Post by poldyPost by John WalshBuster Posey hits a 3-run homer to break the 2-2 tie and Tauchman
catches a long blast by Pujols to keep them tied; with the Giants
scoring three more runs in the 10th to win the game.
How could it have been tied after Posey's HR. Well Tyler Rogers'
gimmick pitch flattened out and got knocked over the fence.
Even so, it was as dramatic a Giants/Dodgers game as I've seen in
years. As poorly as the Giants have played against the Dodgers, this
was a big win with a lot of players coming thru in crunch time.
Giants 8 Dodgers 5
Leave Lamont Wade at first base and let Belt sit the rest of the year.
That game-saving robbing of the HR was huge.
Offense is going to be hit and miss with those low averages and dead ball.
One thing that might indicate positive change is the fact that the
whole lineup hit and they all raised their averages. Also, they
continue to hit home runs. Scored throughout the game.
They"ve won two straight games in Dodger Stadium, after losing
four straight to the Bums.
Post by poldyBut that helps the Giants' pitching too.
The pitching, as far as the starting rotation has been good. The
bullpen remains a bag of grenades. They flat out whipped the Dodgers
yesterday and the bullpen tossed batting practice in relief.
Post by poldyPadres on a real hot streak.
They are, but it's against teams that are not as good as the Giants
and the Dodgers. Darwish was lousy and it took them 6 bullpen pitchers
in relief to stop the Astros. Theiy're vulnerable.
Post by poldyI think the dead ball may actually hurt hitting averages and producing
runs by stringing hits together than HR numbers.
Most teams are launching prodigious numbers of HR's right now,
including the Giants. So the ball isn't dead. Solano is back in the
lineup and Yaz is starting to hit. That's been part of the increase in
hitting. So has getting Dugger in the lineup.
If the Genius would stop screwing with the lineup. Dugger isn't
limited to left or right handed pitching. Even the announcers noted
that he can hit lefties, which seems to be Kapler's reason for not
having a .300, home run hitting outfield on the bench.
Post by poldyZaidi seems to have favored guys with pop in their bats more than
hitting for high average, which may be a good strategy with the rabbit
ball but maybe not as much this season.
Belt being out of the lineup has helped. Mostly because Wade has
taaken over and is hitting .300, small sample size, but it's
significant in a lineup that had players sinking towards .200. Solano
is hitting .269 and he jsut returned and started off fast, pulling his
average up.
Crawford has kept them afloat with his hitting streak so no complaints
there. The only real enigma seems to be Salter, and that's been his
problem for a couple of years. He can tear up AAA pitching, but he
strikes out a lot and can't get going in SF.
Here's the oh-no for today's game. The Genius took Posey out and put
in Casili at C. Casili is hitting .111 and they are facing Kershaw.
Slater, hitting .218 is leading off and Tauchman hitting .218 is in
the outfield instead of Yaz.