Prediction:
IP: 7, K: 7, BB: 2, H: 3, ER: 1
“I think the Giants win tonight. Lincecum will be coming into the game with some confidence and he will keep it close by holding the Padres offense in check. If the Giants realize they can still win the game by the seventh, they will find a way to scrape together enough runs for the team to be successful.”
Actual:
IP: 6, K: 7, BB: 1, H: 7, ER: 1
I think the Giants win tonight. Lincecum will be coming into the game with some confidence and he will keep it close by holding the Padres offense in check. If the Giants realize they can still win the game by the seventh, they will find a way to scrape together enough runs for the team to be successful.
(Ok, a home run in the bottom of the 11th is not exactly scraping together a run but I would say my prediction was pretty much spot on)
Overall Thoughts:
Last night’s game is about as good as it is going to get this year. A near dominant pitching performance from one of our starters and it takes a couple solo home runs to get the win because the idea of manufacturing a run is about as foreign as building a winning team through the draft for the Giants. As with any victory by a Bay Area team I can find something horribly wrong with the game so here are my quick hitters in bullet points:
* If a major league outfielder has a ball bounce of his glove and he (A) did not dive to make the catch (B) did not run into a wall or another player and (C) did not fall down after almost making the catch – there is NO way that the play can be ruled a hit. (It is amazing to me that Tim Lincecum cannot get a break from his home official score keeper)
* Let me get this straight - we are playing Ortmeier out of position so Aurilla can hit .160? Makes sense to me.
* If the Giants had 4 outs to their opponents 3, the Giants would still not win 80 games this year. So why in the world would you have your number 3 hitter (also known as the biggest free agent acquisition of the off-season) bunt with two guys on a no outs!? The reason is obvious. The secret internal memo from MacBaer (the new name for the double headed monster known as Peter Macgowan and Larry Baer) should clear up any confusion …
Dear Manager Bochy,
When Tim Lincecum is pitching you need to play the game like it is the seventh game of the World Series because he is our only hope of having a sell out after May. If you fail to play with this level of urgency, we will black mail you into quitting.
Truly yours,
MacBaer
Personally, I thought is was against the collective bargaining agreement to bunt a 3 hitter before June but this year’s Giants team is going to blaze many new trails for pathetic organizations to follow for years to come.
Grading His Performance:
Instead of saying everything he did right, I am going to focus on the negative.
* He needs to be more economical about his pitches
* There is no reason any pitcher should ever get to a two ball count against Lincecum let alone a full count.
* That’s it
Grade: A-
(If you start the game, you have to go at least 7 innings to get an A)
Three Things to Remember:
* The 1st Pitch
Here are Lincecum’s first pitch stats from last night’s game:
(He threw a first pitch strike to 14 of the 26 batters he faced – 53.8%)
First Pitch Strike
* Batting Average: .214
* Walks: 0
* Strike outs: 4
* On-base percentage: .286
For the Season
* First Strike %: 57.8
* Batting Average: .174
* Walks: 1
* Strike outs: 6
* On-base percentage: .269
First Pitch Ball
* Batting Average: .400
* Walks: 1
* Strike outs: 3
* On-base percentage: .500
For the Season:
* Batting Average: .467
* Walks: 3
* Strike outs: 5
* On-base percentage: .579
First pitch seems to be working pretty well at this point
* Start Down, Stay Down
The Giants started with a lead so they gave themselves a chance to win. Nice to see
* Pedro Martinez
Easily my favorite part of the game was when Lincecum hit Jim Edmunds. It was not exactly the best time to do it (with two runners on and no outs) but it was nice to see. The more he does it, the more batters are going to be afraid to dig in against him. Lets see if he continues to work a little too far inside as the season goes on.
Interesting Moment from Yesterday’s Game
To me, the most interesting part of the game was when a tall, lankey right handed Dominican pitcher came out of the bullpen to hold a one run lead and that pitcher was wearing the number 47. I almost had a heart attack! Of course, Valdez did a nice job and the Padres failed to score in the 7th.
However, my reaction got me thinking. Why don’t teams retire numbers that bring back such bad memories? If you are a true Giants fan, you have to cringe when you see the number 47 come out of the bullpen. There is no reason to bring back memories of the 2002 World Series and countless other blown opportunities by Felix Rodriguez. Will someone in the Giants organization please give Merkin a new number!? I think the die hard fans deserve it (especially given the fact that we are going to stay loyal throughout this season)
Until next time
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