SF 8 COL 4 (10)
The Giants continue to play utterly relentless baseball. They took a 2-0 lead in the 1st and stretched it to a 4-1 lead in the 9th. Then Mr. Automatic, Will Smith, gave up two homers in the bottom of the 9th and the Rockies tied the game and sent it to extras. Oh, no problem. The Giants ripped out another four runs and took an 8-4 lead into the bottom of the 10th. Mark Melancon then finished it off.
It's a wild, wild life.
Mike Yastrzemski and Alex Dickerson went 7-for-10 with four runs scored and five runs batted in. Kevin Pillar continues to make superb plays in the field to rob hits and save runs. I don't care if his OBP is under .300, man. That's 11 wins in the last 13 games.
Shaun Anderson goes tomorrow at 12:10 Pacific.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
Showing posts with label Mark Melancon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mark Melancon. Show all posts
Tuesday, July 16, 2019
Saturday, May 19, 2018
Giants Thump Rockies
SF 9 COL 4
Finally! The Giants break through today with 17 hits and overwhelm the Rockies to snap their three-game losing streak and creep back to within one game of a .500 record. Brandon Crawford was the hitting star with three hits (including a two-run homer) and four runs batted in. Brandon Belt continued his run of good work with two hits, a walk, a run scored, and a run batted in. Andrew McCutchen had three hits and two runs batted in. In fact all nine spots in the lineup had a hit, Austin Jackson getting a single in the 5th pinch-hitting for starter Chris Stratton (who also drove in a run with a ground out in the 2nd). Speaking of Stratton, he labored, facing 23 batters in his five innings (8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 1 whiff), but two of the Rockies runs scored on double plays. He wasn't pretty but he held on and the lineup and bullpen did the rest. The Giants relief corps is increasingly impressive and that was no exception today with four hurlers (Will Smith, Pierce Johnson, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson) delivering a scoreless frame each with only one hit and one walk allowed versus five strikeouts. The 'pen looks like a team strength and the return of Mark Melancon (two weeks?) ought to only make it better.
Ty Blach gets the call tomorrow. Go Giants!
--M.C.
Finally! The Giants break through today with 17 hits and overwhelm the Rockies to snap their three-game losing streak and creep back to within one game of a .500 record. Brandon Crawford was the hitting star with three hits (including a two-run homer) and four runs batted in. Brandon Belt continued his run of good work with two hits, a walk, a run scored, and a run batted in. Andrew McCutchen had three hits and two runs batted in. In fact all nine spots in the lineup had a hit, Austin Jackson getting a single in the 5th pinch-hitting for starter Chris Stratton (who also drove in a run with a ground out in the 2nd). Speaking of Stratton, he labored, facing 23 batters in his five innings (8 hits, 4 runs, 2 walks, 1 whiff), but two of the Rockies runs scored on double plays. He wasn't pretty but he held on and the lineup and bullpen did the rest. The Giants relief corps is increasingly impressive and that was no exception today with four hurlers (Will Smith, Pierce Johnson, Sam Dyson, Tony Watson) delivering a scoreless frame each with only one hit and one walk allowed versus five strikeouts. The 'pen looks like a team strength and the return of Mark Melancon (two weeks?) ought to only make it better.
Ty Blach gets the call tomorrow. Go Giants!
--M.C.
Sunday, June 18, 2017
And So It Goes for the Giants
Well. In an exchange of e-mails with my friend in Colorado, I stated, "I predict the Giants will win one by a fluke." And they almost did! But then, they didn't. Swept for their 6th consecutive loss, they lost to the Rockies, 7 - 5. The Giants are 4 - 12 for the month of June.
Ty Blach pitched well. Beautifully, in fact. He went 6 2/3 and gave up 3 runs. When your starter does that in Coors field, you want to give him a W. Ty gave up 7 hits, 2 home runs (both with no one on) and struck out 5. George Kontos took over and finished the 7th and held the Rockies scoreless in the 8th. In spite of 18 runs in the previous 3 games, the Giants had only 2 going into the 9th and were down 3 to 2. With 1 out, Hernandez walked. Then Hunter Pence, pinch hitting for Kontos, hit his first ever pinch hit home run (in few pinch hit opportunities). That gave the Giants a rare 9th inning lead. And, much to their credit, they added to it. Joe Panik singled and somehow got caught on the basepath and wound up safe at second, and then Crawford doubled him home to take a 5 - 3 lead.
Finally, a chance to showcase Mark Melancon, who had not appeared in this series and who hails from just up the road in Arvada. I think that at the end of the year, we might look at Melancon's blown saves and conclude that it is not a terrible number. But, man, the guy seems to pick the spots where it hurts. One out, a single, another single, another single (5 - 4), and then a 3 run Nolan Arenado home run. That gave him a cycle, the Rockies the sweep and left the Giants almost 20 games back well before the half-way mark. The Giants are one of only two teams with less than a .400 win percentage.
After getting hit for 12 earned runs in his last 2 outings, Ty held the Rockies to 3. That's good. But on the whole, just as our offense has improved, our pitching has gone from pretty decent to crappy. In the first game of the month, on June 2, Ty Blach threw a complete game shutout against the Phillies. The Giants won 10 - 0. Since then, the Giants have allowed 94 runs in 16 games (including June 2). 5.875/game. Not fair to include Coors, you say? Excluding Coors, the Giants have allowed 62 runs in 12 games. 5.169/game. The offense has netted 82 runs in that time, 5.125/game. 5+ runs per game is an improvement for the Giants. The league leader, the Nationals, are averaging just over 5.5 runs per game. Yet, the Giants, this June, at 5.125 runs/game, have a .250 winning percentage. After scoring 10 runs to beat the Phillies, they scored 7 and lost. Then they beat the Brewers twice with scores of 7 and 9 runs. They scored 13 to beat the Twins and then scored 9 and 8 in two losses to the Rockies. They have only won 4 of 7 games where they have scored 7 or more runs, and only 1 game of 9 where they have scored less than 7. That's some bad pitching. And so it goes.
Ty Blach pitched well. Beautifully, in fact. He went 6 2/3 and gave up 3 runs. When your starter does that in Coors field, you want to give him a W. Ty gave up 7 hits, 2 home runs (both with no one on) and struck out 5. George Kontos took over and finished the 7th and held the Rockies scoreless in the 8th. In spite of 18 runs in the previous 3 games, the Giants had only 2 going into the 9th and were down 3 to 2. With 1 out, Hernandez walked. Then Hunter Pence, pinch hitting for Kontos, hit his first ever pinch hit home run (in few pinch hit opportunities). That gave the Giants a rare 9th inning lead. And, much to their credit, they added to it. Joe Panik singled and somehow got caught on the basepath and wound up safe at second, and then Crawford doubled him home to take a 5 - 3 lead.
Finally, a chance to showcase Mark Melancon, who had not appeared in this series and who hails from just up the road in Arvada. I think that at the end of the year, we might look at Melancon's blown saves and conclude that it is not a terrible number. But, man, the guy seems to pick the spots where it hurts. One out, a single, another single, another single (5 - 4), and then a 3 run Nolan Arenado home run. That gave him a cycle, the Rockies the sweep and left the Giants almost 20 games back well before the half-way mark. The Giants are one of only two teams with less than a .400 win percentage.
After getting hit for 12 earned runs in his last 2 outings, Ty held the Rockies to 3. That's good. But on the whole, just as our offense has improved, our pitching has gone from pretty decent to crappy. In the first game of the month, on June 2, Ty Blach threw a complete game shutout against the Phillies. The Giants won 10 - 0. Since then, the Giants have allowed 94 runs in 16 games (including June 2). 5.875/game. Not fair to include Coors, you say? Excluding Coors, the Giants have allowed 62 runs in 12 games. 5.169/game. The offense has netted 82 runs in that time, 5.125/game. 5+ runs per game is an improvement for the Giants. The league leader, the Nationals, are averaging just over 5.5 runs per game. Yet, the Giants, this June, at 5.125 runs/game, have a .250 winning percentage. After scoring 10 runs to beat the Phillies, they scored 7 and lost. Then they beat the Brewers twice with scores of 7 and 9 runs. They scored 13 to beat the Twins and then scored 9 and 8 in two losses to the Rockies. They have only won 4 of 7 games where they have scored 7 or more runs, and only 1 game of 9 where they have scored less than 7. That's some bad pitching. And so it goes.
Tuesday, April 18, 2017
7 4 1 1 2 3 ND
SF 2 KC 1 (11)
The Giants won an agonizing extra-inning torture-fest in Kansas City. That's a big story, the wins have been a little sparse lately. But the real story was a brilliant effort by Giants starter Matt Cain. He gave up a couple of hard-hit balls early but quickly found his repertoire and other than a solo shot by rookie Whit Merrifield in the 5th he was in command and got stronger as he went on. He got pulled after seven and 86 pitches. What a superb job on the road against a tough lineup! The team's failure to support him with runs was a familiar old tale. Matt Cain pitched well--that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
It was a painful game as the Giants blew multiple chances to open things up. This lineup has a tough time getting big hits, and could use an occasional homer. They ultimately broke through with two outs on no one on in the 11th when Nick Hundley's double was followed by Joe Panik's single. There have not been many chances so far to give the ball to the closer, but he got the call in the bottom half. Mark Melancon gave up two hits but got the job done with three strikeouts and the Giants had a huge win. All the relievers made it difficult; the Royals had eight baserunners in the final four frames.
Bruce Bochy had a medical procedure and was not in the house, he'll join the team Friday. Ron Wotus had managing duties.
Madison Bumgarner tomorrow. GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. I neglected to mention that Buster Posey was in the lineup as the DH and got three hits. That's good news!
The Giants won an agonizing extra-inning torture-fest in Kansas City. That's a big story, the wins have been a little sparse lately. But the real story was a brilliant effort by Giants starter Matt Cain. He gave up a couple of hard-hit balls early but quickly found his repertoire and other than a solo shot by rookie Whit Merrifield in the 5th he was in command and got stronger as he went on. He got pulled after seven and 86 pitches. What a superb job on the road against a tough lineup! The team's failure to support him with runs was a familiar old tale. Matt Cain pitched well--that's my story and I'm sticking with it.
It was a painful game as the Giants blew multiple chances to open things up. This lineup has a tough time getting big hits, and could use an occasional homer. They ultimately broke through with two outs on no one on in the 11th when Nick Hundley's double was followed by Joe Panik's single. There have not been many chances so far to give the ball to the closer, but he got the call in the bottom half. Mark Melancon gave up two hits but got the job done with three strikeouts and the Giants had a huge win. All the relievers made it difficult; the Royals had eight baserunners in the final four frames.
Bruce Bochy had a medical procedure and was not in the house, he'll join the team Friday. Ron Wotus had managing duties.
Madison Bumgarner tomorrow. GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
p.s. I neglected to mention that Buster Posey was in the lineup as the DH and got three hits. That's good news!
Monday, April 10, 2017
Happy Home Opener (mostly)
4-1 win in SF
Matt Moore dazzled the Opening Day crowd with a sterling 93-pitch effort (3 hits in 8 IP with no walks and 5 whiffs) to subdue the sizzling Arizona Diamondbacks. Their young flamethrower Taijuan Walker had horrified the home audience straight away with a wild fastball that beaned Buster Posey during his first plate appearance. He was taken out of the game.** The Giants didn't retaliate, just relied on Moore to keep the buzz saw running. They then scored three runs on a goofy play in the 4th. Walker, with the bases loaded and one out, Moore batting, tried to field a swinging bunt and his throw home to get the force got past the catcher. Two runs scored, and a bad throw by the catcher allowed a third, Moore wound up at second. The Giants put a lot of guys on but couldn't get a big hit, 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. But they cashed in on the fielding lapses, and that's good baseball, particularly when your guys make big stops and turn hits into outs.
But Moore was the man today, and that's the formula for the orange-and-black, get a big start. Yasmany Tomas hit a homer leading off the 5th but that's all Arizona could muster, the lefty was particularly strong at the end, throwing seven pitches in the 7th and eleven in the 8th. Happy to see Jarrett Parker get something going, a walk and a hit, he scored the third run on that nutty sequence, that was good baserunning by the Giants overall. I was also happy they scored another run late and even happier that FNG Mark Melancon got the last three outs. Wins are good. Wins are always good. Let's have some more. Jeff Samardzija tomorrow night.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
**At the time of this posting all the info on Buster's injury has been that he's OK and no roster move likely.
Matt Moore dazzled the Opening Day crowd with a sterling 93-pitch effort (3 hits in 8 IP with no walks and 5 whiffs) to subdue the sizzling Arizona Diamondbacks. Their young flamethrower Taijuan Walker had horrified the home audience straight away with a wild fastball that beaned Buster Posey during his first plate appearance. He was taken out of the game.** The Giants didn't retaliate, just relied on Moore to keep the buzz saw running. They then scored three runs on a goofy play in the 4th. Walker, with the bases loaded and one out, Moore batting, tried to field a swinging bunt and his throw home to get the force got past the catcher. Two runs scored, and a bad throw by the catcher allowed a third, Moore wound up at second. The Giants put a lot of guys on but couldn't get a big hit, 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. But they cashed in on the fielding lapses, and that's good baseball, particularly when your guys make big stops and turn hits into outs.
But Moore was the man today, and that's the formula for the orange-and-black, get a big start. Yasmany Tomas hit a homer leading off the 5th but that's all Arizona could muster, the lefty was particularly strong at the end, throwing seven pitches in the 7th and eleven in the 8th. Happy to see Jarrett Parker get something going, a walk and a hit, he scored the third run on that nutty sequence, that was good baserunning by the Giants overall. I was also happy they scored another run late and even happier that FNG Mark Melancon got the last three outs. Wins are good. Wins are always good. Let's have some more. Jeff Samardzija tomorrow night.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
**At the time of this posting all the info on Buster's injury has been that he's OK and no roster move likely.
Monday, December 5, 2016
Apparently, Mark Melancon is a Giant
Mark Melancon. I read $62 mil, 4 years, a record for closers, but probably not for long.
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