On May 31st the Giants were 29-29. The calendar flipped and the Swoon happened. Today's loss makes it five in a row and a 7-13 record for the month of June. That's .350 ball.
After an excellent (7 IP, 2 R) but futile effort (5-2 loss) in Chicago in his last start, today Logan Webb got hit hard early and that did it for the Giants. Webb recovered to pitch four scoreless after allowing four runs in the first two frames, but his counterpart Sonny Gray threw a perfect game into the 7th. Patrick Bailey hit a homer with two outs to break it all up, but the 4-1 deficit was too much. Gray finished the frame and his day with eight strikeouts and no walks. The lineup rallied in the 8th but so did the Cardinals and it finished 5-3.
There's been a lot of injuries and the team can barely be said to have a starting rotation but it is still frustrating to watch them flounder. At least we get to see the youngsters like Wisely and Ramos and etc. The team is 20-17 at home so perhaps the next set of games in San Francisco (four against the Cubs, three against the Dodgers) will be better. Tomorrow night's game is at 6:45 Pacific.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
3 comments:
I hope the giants can win their first game when they come back home. Lately after a long road trip they have tended to lose their first home game. The pitching staff is decimated, and I guess that is what happens when you put several of your eggs in the second half basket. Webb is an innings eater, but to me a great pitcher, but really a strong number 2 type of guy. Snell could be a number one, but he has not been healthy, and also signed so late, that he ended up injured twice trying to rush his return.
Beck had an unfortunate injury, and Winn, obviously has not been totally right. Cobb and Raye were never intended to pitch the first half of the season. Harrison and Hicks were always guys who were going to have an innings limit this year. Hard to run a team when right from the beginning two of their rotation pieces were out for the first half of the year. Injuries mount, and guys coming off of injuries for this team, seem out of kilter when they come back.
The sloppiness of play and the inability to hold runners has been horrible, and one has to blame the manager and coaching staff for this as much as the players. This is an issue that should have been cleaned up by this part of the season. Bailey may be a great framer, but he isn't throwing guys out, either because of the pitcher, or at times because his throws have been terrible. He often has more passed balls in a week than Posey had in a season.
Bailey is developing into a good hitter, and Wisely has been a refreshing surprise. I still do not understand how long time major leaguers like Soler and Estrado have such poor strike zone discipline. These guys would be much better hitters with better strike zone discipline. The only reason Soler does have a decent amount of walks is that some pitchers to not even want to come close to the strike zone against him.
This team sorely missed Wade in the lineup, and I think a lineup with Wisely, Wade, Ramos, and Bailey is formidable. Although Chapman often finds ways to score runs, (which he does nicely), he has not been great at driving them in. With Chapman, Soler and Conforto, batting in the 4,5, and 6, position in one order or another, the RBI's are way down despite Soler's grand slam. We really do not have a true RBI guy outside of Ramos unless Matos starts hitting again.
I just do not see this current management team as appropriately addressing the issues, on the field, in an effective manor. We rarely move runners up with runners on, and despite being a team that gets runners on, the team is pathetic when hitting with runners in scoring position. I know the pitching staff is suffering from injuries, but still, the team is severely underperforming, just like last year's Padres. As a fan I hate to be so critical, but I am feeling it.
Yeah, the pitchers can't hold runners! It's really bad. I don't understand why they can't fix that, especially with Bailey back there.
And the situational hitting is a weakness, for sure. Soler is finally showing some life, at least. The lineup isn't bad overall, about league average, but the pitching is really killing them. And the fielding still stinks.
Wednesday is the halfway mark of the season and the All-Star Break is in three weeks. This team will be selling off pieces come July if they don't get their shit together. (July 30 is the trade deadline.)
Perhaps the good news is that Wade, Raye and Snell all played in Sacramento yesterday. They are probably not far away from returning.
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