Tuesday, September 8, 2015

W L GB
LA 79 58 -  
GIANTS 71 67 8.5 It's over. 

Yesterday
Giants lost at Arizona, 6-1.
LA defeated the Angels in Anaheim., 7-5. 

Today
Giants continue with the Arizona series at Chase Field. Tim Hudson will get the start at 8:40 PM EDT (6:40 local time), and why not? It may be the last start of his illustrious career, and if so we hope he goes out with a strong effort. "Huddy" will always be remembered for his part in helping the Giants earn a ring in 2014.

Yesterday's Game
It was the Giants' season of shortcomings in miniature. A starting pitcher in whom the team placed high hopes stunk up the joint-- Mike Leake, in his first really bad start as a Giant, gave up 11 hits, 3 walks, and 6 runs in 6 innings. The starting lineup banged out ten hits, which is good-- but scored only one run, which is bad, stranding nine and not drawing a single walk. The defense was superb, backing up Leake, George Kontos, and Ryan Vogelsong with three double plays. The bullpen was effective. It all added up, once again, to "pretty good, but not good enough." When your starter digs a 5-0 hole in four innings, chances are you won't get out of it no matter how well you do everything else.

And so it's over. It really is. Even if LA had lost, it'd be over. You have to win the games, and over the last ten, with everything on the line, the Giants are 2-8. Hard to believe it was just a week ago that they arrived in LA knowing it was in their power to take control of the race. The Dodgers gained three games with their subsequent sweep, but they've also gained three more since. And forget the wild-card-- the Cubs are even farther ahead, nine full games. It ain't happenin'. 

And neither are we. This space will go on hiatus for awhile as we get ready for the NFL season, and you all may see some activity over at our sister page (ninerboogie.blogspot.com) if you're so inclined. We'll be back in October to wrap up the season and belabor the "Where did we go wrong?" sobfest well past toleration.    
W L GB
LA 78 58 - Can Angels help derail this train?
GIANTS 71 66 7.5 Panik returns to the lineup.

Yesterday
Giants defeated Colorado, 7-4, splitting the four-game series.
LA defeated San Diego, 5-1.

Today
Giants open a three-game series at Arizona with a Labor Day 2:10 PM start (4:10 EDT). Mike "Hard-Luck" Leake starts against the Diamondbacks' Patrick Corbin, who pitched well but took the loss in his only start against the Giants six weeks ago.
LA opens a three-game set in Anaheim against the crosstown rival Angels, who are treading water but still very much alive in both the AL West and AL wild-card races. Zack Greinke, whom we know from recent experience is on a regular roll at the moment, faces rookie Nick Tropeiano. 

Yesterday's Game
For the second straight game the Giants' lineup broke out big, with 14 hits, seven of those for extra bases, including Buster Posey's 100th career home run. Marlon Byrd led the attack with 4 hits, and everyone in the starting lineup hit safely except Juan Perez. The big inning was the fifth, when Matt Duffy's two-run triple and Brandon Crawford's two-run double highlighted a five-run outburst that wiped out the Rockies' early lead. Madison Bumgarner, who has endured four tough losses this year, got a rare cheap win, allowing nine hits and four runs over six. "Bum" loaded the bases with nobody out in the first, and two runs scored on a forceout and a sac fly. He settled down for a while afterward as the Giants pulled even and then broke out ahead. Leading 7-2 in the fifth, he let the Rockies back in it with four straight singles to open the frame, cutting the lead to 7-4. Any other pitcher would have been yanked at that point, with two on, nobody out, and powerful Nolan Arenado at the plate. But "Bum" secured his win by gettng the slugger to ground into a double play, ending the threat. He survived the sixth, too, despite allowing two hits, but that was all. "The Usual Suspects"-- that's Javy Lopez, Hunter Strickland, Sergio Romo, and Santiago Casilla-- finished up with  four perfect innings, the save going to Casilla, his 32nd.

Sunday, September 6, 2015

W L GB
LA 77 58 - On pace to win 92 games.
GIANTS 70 66 7.5 One streak over, another must begin.

Yesterday
Giants defeated Colorado, 7-3, to end that brutal seven-game losing streak.
LA won at San Diego, 2-0. 

Today
Giants finish up at Colorado as Madison Bumgarner seeks his 17th win and a critical split of this road series. Game time is slated for 1:10 PM local, or 3:10 PM Eastern, right in the middle of our fantasy football draft. Multi-taskers, we are.
LA is at San Diego; Brett Anderson looks to make it 3 of 4. Hard-luck Andrew Cashner has the temerity to oppose.

Last Night's Game
The offense-- whether sequential, long-ball, or two-out clutch-- that had been missing since the beginning of the road trip showed up yesterday to the tune of fifteen hits, eight of them for extra bases. It wasn't just that the lineup picked up Jake Peavy; Peavy himself picked things up with two doubles, a run scored, and a RBI. Nick "The Forgotten Man" Noonan kicked off the scoring with a RBI double as he got a rare start at first base. Matt Duffy had three hits and two RBI and the top of the order-- Angel Pagan and Gregor Blanco-- both hit solo shots out of the park, in Pagan's case his first homer of the year. Peavy lasted into the sixth, allowing but four hits and a walk, and the hard-luck pitcher finally earned himself a win. The bullpen-- Lopez, Strickland, Osich, Casilla-- was its usual impregnable self. The only blot on the proceedings was the Giants' season-long trend of squandering baserunners; fifteen hits and four walks yielded seven runs because they stranded ten and hit into three double plays. 

As the ugly little chart at the top of the page shows, the Dodgers' current pace would leave them at 92-70 when it's over, and the Giants would need to go 22-4 to match it and force a tie and playoff. While it goes without saying that the Giants need to embark on a seven-game (at least) winning streak right now, LA, who are 8-2 over their last ten, need to hit a skid like real soon for this blog to have any continuing relevance. The road trip is by no means over; a Labor Day afternoon game plus two evenings in Arizona await before the Giants return home to face San Diego, Cincinnati, and those Diamondbacks again. Meanwhile, the Dodgers launch the Battle of LA at Anaheim tomorrow, the first of three, then they follow the Giants at Arizona before taking on the Rockies back at Chavez Ravine the week afterward.  We have to hope one or more of those locations contains a land mine of sorts.   

Saturday, September 5, 2015

W L GB
LA 76 58 - Don't expect Padres will help much.
GIANTS 69 66 7.5 Losing streak now reaches 7.

Yesterday
Giants lost again at Colorado, 2-1.
LA defeated San Diego, 8-4.

Today
Giants try again at Colorado, hoping to salvage a split; Jake Peavy carres the tattered banner against Chad Bettis, who has won twice against the Giants this year. 9:10 PM EDT start (7:10 local time).
LA sends lefty Alex Wood out against the Padres, who counter with Tyler Ross, not that it matters much.

Last Night's Game
For the third time in four games, the Giants' starter-- Chris Heston, in this case-- pitched well enough to win, but was supported by one measly run, and for the third time in four games it ended 2-1.  Heston, Hunter Strickland, Josh Osich, and Sergio Romo kept things close, but it all came to naught after Marlon Byrd struck out with the bases loaded in the sixth. Heston's sacrifice bunt and Angel Pagan's single had scored Juan Perez, who had led off with a hit, and the Giants pressed Jorge De La Rosa hard, but the lefty pressed back as he got Byrd and Brandon Belt on strikes. As has been their habit of late, that one inning was the only threat the Giants mounted, and the two solo shots Heston had allowed in the first stood up and dealt him his ninth loss of the season.   

Friday, September 4, 2015

W L GB
LA 75 58 - They don't even have to win.
GIANTS 69 65 6.5 Not just losing, but losing U-G-L-Y.

Yesterday
Giants were clobbered in Colorado, 11-3.
LA lost at San Diego, 10-7.

Today
Giants at Colorado; 6:40 pm local (8:40 EDT) start at Coors Field. Chris Heston tries for his 12th win while another lefty, the familiar Jorge De La Rosa, opposes. He's had one start against the Giants this year, also at home and back in May, and it was a pretty good one though the Giants ended up winning in extra innings. As for Heston, let's hope third time's a charm as he was hit hard in both earlier starts at Coors. 
LA continues at San Diego. Without Greinke and Kershaw, they're a .500 club, and it's Mike Bolsinger tonight.

Last Night's Game
Why Ryan Vogelsong had to wait until now to uncork the worst start by any Giants pitcher this season, and perhaps the worst of his career, is a mystery that may help explain why so many fans refer to the "baseball gods" when they run out of adjectives. Nine Rockies marched to the plate in the first inning, four of them scoring, and after three more came racing around the bases to open the fourth, "Vogey" was outta there, and so were the Giants. Perhaps he should have suited up and played in the field; Vogelsong also provided two-thirds of the Giants' scoring with a home run, the first of his career. Note: if you're gonna emulate Madison Bumgarner, bring your pitching game as well. We hate to rag on one of our favorites, but we're at the point where this six-game losing streak will completely end the Giants' chances if it's not arrested like, now.    

Thursday, September 3, 2015

W L GB
LA 75 57 - Kershaw strikes out 15. 
GIANTS 69 64 6.5 Now must win and get help.

Yesterday
Giants lost at LA, 2-1, as Clayton Kershaw outdueled Mike Leake, and the Dodgers swept the series.

Today
Giants soldier on at Colorado. Ryan Vogelsong opens the four-game series tonight at 6:40 local time (8:40 EDT). Lefthander Chris Rusin opposes. 
LA is at San Diego to start a weekend series.

Last Night's Game
Well, for the second straight night, the Giants got a strong start-- from Mike Leake, this time-- only to see LA put up an even stronger start, as Clayton Kershaw fanned 15 Giants in a complete-game victory that drew unavoidable comparisons to our own Madison Bumgarner's classic performances. Each team managed six hits; in the Giants' case, all were singles, while LA saw Carl Crawford drive in Justin Turner with a second-inning double and Chase Utley deliver his first home run since joining the blue crew. It was an answer-back shot in the bottom of the sixth, after Kelby Tomlinson had manufactured a run by drawing a walk, avoiding, with the help of instant replay, an adroit pickoff move by Kershaw, stealing second, and scoring on Angel Pagan's nasty ground ball that eluded third baseman Turner. It didn't help at all that the Giants lost two men on the bases, both victims of the same Kershaw pickoff move that almost nailed "Clark Kent." Opportunities against the big lefty are too rare to waste, and in true Kershaw fashion he got stronger as the final few outs approached. Not since Nolan Ryan fanned 16 on a humid night in Houston back in 1987 had so many Giants batted the breeze. As for Leake, he did his typical low-key job, helped quite a bit by some sharp defense, including a Pagan-to-Tomlinson double play that caught Turner napping off second and may have prevented another run.

The Giants came in here having won 9 of 12 against the Dodgers; that "pwnage" we've been bragging about most of the year now lies mouldering in the dust. With Chicago likewise winning and taking an identical lead in the wild-card chase, the Giants are left facing some extremely unappetizing numbers. If LA goes just 15-15 the rest of the way, the Giants must go 21-8 to tie 'em. As Brandon Belt bravely put it last night, if they gain a game a week over the next three weeks, they'll have a chance to take the lead when LA arrives at the 'Bell for a four-game stand on Monday the 28th. On the other hand, if they don't, that series may not even matter. It might not take a collapse of San Diegan proportions (viz. 2010) for Our Boys to have a chance, but we're on the fringes of that desperate territory now. Needless to say, teams like the Rockies simply can't be allowed to stand in the way. The Giants need three of these next four games, or we may be able to rest our typing fingers for the duration.  

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

W L PCT GB
LA 74 57 .565 - Will Winters get a playoff share?
GIANTS 69 63 .523 5.5 Season hangs in balance today.

Yesterday
Giants lost at LA, 2-1.

Today
Giants finish up at LA; Mike Leake against Clayton Kershaw as the Dodgers go for the sweep and possible KO. 7:10 PM at Chavez Ravine.

Last Night's Game
Well, it comes down to one game, and whether the Giants can get off the ropes and prolong this fight for a few more rounds. Having now stretched the boxing metaphors well past palatability, we are left with the faint hope that Leake, our midseason pickup, will pay off right now and give us a quality start.

Then again, we got a quality start from Madison Bumgarner last night, and it wasn't enough. Zack Greinke lived up to his advance billing and, should LA indeed win this thing, he may have just clinched the Cy Young Award. For six innings Greinke held the Giants near-helpless on two hits, and he had to be that good because LA had managed only one run off Bumgarner. In the seventh, the first chink in Greinke's armor opened up when he walked Buster Posey on several outside pitches after Brandon Belt's leadoff single. A replay-reviewed close call on Marlon Byrd's grounder moved the runners up with one out, and then the Giants' newest acquisition, Alejandro De Aza, took a 2-2 pitch in the same place Posey's ball four had landed. This time umpire Mike Winters decided it was a strike. De Aza, Bruce Bochy, and the Giants bench erupted in disbelief and fury. Winters' lazy-man's strike zone had been floating aimlessly around all night, irritating both Greinke and Bumgarner, and this was the last straw. The rally having died, in between innings Bochy, along with Jake Peavy, was tossed after reading Winters the riot act. Loudly. In the bottom of the frame, slumping Joc Pederson worked an 0-2 count to 3-2, then homered off Bumgarner to make it 2-0. Somewhat predictably, the Giants responded in the eighth with three singles-- Gregor Blanco, Angel Pagan, and Matt Duffy with the team's lone RBI-- but finally getting Greinke out of there was not the tonic we had hoped. Luis Avila got Belt to ground into a double play, and the Giants' last threat was snuffed out.
  
A loss and sweep tonight could make this the shortest "pennant race" blog on record since 2005's one-pager. We hope not. Everyone, or almost everyone, is healthy. Let's make like the Cardinals, boys, and give this Kershaw fellow some real trouble. What do you say? 

Tuesday, September 1, 2015

W L PCT GB
LA 73 57 .562 - Biggest division lead in six weeks.
GIANTS 69 62 .527 4.5 It's on Bum to prevent the sweep.





Yesterday
LA beat the Giants, 5-4, in fourteen innings.

Today
Giants at LA, second game, 7:10 PDT. Madison Bumgarner against Zack Greinke, the Cy Young favorite.

Last Night's Game
Five hours and twenty-nine minutes, sixteen pitchers (nine for the Giants), LA emptying their bench in a do-or-die fourteenth... yep, it may have been August 31, but it was September baseball, Giants-Dodgers style. Jake Peavy, after giving up a quick run in the first, settled down and pitched four near-perfect innings before Doctor Longball paid a housecall to the LA side in the sixth. Adrian Gonzalez' two-run homer tied it, and Andre Ethier's following shot put the Dodgers up 4-3. In the eighth, Marlon "The RBI Machine" Byrd made it 17 in 14 games with a double that scored Matt Duffy to tie it, and then began the parade of goose eggs, five scoreless innings, two each on our side from Santiago Casilla and George Kontos. It was Mike Broadway who opened the final frame by walking A.J. Ellis. Two short singles loaded the bases with nobody out and on came Yusmeiro Petit, no stranger to long extra-inning games. He got no chance to reach the 18th this time, though; with both outfield and infield drawn in, all it took was a blooper over Nori Aoki in left, appropriately delivered by Gonzalez, who had started the LA rally eight innings previous, and that was that.

The Giants used "small ball" to give Peavy a 3-1 lead in the third; after Gregor Blanco opened with a hit and Peavy blew the sacrifice, Aoki drew a key walk off Brett Anderson. This set up RBI singles from Brandon Belt and the ubiquitous Byrd. Anderson was gone after five-- but Don Mattingly's bullpen wasn't, especially Chris Hatcher, who pitched the final three and got the win. Incidentals: Duffy stealing his eighth base without being caught once; Buster Posey, despite a 4-for-7 night, stranding five runners.    


Notes
The Giants picked up journeyman outfielder Alejandro De Aza from Boston yesterday; he bats lefty, which gives him an advantage over the DFA'd Ryan Lollis. Another indicator that Gregor Blanco will remain the starting centerfielder for awhile, at least until we see whether Angel Pagan can play regularly, or at all... The Chicago Cubs lost to Cincinnati last night; they remain five and a half games ahead of the Giants in the wild-card race... In the American League, no less than six clubs are within four games of a wild-card spot...  It's looking like both New York clubs will reach the postseason for the first time since 2006. The Mets are pulling away from the fading Nationals in the NL East, and the Yankees have a solid lead for the AL wild-card and trail Toronto by only a game and a half in the AL East.