As the 2016 season inches its way to its inevitable, disappointing conclusion, the Giants picked up a win in Arizona after twice blowing leads. The game went 12 innings, by which time even the Chronicle had lost interest. The sports page features the Cal football team in a preview of today's game, the A's, the Raiders and the 49ers. I can't blame them.
Madison Bumgarner pitched the opening 6 innings. He allowed 4 runs, 3 of them on 2 home runs. Balls fly in Arizona. Maddy threw 110 pitches, gave up 6 hits, struck out 9 and walked 1. After the top of the 7th inning, he stood to get a W if the Giants could have held a 5 - 4 margin. That evaporated quickly under George Kontos. Kontos was given a blown save according to the ESPN box (can you get one of those in the 7th inning? was it a blown hold? a blowhole?). He was followed by an inning each from Romo and Strickland, then, in the 10th, the Giants scored on a Pence double and a wild pitch. Casilla gave up a home run, to that guy Lamb again, then made it through the rest of the 10th. Joe Nathan pitched the 11th. In the 12th, Belt walked, followed by a single from Joe Panik. Kelby Tomlinson singled up the center for another go-ahead run.
In the 12th, the Giants brought Cory Gearrin in to pitch. He struck out Owings, then was parked in left field for Lopez to pitch to Lamb, who walked. Then Gearrin was brought back to pitch and Gorkys was brought into play left. Gearrin finished the inning for a save. That's why your box shows Gearrin for a full inning with a save, followed by Lopez. Joe Nathan got the win. The Giants used 8 pitchers and 11 position players. Span and Posey were 0 for 6, Pagan got 1 hit and Crawford was 0 for 5. However, Pence was 4 for 5 with 2 doubles, Belt was 2 for 3 with 3 walks, and Panik and Nunez both got 2 hits. Giants win 7 - 6 and took over 5 hours to do so. The doggers lost and the Cardinals and Mets both won.
Saturday, September 10, 2016
Wednesday, September 7, 2016
Collapse
6-5 loss in Coors
It was Marx who said that when history repeats itself it would be "the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." Things are so bad I'm quoting a goddamn commie. The Giants are fatally crippled in the bullpen and they blow late leads with regularity. So regularly do they blow leads that a promising season is slipping away. In fact, that may be it. The Giants fall to five back in the West and cling to a mere half-game lead in the Wild Card. And trending downward, unfortunately, with 23 games yet to play.
Santiago Casilla got pulled after the homer, the strikeout, and the hit and does not get assigned either a 'loss' or a 'blown save'. In fact he gets credit for a 'hold'. But his three-batter outing set the stage for the collapse, Osich and Nathan were merely stand-ins for the final blows. Maybe Boch should flip everything over and have Casilla be the first guy out of the 'pen and Okert and Strickland finish. Can't get any worse.
--M.C.
It was Marx who said that when history repeats itself it would be "the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." Things are so bad I'm quoting a goddamn commie. The Giants are fatally crippled in the bullpen and they blow late leads with regularity. So regularly do they blow leads that a promising season is slipping away. In fact, that may be it. The Giants fall to five back in the West and cling to a mere half-game lead in the Wild Card. And trending downward, unfortunately, with 23 games yet to play.
Santiago Casilla got pulled after the homer, the strikeout, and the hit and does not get assigned either a 'loss' or a 'blown save'. In fact he gets credit for a 'hold'. But his three-batter outing set the stage for the collapse, Osich and Nathan were merely stand-ins for the final blows. Maybe Boch should flip everything over and have Casilla be the first guy out of the 'pen and Okert and Strickland finish. Can't get any worse.
--M.C.
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Kelby is King!
Giants win 3-2
Santiago Casilla came into a game in Chicago on Sunday with the Giants leading 2-1 after a hard-fought eight and one-half innings. It was what they like to call a "save situation." He gets three outs and a clean slate and the Giants win a game against the best team and split the series in Wrigley and as a bonus claim the season series. It was a big moment in a tough second half of the season. The Giants lost in 13 as Casilla could not get it done. It was the biggest "blown save" of the year. The Giants slipped to three back of LA and went into what seemed to be their death spiral. But this is baseball where the dead come back to life. Tonight Santiago Casilla came in to hold a one-run lead and save the game and sure enough he did just that. He allowed a baserunner but promptly erased him with a game-ending double play. The Giants are still squirming in a quicksand of their own making, but one has to feel a bit of life surging back into the sclerotic vessels of this gasping beast we call a team as they win their second game in September.
Jeff Samardzija pitched with verve and stamina, Eduardo Nunez hit a homer and drove in the tying run, and Kelby Tomlinson got the clutch hit to drive in Buster Posey with the go-ahead run. Way to go Kelby!
Albert Suarez tomorrw. Go Giants!
--M.C.
Santiago Casilla came into a game in Chicago on Sunday with the Giants leading 2-1 after a hard-fought eight and one-half innings. It was what they like to call a "save situation." He gets three outs and a clean slate and the Giants win a game against the best team and split the series in Wrigley and as a bonus claim the season series. It was a big moment in a tough second half of the season. The Giants lost in 13 as Casilla could not get it done. It was the biggest "blown save" of the year. The Giants slipped to three back of LA and went into what seemed to be their death spiral. But this is baseball where the dead come back to life. Tonight Santiago Casilla came in to hold a one-run lead and save the game and sure enough he did just that. He allowed a baserunner but promptly erased him with a game-ending double play. The Giants are still squirming in a quicksand of their own making, but one has to feel a bit of life surging back into the sclerotic vessels of this gasping beast we call a team as they win their second game in September.
Jeff Samardzija pitched with verve and stamina, Eduardo Nunez hit a homer and drove in the tying run, and Kelby Tomlinson got the clutch hit to drive in Buster Posey with the go-ahead run. Way to go Kelby!
Albert Suarez tomorrw. Go Giants!
--M.C.
Monday, September 5, 2016
Bupkis
Skunked six-zip in Colorado
The sad part of this team's collapse is that they are still in the race. Bear with me here: it means they still have to play all their starters and continue on as if they still have a shot at glory. Because in fact, mathematically, they do. Ty Blach made his much-anticipated major league debut this afternoon at Coors Field and pitched three scoreless frames, allowing only one hit and one walk with forty pitches. Wouldn't you like to see him start in place of take-your-pick Moore/Samardzija/Suarez the rest of the way? Wouldn't that be fun? If the Giants were ten or more games back, like the Rockies, that's just what we would want them to do. Let's see if the kid has the stones to start on the 2017 club. On a team where former ace Matt Cain is reduced to mop-up man why not give the young lefty his shot? But they can't because they are only a handful of games behind the first-place Dodgers and they cling to a lead in the Wild Card race. But despite my earlier optimism I can hear the hiss of helium leaking out of this big, over-blown orange-and-black airship and I can plot the course of it's ultimate crash-landing. The Giants just may play themselves out of everything in this final month. Twenty-five games to go, It will take nine wins to guarantee an over-.500 record. What's your over-under on that bet? What will this team's final record be?
--M.C.
The sad part of this team's collapse is that they are still in the race. Bear with me here: it means they still have to play all their starters and continue on as if they still have a shot at glory. Because in fact, mathematically, they do. Ty Blach made his much-anticipated major league debut this afternoon at Coors Field and pitched three scoreless frames, allowing only one hit and one walk with forty pitches. Wouldn't you like to see him start in place of take-your-pick Moore/Samardzija/Suarez the rest of the way? Wouldn't that be fun? If the Giants were ten or more games back, like the Rockies, that's just what we would want them to do. Let's see if the kid has the stones to start on the 2017 club. On a team where former ace Matt Cain is reduced to mop-up man why not give the young lefty his shot? But they can't because they are only a handful of games behind the first-place Dodgers and they cling to a lead in the Wild Card race. But despite my earlier optimism I can hear the hiss of helium leaking out of this big, over-blown orange-and-black airship and I can plot the course of it's ultimate crash-landing. The Giants just may play themselves out of everything in this final month. Twenty-five games to go, It will take nine wins to guarantee an over-.500 record. What's your over-under on that bet? What will this team's final record be?
--M.C.
Sunday, September 4, 2016
Vlog 27: "JohnnyConsolation"
3-2 loss (13) at CHI
The topics of "good but not good enough" and "the consolation in a job well done" have been discussed alot around here lately. Well, more of the same today as the Giants gave it their all but just couldn't squeak out the series split. We brought out the small ball (including a suicide squeeze) and JohnnyC threw a gem (7IP, 1ER, 5H) but a league leading 7th blown save by Casilla burst that bubble. Another good game, another loss. Am I kidding myself with this "pretty good, there is hope" thing?? Oh yeah, don't forget to watch the reprise of vlog. It has a pretty mountain.
Vlog 27 "JohnnyConsolation"
The topics of "good but not good enough" and "the consolation in a job well done" have been discussed alot around here lately. Well, more of the same today as the Giants gave it their all but just couldn't squeak out the series split. We brought out the small ball (including a suicide squeeze) and JohnnyC threw a gem (7IP, 1ER, 5H) but a league leading 7th blown save by Casilla burst that bubble. Another good game, another loss. Am I kidding myself with this "pretty good, there is hope" thing?? Oh yeah, don't forget to watch the reprise of vlog. It has a pretty mountain.
Vlog 27 "JohnnyConsolation"
Saturday, September 3, 2016
BCraw Runs, Cubs Defensive Shift Loses
It's nice to be able to report on a Giant's win. It's a good thing, too, because my negativity regarding this team would probably alienate the few readers that we have. When Mark posts "the Giants are a good team" or Jon describes the Giants as a "damn good team" I want to scream. The Giants are still the worst team since the All Star Break. Under what definition are they good? The hardest thing is that I cannot for the life of me figure out why they are so lousy. I can, of course, figure out why they lose any given game, but cannot figure out why they lost so many games for the last month and a half. At least today was a victory, 3 - 2.
It looked to be a beautiful day at Piggly Wiggly Field in Chicago today, sunny and comfortable unlike San Francisco, which has had the foggiest summer since 1942. Baseball weather. The kind of day to settle back and watch two of the game's best face off. Madison Bumgarner against Jake Arrieta. The Giants needed a win, desperately. At this point, you could probably say that every day. And that is what it has come to - a team with the best record in baseball at one time now has their backs against the wall and the only thing to blame is themselves. You knew going in that Madbum would have to be better than good, better than usual even to beat Arrieta. Good thing he was.
The Giants struck first. In the 1st inning, Angel Pagan doubled and scored on a throwing error to first. In the 4th, the Giants added one. Joe Panik singled with 2 outs, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a passed ball as Belt walked. Panik scored on a Nunez single. Arrieta makes it tough on his catcher with a lot of sharp downward movement towards the dirt. Today, that was crucial in the Giants' victory. The Cubs got a run in the 5th when Baez singled and stole second. Arrieta hit a dribbler? bunt? to Nunez, who charged the ball but couldn't pick it up. In fact, he couldn't even grab it. Baez kept on going and scored because there was no one else there. That goes as a hit and an earned run on Madbum's record, but it shouldn't.
The match-up of aces continued. Both the Giants, and the Cubs once the 5th inning rolled around had long at-bats. It got very interesting in the 6th. Brandon Crawford singled with 1 out. With the shift on, he stole second because there was no one there as Joe Panik struck out. Then, with Arrieta holding the ball and Baez playing third way over in the shortstop's hole, Brandon went to third. Why not, there was no one to hold Brandon on second to at third. By the time he noticed, Arrieta couldn't even get a throw off. Then, with the defensive shift still on so that Brandon could take a huge lead, another Arrieta wild pitch in the dirt allowed him to score. Giants 3, Cubs 1.
In the Cubs half of the inning, Zobrist scored on a foul ball out that turned into a sac fly. At the end of 6, both Arrieta and Madbum were done. Both threw 103 pitches and 6 full innings. Arrieta struck out 7, walked 2 and gave up 4 hits (all the Giants hits for the day). Madbum gave up 5 hits, walked no one and struck out 10. He gave up the 2 runs, but like I mentioned, it should be 1 earned. 5 relievers managed to keep the Cubs scoreless for 3 innings, although there was some scary stuff along the way.
So a victory is good. Maybe the Giants can put on a little run. Maybe string together a couple wins. They have done that exactly 3 times since July 15; against Washington, against the Mets, and back to back against LA and Atlanta. They have not won 3 in a row, but they have actually played .500 ball in their last 10 games. Johnny Cueto goes tomorrow, he has seen a lot of the Cubs (and they of him). Baseball is very much a game of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately. A few wins would improve my mood considerably. As will the wine tasting that I am headed for right now.
It looked to be a beautiful day at Piggly Wiggly Field in Chicago today, sunny and comfortable unlike San Francisco, which has had the foggiest summer since 1942. Baseball weather. The kind of day to settle back and watch two of the game's best face off. Madison Bumgarner against Jake Arrieta. The Giants needed a win, desperately. At this point, you could probably say that every day. And that is what it has come to - a team with the best record in baseball at one time now has their backs against the wall and the only thing to blame is themselves. You knew going in that Madbum would have to be better than good, better than usual even to beat Arrieta. Good thing he was.
The Giants struck first. In the 1st inning, Angel Pagan doubled and scored on a throwing error to first. In the 4th, the Giants added one. Joe Panik singled with 2 outs, went to second on a wild pitch and to third on a passed ball as Belt walked. Panik scored on a Nunez single. Arrieta makes it tough on his catcher with a lot of sharp downward movement towards the dirt. Today, that was crucial in the Giants' victory. The Cubs got a run in the 5th when Baez singled and stole second. Arrieta hit a dribbler? bunt? to Nunez, who charged the ball but couldn't pick it up. In fact, he couldn't even grab it. Baez kept on going and scored because there was no one else there. That goes as a hit and an earned run on Madbum's record, but it shouldn't.
The match-up of aces continued. Both the Giants, and the Cubs once the 5th inning rolled around had long at-bats. It got very interesting in the 6th. Brandon Crawford singled with 1 out. With the shift on, he stole second because there was no one there as Joe Panik struck out. Then, with Arrieta holding the ball and Baez playing third way over in the shortstop's hole, Brandon went to third. Why not, there was no one to hold Brandon on second to at third. By the time he noticed, Arrieta couldn't even get a throw off. Then, with the defensive shift still on so that Brandon could take a huge lead, another Arrieta wild pitch in the dirt allowed him to score. Giants 3, Cubs 1.
In the Cubs half of the inning, Zobrist scored on a foul ball out that turned into a sac fly. At the end of 6, both Arrieta and Madbum were done. Both threw 103 pitches and 6 full innings. Arrieta struck out 7, walked 2 and gave up 4 hits (all the Giants hits for the day). Madbum gave up 5 hits, walked no one and struck out 10. He gave up the 2 runs, but like I mentioned, it should be 1 earned. 5 relievers managed to keep the Cubs scoreless for 3 innings, although there was some scary stuff along the way.
So a victory is good. Maybe the Giants can put on a little run. Maybe string together a couple wins. They have done that exactly 3 times since July 15; against Washington, against the Mets, and back to back against LA and Atlanta. They have not won 3 in a row, but they have actually played .500 ball in their last 10 games. Johnny Cueto goes tomorrow, he has seen a lot of the Cubs (and they of him). Baseball is very much a game of what-have-you-done-for-me-lately. A few wins would improve my mood considerably. As will the wine tasting that I am headed for right now.
Friday, September 2, 2016
Giants Fall Short--Again
5-4 loss Fri &
2-1 loss Sat
Two one-run losses in Chicago encapsulate the year so far: Giants are just a little short of being a complete team. The Cubs are baseball's best right now, and have been most of the season. The Giants flirted with that distinction for a bit in late July but have now been overtaken within their own division. At one point in the two games the Giants were 0-for-40, yet they had legitimate chances to win both. That's the essence of the 2016 Giants--very good, but not enough. Friday night was the familiar story with the bullpen blowing the lead. This is the most obvious weakness of the club, and it should be noted that with the retirement departure of Jeremy Affeldt at the end of last season and the impending free agencies for Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez, and Santiago Casilla at the end of this season, the Core Four will likely be no more in 2017. An argument can be made that the remaining three could be done in orange-and-black, but that's a discussion for the off-season.
Jon Lester flirted with a no-hitter but Hunter Pence, the hot hand in the lineup, saved the team from ignominy this afternoon with a wind-defying blast. He had one last night as well. The baseball gods favored the home team today as several Giants hit the crap out of the ball but to no avail, either a great play in the field or fortunate placement of a fielder snuffed out the hits. I keep going back to my that-sums-up-the-season notion, certainly luck has not been on the side of the good guys since the Break. A foot difference here or there could have turned today's dominating win from Lester into a clean Caining, a great start wasted in a close loss. Alas, the Giants are indeed offensively challenged these days, and really have to add some pop to the program for the next set of shows. It's one thing to spurn the homer but still win. It's another to spurn the homer and continue to come up short, especially with the rest of the league banging them out regularly.
Jeff Samardzija was not effective on Friday and Albert Suarez was effective today, but the result was the same in both cases. Starting pitching has been spotty, at least by San Francisco standards; the drop-off from the ace lefty-righty pair a little too big, despite being overall, a better-than-league-average rotation. It all adds up to a good team, just not a great team. Despite the 5th-highest payroll they are tied for the 8th-best record. Then again it's nothing that a 20-8 record the rest of the way couldn't cure. Even if the Dodgers win tonight it's only a three-game deficit with six games head-to-head remaining, do-able even if difficult. Then there's the Wild Card, eminently reachable, but not anyone's first choice or anywhere close to pre-season expectations for this bunch.
If it seems like I'm avoiding discussing the last two games in any detail, that's exactly what I'm doing. Skipping the details. The wins are not coming with the needed frequency and at this point the details are moot. I can't quit, they certainly aren't, and the math says the odds for post-season play are still good. It's not that anything is rotten in Denmark, just a little past fresh.
Marquee matchup tomorrow afternoon with Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
2-1 loss Sat
Two one-run losses in Chicago encapsulate the year so far: Giants are just a little short of being a complete team. The Cubs are baseball's best right now, and have been most of the season. The Giants flirted with that distinction for a bit in late July but have now been overtaken within their own division. At one point in the two games the Giants were 0-for-40, yet they had legitimate chances to win both. That's the essence of the 2016 Giants--very good, but not enough. Friday night was the familiar story with the bullpen blowing the lead. This is the most obvious weakness of the club, and it should be noted that with the retirement departure of Jeremy Affeldt at the end of last season and the impending free agencies for Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez, and Santiago Casilla at the end of this season, the Core Four will likely be no more in 2017. An argument can be made that the remaining three could be done in orange-and-black, but that's a discussion for the off-season.
Jon Lester flirted with a no-hitter but Hunter Pence, the hot hand in the lineup, saved the team from ignominy this afternoon with a wind-defying blast. He had one last night as well. The baseball gods favored the home team today as several Giants hit the crap out of the ball but to no avail, either a great play in the field or fortunate placement of a fielder snuffed out the hits. I keep going back to my that-sums-up-the-season notion, certainly luck has not been on the side of the good guys since the Break. A foot difference here or there could have turned today's dominating win from Lester into a clean Caining, a great start wasted in a close loss. Alas, the Giants are indeed offensively challenged these days, and really have to add some pop to the program for the next set of shows. It's one thing to spurn the homer but still win. It's another to spurn the homer and continue to come up short, especially with the rest of the league banging them out regularly.
Jeff Samardzija was not effective on Friday and Albert Suarez was effective today, but the result was the same in both cases. Starting pitching has been spotty, at least by San Francisco standards; the drop-off from the ace lefty-righty pair a little too big, despite being overall, a better-than-league-average rotation. It all adds up to a good team, just not a great team. Despite the 5th-highest payroll they are tied for the 8th-best record. Then again it's nothing that a 20-8 record the rest of the way couldn't cure. Even if the Dodgers win tonight it's only a three-game deficit with six games head-to-head remaining, do-able even if difficult. Then there's the Wild Card, eminently reachable, but not anyone's first choice or anywhere close to pre-season expectations for this bunch.
If it seems like I'm avoiding discussing the last two games in any detail, that's exactly what I'm doing. Skipping the details. The wins are not coming with the needed frequency and at this point the details are moot. I can't quit, they certainly aren't, and the math says the odds for post-season play are still good. It's not that anything is rotten in Denmark, just a little past fresh.
Marquee matchup tomorrow afternoon with Madison Bumgarner and Jake Arrieta.
GO GIANTS!
--M.C.
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