This was a downer of a game on many levels: Losing game 1 of a home series is always a downer. Matt Cain fell into some old bad habits early: Falling behind early. Too many foul- offs on 2- strike pitches leading to high pitch counts. Yeah, there was some bad luck involved, but Cain was frustrating to watch too. It's one thing to lose 1-0 to Clayton Kershaw. It's quite another to go down 3-1 to Shaun Marcum and realize the game is probably over. Finally, it's disheartening that in the very first game after Brian Sabean said the Giants would keep playing Brandon Belt as long as he keeps producing, Belt was on the bench and Huff was starting. It's one thing to sit Belt against Kershaw, quite another to sit him against Marcum who is the type of pitcher Belt is going to have to hit to stay in the big leagues. Key Lines:
Giants Offense-A leadoff double by Torres who scored on a SF by Sandoval, and a pinch-hit HR by Aaron Rowand who seems to hit just enough of those to keep you thinking he should stay around.
Matt Cain- 6 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.06. Cainer didn't seem to have the put- away pitch in this one, especially in the second inning.
Despite the loss, the Giants maintained their 4 game lead over the D'Backs in the NL West as the Snakes lost to the Rockies 8-4. The Rocks moved up to 9 games back in 3'rd place. The Padres lost 3-1 to the Phils and the Dodgers lost 7-2 to the Nats staying 13 and 13.5 games back respectively.
Ryan Vogelsong tries to keep the magic going against Randy Wolf this evening at 6:05. Wolf is a lrfthander which means Brandon Belt will probably not be in the lineup once again.
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The strike zone was very low last night (Joe West behind the plate, I think). I'm an NL guy from back in the day, when the NL had a low strike zone. But this was beyond that, really too much. It's not really Cain's thing to pitch that low. And he didn't come down to meet it. Not to take anything away from the Brewers. They hit him well.
ReplyDeleteA little fun from Nyjer Morgan last night, eh? What a talented nutcase. As suggested by Carl Steward, he's pretty much the new Milton Bradley.
I don't see how Huff holds that job much longer Doc. He's just not doing it, and the Giants just can't afford that. Belt will have his chance.
I actually love guys like Milton Bradley and Nyjer Morgan. Not that I would necessarily want them on the team I root for, but good meltdowns are fun to watch from time to time.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I think Steward said something about the low zone. It was probably an combination odd that, some bad luck and lack of a put-away pitch that did in Cainer. Plus, a lot of pitchers put there would be very happy if an outing like that was considered bad for them. We have come to expect more from Matty and really, all of the Giants pitchers. Unfortunately, the Giants have become dependent on better starts than that too.
Belt has also played the OF in the minors. Maybe another option to get Belt more abs is to play him in LF, Huff at 1st base, and Ross on the bench against RHP. I have a soft spot for Ross being a playoff hero last year, but he only has 30 rbis. I've been waiting all year for him to get hot.. I think Belt has to prove he can hit in the majors 1st before Huff or Ross lose their jobs.
ReplyDeleteThe dilemma is how does Belt prove he can hit in the majors unless Huff or one of the OF's sits?
ReplyDeletegood point.. What about platooning Belt at 1st base/OF.. Their philophy was using the whole 25 man roster last year. They need Huff and Ross to pick up their hitting, otherwise they won't go anywhere.. They were so important last year. The Giants need to put the best lineup out there to win games since they are in a pennent race. If Belt starts hitting like crazy, then play him over the vet not having a good year.
ReplyDeleteThat would be a reasonable way to approach it. They could spread the bench time around by sitting Huff, Ross, Torres, Nate and Belt every 5'th game or so depending on match ups. Kind of a round robin rotation of position players if you will.
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