Sunday, July 3, 2016

Game Wrap 7/3/2016: Giants 5 D'Backs 4

The Giants got an official QS from Albert Suarez, but ended up winning in extra innings with a makeshift lineup that looked more like it belonged in Sacramento than on a major league ballfield.  Key Lines:

Ruben Tejada- 1 for 5, 2B.  BA= .160.  Tejada has looked terrible at the plate but his double in the 4'th set up a 2-run double by Belt later in the inning.  Tejada was robbed of extra bases earlier in the game when LF Brandon Drury made a sprawling catch in left-CF.

Grant Green- 2 for 5.  BA= .333.  Give Green credit for not trying to do too much.  He's been peppering the field with singles.  Keepin' the line moving.

Brandon Belt- 2 for 4, 2B, 2 BB.  BA= .299.  Belt played LF when Angel Pagan was a late scratch.  Gregor Blanco was out with a sore knee and Denard Span may be hitting the DL with a sore neck, so it seems like Williamson and Parker are going to get their chances to play and we may see more of Belt in LF.

Mac Williamson- 1 for 5.  BA= .231.  Mac is learning.  He came up in the first inning with the bases loaded and 2 outs.  Robbie Ray likes to bust RH batters on the hands with a hard cutter, a la Madison Bumgarner.  Mac let strike one go down the middle of the plate before getting jammed on 2-2 for a soft ground out to end the inning.  When he came up again in the 3'rd inning in the exact same situation, he was looking for the first pitch FB and drove is up the middle for a 2-run single.  Later in the game, Mac crushed a line drive to LF that came off the bat at 117 MPH, but it was right at the LF who was playing deep for a very loud out.

Ramiro Pena- 1 for 1, 2B.  BA= .417.  Pena limped off the bench after Jarrett Parker walked and drove him home with the winning run.  Not sure I want to see Pena leave when Kelby and Panik get back.  Giants gonna have some tough decisions to make in the near future as these fill-in guys have played their butts off.

Albert Suarez- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 0 BB, 5 K's, GO/AO= 10/2.  ERA= 3.72.  Tough lineup in a tough yard for pitchers.  Where would this team be without Albert Suarez who appeared out of nowhere to grab the Yusmeiro Petit role when Chris Heston couldn't handle it.  Yet another brilliant minor league sign by the Giants front office wizards.

Bullpen- 5 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 4 K's.  It was Cory Gearrin's turn to blow the Save, but Buster Posey's error at 1B set it up.  Josh Osich called Jeremy Affeldt after walking Jake Lamb on 4 pitches in yesterday's game.  Affeldt told him to trust his stuff.  Osich pitched a perfect inning and this time he struck out Lamb for the 3'rd out.  Casilla notched his 19'th Save.

*********************************************************************************

The Win kept the Giants 5 games in front of the Dodgers in the NL West as the Bad Guys completed a sweep of the Useless Rockies.

*********************************************************************************

The Giants return home for an afternoon game on July 4 with Jake Peavy taking the mound against  the Rockies and lefty Tyler Anderson, remember him?

1 comment:

  1. I'm with you, I really like Pena as a backup MI. I hope he stays on the roster when the decisions have to be made. And Suarez has been everything we have reasonably hoped for, and more.

    ReplyDelete