Sunday, July 29, 2012

Game Wrap 7/29/2012: Dodgers 4 Giants 0

Game wraps like this one are tough to write when you feel more like jumping in the car and going for a long drive to nowhere or getting out your guitar and playing and singing really loud for awhile.  The Dodgers, behind Clayton Kershaw, completed a dominating 3 game sweep of the Giants in AT&T Park, payback for the shellacking the Giants put on them a few weeks ago.  The Giants were actually not totally out of this one, but nothing seemed to go right for them while the Dodgers were able to capitalize on little mistakes by the Giants.  Key Lines:

Gregor Blanco- 1 for 3, BB, SB(18).  BA= .247.  Blanco is the closest thing the Giants have to a true leadoff hitter and they probably need to stick to that plan unless they can trade for an upgrade.

Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K's.  ERA= 2.22.  Another day at the office for Vogey.  He'd tell you he should have matched Kershaw zero for zero, though.  He created a problem for himself by going 3-0 to Rivera in the 4'th which led to a leadoff single.  With Kemp, Ethier and Ramirez coming up, that's not the way you want to start that inning off.  He would have pitched out of it with only the 1 run allowed had Scutaro not lost a pop up in the sun.  Ramirez lost one later in the game that the Dodgers SS caught, but you could see Vogey seething after Scoots drop and the next batter doubled in another run.  Ballgame!

Clayton Kershaw(Dodgers)-  You had to figure that beating Kershaw 3 straight was an awfully tall order for the Giants and Ryan Vogelsong.  One thing I don't quite get about Kershaw is his radar gun velocity has never been eye popping.  Usually 93-95 max.  Today the highest reading I saw was 93.  Not that he's a soft tosser, but the way batters react, it looks more like they are looking at the high 90's up there.  He must hide the ball well or have some kind of deception in his delivery.

The Giants and Dodgers are now tied for first place in the NL West with the D'Backs lurking 4.5 games back after a 5-1 loss to the Mets.  A lot of fans on various internet message boards are reacting as if this is the end of the season.  While you never want to get swept by your rival at home, this was somewhat predictable.  The Dodgers came to town highly motivated and with a pretty stiff tailwind.  There was the revenge factor from the last series they played in SF plus they had Matt Kemp back and the recently acquired Hanley Ramirez and his corny "I See You" sign.  I know you can't measure that kind of stuff in a statistic, but it's real and makes a big difference in games.  It will be tough, but the Giants need to re-group and play the next series like they just swept the Dodgers to move into a tie for the division lead.  Oh, and Sabes probably needs to make 1 or 2 more moves by the deadline.  As Roger Craig would say, "don't let it get your dauber down!"

Madison Bumgarner will pitch the opener of a 4 game set against the Mets tomorrow night.  RA Dickey pitched today so the Giants won't be facing him, not that it's any guarantee of anything.

8 comments:

  1. it sucks being swept by the Bums, but its late July (60 games left) and the Giants are tied for 1st! The season is just beginning.. There are highs and lows to the season..The Giants need to get their players healthy again..

    LG

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    1. It's part of what 3 game leads are for. Whole lot better than starting out 3 games behind and ending up 6 back.

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    2. Oh, and I'm gonna say the Giants actually miss The Hector as much or more than Sandoval. Hector gives them versatility, extends the lineup and gives them a way of resting Buster(playing him at 1B) without harming offensive production.

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  2. i was wrong about blakely...he threw today...not yesterday...and he wasnt good today....im sorry...but i still think im right that he was worth more than nothing

    nothing to say about today

    vogey didnt deserve to lose

    belt doesnt belong on a big league club...and if he bitches about being told to do winter ball again, he should be cut...i hear seattle wants him..i would make the trade

    hector should be ready to come back any day now...no worries about him doing anything nuts while at rehab...he posted lovey dovey pics of him and his gf on twitter...he is all googoo for that gal

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    1. Belt in my opinion is great on defense and a good backup whenever he learns to hit consistanly.

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    2. Much as I want Pence, I think the Giants could get Victorino a lot cheaper. With everybody healthy, I actually think this lineup could win it:

      Victorino LF
      Theriot 2B
      Melky RF
      Buster 1B
      Sandoval 3B
      The Hector C
      Pagan CF
      Crawford SS
      P

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    3. Bacci,

      What exactly did Belt do wrong today? He got one of the Giants few hits. He's got talent--he' just lost his swing.

      Look at this video:

      http://giants.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=19740357&c_id=mlb

      And compare it with this video:

      http://giants.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=22261607&c_id=mlb

      I'm no scout and I'm no swing expert, but you can't look at those two videos and not notice that there is something different about Belt's swing from 2011 in the first video. His swing is quick and his upper and lower body are in sync, generating massive power. So far this year, his lower body appears to be ahead of us upper body, which I think is sapping power and bat speed. I mean, when was the last time Belt turned on a 93 mph fastball like in the first video? This year he's mostly done damage on high 80's fastballs and offspeed pitches. Until he works out the problems with his swing, I don't expect him to reach his full potential. But, that doesn't mean he should be dismissed as a bust--at least not yet.

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  3. No cavalry riding to the rescue here. It's not that kind of season. The Giants built this team to complete around great pitching, speed and defense. They got their good karma up front with Melky for Sanchez, Voggie 2x, Posey comes back, Pagan over Torres, Blanco and Arias out of no where, The Riot steps in for no Sanchez, Kontos for Stew, etc. No, the Giants got to do this on their own, or not.

    - Scoots will help a little, improves the bench depth, better than Burriss. Good small move.

    - Pence is not the answer, have you paid attention when he plays RF at ATT? His routes look like a lost puppy sniffing around for a bone. For some reason, Pence reminds me of a freaky prep guy in a bad horror movie. He will cost too much, and produce too much weirdness.

    - Victorino maybe, but what does he have left?

    Real question is do the Giants pick themselves up or not? They just took a karmic revenge beating by the Bums. Bums proved they are for real. Tied after 100, 62 remaining. If they can survive August, I believe they can make a September run into the playoffs. Just say'n.

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