesday at Toronto when they used an opener and brought Wood out of the bullpen. But that plan makes for some bad optics when it doesn’t work, and it backfired Sunday."
Yes, it does. It was a bad decision to pull Stripling after 24 pitches and 6 outs and to put in Wood, because of what happened.
And, with all the middle and long relief we have, why are we taking one of our starters and making him a reliever? Are they so confident that they will pick up a (good) starter in trade?
One of the young arms is going to be the 5th starter. Winn's had the best showing so far.
The most likely candidate for rebound to me is Wood. I think he will find himself soon. I don't know about DeSclafani. And flip a coin--either Manaea or Stripling. Someone has to emerge from the starter chaos and start chewing up some quality innings.
I don't think they are trying to make a starter a reliever. I think they are trying to put a guy in a spot where he has the most leverage, the best matchup, the highest chance for success. It doesn't always work. And it is bad "optics" but I have to say I like that Kap doesn't care about that. He's trying to get the best performance out of his players. It may be unorthodox but it seems to work more often than not. And when guys are sporting 5+ ERAs then making some changes seems like a good idea.
I really don't see what choices the Giants have. Other than the top two guys the starters stink. They have get creative. Or they have to get a bunch of new guys. Like I said DeSclafani, Manaea, and Stripling are all signed for next year (Wood is a FA).
Seems as if Manaea's problem is hi control. He is striking guys out like Rodon, but he cannot seem to go too long without grooving a few pitch. His K per innings pitched is excellent. Strippling so far does not seem to have the same stuff he had last year. So far wood has been an every other game pitcher. Good, bad, good, bad, good.
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