Sunday, April 9, 2017

Game Wrap 4/9/2017: Giants 5 Padres 3

Johnny Cueto pitched a QS backed by HR's of the bats of Hunter Pence and Buster Posey to stave off a sweep with a wire-to-wire win over the Pesky Padres, but not before more anxiety in the late innings.  Key Lines:

Brandon Belt 1B- 0 for 3, 2 BB.  BA= .250.  The 2-hole is a perfect spot for Belt and his sweet OBP.  He scored ahead of Pence's dinger after drawing the walk.

Hunter Pence RF- 1 for 5, HR(1).  BA= .250.  Giants need more longballs from Pence.

Buster Posey C- 2 for 3, HR(1), BB.  BA= .333.  Posey goes B2B with Pence and was the hub of the offense, which he should be.

Johnny Cueto RHP- 7 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 3 BB, 7 K's.  ERA= 4.50.  Maybe not top-of-his-game, but a QS and enough for the Giants offense to help him out.

Derek Law- 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 BB, 1 K.  ERA= 5.40.  More maddening inconsistency from the bullpen in general and Law in particular.

Mark Melancon RHP- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 1 BB, 0 K, Save(1).  ERA= 10.80.  Melancon gave the Giants fans more cardiac arrhythmias as he allowed 2 baserunners with 1 out and Wil Myers, who had already homered in the game at the plate.  GIDP.  Game over!

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The Win gave the Giants a 2-5 record for the road trip, still in last place in the NL West.  The Dangerous D'Backs took their first week record to 6-1 with a 3-2 W over the Indians.  The Dodgers slowed down the Rolling Rockies with a 10-6 win in Denver putting the Rocks at 5-2 and the Bad Guys at 4-3.  The Padres are in 4'th place at 3-4.

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The Giants fly home for their Home Opener against those D'Backs with Matt Moore facing Taijuan Walker.

5 comments:

  1. Seemed to me that Bochy tried to give Law the vote of confidence as the setup man in a higher leverage situation. Wonder how many chances Law gets before they move on to whoever is next. Have to imagine its Strickland when he's back?

    Not overly optimistic going forward about CF or LF. Not a good sign for Span to go down with hip soreness in his surgically repaired hip then go cold at the plate. I sure hope Williamson can get healthy, get a swing together and get a call up... he strikes me as more likely to succeed than Upton or Stubbs.

    Andy in the OC

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    1. Agree with Williamson in LF if he can ever stay healthy, but Mac is not going to play CF.

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  2. Surprised to find out Upton hit 20 hrs and had 27 steals last year. Not overly optimistic about him but wouldn't write him off as a player who could help this team.

    LG

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  3. LG,

    Even if Upton could bat .235 with an obp in the neighborhood of .300 with some pop and be pesky on the bases and sound in the field, I'll take it over Gorkys at this point. While there's no such thing as an "automatic out," Gorkys lack of power makes him a challenge-able hitter and he hasn't been able to deliver - that really weakens our lineup. And DrB, we're on the same page, I know Mac can't play CF.

    Is it just me or do the Giants seem to always have young guys who just press too damn hard? Maybe it was the intensity of the competition in the spring, but Marerro and Parker just look way too intense at the plate... Even Hill, who is also struggling, at least looks like he has some type of a plan when he get in the box.

    Until anything resolves, the Belt, Pence, Posey, Crawford, Nunez, Panik lineup will have to carry us - they've done it before!

    Andy in OC

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  4. I'm going to fully bald, instead of half bald, by the end of this season.

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