This was a very dangerous game, and yet the Giants were able to skate through it and win 3-2. It's hard to call Tim Lincecum's afternoon a great performance, though he did end up going 8 innings, giving up only 2 runs. He had a couple innings that looked disastrous, but was able to escape. He gave up 2 runs in the 2nd inning when the 7 and 8 hitter reached base after 2 outs, and Arizona pitcher Barry Enright doubled them in, his first of two hits in the game.
No surprises in the RBI department for the Giants today. Andres Torres had a bad game, striking out 3 times, but the rest of the constants all contributed. Buster Posey had 4 hits, raising his average this year to .371. Aubrey Huff singled in the 5th inning to tie the game at 2. And Travis Ishikawa came through in the 10th inning to give the Giants the winning run, singling in Eli Whiteside.
When Tim Lincecum left after the 8th inning, Sergio Romo got himself into a terrible jam, but found a way out. Brian Wilson closed the game out quietly in the bottom of the 10th. What stands out in this game? Buster Posey had 4 hits. Tim Lincecum pitched a good game. Travis Ishikawa had another big hit. But there was something else...
Bruce Bochy managed like a fool today. In the 8th inning, with the game tied and two runners on, Bochy elected to have Tim Lincecum hit. Lincecum struck out. While I understand Bochy's mistrust of both the bullpen and the bench in that situation, you have to take an opportunity that late in the game seriously, and send up a real hitter. In the 10th inning, Buster Posey got his 4th hit of the day, a double to right field. Bochy immediately sent in Eli Whiteside to run for Posey. We already know that Posey is in fact faster than Whiteside, so what was Bochy's reasoning for replacing his star hitter in an extra inning game with a replacement player. Mike Krukow gave the explanation that Posey's "catcher legs" were tired. This isn't irrational, but it disregards the strategic blunder Bochy made by replacing Posey. By running Whiteside for Posey, Bochy leaves himself with 0 catchers on the bench in a tied, extra inning game. That is not the situation to replace your 23 year old catcher because of "catcher's legs". But Bochy's biggest blunder came a batter later, when Whiteside was on third, with Nate Schierholtz on first and Ishikawa at the plate. Suddenly, Schierholtz ran toward 2nd base, and was caught stealing easily. There are 3 ways to understand this play: Schierholtz got the sign to run, he ran on his own, or Ishikawa missed the sign for a hit and run. Anyway, Bochy loses. Nate Schierholtz should not have a Jose Reyes green light in extra innings with the go ahead run at third. And if Bochy called either a steal or hit and run, maybe he needs to be enlightened by the wise words of Earl Weaver:
"...you get damned little fleas on the fucking bases, getting picked off trying to steal, getting thrown out, taking runs away from you..."
Nate Schierholtz should not be stealing bases. Most of the Giants should not be stealing bases. Their SB rate this year is 64%, which means they are actually hurting themselves by calling for steals. At least they don't do it too often. And the hit and run is kinda stupid. Almost as stupid as trading Dan Haren, one of the best pitchers of the last 5 years, for a 29 year old with one good year and a 1.5 WHIP this year. It's no mystery why the D'Backs suck.
Buster Posey -> no comment necessary, lol, his stats not speak but YELL for themselves. I'm loving ISH who takes advantage of every opportunity he gets. Gotta love a guy who gets limited playing time yet somehow has a huge grand slam off the leagues top pitcher, 2 go-ahead rbi hits, and multiple other times he has stepped in and produced. He has earned the Mr. Capitalization title in my book. Your team is only as good as your worst player(i.e. the bench), and with our bench heralding players such as ISH and burrell, with the Uribe/renteria carousel, and Rowand teaming up in the outfield we have the mark of a team that could go a long way in the playoffs. Add the supporting cast of HUFF Daddy who has been sensational(Heck he leads our team in every offensive category), Andre the Giant who has been a more than pleasant surprise and earned Giants hearts and the leadoff spot, Uribbbeee who has big play abilities(GS yesterday), Panda who seems to be getting his stroke back, sanchez who is a rock in the field and once he gets his bat back we'll be extremely lethal. Also our starting pitching rotation once again needs no comment, their stats speak for themselves. Its no wonder we are 16 and 4 in our last 20. KEEP IT HOT GIANTS!!
ReplyDeleteI cant forget about Bweezy either who has been rock solid with 29 saves out of 31 opps. He is the brick wall that teams run into in the 9th inning(and more times than not the 8th inning too). Go Giants baby!!
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