Joc Pederson has 16 hits so far this season and five of them are homers. He hit two big ones today and finished with a 3 3 3 3 line. In typical Giants fashion he was pulled for a pinch-hitter in the 9th to get the platoon advantage--Austin Slater vs. LHP--as well as a better OF glove for the end of the game. Only in San Francisco do you rack up ten total bases and then sit down! But the method works and the players all buy in to it. Slater got two ABs in the nutty, six-run final frame including a two-RBI hit. Wilmer Flores had three RBI-singles and I wanted to say that he showed his usual brio, or panache, but he's so placid and stoic that neither word applies. I guess I'll stick with "clutch."
Logan Webb was a little off-kilter early but left with a 6-3 lead in the 7th. The Nats still had a chance but José Álvarez got Juan Soto to ground out to end the inning and the remarkable Tyler Rogers put up a zero in the 8th. You just have to keep marveling at Rogers. He made Soto look bad in yesterday's game and that's no mean feat. Giants pitchers really kept a lid on the young superstar over the course of the series.
The Giants are 11-5 and still have a lot of guys hitting below their weight. It was nice to see Jason Vosler rap out a couple of hits. Mike Yastrzemski tested positive for COVID and will be unavailable for an indefinite period so the team will need Vos' LH stick.
Last year's Cy Young Award recipient Corbin Burnes gets the start in Milwaukee tomorrow in that weird one-game schedule quirk. It's at 3:10 Pacific. Giants have yet to announce a starter/opener. Burnes is a beast so it will be a tough challenge. The team comes home for two against the A's followed by an off-day Thursday. This is the longest road trip of the season--eleven games. They've won seven of the first ten.
Go Giants!
--M.C.
6 comments:
Sam Long is the opener tomorrow.
Kap said Yaz is vaxxed/boosted. You can still catch enough COVID for a + test even if immunized. The vaccine was designed to keep people out of the hospital, i.e. reduce the severity of the infection. It does not necessarily stop you from getting it.
Stay safe out there, everyone. With the mandates and requirements being dropped we should expect a surge of new cases.
Anyone notice that Connor Joe is rockin' it in Colorado?
He's a talented ballplayer. FZ knew that and gave him a shot in SF. It didn't work out but the crap SF fans gave the F.O. over that move was silly. And he was replaced with Kevin Pillar, certainly a likeable player, but strictly a "placeholder." There was no long-term vision with him. Pillar has played for three different teams since he was on the Giants and is now with the Dodgers at AAA.
It just points out that player development is a "long game" and that patience with young prospects is important. (Hello, Joey Bart!)
I'm beginning to appreciate more and more the developmental aspects of the game. Sure it would be great to have Juan Soto who was a stud right out of the gate, but he's an outlier. Most players need to grow before their game emerges. Just think about Logan Webb's 5+ ERA in his first two seasons.
Reyes Moronta is now on the Dodgers and pitched in relief today. We knew he had talent. He just had bad luck with injuries.
Hate to see Moronta on the Dodgers. One of the guys on my bowling team last week called us the day after bowling that he tested positive for covid-19. We all had to test at 24 and then 72 hours after. The rest of us were negative. The guy that tested positive had 2 vaccines and 1 booster. He has not yet tested negative and will miss this week at the lanes. Like Yaz, he is a lefty. I hope Yaz is not out that long. Giants off to an 11-5 start, and it could be better if the Mets had not gotten tailor made calls from the N.Y. Video room. A similar overturned call against Arizona gave the Mets a win vs. Arizona, as Arizona's go ahead run in the tenth was reversed. I watch so many games if the call is super close they usually do not get overturned and the video room goes with the umpire. That does not seem to hold true vs the Mets. Looked to me as if Soto may have been safe at third earlier in the series, but we got the call, and it was not overturned. Had it been Lindor, you can be sure the call would have been overturned. It is all behind us now. I had originally thought that Carlos Rodon was going to start in Milwaukee. I did not hear why they changed that, as now Rodon will pitch vs. an American league team which could have more familiarity against him.
The Giants always seem to push their starter back if the situation is weird. This game is a goofy one, time- and location-wise. They want a healthy Rodon in September so they will be over-protective.
Glad to hear you were negative. I got COVID coming back from Hawaii, as did my travel companions. I'm vaxxed and boosted yet I got sick. Still coming out of it. Nasty stuff--you don't want it!!
From David Pinto:
"The Giants stand 11-5, 1/2 games behind the Dodgers. I expected the Giants to regress a bit in 2022, but that hasn’t happened. From a management perspective, both on and off the field, this team seems to know how to get the most out of their players."
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