Start #8: ND (2-3) 7 innings 7 hits 4 runs 3 walks 7 strikeouts
If you are looking for the return of Cy Tim, come back next time. Tonight, in a sad 5-4 loss to Colorado, it was the 2012 version of Tim Lincecum once again. Maybe a little more effective, almost "quality", but still far from the Ace that we desperately need. His pitch count remains ludicrous ( 122 tonight!) and his velocity remains suspect ( lots of 89 mph fastballs). I'm at a loss ... is it mental or physical? All I am sure of is that we probably can't contend if Barry Zito is better than Tim Lincecum.
The Good: Bases on Balls!!! We actually got a BOATLOAD of them ( ten for the game ) and without them we didn't stand a chance. Aubrey Huff's pinch walk to start the three run seventh was a thing of beauty. We got three in the eighth inning alone ... Think we scored ?
The Bad: More bad defense! When will it end? WILL it end? The other truly bad aspect of tonight was the injury to Joaquin Arias. Not that it is serious ... looks like no break ... just that it exposes how thin we are.
5 comments:
Pagan's play on Tulowitzki's ball to start the 7th was silly. It was a clean line drive single to straightaway CF and he tried to run in a make a shoetop scoop, turning it into a triple. There was no reason to make that kind of effort, it gave them an easy scoring chance. Knock the fecking ball down and throw it to second base--you learn that in Little League. That guy is a real disappointment with the glove.
And how is it that Marco Scutaro, with a sub-.400 SLG, gets the jack to decide the game in SF? Why can't anyone on the Giants get a home run? We get one guy to pop one with a man on and the game is over. The lack of power really hurts. 13 LOB, 2-17 RISP. Pathetic. Six fucking singles and one double (gee, 2 RBI there, who knew XBH were so effective?), not a man in the lineup who can even threaten the fences. Meanwhile they get a GW PH HR from a skinny 36-year old SS with a .648 OPS. I don't get it.
Tim has looked better the last two starts. He's not all there, obviously, but I like the trend. If it is something physical I think it would be obvious to other players and the coaches. There's not a hint of that coming from the team or the media, but I suppose it is possible he's hiding an injury. He's kind of complicated mechanically, and small errors in his motion probably make a big difference in the outcome. You have to believe he's going to get his mind back on top of things and regain his control and mastery of the game.
This series has been a microcosm of the Giants season thus far. We win with tough, tough pitching performances and lose when our pitching falters just a little bit. We have fantastic pitching, Tim included. We do not play defense well, we do not hit for extra bases and we do not get hits at all with RISP. We did get something in that department last night, but it was mostly notable by the astounding difference from business as usual.
Tim looked great to start the game, as good as he ever has. He froze Tulo with a fastball right over the plate. How do you even do that? I am kind of liking the idea of putting a guy who can take pitches (sometimes) in the 2 hole, adn I like Blanco at the top of the order and Pagan hitting 5 or 6. But....
It's very discouraging to see Arias/Culbertson/Burriss/Crawford at the bottom of the order (although I hold out hope for Arias and some for Crawford). You just have to think that you will get no production from four spots in the order (unless maybe Matt is pitching).
In the 8th, Joyce Brothers couldn't find the strike zone. He walked 3 men to load the bases, and had difficulty throwing an intentional walk. So Belt and Cabrera respond by striking out on seven pitches, and I don't think most of them were strikes.
Bruce Jenkins had an ill-timed article in the Chron this morning about how the Giants and doggers will contend for the NL West because of pitching. I don't think so. The Giants are a middling team struggling to stay at .500. Even with Kemp on the DL, we will be lucky to be within 10 by the time Pablo comes back. We are the flip side of Colorado, a team with terrible pitching and dependable hitters. Their team doesn't always score 6, 8 or 10 runs a game, but they do often enough so that I think, without some kind of turn-around, we will be spending the season in competition with them for third place.
Colorado gave us 10 walks. 10! Wish we had a clue as to what to do with them. I know we just won 3 in a row, but that doesn't mean much when we lost last night and the 2 just before that, does it?
I couldn't watch much of the game but I saw the end. Scheirholtz exudes lack of confidence at the plate. I forget what strike one was, but strike two he flailed at a piece of shit in the dirt, strike three was a hit-me fastball with zero movement on it right over the plate and he just watched it. That drives me crazy.
There were some amazingly BAD moments last night ... almost too scary to bring up again. The Pagan error was an ugly combination of a huge mental mistake and bad execution. It doesn't get much worse than that. The Schierholtz pinch at bat was spectacularly horrible. He actually struck out twice, once on the check swing and then looking at a fat fastball. I'm done with Nate. Trade him now while he may have some value. The other guy that I am done with is Burriss. Why is he in the majors? What has he ever done at any level to deserve it? Last night he actually tried to bunt with two outs and a runner at second. That is admitting that he can not drive in the run. It was embarassing ... and he has done that before too! Has he ever gotten an XBH?
If Nate is going to play only occasionally, as Belt, then you can expect them to have some crappy AB's. Pagan actually got to the ball, and his dive, was far enough to actually catch the ball, but it was just to the side of where the ball hit. A dumb play indeed, and why he drove the Mets crazy. He did hit from that point out, and tried his best to make amends. Timmy, just does not seem to be able to make that quality pitch in a key situation against a decent hitter. He lost a few MPH compared to his last outing. I think he needs to mix his pitches better, hit his spots better, and keep his focus. He may or may not have some kind of injury, but he is still chalking up K's. Just not in the clutch situations. The fielding, and careless play is killing this team, and that is not just from a young team, that has to be fixed by management.
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