Independence Day

DET 5  SF 3
Matt Cain's 6-1/3 IP was his longest since he went seven on May 26th, a 2-0 loss against the Braves. Alas, the five runs were too much today. Giants hit some balls hard and got denied but really couldn't solve Tigers starter Michael Fulmer. Matt Cain could have had a better outcome, what with a play or a bounce or a call here and there. But the flip side is that he's now gone 90-1/3 innings and allowed 116 hits as well as 36 walks. That's a lot of baserunners and you do that enough you will give up runs. But I'm not complaining, the Giants had a nice run of wins. What happens now really measures the team: if they can play consistent winning baseball for a long stretch (like the rest of the season*) we can say it's a good team having a bad year. If they give it up again and play like doormats then we have to say it's a bad team. Different kind of fixes depending on the diagnosis, eh?

Happy Fourth of July to everyone!

--M.C.


*Here's a bit from Belt: "I think there's a confidence and expectation to win," said first baseman Brandon Belt, who leads the Giants with 16 homers and 42 RBIs. "I'm not sure what triggered it, but this is the way we feel we should have been playing the whole time."

Ty One Hwang

The Giants Win the Pennant!   The Giants Win the Pennant!  The Giants Win the Pennant!  The Giants Win the Pennant!

Well, no.

The Giants sweep a series and win their third in a row for the first time this year!
The Giants sweep a series and win their third in a row for the first time this year!
The Giants sweep a series and win their third in a row for the first time this year!
The Giants sweep a series and win their third in a row for the first time this year!

I'm giddy.

Ty Blach on the mound for the 3rd game against a tired, beat up Colorado Rockies team.  You have to take advantage of situations like that, and the Giants did.  Ty was far from perfect.  He made a throwing error in the 1st to allow the Rockies to score the first run.  He flung the ball far to the right of Brandon Belt on a bunt single in the 6th, turning it into a triple.  That was the Rockies third run, which tied the Giants at the time.   Mostly, though he pitched well, giving us 6 1/3 in 110 pitches on a day after a 14 inning night game.  Ty gave up 3 runs on 7 hits (only 1 of those runs was "earned" although it is tough to say he didn't earn them when it was his errors that led to the runs).  He walked 3 and struck out 6.  George Kontos and Steve Okert both pitched last night, but they gave us an inning and 1 1/3, respectively, holding the Rox at 3.  Hunter Strickland got a 1-out save.

Jae-gyun Hwang made his major league debut.  He got the Giants' first run home on a 1-3 ground out with Joe Panik on the bases.  Nick Hundley homered with Austin Slater on base in the 4th.  That put the Giants ahead until the Rockies scored in the 6th.  In the bottom of the 6th, Hwang came to the plate against Kyle Freeland.  He put one 417 feet into the left field bleachers.  The guy has some power.  The Giants added 1 in the 8th when Belt grounded into a fielder's choice to score Gorkys Hernandez who was in scoring position from yet another wild pitch by Rockies' reliever Jake McGee.

I am a big fan of having Asians on the Giants.  San Francisco is a gateway to Asia, there is a lot of Asian culture here, and those people are Giants fans.  Check this out (be sure to hear the call in Korean).  You know what's happening in Korea right now?  Well, not right now, it's 7:45 Thursday morning, but soon, stores will be selling out of Giants merchandise.  Travel agencies will be developing tours that include Giants games.  Giants games will be broadcast in Korea.  And some young kid will grow up wanting to be a San Francisco Giant, and he will turn out to be an absolute stud.

I am thrilled.  The Giants have now played a couple of games like contenders.  It is damn near impossible at this point that they would be in contention this year, but there has never been a reason that they can't play like it.