New closer Randy Rodriguez got tested right away but he whiffed his way out of a bases-loaded jam and saved the win for the Giants. They are 1-0 in August! FNG Jose Butto worked 2/3 of an inning and got a blown save for his efforts. Grant McCray was called up an struck out twice. Wilmer had two hits.So did Bailey. It was a very Giants-y win. Not a lot of scoring (3-for-14 RISP, 11 LOB) but a great start from Robbie Ray.
They are back to .500 for the season. Let's hope they can get back to winning ways. The Trade Deadline sucks but I definitely prefer it earlier in the season to later. Unfortunately it makes the rest of the year a lot less interesting. I think Buster is not afraid to send a message to the players. Farhan Zaidi did not have the "street cred" to make a bold statement like that. What's interesting, in the end, is did Buster actually weaken the current squad? For the final third of the season, can Doval, Rogers, and Yaz be replaced? Probably. This team might wind up finishing in about the same place!
The last few years the Giants have hung around the periphery of the race until the end. There's nothing a ten-game winning streak couldn't cure for this club. I keep rooting for one of those! I noticed that they also called up Kai-Wei Teng. He's been lights-out (14.3 K/9) at AAA, I wonder if he gets the start tonight (6:05 PT).
Go Giants!
--M.C.
