Thairo Estrada led off the game with a homer but Alex Cobb was rocked for four runs in the bottom of the 1st. The veteran righty settled in though and delivered four scoreless frames after that. The bullpen was stellar once again: "The Rogers Brothers" are becoming quite the act! Scott Alexander and Camilo Doval finished up. A homer by Michael Conforto in the 6th cut the deficit to 4-3 and a three-run rally in the top of the 9th set the stage for the win. Reliever Pierce Johnson walked the first two hitters and a pinch-hit double from Brandon Crawford tied the game. A sac fly from LaMonte Wade, Jr. and a single from Joc Pederson completed the scoring.
That's eleven straight wins against the Rockies. A three-game set against the Cubs at home starts tonight (7:15 PT) with Anthony DeSclafani taking the hill.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
4 comments:
Still think the giants strike out way too much in crucial situations. Thairo twice struck out by swinging at terrible pitches in the swing mode. Would have been 2 less outs and 2 more walks. This happens occasionally but it accounts for way too many Thairo outs. I suspect with a slightly more disciplined approach, but with aggressive swings in the K zone, Thairo would be unstoppable. It is amazing how on a 1-2 count he will take a ball, and even on a 2-2 count, but on a full count he swings at ball 4. Nevertheless a sweep of the Rockies in Denver is always nice, especially when 2 of the games were come from behind efforts. Another issue that seems to be developing is that some of our pitchers seem not to be ready during inning one. They may pitch better the rest of the game but are not quite ready to start the game. Of course last time A.D. started ok but fell apart after. But that is against the usual pattern lately. Villar is still a stud at triple A. Even right now at Triple A, Joey Bart seems to be lost, at least temporarily. Gary Sanchez is becoming one of the Padres best hitters, again, at least temporarily.
I think the contrast between Wade, Jr. and Estrada is lots of fun. Wade is patient and lays off pitches and is willing to walk while Estrada attacks everything and wants to put the ball in play. Not to mention one's a lefty and one's a righty!
But they are both succeeding. I think we always want the Brandon Belt-type guy (Wade) to be more aggressive and the Pablo Sandoval-type guy (Estrada) to be more patient! Blend them together and you have a superstar.
It's good to have the right side of the infield looking really solid. I love Wilmer Flores but he is best used in a multi-position backup and platoon role.
One would think that having a guy like Wade, would have an effect on Thairo's approach. Perhaps just a little. At least with 2 strikes a tad more selective. On the other hand, the giants scouting reports on what to expect, has had good hitters take strike 3 right down the middle. Both Conforto and Yaz took a called strike 3 fastball down the middle with the bat on their shoulders. But Yaz also struck out one time swinging at a pitch in the dirt. The odd thing is, on a couple of sites in the off season, I was pushing for the Giants to sign Marcus Stroman. I thought he would be really good at Oracle Park. But I got severe negative feedback to the idea, including on some sites, that I do not know anything about baseball etc. At least on the Raising Matt Cain Blog, everyone is civil. A lot of good ideas float around here, and bad ideas, are not torn apart, just civilly commented on.
Yes, I believe baseball is best enjoyed by passionate fans who like to say what they think! It's fun and interesting to see how everyone views the game and the players and etc.
I like Stroman. He's a sinker/ground ball guy, just what the Giants want. They made a run at him but like Judge and Correa came up short.
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