7-1 win in DC
Since the All-Star Break the Giants have won only six games--three of those wins have come the last three times Matt Cain has been the starting pitcher. Just another nutty circumstance in this increasingly nutty season. Today Matty had to match up with Stephen Strasburg. The first-pick phenom was not his usual dominant self: he could not get out of the 5th inning, surrendering eight hits and four runs to the Giants. Cain didn't overwhelm the Nationals, yielding five hits, three walks, and hitting two batters in his five-plus frames, but they couldn't score a run against him. And runs, of course, are what matter in this game. You can have all the baserunners you want but if you can't push them across no one gives a damn. The Giants found some life in their bats with Eduardo Nunez, Brandon Belt, and Buster Posey delivering the bulk of the big hits. Six relievers got the final 12 outs--well, five relievers got the final 12 outs as Jake Peavy, on to get the final out of the 8th, gave up three straight hits before being yanked. That was really the only blemish on the day. Unless you count the face blemish Hunter Pence applied to himself by fouling a ball off the plate into his cheek. He toughed it out and stayed in, managing a hit and run scored as well as a great catch in right to end the game.
This drought of winning baseball makes every win seem like manna from heaven. The team is still wandering in the desert, but a 4-3 record in the last seven games is something to celebrate, don't you think? String a bunch of those 4-and-3s together and you have a winning month. Or two.
Rubber match tomorrow (10:35 am PDT), Madison Bumgarner gets the call.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
5 comments:
We need a nice winning streak to stave off the runs put together by the dodgers, and the rockies. A low in the rotation starter for the bums shut out the Boston Red Sox who seem to be able to score in bunches and at will. The giants slowly and methodically spanked Strasburg, helping to perhaps lower him by a view votes in the Cy Young race. Now Bummy, cueto, and Moore need to get wins. Samardzxxx I still believe needs to mix his pitches better. When major league hitters keep seeing 95 or 96 mph fastballs throughout the game at some point they tee off on some of them if they are not well place in the strike zone. Or even out of the strike zone.
Having watched many of the Giants recent debaucheries, I saw something a bit different today. Instead of leaving runners in scoring position, the lads found a way to get a hit, take a walk or execute a sacrifice. I'm seeing a subtle difference in the lads, especially from (who in the hell is this kid) Eduardo Nunez. Can he absolutely FLY around the bases? We needed a spark to bring us back to life and perhaps he supplied it. In my opinion, we've got a ways to go to get back to our pre All Star break form, but perhaps this is a start. Remember the movie Space Balls? I think the Giants are the verge of getting their "Schwartz" back. Game three tomorrow. Let's go Giants - Let's win this series.
Yesterday did truly have a different feel. Productive outs and sac flies made a reappearance. And then Nuñez...I can't remember a more exciting addition. Line drives and blazing speed. The guy was an AL all-star and it shows. Two games in two days that felt like two different teams played, however I do agree that we seem to be getting it back on track. If MadBum can take the series for us today that will definitely send a message.
You guys may have missed this tidbit. Angels DFA Timmy.
I was all set to dump all over Nunez - 2 hits and 2 errors as a Giant, before this game. But he looked fantastic here. So I'll dump on Smardjy instead. He is on a pace to give up more home runs than he did last year - which means he will give up at least 30. That is more than he gave up in 2013 and 2014 combined. Which means that we can pretty much pencil him in for a loss the rest of the season unless the Giants can find a way to score 5 runs or more per game.
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