@itsallyduhh mesmerized us with this fantastic photo of Andres Torres last night when we recorded at Zeke’s. It’s burned into the back of our skulls, and now yours, too.
All three of us watched the Reds dismantle the Giants man-parts on Monday night from the press box. Thank god we didn’t pay to watch this travesty of a game.
We did take a trip to Zeke’s afterwards with Ally Williams (@itsallyduhh) and Jen Cosgriff (@jencosgriff) to record our thoughts on the game, the second half, fans running on the field and Bud Norris?
We’ll be back in the press box on August 5 when the Giants take on the Braun-less Brewers.
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:
Remember that horrible movie from 2001, “Princess Diaries?” Yeah, the Padres are just discovering that they are some long-lost royal blood line and just needed a little make up, hair, and braces removed to be noticed.
Well, they have my attention.
They are sitting just a half game back of the Giants, and two games behind the first-place Diamondbacks, whom they just swept. This is not a typo. I thought my iPhone was crapping out on me, so I referred to my desktop. Same standings. I triple-checked that it wasn’t 2010. Yep.
An alternate title to this post was, “The Padres are Like Your Ugly Ex-Girlfriend From High School,” but I thought it was a little harsh for a tag line. Therefore, you can send me your hate mail now, but of course, you’ve had to have read this far, so hell, I just thank you for taking the time out of your day to do so. We haven’t seen the Padres over .500 since 2010 when the Giants were battling them down to last day of the season to seal that fateful ride to their first San Francisco World Series Championship. So, we forgot about them. Dumped them after the season since we had our shiny new rings and Tiffany-made trophy. The Padres became an afterthought, left to their single life of living with their parents and getting on and off Weight Watchers about as often as Pablo Sandoval fractures small bones in his appendages. But alas, they have pulled off the transformation, without the 90 second movie-montage.
Wait, I’m comparing the Padres to a woman?
Back on track for a moment. The Giants blew a golden opportunity on Saturday, but two walks and an error in the 9th tend to lose ballgames for you. That win would have secured a winning road trip, and what a tough road trip it was. Instead, they played flat yesterday, and couldn’t pick up Lincecum and is technically-qualifying “quality start.” With the starting pitching woes this year, the offense has been their saving grace, and we’ve mentioned it many times before, but there’s only so long the Giants can overachieve with their run production while their number 1, 2 and 3 batters are all out. Pagan might require surgery, and Marco just may “tough it out” and live with a deformed finger, and Panda, well, he…never mind. Let’s just say he has a “slim” lead in NL All-Star voting and leave it at that. Although they hit .315 on the last roadie, that level cannot be sustained. The pitching will have to return, and let’s hope Zito can extend his home dominance (4-1, 1.94) tonight against the Friars.
Otherwise, the Giants will be looking at three teams above them.
Chad
PS – All three of us will be in the press box during tonight’s game versus the Padres, so expect the twitter account (@Torturecast) to blow up. At least one of us will be at the pre-game Bochy press conference. Any questions you’d like to ask him? Send them our way!
“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.””
Armchair Manager
Do you keep Gaudin in the rotation?
How do you set up the coming weeks?
More rest for starters or skip the 5th spot when possible.
Skip Lincecum in AZ?
On Deck
Quick 2 games at home vs. Toronto, then a 9 game road trip through AZ, Pit and ATL, all winning teams
June is going to be rough: 18 of 27 games are on the road
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Willie: @TortureCast: I’ll keep on this juice fast as long as Lincecum remains a starter. #mightlose30pounds
Chad: Tom Tolbert – @byronjr23: Halos 6 outs from being swept by the Astros..It would be a 4 game sweep no less..Fun fact: Astros payroll 17 mill..Hamilton salary 17.5 mill”
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.
Talking Points
Giants have been scuffling. Now in second place, 1 back of AZ
Last year, after 51 games, Giants were 27-24, 5.5 GB of LAD, 1 game back of what they are now: 28-23
Discuss my Uncle’s memorial game
Giants have gone 5-8 since our last show…
The Week in Review
Injuries: Broken pinkie for Vogelsong, out 6-8 weeks
Injuries: Casilla out with leg surgery to remove a cyst from his tibia. Expected to return after the ASG
Rosario sent down to AAA to make room for Kickham’s start tomorrow
Pagan’s inside the park homer walk off
The Big Question
Is Kickham the right choice to replace Vogelsong?
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Willie: @djp4cal: “Booing Posey is like booing America.”
It’s been a while, but the boys are back with the first podcast of the 2013 regular season.
Talking Points
Giants return with 21 of 25 members from the 2012 WS team
Surprise guys who made the team, Nick Noonan and Guillermo Quiroz
We talk a bit about our amazing experience at Media Day in February, and the opportunity to interview many of the Giants players. (if you missed it, go to our YouTube channel for the treasure trove of video interviews with Posey, Lincecum, Belt, Crawford, Zito, Romo, Bochy)
The Week in Review
Giants first week of the 2013 season and they go 4-3, taking 2 of 3 from LA and losing the last 2 to StL, and winning the first one from Colorado.
Pence is HAWT: 3 HRs in the first 7 games, .292
Lots of cold hitters: Scutaro, Posey, Belt, Torres all under .200
The Big Question
Any concern about Cain or Vogelsong or Lincecum? Nahhhh
Armchair Manager
Would you have pulled Cain earlier on Sunday?
Tweet At Me, Bruh
Chad: “Bay Area Sports Guy @BASportsGuy Get me some shots of sad cheerleaders, stat! AND Wendy Thurm @hangingsliders: Obligatory sad cheerleader photo dot tumblr”
Willie: @Nicolevolgelsong is now following us, we win
Our New Favorite Guy
Willie: Chad Gaudin – great pickup, really good stuff and looks like he’ll be a fixture in the pen this year
Chad: The designer for the Giants WS Gold jerseys…SF logo on a HOME jersey?
Willie: Clayton Kershaw
Ben: Jose Castillo
Why We Will Win It All
Chad: Because they have home gold jerseys with the SF on the chest
Willie: This team should be better with no Huff, Torres back and Lincecum should at least be better than last year, full season of Pence and Zito having a resurgence
Willie, Ben and Chad get together for a NLCS review that just blew everyone’s pants off, followed by questioning the meaning of life and how the frick the Giants pulled off 6 consecutive elimination game wins. Oh yeah, we talk a little World Series Preview and about that Verlander guy…he’s pretty good.
Talking Points
Um, how’d that happen?! 3 consecutive wins vs Cin, and 3 consecutive wins vs STL, first team to win 6 consecutive elimination games to reach WS
The Week In Review
Giants won their 5th consecutive NLCS (62, 89, 02, 10, 12)
Hunter Pence’s magical triple-double
Where were you during NLCS Games 5-7?
The BIG Question
Can the Giants hit Verlander?
Will Bumgarner do well, if not, Giants could be down 2-0.
ArmChair Manager
Lincecum in pen? Rotation: Zito, Bum, Vogey, Cain.
Tweet At Me, Bruh
@hankschulman: Seriously, folks who still insist Gs should add Melky now need to study his departure and what the team has done since, or just stop talking
Our New Favorite Guy
Zito: Chad
Scutaro: Willie
We Should Hate This Guy
Chad: Most of the national media, who continually put the Giants as the underdog.
Beat Verlander like Lee and Halladay in 2010, and in the previous 3 World Series that featured an LCS that swept vs a team that won in 7, the team that went 7 won all 3 times. LA vs Oak 1988, Cards vs Tigers ’06, Red Sox v Rockies ’07
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.
Chad finally podcasted without sleeping children upstairs, so he was a little boisterous in this one.
We talk about the Giants’ recent success, Dodgers recent failures, and the cautious optimism for the Giants clinching their 2nd NL West title in the last 3 years.
Talking Points
On May 26th the Giants were 7.5 games back. Since then, they’ve gone 57-39 and reversed this margin +.5 game. Not. Too. Shabby. Conversely, the bums are 43-54 since lighting up the easiest schedule in the west early.
Even if LAD went 19-0, the Giants would have to go 13-6, not impossible. If the Giants play 9-10 ball, Dodgers have to go 16-3 to tie
Dodgers are 28-35 vs West, Giants are 9 games better
The Week In Review
Giants take 2 of 3 from LA, could have been a sweep
Giants dominant on road again, winning 12 of their last 15, and 21-7 since break
The BIG Question
What’s going on with Panda? 3 XBH in a month since coming off the DL. 0-10 in COLORADO
The TortureCast 