Friday, June 12, 2015

I Really Dislike Arizona

I don't like anything about that team.  I don't like the players, I don't like the manager, I don't like the state they represent, I don't like their logo and I don't like their infinite color scheme.  I think MLB should institute a carbon tax on air conditioned stadia that they open in the desert.  The guy named after a cat isn't even there anymore to amuse me.  I especially do not like the part about being 1 - 4 against them in our own park.  Tonight's game was kind of interesting, but not from the viewpoint of a Giants fan.  It was thoroughly disappointing. 

Madison Bumgarner was on the hill.  I must correct an earlier conjecture - in my last post, I surmised that Madison must have walked a number of batters in one or several games.  That is not correct.  He only had walk-free games 3 times this season, had walked only one batter 5 times and walked 2 batters in 3 games.  Tonight he walked 3.  He also gave up 9 hits in the first 5 innings, and, remarkably, only 1 run.  I leave it as an open question as to whether that was brilliant or lucky.

Unfortunately, the Giants were thoroughly incompetent on offense.  Chase (a name I do not like) Anderson threw a no-hitter until Buster Posey bounced a line drive off his leg for a hit in the 7th inning.  This will probably be chalked up to him having a great game, but it reminded me of Tim's first four innings the previous day - no hits, but hard to feel like he was in command.   He put batters on base - Duffy twice by hitting him with a pitch.  In the 3rd, with Matt Duffy on base to lead off the inning, Justin Maxwell flied out.  Duffy stole 2nd and Madison Bumgarner walked.  Nori Aoki scalded the ball - a line drive snagged by Aaron Hill at 3rd for a double play.  Later, after Duffy singled against Daniel Hudson in the 8th and went to second on a wild pitch, Casey McGehee, pinch hitting for Madison Bumgarner, hit the ball to short and caught Matt in between 2nd and 3rd, killing the Giants feeble, and last chance at scoring.

In addition to Posey, that Duffy single was it for the Giants offense.  Angel Pagan, in the 3-hole, has not been helpful lately.  He has 5 hits in June, in 45 plate appearances.  His average has dropped 25 percentage points.  Since May 22, it fell 25 percentage points to June 1.  Brandon Belt has not been especially helpful either, he has shed 15 points from his average in June, 7 hits in 33 plate appearances in 10 games.  Justin Maxwell has not hit much.  With Pence hurt, these guys need to pick it up, what offense we have had has come from Buster, and Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Nori Aoki.  It is not enough.  Let's see if we can avoid a losing home stand.

7 comments:

JC Parsons said...

I was really surprised that Bochy did not get tossed in the ninth last night. Those were some amazingly low strikes called, two on Panik and one on Pagan. Poor Joe had to swing at another ball just to guard against the wacko ump. The umps get detailed reports with all their mistakes and I would think this will be noticed. It was the bottom of the ninth during a one run game and it was completely unlike any other time in the game.

We played like a team that had flown across country the night before. Did the schedule get us?

If baseball made much sense, we would have lost the game 7-3 or so. That would have felt better but we would still be 2.5 behind.

Brother Bob said...

MadBum got Cained. Speaking of whom, he shall be pitching in West Sacramento Monday night. I might just have to go see that

Ron said...

Current uniforms are worst D-Back ones ever. They are depressing to look at.

That Ump was an idiot - I agree, Jon - if you're not allowed to argues balls/strikes, then Bochy, Meulens, & Pagan should have all been tossed. I would have liked to have seen that. Panik had no chance in his AB.

M.C. O'Connor said...

Named for a cat?

I'm afraid my mental acuity has dropped several percentage points since retirement.

I missed the game. It's Turner Classic Movies "Summer of Darkness" which is all films noir on Fridays in June and July. We watched five yesterday. No time for baseball!

Anyway, the Giants will right the ship against Arizona, it's only a matter of time. Weird how they are playing so well on the road--it's like they can hit in every park except their own.

Vogie this afternoon at 4:15, just a few minutes from now. I hate these stupid start times. Weekend games should be at one o'clock.

nomisnala said...

J.C. the calls were brutal. And, Affeldt did not get similar
pitches that even caught more of the plate. It was as if the
ump was not going to let the giants come back. Looks as if
Arizona brought along their own umpiring crew. Not really,
but it looks like it. The giants smash Harvey, but cannot
hit the weak pitching dbacks. It is said that the giants
missed their take off time in LaGuardia, and had to go to
Kennedy, and then their was a private jet by a Saudi Prince
ahead of the giants plane, and for some reason that was
delayed. The giants got back to SF several hours late, and
supposedly they were just exhaused. But they are multi-million
dollar world champions, and they need to play well despite the
lack of sleep, lack of Hunter Pence, and Lack of Blanco. The
Bums beat up on Denver and Arizona, and the giants struggle.
So far these teams are the difference in the standings.

Anonymous said...

And today, against a pitcher who was a disaster in whatever minor league he got called up from to replace Collmenter? Were they still drowsy? Their circadian rhythms battling their rushes of melatonin?

Brother Bob said...

I'm still waiting for an explanation of the "cat" thing. Is "amuse" a clue?
Arizona's not too bad. The Grand Canyon is amazing to look at. I made the mistake of walking down to the bottom of it, which in and of itself was a fine experience. It however necessitated walking back up, which was a whole nother thing, especially in mid-summer. I was 17, so I survived, but just barely.