The Giants had to take on a team much like themselves and it turned out to be an epic battle. The Mariners, like the Giants, didn't move the needle on anyone's meter this pre-season and both teams were laughably--all too predictably--bad in the early going. But both teams hit a hot streak when all seemed lost and fought back to respectability. In Seattle's case, it was passing two teams to claim third place. For the local lads, it was getting to a .500 record.
Luis Basabe made his Giants debut tonight and made a great catch, just what he was supposed to do. I've been curious about this fellow since we picked him up so let's get some more Basabe-ball! Speaking of doing things to the ball, the Giants hit three homers to claw back from a big deficit and put a hurt on Seattle's winning vibe. Alex Dickerson, Darin Ruf, and Mauricio Dubon (!) were the dinger dudes tonight, but a nice one-two combo by Donovan Solano and Brandon Belt also accounted for some big runs.
Logan Webb gave up five runs in the first three innings but managed to last two more and put up zeros in each. The bullpen then had to deliver and they put up four scoreless to seal the deal. This time it was Caleb Baragar (6th), Tyler Rogers (7th), Jarlin Garcia (8th), and Tony Watson (9th). It was another fine all-around effort! The Giants continue to play better in the field as well and that makes for a winning formula. It would be nice to see them knock a half-run or so off the team ERA, but it is also nice to see them make do with what they have. This team is competitive and puts up a fight in every game and you have to like that.
They are now 22-21 (.512) and in third place in the NL West. Tyler Anderson tomorrow at 6:45 PDT.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
4 comments:
Brandon Belt's hit in the 3rd to drive in Solano was a little grounder to the hole at SS. Teams shift on Belt as we know and we've seen Belt bunt in the past (and bunt well, actually) and now we see him go the other way. And this is during probably the hottest streak of his career where he's been stinging line drives and launching high fly balls. I think we are going to see a lot more "beating the shift" approaches from hitters. Eric Hosmer broke his hand trying to bunt, maybe he would have been better off with an opposite-field approach. I'd just as soon leave the bunting to young, speedy hitters and would much rather see a guy like Belt do what he did, take a little swing out and aim for the holes in the defense. (Mauricio Dubon needs to learn how to bunt, for example.) I've also seen Belt swing on 3-and-0 and I'm not used to that. I don't think he's had any success doing it, but I think more hitters are sending a message to pitchers that they won't just watch fat ones go by anymore.
Switch-hitting lefty-glove first baseman Justin Smoak was signed by the Giants. He was a first-round pick (#11) by Texas in 2008 (Giants took Posey that year). He was released by the Brewers after a rough start. Lifetime .229/.322/.419 hitter in 4744 PA. His best year was 2017 with Toronto (.883 OPS, 38 HR, 296 TB).
Texas traded Smoak and others in July of 2010 for Cliff Lee. Meanwhile Buster Posey was on his way to ROY honors. The Giants of course beat Lee and the Rangers in the Series that year.
Other first-rounders that year were Eric Hosmer, Lance Lynn, and Gerrit Cole.
Are they looking to replace Sandoval?
Yaz missed a ball he should have caught. Other than that they seemed to have played decent defense. I thought Flores shot was going to be a dinger, and it just died at the wall. Belt had another shot to go opposite field grounder to drive in a run, and he did not take it. Longo was doing much better when he was going opposite field. He could mix in a bunch of hits with an occasional dinger. But then he hit a couple out, and he seems to be back to pulling everything. I hope we keep Sandoval. He has been streaky, but when he gets hot, he can stay so for a while. We have had enough people hot at a given time to sustained rallies.
Yeah I forgot about Yaz' misplay.
Maybe Smoak is just insurance if Belt or Flores gets hurt.
Post a Comment