Sunday, August 28, 2011

Game Wrap 8/27/2011: Giants 2 Astros 1

Eric Surkamp had a successful major league debut and the Giants offense sputtered to 2 runs over 10 innings. In the end, though, the team and the fans got a walk-off celebration that stirred memories of last season. They looked like they were having fun! Maybe that injection of enthusiasm will be the spark that gets them going toward a stretch run. Key Lines:

Mike Fontenot- 1 for 5, 2B. BA= .220. Fonty's double to lead off the game eventually resulted in the first run on a couple of groundouts. It would be the only hit for the Giants until deep into the game and the only run until the walk-off 10 innings later.

Jeff Keppinger- 1 for 4, BB. BA= .296. Kepp has done everything he was acquired to do. His 2 out liner in the bottom of the 10'th was his second game winner in as many nights.

Carlos Beltran- 2 for 4. BA= .290. Second 2 hit game in a row for Beltran and 3'rd in 4 games with a 4 game hitting streak since coming off the DL.

Mark DeRosa- 1 for 1, SB(1). BA= .184. DeRosa came into the game at 1B replacing Huff on a double switch. He singled up the middle with one out in the bottom of the 10'th. Stole 2B on what is being reported to be a straight steal. Fonty swung at a bad pitch to try to help him out but apparently DeRosa was going on his own after Roberto Kelly tipped him off that the pitcher was slow to the plate. After Fonty struck out, DeRosa was off with the crack of the bat on Keppinger's hit, didn't hesitate rounding 3B even though RF Bogusevic has a rocket arm and slid home with the game winning run. Nice celebration afterwards led by Brian Wilson and Big Time Timmy Jim.

Eric Surkamp- 6 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 4 K's. ERA= 1.50. Surkamp had to have had butterflies in his first MLB start, but he kept the Astros at bay for 6 innings. He got lucky on a 1 out liner to Sandoval with the bases loaded at one point, but showed a nice mixture of pitches. FB 88-90. A Sharp curveball, occasional slider and a changeup which I did not see very many of. if any. I think he earned a second start, don't you? Maybe the Giants finally have a decent #5 starter for the rest of the way.

Guillermo Mota- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's. ERA= 3.72. Another yeoman performance by Mota who has saved the Giants bacon on numerous occasions with multi-inning relief work.

The Giants needed the W to stay withing shouting distance of the NL West leading D'Backs who topped the Pathetic Padres again 3-1 to remain 3 games ahead.

Matt Cain takes the mound today against Bud Norris, who has serious stuff, but as Kuip likes to say, can also get a wild hair up his nose at times.

8 comments:

  1. Surkamp's fastball was more 86-88 mph. I think I saw 90 mph once or twice and it could have been because of the adrenaline. I like his curveball, it is a legit strikeout pitch but he's gonna have to mix in more sliders and changeups if he is going to be successful major league pitcher. He got a lot of pop-ups with his fastball. I wonder if that is because there was late movement or because hitter aren't used to his fastball yet.

    He reminds me of a combination of Zito/Lowry/Rueter. His fastball is in the Lowry range, he depends on his curveball quite a bit like Zito and he has decent control but stays on the outside part of the plate for most of the game like Rueter.

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  2. Glad to see Surkamp up. Sorry to see that, to open a spot on the 40-man roster, the team DFA's Clayton Tanner. I can't imagine that he'll make it through minor-league waivers; I'd put my money on Colletti claiming him. He may not have panned out as they hoped, but it sure sounds like he has possibilities. Soft-tossing lefties are always hard to figure, and some get it later than others. My guess is he'll make it to the majors for somebody as a 5th starter. Ad the Giants gave up on him to avoid putting Zito on the 60-day DL. Reminds me of DFA'ing Joe Paterson to save Alex Hinshaw. Oy veh.

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  3. I saw 1 or 2 90 MPH heaters from Surkamp too, but quite a few 88's and 89's. His velocity may have slipped a bit later in the game.

    I don't hold out much hope for Tanner. I'd put Verdugo ahead of him on the depth chart right now. Maybe Kelvin Marte too. Even so, I think I would prefer to see Zito on the 60 day DL as there seems to be almost no chance of him contributing this season.

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  4. When Cody and Belt collided in the OF, man bad juju. They didn't even look at each other, let alone talk about what happened. Is Baggs correct in thinking that Ross is worried about playing time with Belt around?

    That quick pitch that Mota threw to the backstop to Paredes in the 8th, Stewart wasn't even looking up. I think Mota threw to the backstop just to avoid hitting Stewart. Strange play.

    Can't believe how poorly the Giants are hitting. The post-AS game split must be incredibly anemic.

    Take the win, but I'm not seeing any significant turnaround with this team yet.

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  5. Cody Ross is giving off all kinds of bad vibes right now. He probably knows he
    's going to sit as soon as Torres comes back, which I think is today. If he's having trouble understanding why he is on the bubble, he just needs to take a peek at his stat line. I'm sure he was happy to get the opportunity due to someone else's poor play last year. He's been around long enough to know you have to produce in this league to keep your job. And please, no long term contract for Ross this offseason!

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  6. I think they made the decision last off-season that Cody isn't part of their long term plans. If they didn't tie him up long term after last years post-season they never are.

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  7. Yup, and that may be part of what he's unhappy about.

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  8. Well, if so, Ross is taking it the wrong way, tanking it is not going to get him a better contract in the off-season, though it might get him back on the Giants for a cheap price.

    And he was actually hitting very well for us until around the All-Star break too, too bad he couldn't have continued hitting that well.

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