Where has our Sanchez gone?
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The Giants are in a tailspin towards the bottom of the MLB, trade talk, suicide watch and more…
P.S. This was recorded on the evening of July 29, the night before Brian Wilson signed with the Dodgers…ick…
While Posey hits in the cage, Panda, Scutaro, and Pence talk about their next Vegas road trip
AT&T Park, San Francisco, CA
Phoenix, the old ball-player returning to glory, my 10 year old dog learning new tricks. However you want to label it, Timmy’s first start since his no-hitter in San Diego certainly elevated him, if even ever so slightly, back to a level of semi-excellence that Giants fans hungered for, rooted for. We relived his glory days as he threw all 148 pitches at Petco Park. Maybe he was back? Or, maybe it was dumb luck, or the Padres, or a little of the old Timmy, or a little bit of everything. Ok, so no-hitters always involve one or two great plays or close calls, but obviously luck is only a small part of it. He induced 28 swing-throughs by Padres batters. That was an indication that his stuff was electric and mystifying.
So, here we were today. Willie and I watching Posey, Pence and Panda absolutely murder balls in batting practice. It really is something to witness from 20 feet away. It reminds me of the one time I followed Tiger Woods at Pebble Beach and was in absolute awe of his club speed. It’s something that doesn’t translate over TV.
Oh right, Lincecum. Anyway, the park was electric tonight, the press box was full as my belly was from the press dining room grub. Everyone was ready to tweet, “Lincecum now has 11 consecutive no-hit innings..” or something to that account. Well, the tension was released when Shin-Shoo Choo sliced a double down the left field line that we were all sure Blanco was going to catch (it was in his glove, afterall). Robinson, a last second replacement in left field, followed with a bunt single, and it looked like the inning was going to explode. However, Timmy settled down and struck out Joey Votto and when Tony Phillips nubbed a comebacker to Lincecum, he alertly ran Choo back to third and tagged him out. After an 0-2 count on Jay Bruce, Lincecum lost him on 4 straight balls, some of them tantalizingly close to strikes. Then Todd Frazier loudly opened the floodgates with a rocket over the head of Torres in dead center, clearing the bases for a 3-0 Reds lead.
Timmy never regained his composure after that. He might as well have been wearing a Reds batting practice jersey, because he started giving up gopher balls. One to Devin Mesoraco (who?), another one to Choo, then the third of the night to Jay Bruce. All of them hit hard, loud, and long.
Although many fans were calling for his early exit, Bochy still had him lead off the bottom of the third. Perhaps facing a 6-0 deficit, Bochy wanted to preserve the bullpen by having Lincecum absorb an extra inning or two with the game almost out of hand. Timmy did retire the first two hitters in the fourth before yielding to George Kontos after back-to-back hits given up to Robinson and Votto. Of course, Kontos didn’t do Timmy any favors, allowing a double to Phillips that scored 2 to close the books on Timmy: 3 2/3 innings pitched, 8 earned runs, 9 hits, 1 walk, 2 strikeouts, and 3 homeruns given up….all after a no-hitter. Many will point to the 148 pitch effort as taxing his arm, but I can point to numerous occasions when he yielded comparable hits after shorter preceding starts. Maybe it did tax his arm, but he did have extra rest with the All-Star break. A sample size of one won’t convince me. In fact, Bronson Arroyo, tonight’s Reds starter, gave up 10 hits in his start following his no-hitter. So, there’s that…
At this point, I generally leave my WordPress browser window open and type the story as the game develops. Except this time, aside from a monumental comeback or an incredible or notable personal achievement, I fear I’ll have nothing else to report after the bottom of the fourth.
Fifth inning: 1 run for the Reds
Sixth inning: 1 run for the Reds
Seventh inning: 1 run for the Reds
For the love of all baseball gods, can they not stop the Reds from scoring in one freaking inning?!
Eighth inning: Tanaka just entered the game on a double-switch and suddenly all of the Japanese press came to life, flipping open books, sheets, and typing wildly in unrecognizable characters on their laptops. Oh, and the Reds didn’t score.
Ninth inning: With 2 out, Francoeur hit a would-be homerun, but alas, Robinson snatched it from beyond the wall to end the game. Sufficient salt poured in wounds.
The post game presser by Bochy was a brief 3 questions punctuated by awkward silence.
We’re off to Zeke’s or somewhere….(edit): You can listen to our post-game bonus-sode podcast, recorded at Zeke’, by pressing the play button below:
Chad
You just HAD to go and catch that ball, didn’t you, Mr. Venable?!
So, the Giants were 2-0 with TortureCast crew covering the game. We figured it was a lock to win tonight.
Zito has a squeaky-clean stat sheet at home (4-1, 1.68), so as long as he didn’t don his road grey by accident, we figured to be in for another victory. All in all, it wasn’t so bad at the start. Like the last Zito start that we covered vs. the A’s in May, when he walked the pitcher, who later scored the only run he allowed that day, Zito allowed a leadoff double to Volquez (the pitcher) to lead off the third right after proffessing my happiness that the pitcher was leading off the inning.
Then the fourth inning came. After a harmless first two outs, Will Venable laid down a perfect drag bunt down the first base line. Belt fielded it, but Abreu couldn’t reach first base in time. A swinging bunt ensued right after, and again, it could not be covered. Alas, in round two, Zito got the better of Volquez.
As Joe Castellano, and I were chatting in the back of the press box, the Giants strung together some seeing-eye singles and a loud out to generate 3 runs and take the lead. Admittedly, I missed most of this so that will have to do for an explanation. You’ll see later why this is mostly irrelevant.
Zito was cruising, up to 8 strikeouts in the top of the 6th when he hit a bump in the road with a lead off walk, but almost got out of it when he induced a near double-play (bad throw by Abreu off his back foot) that turned into a fielders choice, then a fly out to center before giving up a hit to put runners on the corners. Bochy then called on Machi to close the door on the inning, which he did, but not before giving up a free run to the Friars with a wild pitch. With the score now 3-2, Machi opened up the top of the 7th by giving up 3 consecutive singles that tied the score at 3 before ending the inning with a 6-4-3 double play to preserve the tie.
The Giants couldn’t muster any offense after the fourth inning, getting only one hit in the fifth before Blanco was erased by a double play, which began a string 14 consecutive Giant outs.
Romo entered the ninth to try and redeem himself from his two-walk, ninth inning, blown save in Atlanta on Saturday. He wasn’t sharp, but was saved by the incredible throw from Juan Perez in center to gun down Forsythe trying to go from first to third on a single. Instead of runners on the corners with 1 out, the situation was minimalized. Despite a stolen base to put the runner in scoring position, Romo struck out Blanks to end the threat.
After Sandy Rosario had a 1-2-3 10th, the Giants had a promising situation with a one-out single by Quiroz. Lady luck then effectively mooned the Giants when Blanco seared a line drive that Thayer snagged and proceeded to double off Qurioz. That could’ve been runners on the corners with 1 out.
The 11th inning greeted Rosario with a solid single by Ciriaco, who incidentally had his first three hits of the season tonight, and was instrumental in generating offense for San Diego tonight. Amarista, pinch-hitting, sacrificed the runner to second for the top of the lineup to take a couple of cracks with a runner in scoring position. With Jose Mijares getting ready in the pen, Rosario struck out Forsythe and Headley after falling behind 2-0 to both hitters. That doesn’t happen that often.
Our saga in the press box continued late into the night, as the bottom of the 11th opened up at almost 11:00 pm. Kyle Blanks roped a double down the left field line, followed by a ground out to second to move him to third. After an intentional walk to Grandal, Javy Lopez came in to face Will Venable, whom promptly attempted a safety squeeze, but dragged it foul. Lopez worked the count to 1-2 before inducing a weak wave of the bat for strike three and the 15th strikeout by Giants pitchers for the night. The young Ciriaco, having a good night, weakly waved at Lopez’s slinger for the 16th K of the night.
Belt led off the bottom of the 12th with a single to right and was sacrificed to second. After Torres struck out pinch-hitting for Rosario, the play of the night happened next. Juan Perez smashed a soaring drive to deep center field and every one was certain it was the walk off hit we had been waiting for, but Will Venable some how got on his imaginary horse and made a spectacular catch, very similar to the one that Blanco made during Matt Cain’s perfect game last year. It absolutely stunned the crowd, and the press box, but the fans showed some baseball class when they applauded Venable as he headed to the Padres dugout.
Jose Mijares allowed two singles to open the 13th, the second of which seemed to elude Tony Abreu, as it may have sliced on him. It was hit hard, but came off his foot as he tried to readjust. The ball, which was a duck in right field now, allowed Amarista to chug to third. The Padres then pinch hit with Cashner…a starting pitcher, whose job it was to bunt over the runner on first to avoid an inning ending double play. It worked much better than imagined as he pushed a beautiful bunt past the charging Arias and into no-man’s land to drive in a run and give the Padres the lead. Mijares’ agony continued as Pence made a valiant effort with a sliding attempt of a catch across the right field foul line, but could not hold on to it. With the runners holding, it was only a single and didn’t allow a run, but now the bases were loaded with one out. Bochy called on the youngster Jake Dunning, the last pitcher in the Giant pen, who came in on a bizarre double switch with Posey taking over for Belt at first base. The rookie induced a broken bat soft line out before succumbing to nerves by walking a run in and extending the Padres’ lead 5-3.
Huston Street came in to close out the game uneventfully.
Overall, a game that should’ve landed in the win column. From the free run(s) given up by Rosario to the game-saving superman catch by Venable in centerfield in the 12th.
Giants should have been 3-0 with TortureCast in the box.
Willie and I went down to the post-game presser, and Bochy admitted to having a “brain cramp” with the Posey/Belt double switch. All of us in the press box were mystified when it happened, and even Renell had to announce the double switch 3 times over the PA system. He meant to swap Quiroz with Posey, so that he would lead off the bottom of the 13th inning, but he admitted to being upset about the fair ball call down the line (we did think it was fair, btw), and he announced the switch to the umpire before he realized his mistake. Willie asked the last question of the night in regards to what would have happened if Dunning had come up with the bases loaded in the 13th. Bochy said that Gaudin was up in the pen, and Scutaro would have pinch hit for Dunning. That little nugget, dug up by the TortureCast crew, made a lot of the bloggers and papers headlines. Nice job, Willie!
Afterwards, we went to Zeke’s and dissected the game with zany behavior and nonsensical jabber. I suggest you listen to it.
Thanks to the Giants once again for their progressive, forward-thinking stance on allowing small fish like us, to have access to the press box.
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“Extra Baggs: The Giants would turn Lincecum into a late-inning reliever “in a
heartbeat,” according to one club source, if they had another starting
pitcher in the system ready to take his place in the rotation.
How would he feel about that?
“I’m always open. It’s just, right now I don’t want to be open to
it,” said Lincecum, adding he is committed to remaining a starter for
the rest of this season. “I’m sure if my career takes that turn, I’m
definitely open to changes, especially if it’s beneficial to the team
I’m playing for.””
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I’m not entirely sure why Javier Lopez is applying sunscreen in a SF Giants media photo shoot…but I can’t look away….
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Yeah, we missed a show, but they went 1-6 that week and would’ve had to have recorded the show on Zoloft. So, we skipped it. This week was a little better….
Oh, and by the way, Chad will be covering the A’s-Giants game on Thursday, 5/30 (12:45pm) from the press box, so be sure to tune in for sober tweets during the game.
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RIP Shooter. You were a good one. We tip our glass.
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WTF GOLDEN STATE WARRIORS!!!!!
Willie and Chad kept this podcast much shorter than usual, mostly because Willie wanted to throw himself out of his apartment window after that crushing, epic, utterly pathetic choke-job the Warriors pulled in San Antonio. They blow a 16 point lead with less than 4 minutes left!! Then leave Ginobli THAT WIDE OPEN for a 3 pointer with 3 seconds left in double OT!!!!??
But, we digress and get back to talking Giants baseball and their tonic that was a 6 game winning streak.
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Posey can buy lots of jerseys for us, probably every fan to walk through the gates of AT&T.
Yesterday the Giants made sure that my Buster Posey jersey will not go out of date until the year 2021. Who cares about the money? It’s financially the equivalent to me as earning the Nobel Peace Prize; it’s out of the realm of possibility and into fantasy.
(view our interview with Buster Posey in February below)
Inevitably people will know the value of this deal, but I’ve had a completely opposite visceral reaction that I had to the Zito signing in 2006. At that time, I assumed Zito was on the downtrend of his career, and the Giants were overpaying for a “former” Cy Young award winner. However, even though Posey’s contract is bigger that Zito’s, I completely approve of it, as do many Giants fans and national baseball writers. How can you say no to the reigning MVP, batting title winner, Comeback Player of the Year, and Rookie of the Year. This often used stat really rings true, the SF Giants are 2 for 2 in World Series championship years with Posey and 0 for 53 without him.
I’m sure that later in his tenure with the Giants, he’ll be playing first base and DH in interleague games, and perhaps he won’t be today’s Posey in year 9 of this deal. However, even if the Giants don’t win another World Series while Posey is here, and even if he performs under our expectations in the second half of his deal, it’s still a worthy payment to a man who has helped bring 2 championships to the great city of San Francisco. That’s worth something, isn’t it?
Chad
Chad and Willie talk to San Francisco Giants catcher and 2012 NL MVP, Buster Posey at Giants’ “Media Day” about his ankle injury, how the last pitch of the World Series was called, he thinks he needs a “catcher face,” the calming effect of Hunter Pence’s speeches, how he was pulling for the 49ers in the Super Bowl, and how he imagined himself as a pitcher in the major leagues when he was a kid.
Didn’t think this would be happening. Courtesy of The City Graphics.
The three of us finally get together since they clinched the NL West, and it appeared that this would be a post-mortem episode they way the Cincinnatti series started. Alas, the black and orange comeback kids have extended their season against another magical comeback team, the St. Louis Cardinals.
Willie, Chad and Ben review the NLDS, criticize Dusty Baker for his managerial moves or non-moves in Game 5, and discuss how the Giants won the series, despite getting out-hit and out-pitched.
All 3 of us predict the Giants will beat the Cardinals in 6, but Chad thinks the series may go 9 games due to the nature of both teams’ inability to quit.
With magic on both sides, it may be Harry Potter vs. Voldemort.
Today’s game felt like a lock for the Giants after Cain went deep, even after Hamels matched him in the next inning. That in itself, was entertaining, the first pair of pitchers to go deep off each other since 2002. I just re-read that last sentence, and it sounded dirty. I’m too lazy to re-construct that pseudo-erotic writing. However, after Howard put the Phillies ahead, I figured that might be it, “eh, they’ve had a good road trip, guaranteed .500, I need to forage for a warm beer anyway.”
I suppose this year has a different vibe than last year. The pitching is still there (sans Lincecum, plus Zito), but the offense has improved, despite their situational hitting failures (although they’ve been excellent since the break). So, a few sips into my warm cerveza, the Giants indeed pulled off the comeback, starting with solo Melk delivery in the 8th. Cain really only made one big mistake (to Howard), which was three out of the 5 runs. Take that away, and his line is great. Nevertheless, he kept them in the game with 8 innings, despite his un-Cain-like 3 homeruns given up.
Posey is a beast, he is “en fuego” with an accelerant added on top. Over his last 9 games, he’s hitting at a .531 clip, with 2 homeruns and 13 RBI. His average has soared from .288 to .314 in that span. He’s hitting the ball to all fields; much like my son throws objects to all corners of my house. Tonight, he was 4 for 5 with a homerun and 3 RBI. He also read a suicide squeeze correctly that Blanco did not, and he was hung out to dry.
Casilla is a man of mystery. He doesn’t always save games, but when he does, he does it with torture. After blowing 5 of his last 8 save opportunities, and stirring the trade speculation pot, he allowed a one out walk and a streaking rocket to Theriot at second to end the game. Not a masterpiece, but something to build his confidence on, as baseball is a fickle game. Maybe Casilla plays fantasy baseball. I miss Brian Wilson’s torture.
Even if the Giants lose tomorrow, they have secured a 4-2 road trip, the antithesis of their previous road trip that closed out the first half at 1-5. If they can muster a sweep tomorrow, the Giants will be 5-1 on this road trip and 8-1 since the break. Even if they lose tomorrow, 7-2 is slightly passable.
Let’s hope Kemp and Either don’t heat up too much.
– Chad King
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