The San Francisco Giants have no answer for Clayton Kershaw. He has a 23 2/3 scoreless inning streak against them and they just looked clueless against him tonight.
It's tough to be positive when your team is sitting at 4-6. But Lincecum and Cain are pitching great, Sanchez is throwing solid, The bullpen (aside from Wilson) is pitching okl, Burrell has 4 homers, and Pablo Sandoval is hitting well.
However more seems to be going bad. The aforementioned Wilson, ZIto and Bumgarner, the Giants' defense, and just about everybody on the Giants' offense.
The fact of the matter is that it's early, If there was one thing that last season taught us is that there are going to be rough stretches to the season. The season is long and the rough spots don't mean that they won't make the playoffs. The defense will come around, the offense will come around, and Zito and Bumgarner will even get some wins.
All of these struggles are magnified because they are at the beginning of the season. But every team goes through stretches like this. We just need to keep watching the games, cheering on our team, and basking in our World Series championship glory!
And cheer up! Timmy is pitching tomorrow!
Showing posts with label los angeles dodgers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label los angeles dodgers. Show all posts
Monday, April 11, 2011
Friday, September 17, 2010
Bruce Bochy is a genius
GIANTS 10 - DODGERS 2
Yes, Bruce Bochy is a genius.
As hard as those words were to type, I had to type them. there is no other way to describe his decision to put Edgar Renteria in the leadoff hole.
Admit it, you probably had the same reaction as every other Giants fan when you saw that ol' Sleepy had Renteria leading off tonight. As a matter of fact, I was so sure Bochy lost his mind when I saw it that I tweeted: "Wow, Rent batting leadoff! I hope Sanchez has another no-no in him tonight." Well Rent proved me wrong by going 4 for 5 and being a table-setter just like a leadoff man should.
Speaking of Jonathan Sanchez....
He absolutely dominated the Dodgers tonight. The first inning looked pretty scary as Juan Uribe appeared determined to throw the game away again when he air-mailed Ryan Theriot's bunt attempt in the first inning. This allowed Rafael Furcal to score and sent Theriot to 2nd. The Dodgers had one run already in and a runner on second with no outs.
The old Jonathan Sanchez would have gone on to fall apart and allow 4 or 5 runs. But this is Dirty Sanchez we are talking about here.
And Dirty he was.
Sanchez settled down to strike out 12 Dodgers and walk exactly zero. I will say that another way, Jonathan Sanchez walked ZERO batters in 7 innings! Five days after walking 7 batters in 5 innings the lanky lefty walked 0. Striking out 12 batters, a career high for Sanchez, while walking 0 is a feat that has only happened 12 times in Giants history. (Tim Lincecum has done it 3 times!) So Sanchez has another page in the Gigantes long history books.
And you guys wanted to trade him for that Adam Dunn guy.
I can't end the article without mentioning the offense. They finally joined the party today. After scoring a grand total of 9 runs in their last 5 games, the offense busted out for 10 runs in one game! Did I mention it was against the Dodgers?
Aubrey Huff continued his MVP push by getting the scoring started with a 4 run homerun off Dodgers starter Ted Lilly. Meanwhile, back at the batcave, Buster Posey followed him with a solo shot and the Giants were suddenly up 5-1 effectively deciding the game. But the Giants would pour on 5 more runs and getting a homerun from another guy I'm sure Giants fans weren't too excited to see in the lineup tonight: Jose Guillen. Guillen went 3 for 3 by the way, (you genius Boch!)
Tonight the Brewers, who have lost 10 of their last 15 games, come rolling into town. They have hopefully given up on the season as their record would indicate. This would be great since the Padres are playing the Cardinals and Tony Larussa and Albert Pujols would never let their team throw in the towel no matter how many games back they are.
Randy Wolf Vs. Madison Bumgarner tonight. Stay hot Madbum!
 |
| The Genius at work |
As hard as those words were to type, I had to type them. there is no other way to describe his decision to put Edgar Renteria in the leadoff hole.
Admit it, you probably had the same reaction as every other Giants fan when you saw that ol' Sleepy had Renteria leading off tonight. As a matter of fact, I was so sure Bochy lost his mind when I saw it that I tweeted: "Wow, Rent batting leadoff! I hope Sanchez has another no-no in him tonight." Well Rent proved me wrong by going 4 for 5 and being a table-setter just like a leadoff man should.
Speaking of Jonathan Sanchez....
He absolutely dominated the Dodgers tonight. The first inning looked pretty scary as Juan Uribe appeared determined to throw the game away again when he air-mailed Ryan Theriot's bunt attempt in the first inning. This allowed Rafael Furcal to score and sent Theriot to 2nd. The Dodgers had one run already in and a runner on second with no outs.
The old Jonathan Sanchez would have gone on to fall apart and allow 4 or 5 runs. But this is Dirty Sanchez we are talking about here.
And Dirty he was.
Sanchez settled down to strike out 12 Dodgers and walk exactly zero. I will say that another way, Jonathan Sanchez walked ZERO batters in 7 innings! Five days after walking 7 batters in 5 innings the lanky lefty walked 0. Striking out 12 batters, a career high for Sanchez, while walking 0 is a feat that has only happened 12 times in Giants history. (Tim Lincecum has done it 3 times!) So Sanchez has another page in the Gigantes long history books.
And you guys wanted to trade him for that Adam Dunn guy.
I can't end the article without mentioning the offense. They finally joined the party today. After scoring a grand total of 9 runs in their last 5 games, the offense busted out for 10 runs in one game! Did I mention it was against the Dodgers?
Aubrey Huff continued his MVP push by getting the scoring started with a 4 run homerun off Dodgers starter Ted Lilly. Meanwhile, back at the batcave, Buster Posey followed him with a solo shot and the Giants were suddenly up 5-1 effectively deciding the game. But the Giants would pour on 5 more runs and getting a homerun from another guy I'm sure Giants fans weren't too excited to see in the lineup tonight: Jose Guillen. Guillen went 3 for 3 by the way, (you genius Boch!)
Tonight the Brewers, who have lost 10 of their last 15 games, come rolling into town. They have hopefully given up on the season as their record would indicate. This would be great since the Padres are playing the Cardinals and Tony Larussa and Albert Pujols would never let their team throw in the towel no matter how many games back they are.
Randy Wolf Vs. Madison Bumgarner tonight. Stay hot Madbum!
Thursday, September 16, 2010
Cain dominates Dodgers
Image via WikipediaMatt Cain twirled 7 shutout innings, allowed 3 hits and walked none. The Giants beat the Dodgers 2-1 at AT&T park last night. They also moved back to within .5 a game of first place.
It looked like a repeat of last night. Great pitching and nobody scored any runs until late. But this time the Giants came out on top. Even though he allowed more hits than the night before, Cain and the Giants' bullpen didn't issue a single free pass all night long. the only run came on a solo Andre Ethier homerun off of Brian WIlson in the 9th who, oh by the way, came in and picked up his 43rd save.
Tonight the Giants face Ted Lilly and counter with Jonathan Sanchez. I wish Boch would just leave the lineup that he threw out last night in tact, but he has already said that Pablo will get a night off. I bet Fontenot and Nate go back to the bench too. I know a lot of people thought Bochy was crazy for throwing out that lineup, but why not? The other guys he was trotting out there weren't getting the job done either..
Wednesday, September 15, 2010
The curse of Barry Zito
DODGERS 1 - GIANTS 0
7 yrs $126 million.
The Giants and Barry Zito cursed themselves when they blew up the market for a former ace pitcher whose best years were behind him. They doomed themselves to a guy who has an ERA over 8.00 in his last 7 starts and has lost all 7 of them despite the fact that he allowed 2 runs or less 3 out of those 7 starts. The Giants are just going to lose with this guy on the mound. It's that simple.
Last night was the second time this season that the Giants have 1-hit an opponent and still lost the game? (the first time was April 20 with Jonathan Sanchez on the mound against SD) This has had only happened 46 times since 1920. This happening one time in a season is a statistical oddity. Twice in a season is a curse.
Adding insult to injury, the Dodgers scored their only run on an error which would have ended the inning with no runs scored. Zito would have been in the Giants dugout with a tie and we probably would still be watching this game since neither team looked like they really wanted to score any runs tonight.
Also, if the Giants do make the playoffs this season, I vote that nobody on the offense gets a playoff share. The Giants offense has scored 2 runs or less an astonishing 51 times this season. They have been shutout 13 of those times. They have also won exactly twice when scoring 1 run this season. one of those games came against SD last Friday.
You want to know something that will really blow your mind? Barry Zito has been on the hill for 13 of those 51 games where the Giants have scored 2 runs or less. They have scored 3 runs or less in 21 of his 31 starts. he has actually given up 3 runs or less in 22 of his 31 starts. So in order for his record to be 8-13 the Giants offense must have had to work really hard to not score any runs for the guy. I mean seriously, how many pitchers hold the opposition to 3 runs or less in more than 2/3 of their starts and still have a losing record? The hitters must be mad that he makes waaay more money than they do.
Talk about cursed.
7 yrs $126 million.
The Giants and Barry Zito cursed themselves when they blew up the market for a former ace pitcher whose best years were behind him. They doomed themselves to a guy who has an ERA over 8.00 in his last 7 starts and has lost all 7 of them despite the fact that he allowed 2 runs or less 3 out of those 7 starts. The Giants are just going to lose with this guy on the mound. It's that simple.
Last night was the second time this season that the Giants have 1-hit an opponent and still lost the game? (the first time was April 20 with Jonathan Sanchez on the mound against SD) This has had only happened 46 times since 1920. This happening one time in a season is a statistical oddity. Twice in a season is a curse.
Adding insult to injury, the Dodgers scored their only run on an error which would have ended the inning with no runs scored. Zito would have been in the Giants dugout with a tie and we probably would still be watching this game since neither team looked like they really wanted to score any runs tonight.
Also, if the Giants do make the playoffs this season, I vote that nobody on the offense gets a playoff share. The Giants offense has scored 2 runs or less an astonishing 51 times this season. They have been shutout 13 of those times. They have also won exactly twice when scoring 1 run this season. one of those games came against SD last Friday.
You want to know something that will really blow your mind? Barry Zito has been on the hill for 13 of those 51 games where the Giants have scored 2 runs or less. They have scored 3 runs or less in 21 of his 31 starts. he has actually given up 3 runs or less in 22 of his 31 starts. So in order for his record to be 8-13 the Giants offense must have had to work really hard to not score any runs for the guy. I mean seriously, how many pitchers hold the opposition to 3 runs or less in more than 2/3 of their starts and still have a losing record? The hitters must be mad that he makes waaay more money than they do.
Talk about cursed.
Monday, September 6, 2010
And then there was one........ Game between the Giants and the Padres
GIANTS 3 - DODGERS 0
Is there anybody out there that still thinks the Giants should have traded Jonathan Sanchez at the trade deadline?
Jonathan Sanchez took his perfectly shaped eyebrows to the mound with him in Los Angeles and shut the Dodgers down. He went 7 sparkling innings, struck out 9, and walked only one batter!
The walk stat is huge because that is the one thing that has been keeping Sanchez from reaching the next level and becoming a more consistent pitcher. He has walked 3 batters or less in each of his last 6 starts including tonight. If he can keep his walks down the rest of the year then he will be tough coming out of the #4 spot in the rotation down the stretch.
Juan Uribe.
What can I say about this guy other than I hope that ball he took off the shin isn't too serious. (I think it wast the Mercury News that said he is expected to be OK tomorrow) His homerun in the 7th inning was huge. A 1 run game in the 8th and 9th can be lost so many different ways, ask Cody Ross, but a 3-0 game takes a little more work. Uribe has hit so many important homers for the Giants this year and this one basically put a nail in tonight's game and probably the Dodgers' season.
Nothing wrong with that.
2 more quick links:
The Mercury News makes a good point as to why Brandon Belt won't be up this season. Although I do wonder why guys like Brett Pill don't get the call but I'm not the GM.
Lastly this video is hilarious. It's a Dodgers' fan otherwise it wouldn't be as funny but since it is I am laughing every time I even think about this clip:
Oh, I almost forgot we had a Sergio Romo sighting tonight:
Jonathan Sanchez took his perfectly shaped eyebrows to the mound with him in Los Angeles and shut the Dodgers down. He went 7 sparkling innings, struck out 9, and walked only one batter!
The walk stat is huge because that is the one thing that has been keeping Sanchez from reaching the next level and becoming a more consistent pitcher. He has walked 3 batters or less in each of his last 6 starts including tonight. If he can keep his walks down the rest of the year then he will be tough coming out of the #4 spot in the rotation down the stretch.
Juan Uribe.
Nothing wrong with that.
2 more quick links:
The Mercury News makes a good point as to why Brandon Belt won't be up this season. Although I do wonder why guys like Brett Pill don't get the call but I'm not the GM.
Lastly this video is hilarious. It's a Dodgers' fan otherwise it wouldn't be as funny but since it is I am laughing every time I even think about this clip:
Oh, I almost forgot we had a Sergio Romo sighting tonight:
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Giants have an odd one in Brian Wilson
DODGERS 4- GIANTS 2
The Giants were only able to manage two hits last night and Zito gave up 4 runs in 4 innnings. I t didn't really hurt them that much in the standings since the Padres lost their 8th game in a row, but it is frustrating on a number of levels. Barry Zito continued his slide, the Giants offense struggled once again, and they failed to capitalize on the Padres misfortune. The fact that they could only manage two hits and wouldn't have scored at all if they didn't have Buster Posey on their team just made matters more unbearable.
So instead of wasting any more post time to the subpar effort of our favorite team I am just going to link some clips from the Giants weird closer Brian Wilson. I don't know really what is up with this guy but he is really weird. The guy who is most famous for wearing orange spikes to the mound in the All-Star game and then getting fined $1000.00 by MLB for wearing them in an actual game, sporting a mohawk on the mound, edge of your seat saves, and the overuse of the word delicious turns out to even weirder than I ever suspected.
In this video Brian Wilson lets us in on the location of the Gimp. You gotta wait until about 6:30 into the clip to see it but it is worth it to watch the rest.
This clip we learn the reason Wilson was fined $1000.00 by MLB was because he had too much awesomeness on his feet, what kind of smartphone Wilson uses, and what he carries in his back pocket.
Since I couldn't find the embed code on foxsportsnet I will just link this video with Wilson playing the Didgeridoo and high fiving Matt Downs.
Lastly, here is a link to a collection of clips from Wilson's short lived Comcast sports net reality show the Life of Brian.
I really can't explain the guy. Hopefully it takes your mind off the Giant embarrassment from last night.
The Giants were only able to manage two hits last night and Zito gave up 4 runs in 4 innnings. I t didn't really hurt them that much in the standings since the Padres lost their 8th game in a row, but it is frustrating on a number of levels. Barry Zito continued his slide, the Giants offense struggled once again, and they failed to capitalize on the Padres misfortune. The fact that they could only manage two hits and wouldn't have scored at all if they didn't have Buster Posey on their team just made matters more unbearable.
So instead of wasting any more post time to the subpar effort of our favorite team I am just going to link some clips from the Giants weird closer Brian Wilson. I don't know really what is up with this guy but he is really weird. The guy who is most famous for wearing orange spikes to the mound in the All-Star game and then getting fined $1000.00 by MLB for wearing them in an actual game, sporting a mohawk on the mound, edge of your seat saves, and the overuse of the word delicious turns out to even weirder than I ever suspected.
In this video Brian Wilson lets us in on the location of the Gimp. You gotta wait until about 6:30 into the clip to see it but it is worth it to watch the rest.
This clip we learn the reason Wilson was fined $1000.00 by MLB was because he had too much awesomeness on his feet, what kind of smartphone Wilson uses, and what he carries in his back pocket.
Since I couldn't find the embed code on foxsportsnet I will just link this video with Wilson playing the Didgeridoo and high fiving Matt Downs.
Lastly, here is a link to a collection of clips from Wilson's short lived Comcast sports net reality show the Life of Brian.
I really can't explain the guy. Hopefully it takes your mind off the Giant embarrassment from last night.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Giants sweep the Dodgers in SF for the first time since 2003!
GIANTS 2 - DODGERS 0
It was a night of firsts.
Matt Cain's first win in 9 decisions against the Dodgers, Giants first sweep of the Dodgers in SF since 203, Javier Lopez's first appearance of the season, and Edgar Renteria's first clutch hit as a Giant!
Well OK, maybe Rent has had a few clutch hits as a Giant, but this one is the biggest this season. (this one was the biggest last season) But it didn't make it any less surprising. I loved Joe Morgan's comment early in Rent's at bat when he mentioned that Renteria has had a repuutation throughought his career for being a clutch hitter. Probably one pitch before Rent drilled his triple into the left centerfield gap that Matt Kemp totally misplayed from a double into a triple.
The fact that Rent was up with 2 runners on at all made me question Joe Torre's status as a great manager. Torre, for some reason that I still can't figure out, intentionally walked Aaron Rowand, who was hitting a robust .230 against LHP this season, so that lefty Clayton Kershaw could face Edgar Renteria, who was batting .333 Vs. lefties this season. Edgar promptly ripped the triple into the alley and scored the only 2 runs of the game and single handedly was responsible for the offensive side of things in tonight's victory.
And they say Bochy is a bad manager!
The battle of the trade deadline acquisitions was decidedly in the Giant's favor as well. Javier Lopez made his Giants debut and threw 2 pitches to the new Dodgers leftfielder, Scott Podsednik, who he got to ground out to end the 8th inning.
It doesn't get any easier for the Giants. Starting Tuesday, they face the Colorado Rockies in Colorado. They will be throwing Sanchez, Bumgarner, and Lincecum at the team that has won 4 games in a row after losing their previous 8. Then it's off to Atlanta to face the always tough Braves and to have the 2 top NL ROY candidates face off against one another.
Link of the Day:
John Bowker is in a better place now. It seems that after the initial shock of being traded wore off . john Bowker realized that the Giants have done him a favor by sending him to Pittsburgh. He wasn't going to get a chance to play everyday in San Francisco while they were in contention. Hell, he wouldn't have even put on a Giants uniform until September at the earliest. But in Pitt he will get a chance to play. The Pirates aren't going anywhere and they play in a more hitter friendly park than the Giants do. Good luck Johnny B. and hopefully Bowkermania will catch on in Pittsburgh!
It was a night of firsts.Matt Cain's first win in 9 decisions against the Dodgers, Giants first sweep of the Dodgers in SF since 203, Javier Lopez's first appearance of the season, and Edgar Renteria's first clutch hit as a Giant!
Well OK, maybe Rent has had a few clutch hits as a Giant, but this one is the biggest this season. (this one was the biggest last season) But it didn't make it any less surprising. I loved Joe Morgan's comment early in Rent's at bat when he mentioned that Renteria has had a repuutation throughought his career for being a clutch hitter. Probably one pitch before Rent drilled his triple into the left centerfield gap that Matt Kemp totally misplayed from a double into a triple.
The fact that Rent was up with 2 runners on at all made me question Joe Torre's status as a great manager. Torre, for some reason that I still can't figure out, intentionally walked Aaron Rowand, who was hitting a robust .230 against LHP this season, so that lefty Clayton Kershaw could face Edgar Renteria, who was batting .333 Vs. lefties this season. Edgar promptly ripped the triple into the alley and scored the only 2 runs of the game and single handedly was responsible for the offensive side of things in tonight's victory.
And they say Bochy is a bad manager!
The battle of the trade deadline acquisitions was decidedly in the Giant's favor as well. Javier Lopez made his Giants debut and threw 2 pitches to the new Dodgers leftfielder, Scott Podsednik, who he got to ground out to end the 8th inning.
It doesn't get any easier for the Giants. Starting Tuesday, they face the Colorado Rockies in Colorado. They will be throwing Sanchez, Bumgarner, and Lincecum at the team that has won 4 games in a row after losing their previous 8. Then it's off to Atlanta to face the always tough Braves and to have the 2 top NL ROY candidates face off against one another.
Link of the Day:
John Bowker is in a better place now. It seems that after the initial shock of being traded wore off . john Bowker realized that the Giants have done him a favor by sending him to Pittsburgh. He wasn't going to get a chance to play everyday in San Francisco while they were in contention. Hell, he wouldn't have even put on a Giants uniform until September at the earliest. But in Pitt he will get a chance to play. The Pirates aren't going anywhere and they play in a more hitter friendly park than the Giants do. Good luck Johnny B. and hopefully Bowkermania will catch on in Pittsburgh!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
Giants ready to sweep! Get 2 new relievers.
Image by Getty Images via @daylifeTimes are changing for the Giants.
Over the last 3 years the Giants Couldn't beat the Dodgers. Hell, earlier in the season they couldn't beat the Dodgers.
All that is changing.
Last week the Giants took 2 out of 3 from the Bums and yesterday they clinched the series win with their 2nd win in a row over the Dodgers. This team is almost a completely different team than the one that played the Dodgers earlier in the season. That team didn't have Torres starting, Freddy Sanchez was on the DL, Buster Posey was playing in AAA, and Pat Burrell was DHing for the Tampa Bay Rays.
Burrell and Posey were the big contributers offensively. Barry Zito and Denny Bautista, and Guillermo Mota had combined for 8 innings of one run ball. But it was looking like one of those early season Giants games. Where the starter would give up 1 run and the anemic Giants offense wouldn't be able to muster any runs.
Then Hong Chih Kuo hit Buster Posey.
Buster was the third batter the Dodgers hit yesterday. The Giants reacted calmly. Instead of getting their pitcher and manager ejected from the game they sent Pat the bat Burrell up to the plate to face Jonathan Broxton who had come in to relieve Kuo. After a pretty good battle Burrell deposited a 3-2 pitch into the left field seats for a 2-1 lead that Mota was able to protect in the 9th.
Turnaround complete.
As for the trade deadline:
The Giants failed to acquire a bat of any kind. Around the 7th inning of yesterday's game people were questioning that since it appeared the Giants were preparing to be shut out again. We all know what happened but it was almost like fate slapping Brian Sabean in the face for not getting a hitter. The Giants think they can win as constructed and they have shown over the last month that their is no reason to doubt them.
What the Giants did do was get two middle relievers. Javier Lopez from the Pirates and Ramon Ramirez from the Red Sox.
The Giants might overpaid a little bit for Lopez giving up both Joe Martinez and John Bowker. Then again they might not have not have because despite stellar minor league numbers neither have been very successful at the major league level.
The Giants gave up AA pitching prospect Daniel Turpin for Ramirez. I don't know too much about Turpin other than he was 5-5 with a 4.09 ERA this season.
The bullpen has been a concern for this team and appears to be the weakest link right now. Lopez seems to be a lefty specialist and Ramirez seems to be more of a rightly guy. So it seems like we picked up a couple of situational guys and will be overflowing with lefties once Runzler and Affeldt get back.
At this point it seems like the trade deadline ranks as about a C-. The Giants filled a need with a couple of marginal guys and they may have overpaid while doing it. As a matter of fact the only way they don't overpay for this deal is if Bowker turns into Armando Rios instead of Garrett Jones.
Saturday, July 31, 2010
The Huffman Cometh
GIANTS 6 - DODGERS 5
During all the hoopla surrounding Buster Posey during his 21 game hitting streak, Aubrey Huff has been in the background quietly making his contributions to the Giants recent winning ways.
During Posey's 21 game hitting streak Huff: Had a 12 game hit streak of his own, hit .382, with a Bondsian .484 OBP, He also spanked 4 homeruns and drove in 15.
While Posey is being considered for rookie of the year, I would like to present you with the case for Huff for MVP. Huff is leading the Giants in average (.313), RBIs (65), and HRs (20). He has played 1B, LF, and RF. He has played all those positions well after being considered a defensive liability at best. in short, he has done everything the Giants have asked of him and produced at a high level while playing 3 different positions. I'd like to see King Albert do that.
Huff's philosophy on this season: "If I don't go out there and perform, those nine years of losing mean absolutely nothing" This guy is glad to be here!
One note from last night's game:
I know it went down as a wild pitch for Jonathan Sanchez, but the pitch he threw in the dirt in the 9th inning showed a little bit of what the Giants were talking about when they were hesitant to bring up Buster Posey earlier this season. Posey did a poor job of dropping to the ground and blocking that ball. Considering he had a runner at third, Posey should have made an attempt to smother that ball rather than try to short hop it.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Zito hard luck loser once again
DODGERS 2 - GIANTS 0
I think Barry Zito is still pissed.
After being pulled while being just one out away from a victory the start before last, Zito has been excellent on the mound. He has only given up 3 runs in his last 16 IP. The Giants however have only managed to scratch across one run for him in that time. I'm not sure why this happens to certain guys, although until recently almost everyone on the Giants staff could say the same thing, but Zito and Cain seem to be bitten by the lack of run support bug especially hard.
The only other Giants news last night involved Buster Posey stretching his hitting streak to 15 games. The Giants record for a rookie hitting streak is 22 which is held by Willie McCovey. Buster's hitting streak is the longest rookie hitting streak since the 15 game hitting streak put together by one of my favorite all-time players, Mr. Mullet himself, Dan Gladden from way back in 1985!
I think Barry Zito is still pissed.
After being pulled while being just one out away from a victory the start before last, Zito has been excellent on the mound. He has only given up 3 runs in his last 16 IP. The Giants however have only managed to scratch across one run for him in that time. I'm not sure why this happens to certain guys, although until recently almost everyone on the Giants staff could say the same thing, but Zito and Cain seem to be bitten by the lack of run support bug especially hard.The lack of offense was troubling. Especially since the Giants struggle with their offense so much. I'm not going to panic too much since the Giants also had trouble scoring against the Mets in the first 2 games of that series and were still able to take 2 out of 3.
The Giants head to Arizona where we will see the power of good pitching on display. The D-cracks, despite having guys like Chris Young, Adam Laroche, and Mark Reynolds, are 19.5 games back because they have horrendous pitching. I expect this series to be similar to the series in Milwaukee at the end of the first half!
The only other Giants news last night involved Buster Posey stretching his hitting streak to 15 games. The Giants record for a rookie hitting streak is 22 which is held by Willie McCovey. Buster's hitting streak is the longest rookie hitting streak since the 15 game hitting streak put together by one of my favorite all-time players, Mr. Mullet himself, Dan Gladden from way back in 1985! Looking for a Gladden picture was kinda disappointing since A. I remember him as more of a power hitter than a guy who only hit 74 homeruns in 11 seasons. B. Most of the pictures of him online were of him as a twin. Oh well.
Link of the day:
Aubrey Huff has a blog now. I guess someone in the Giants PR department decided that they just couldn't do without a player blog since the trade of Bengie Molina. I can't be happier with who they picked to write this blog, although I think he probably dictates it to someone who then writes it for him. How do explain Bengie Molina being able to write in perfect English while hardly being able to speak it?
Anyway Aubrey's inaugural entry offered some insight into how the Giants perceived the Dodgers reaction to the beanball war last night and once again proved how the media bias towards the Red Sox - Yankee rivalry is bad for baseball.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
It's finally a rivalry!
GIANTS 7 - DODGERS 5
About the only thing that went wrong for the Giants was Tim Lincecum giving up 5 runs.
They even got a boost in the ninth from Bruce Bochy!
Bochy proved that he doesn't always sleep in the dugout. At least he wasn't last night when Donny Baseball decided to turn back towards the mound after starting on his way back to the dugout. A surprisingly alert Bochy, the guy's nickname is SLEEPY after all, notified the umpire of Mattingly's blunder and made him remove Closer Jonathan Broxton from the game!
Now this kind of rule technicality usually seems kinda cheap to me but since it didn't happen against the Giants and it happened against the Dodgers to boot I am OK with it!
The Giants site has replays from both the Giants and Dodgers telecasts and the Hall of Famers Jon Miller and Vin Scully both knew immediately what happened. You gotta give credit to the umps having seen it.
Mattingly was in there as the Dodgers manage after Joe Torre, Clayton Kershaw, and a bench coach were all ejected earlier in the game after the home plate umpire determined that Kershaw hit Aaron Rowand on the first pitch of the 7th inning in retaliation for Lincecum catching Kemp's jersey in the 5th and a brushback pitch from Denny Bautista in the 6th.
The best development of all was the fact that the Giants offense was able to overcome the shaky outing by Lincecum and come from a 5-1 deficit making this the first series victory over the Dodgers this season after San Francisco had rolled over and played dead against the Dodgers all season long.
Link of the day:
In the kind of thing that only happens in baseball, Lefty O'Doul's left arm was returned. Apparently at Lefty O'Doul's restaurant and tavern they used to have a mannequin of old Lefty that stood in the entrance greeting the patrons as they came in to enjoy a few adult beverages. Then one day three years ago a couple of drunks made off with Lefty's left arm.
Well that arm has made it's way around, You absolutely have to view the slideshow to believe it!, the drunks took pictures of Lefty's arm in various places around what appears to be Iowa or somewhere else in the midwest, the package did have a return address in Des Moines and it appears that Lefty's limb took part in RAGBRAI , and they finally the arm home along with a bunch of pictures of Lefty's arm enjoying the sights.
I may have to stop by Lefty O'Doul's next time I am in San Francisco to see the arm and more of it's pictures.
Maybe the return pf Lefty's limb can be the spark of a World Series title!
About the only thing that went wrong for the Giants was Tim Lincecum giving up 5 runs.
They even got a boost in the ninth from Bruce Bochy!
Bochy proved that he doesn't always sleep in the dugout. At least he wasn't last night when Donny Baseball decided to turn back towards the mound after starting on his way back to the dugout. A surprisingly alert Bochy, the guy's nickname is SLEEPY after all, notified the umpire of Mattingly's blunder and made him remove Closer Jonathan Broxton from the game!
Now this kind of rule technicality usually seems kinda cheap to me but since it didn't happen against the Giants and it happened against the Dodgers to boot I am OK with it!
The Giants site has replays from both the Giants and Dodgers telecasts and the Hall of Famers Jon Miller and Vin Scully both knew immediately what happened. You gotta give credit to the umps having seen it.
Mattingly was in there as the Dodgers manage after Joe Torre, Clayton Kershaw, and a bench coach were all ejected earlier in the game after the home plate umpire determined that Kershaw hit Aaron Rowand on the first pitch of the 7th inning in retaliation for Lincecum catching Kemp's jersey in the 5th and a brushback pitch from Denny Bautista in the 6th.
The best development of all was the fact that the Giants offense was able to overcome the shaky outing by Lincecum and come from a 5-1 deficit making this the first series victory over the Dodgers this season after San Francisco had rolled over and played dead against the Dodgers all season long.
Link of the day:
In the kind of thing that only happens in baseball, Lefty O'Doul's left arm was returned. Apparently at Lefty O'Doul's restaurant and tavern they used to have a mannequin of old Lefty that stood in the entrance greeting the patrons as they came in to enjoy a few adult beverages. Then one day three years ago a couple of drunks made off with Lefty's left arm.
Well that arm has made it's way around, You absolutely have to view the slideshow to believe it!, the drunks took pictures of Lefty's arm in various places around what appears to be Iowa or somewhere else in the midwest, the package did have a return address in Des Moines and it appears that Lefty's limb took part in RAGBRAI , and they finally the arm home along with a bunch of pictures of Lefty's arm enjoying the sights.
I may have to stop by Lefty O'Doul's next time I am in San Francisco to see the arm and more of it's pictures.
Maybe the return pf Lefty's limb can be the spark of a World Series title!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Giants win their 7th in a row! Oh. wait. They BEAT L.A.!
GIANTS 5 - DODGERS 2
Well they should have won 7 in a row.
Although a good whippin put on the Dodgers will make me feel a lot better about things.
Once again, it was the kids leading the charge.
Posey extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single, he later scored on Nate The Great's 2 run HR, Madbum only gave up one earned run in 5 2/3 IP, and Pablo Sandoval chipped in with 2 hits and an RBI of his own.
About Pablo.
I know it's only 5 games, but he looks a lot sharper since the All-Star break than he has in about 2 months. He has hit safely in each of those 5 games and is hitting .470 over that span. he is hitting with pop, 4 doubles, and is driving in runs with 3 RBIs.
This is the hitter that the Giants need. They need a guy who can bat 5th, drive in some runs, and keep the hitting going after Posey and Huff. Uribe needs to just keep doing what he is doing and if Nate can sniff .280 while playing amazing defense then we have the team in place that we need from an offensive standpoint. Then Sabean can go out and do the unsexy thing and pick up a few middle relievers because that is our most glaring weakness at this point.
A roster move to report.
The Giants recalled Eugenio Velez and sent down Joe Martinez. I must admit that the move was a little confusing. But they need infield depth. Especially with Freddy Sanchez and the .160 hitting (since June 19th) Juan Uribe are the only 2 guys who can play second. Not everybody is happy with the move. But maybe they are showcasing him for a possible trade? As long as he doesn't drop any balls during Madbum's starts I will be O.K. with that.
Lincecum V. Kershaw tonight should be a pitcher's duel!
Link of the day;
Since I couldn't find any interesting links today I thought that I would post a pic of the day. This pic has to be one of the most horrible ballpark giveaway ideas of all time:
Yes that is a Manny Ramirez action figure. I have no idea what his special power must be but I think it has something to do with being extra fertile....
Although I kinda want one so I can have my kids Pandoval Bobblehead sit on it!
Well they should have won 7 in a row.
Although a good whippin put on the Dodgers will make me feel a lot better about things.
Once again, it was the kids leading the charge.
Posey extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single, he later scored on Nate The Great's 2 run HR, Madbum only gave up one earned run in 5 2/3 IP, and Pablo Sandoval chipped in with 2 hits and an RBI of his own.
About Pablo.
I know it's only 5 games, but he looks a lot sharper since the All-Star break than he has in about 2 months. He has hit safely in each of those 5 games and is hitting .470 over that span. he is hitting with pop, 4 doubles, and is driving in runs with 3 RBIs.
This is the hitter that the Giants need. They need a guy who can bat 5th, drive in some runs, and keep the hitting going after Posey and Huff. Uribe needs to just keep doing what he is doing and if Nate can sniff .280 while playing amazing defense then we have the team in place that we need from an offensive standpoint. Then Sabean can go out and do the unsexy thing and pick up a few middle relievers because that is our most glaring weakness at this point.
A roster move to report.
The Giants recalled Eugenio Velez and sent down Joe Martinez. I must admit that the move was a little confusing. But they need infield depth. Especially with Freddy Sanchez and the .160 hitting (since June 19th) Juan Uribe are the only 2 guys who can play second. Not everybody is happy with the move. But maybe they are showcasing him for a possible trade? As long as he doesn't drop any balls during Madbum's starts I will be O.K. with that.
Lincecum V. Kershaw tonight should be a pitcher's duel!
Link of the day;
Since I couldn't find any interesting links today I thought that I would post a pic of the day. This pic has to be one of the most horrible ballpark giveaway ideas of all time:
Although I kinda want one so I can have my kids Pandoval Bobblehead sit on it!
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Bengie Molina traded!
WOW!The Giants traded Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers for a pack of chewing gum, reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later.
Well OK, I'm not sure about the pack of chewing gum cut most Giants fans would have been happy if that was all that they got for him. Instead B.S. filled a need (reliever), cleared the way for Posey to start, and was even able to get a Player to be named later out of the deal. Maybe since he was named one of the toughest GMs to trade with the day before, Sabean needed to prove that he could get a deal done!
The Giants didn't rob the Rangers as I'm sure many Giants fans will believe he did. Expect Molina's offensive numbers to improve slightly once he plays every day in the Bandbox that the Rangers play in.Plus, for them, he is an upgrade at catcher since all of the Rangers catchers combined have hit .212 so far this season. Plus with guys like Nelson Cruz and Vladimir Guerrrero in their lineup the Rangers are better equipped to take on player with Bengie's limited offensive skills.
Molina was a good Giant, offensive struggles this season aside. But the time had come for him to go. Buster Posey has shown that he can hit at the major league level and as Bruce Bochy said the other day: "You can't get em all in there." Hopefully this opens the door for Nate Schierholtz to play more every day. i doubt it though since Bochy will almost assuredly jump at the chance to get Aaron Rowand back in the lineup and I have to admit that he did earn himself at least one more start after yesterday's 3 for 4 performance.I'm not even going to comment on yesterday's 8-2 loss to the Dodgers since I have nothing positive to say. I will say that I am a man of my word and my order for a Fire-Sabean.com t-shirt has been placed.
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
It's starting to get ugly
DODGERS 4 - GIANTS 2
When I started writing this blog I thought I would try to keep a positive outlook on this team. I thought that I would not be one of the guys who was constantly second guessing Bochy, screaming for Sabean's head, or talking about how horrible the offense is.
While I still hold out hope that this season can be salvaged, it is becoming increasingly harder to keep up that hope.
Tonight's loss to the Dodgers brings the Giants' season record against the Padres and Dodgers to a whopping 2-11. We are only 8-16 against the NL west. They have lost 4 in a row, they are 1-4 on the current homestand, have lost 8 of their last 11, and they have dropped their last 4 series in a row.
They have scored 32 runs in their last 10 games and 19 of those runs came in 3 games! 9 of them came in one game! That's a 3.2 run per game average over the last 10 games. If you take away the 3 games in which they scored the 19 runs (one of which they lost), well in those 7 games they have scored a grand total of 11 runs. Which works out to an average of 1.6 runs per game.
Earlier this season I told Eric over at Fire-Sabean.com that I wasn't ready to jump on that bandwagon yet.
But I'm getting ready to.
Before the game today, on Twitter I said that I would buy one of his Fire Sabean T-shirts if the Dodgers swept the Giants.
I didn't say this just because I wanted to buy one of his shirts. I said it because I can't believe the way the management has handled this season. While I understand that it is Bruce Bochy who fills out the lineup card every night, it is ultimately Brian Sabean who is responsible for the moves his manager makes.
If guys like John Bowker, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa, Buster Posey, and Madison Bumgarner had been playing every day then things may be different. We wouldn't have to close our eyes every time Rowand Strikes out or Molina grounds into a DP. We would also have a guy on our team that has some legitamite power in Bowker (So do Huff and Uribe but Bowker has the potential to outperform them.)
I don't want to buy one of those shirts because it will mean that the Giants have been swept. But I may just get one because it's starting to reflect how I feel.
When I started writing this blog I thought I would try to keep a positive outlook on this team. I thought that I would not be one of the guys who was constantly second guessing Bochy, screaming for Sabean's head, or talking about how horrible the offense is.
While I still hold out hope that this season can be salvaged, it is becoming increasingly harder to keep up that hope.
Tonight's loss to the Dodgers brings the Giants' season record against the Padres and Dodgers to a whopping 2-11. We are only 8-16 against the NL west. They have lost 4 in a row, they are 1-4 on the current homestand, have lost 8 of their last 11, and they have dropped their last 4 series in a row. They have scored 32 runs in their last 10 games and 19 of those runs came in 3 games! 9 of them came in one game! That's a 3.2 run per game average over the last 10 games. If you take away the 3 games in which they scored the 19 runs (one of which they lost), well in those 7 games they have scored a grand total of 11 runs. Which works out to an average of 1.6 runs per game.
Earlier this season I told Eric over at Fire-Sabean.com that I wasn't ready to jump on that bandwagon yet.
But I'm getting ready to.
Before the game today, on Twitter I said that I would buy one of his Fire Sabean T-shirts if the Dodgers swept the Giants.
I didn't say this just because I wanted to buy one of his shirts. I said it because I can't believe the way the management has handled this season. While I understand that it is Bruce Bochy who fills out the lineup card every night, it is ultimately Brian Sabean who is responsible for the moves his manager makes.
If guys like John Bowker, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa, Buster Posey, and Madison Bumgarner had been playing every day then things may be different. We wouldn't have to close our eyes every time Rowand Strikes out or Molina grounds into a DP. We would also have a guy on our team that has some legitamite power in Bowker (So do Huff and Uribe but Bowker has the potential to outperform them.)
I don't want to buy one of those shirts because it will mean that the Giants have been swept. But I may just get one because it's starting to reflect how I feel.
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