Not The Time To Panic
I’m writing the thread today so Chuck can concentrate on the Niner game and whatever else fills up his Sundays…..
That was one of those games you could *feel* wasn’t quite right. Baseball is about breaks and I think last night’s game heavily favored the Reds (in terms of breaks). Sure, we got Cueto out of the game but that isn’t necessarily considered a good thing. Baseball players don’t deal with disruptions to their preparation very well. Not to mention that we got served 4 innings of Latos and this huge *gift* that everyone keeps talking about felt more like a booby trap.
The Reds pitched ok. Nothing special. Actually I felt like they showed some a fair amount of vulnerability. Latos was decent but we hit some rockets off of him that unluckily found gloves. He struck out 1 batter, he was hardly dominant. And Broxton and Chapman showed me nothing except that they are *get-able* later on in this series.
They’ve got lots of questions to still answer. Cueto might be able to come back in Game 3 but I wouldn’t count on it. And even if he does, the Reds pitching staff is now facing a major disruption (with Cueto having to leave early and Latos having to pitch 4) and we all know how baseball players are with disruptions to their routine.
And maybe I’m just being a homer, but I look at Scutaro and Pence’s combined 0-8 and it just didn’t look or feel that bad. They hit balls far and hard last night—they just found gloves. Bad luck.
Personally, I don’t like the idea of Cain pitching on short rest. If Timmy goes in 3 (and assuming there’s a Game 4) then I would absolutely go with Zito to start in Game 4. We’ve won 11 in a row when he’s taken the mound. That’s not something to fear it’s something to embrace. Now, if Zito doesn’t have it THEN you go with Cain as an emergency fill-in mid game.
But all of that is something to worry about next week. Game 2 is the only thing that matters right now……
A Place To Talk About Giants Baseball 
Yeah, Craig, agree. They say that baseball is a game of inches. Last night, the Giants lost that game by inches, several times. The 2 plays Cincy’s LFer made (sorry, I decline to even mention his name as I firmly believe it won’t matter in the end), Cain’s line drive, Belt’s line drive, Pence’s drives, etc. 5-2 sounds bad but it was a lot closer than that. A few inches closer, in all of those plays. Despite some other posts here, I actually didn’t think they looked flat, nor do I think they need to win the next 2 games.. but they do need to win game 2, and I believe Mad Bum and the team will be up for it. 2 of 3 away is doable, a sweep very likely not. If Cincy continues to win the game of inches, they will win. If that game turns around, which it very often does and which this Giants team is capable of doing as well, then it will go our way. Biggest game of the year right here and now.
I only saw three innings of the game (6 through 9) and what I saw was a continuation of what I read about on the blog and what you described above Flav – A Cincy pitching staff that got extremely lucky last night. Only explanation in my mind, is that they sold their soul to the Devil or some similar pact with a baseball God. Fast forward to the next game, that voodoo shit expired and let’s see what they have . . . I predict the Giants will spank them in game 2.
If this had been one of those one and done games, I’d be extremely pissed off and hungover today.
As it is, I’m only slightly pissed off and hungover today.
Well, you can spin this however you like, but they are in deep shit losing game 1 at home with 3 at Cinn. And for Cain, well, that’s 18 in, 21 hits, 11 runs, and 6 bleeping hrs in 3 games against the Reds this year. Obviously they like what he’s serving.
I might be inclined to go Zito Vogelsong games 4&5 if it even goes that far.
I’m mildly behind you on the concern of Cain v The Reds bats this year. And running him out on short rest makes no sense at all (to me).
Shit, I think I’d like to see Voggy start Game 3. He has pitched masterfully his last 3 starts, something Timmy can’t say……
Good post SG.
I agree with Paul and flavor that this game was not as ugly as it looked. The hangar that Cain threw to Phillips, the broken bat blooper by Cincinnati and Blanco staring at strike three were the moments that I remember most.
Of course, Belt’s liner are being caught at first base for the double play was a rally killer. And their left fielder that Paul mentioned made a couple of, what? a sliding catch and that spinning around catch at the warning track. Latos looked hit-able. Chapman looked hit-able and Broxton got help from Blanco.
I think we’re looking at two very good teams, and I expect a dogfight all the way because my team’s got fight.
GO Giants!
I’d say ankle deep shit. Deep shit is down 0-2, ninth inning, two outs, score 0-10, Posey is up…but only 8 runners on…
You can find yourself in deep shit or be happier than a pig in shit. As you pointed out, if we lose tonight’s game, we sure as hell wont be happier than a pig in shit. 🙂
I think they go with Tim in Game 3. They’ve switched him over to Purple Haze from Big Bud and sideline sessions have been encouraging.
I didn’t know he had glaucoma!
although I hear there is a lot of that going around in the Bay Area.
worse than pink-eye
who knew glaucoma was contagious?
One interesting thing about play-off rosters is if the Red’s have to DL Cueto he would not be eligible for the next series either. Meaning any decision becomes just a little bit tougher for Dusty if they think they need another starter.
Tough game. I surprised myself at how impassive and detached I was. “Booby trap” is the right description. A little voice in my head said, “I can just hear the announcers: ‘The Reds survived losing their starter.BLAH BLAH.'” My doomer self feels pulsations from 2000 and 2002. I had the doomer feeling that even if Posey hit a grand slam it would be like J.P. Snow’s bomb against the Mets: iconic, but a loss nevertheless. Games like this make you wonder about baseball fate, don’t they? I mean, in more than 50 years of watching baseball I do not ever recall a play like Brandon Phillips’s snag on a backup of a wild throw. He dove for it and got it. Just crazy. A few inches or less here and there on several plays (when Pence got doubled up; Ludwick’s catch), and we are at least tied. I thought Belt’s sensational catch in the first was an omen. It was. It was an omen for sensational plays, but not necessarily for us. There’s no denying this is a must win, is there? Undoomer me, o ye loyal Flappers and Flapperettes.
🙂
I don’t have the actual stats on hand but this year seems to have been the year where “comeback” was a large part of the Giants vocabulary. As in happening, not hope-e-ning
Nerves, butterflies…all gone now. Still, a daunting task ahead. I say it goes 5 games
Remember how the ball went the Giants way in 2010 against ATL? Cincy had the same thing last night.
Hate to say this, but today’s game is an elimination game for the Giants. If they lose, I can’t see them winning three straight in Cincy. Then again, stranger things have happened, and the Giants ate 26-11 on the road since the break.
I’m not super hard trippin’ if we lose this game. I’m resigned to the fact that, for no reason that I can find, we are better on the road this year. At this point, I think it would be harder to win 3 in a row at home than on the road.
Makes no sense to me, we are a team filled with gap hitters and a pitching staff that knows how to pitch to their park. We should dominate at ATT
I really wish the game were on now. (Thank you for letting me be subjunctive here.)
Brandon Phillips has become a Giant-killer the last few years. Cain hung a curveball. Bad combination of events. The Giants can compete with these guys. Obviously today is huge.
No big insights from me there. (grin)
I mean, yeah, I guess he hung it, but Cain’s pitches weren’t awful. And except for the mini-meltdown, even Casilla was not awful. (I may hear from you all that I’m wrong on this.) If that broken-bat pop to right were caught, we’d be out of the inning. Granted, we still likely would’ve lost, 3-2. Sigh.
Great day for Andrew Luck. Indy beat the Packers! Yeah, the Packers aren’t what they were, but still…..Indy was dead in the water last year.
He was fantastic (though his 1 int was horrendous).
Zumie, still rollin’ with those socks?
No orange socks today, I’m going with black socks, and a Giants t-shirt.
And hey, Kyle Williams just scored a touchdown; that must be a good sign, right?! (grin)
An 8:37pm ct start on a sunday night really blows.
Looks like Denver, Indy, and the Niners all got the right man.
watching the bills you gotta wonder how they held patriots to 52.
Vogelsong to start game 3…Lincecum available out of pen beginning tonight per Bochy.
Love it. I think that’s the correct move
I think BF and I discussed this a couple of days ago. It seems like the smart move. One of the key points we touched on was now there’s no Posey at first nonsense. The interesting move now is zito in game 4? Shouldn’t it be game time?
we did discuss it and at 9:54am I threw it out there again. It makes sense. He’s just more likely to be reliable right now.
Jim Tracy just resigned from the Rockies . . . This is what I wrote to the Denver Post:
“I’ll preface these comments by saying I thought Tracy got punked by ownership and O’Dud with the 75 pitch count directive; and assigning the upper management turd, Geivett, to an office adjacent to his, with the sole intent of spying on Tracy and the players. In summary, bad move by ownership; and worse move by Tracy to allow it to happen, where he didn’t say jacksh** when it went down.
That being said, Tracy finally found his voice and did the right thing by resigning from this asylum. Dollars to donuts they insert some management lackey from within or retread from MLB who has no where else to go. This team is pathetic boys and girls.
However, if you think this year was bad, wait until next year. Everyone else in the National League West WILL GET BETTER . . . EXCEPT FOR YOUR COLORADO ROCKIES. With the Monfort brothers and O’Dud in control, you can take that to the bank.”
good for you Bladester. take no prisoners! isn’t it game time?
Did he really resign? Good for him, I actually respect him now. For many reasons I haven’t liked Tracy over the years and it would be uninteresting to many if I went into that now. But good for him for taking a stand against this foolishness going on in Colorado with the 75 pitch bullshit.
Yeah, I personally think he stinks as a manager. He also didn’t complain when they didn’t provide additional call ups for the last series they played, i.e., he was allowing relievers to hit with runners on base because he was short handed. Dumb fuck organization IMO.
Nice blog by henry regarding tim’s not starting game three and then his reaction to it.
The decision to go with Vogie is somewhat surprising to me, but I have no problem with it. One caveat: if we lose the series and Tim doesn’t pitch, there will be *serious* second guessing.
Haven’t looked at splash in ages, but I’m surprised at the amount of “SF will regret this” comments already. I think bochy is doing the right thing too–and it must have been hard for him.
Giants game is on TNT they just announced.
wow, CC hung a slider to the kid Machado and he lined into RF for a 2 run single to put O’s up.
flav, what do Yanks have behind CC in the rotation…anything?
Urging.
TNT? Shit I’ve spent 5 mins trying find this already
NO shit . . . me too. Ahh, just saw Willie’s answer. Thank you amigo!
Quick question where I need a quick answer – TBS says the Giants game is on right now, but Yanks and Orioles are on? A friend of mine is asking what channel it’s on for Dish and I am asking with regard to Direct TV. Thank you much . . .
245
TY . . . Saw Willie’s answer 🙂
Fuck! Not this again…
Yeah Ferret . . . I am really beginning to dislike Lugnut.
Giants offense needs to do something to get the crowd back into it…Really disappointed with the crowd in this series. At the start of the game, you could hear a pin drop.
willied, thanks for the TNT head’s up. I just got home and turned on the TV to watch…Yankees/Baltimore??!!
Fuck!!!
Thank God for The Flap
Fuck!
Wpw. \The wheels are nearly off. Picked a bad time to fall asleep offensively and defensively.
Wilco, when there’s nothing to cheer about, whaddayado?
That last out almost prolonged the agony. Cincy hitters are staying within themselves (going with the pitch). Definitely not looking good for SF.
As Kuip said about two years ago during a game:”This is not good folks”.
Interesting shot of Posey “coaching” Bum on his mechanics…Maybe that’s the precise reason Zito and Lincecum won’t pitch to him…If so, fuck ’em both.
Honest confession: this is hard to watch.
This is exactly the type of game where the Giants miss the “3 run HR” weapon. Sigh.
How about 2 hits in an inning help?
Yeah, that would be a start. As I’ve said in the past and expanding on what you said about Arroyo Chuck – these Cincy starters are not “world beaters” and I always avoid utilizing them in FL when they become available on the waiver wire. I will be very pissed off if we end up losing this game 4-0.
Jesus fucking Christ. Perfect fucking game. Seriously? A-fucking-rroyo?
The pisser is we have hit a lot of balls hard..
Jesus/ Brutal.
You guys out in the Bay Area would know better than some of us further east…How has the 49’ers resurgance affected the media attention the Giants recieve? In 2010, the Niner’s were still Rosemary’s Baby compared to what the Giants were doing…But I gotta imagine the Niner’s success is having an impact on how much print and especially radio time is given to the Giants.
G’s still rock!
I’ve not said this, and I’m not merely saying it because it is easy to say it now, but ever since 2004 in the ALCS vs. the Yankees, I’ve respected and admired Arroyo. He never got enough credit for keeping the Sox alive once they were down 0-3 in games to the Yankees. He started and relieved. He’s smart and cagey. He’s very tough-minded. FUCQUE.
Sorry, if I’m not in the mood to praise the prissy Arroyo. I hate that little fucking leg thing he does.
Nice DB. Nevertheless, fifth inning and already into our bullpen.
Probably not a great sign that Kontos is our series MVP..
Maybe that play will fire things up a bit.
Hey Chuck, did you notice the guy pitching for the Reds has a No Hitter going?
He hasn’t allowed a run or a hit, can you believe that?
Wait, not only that he has a perfecto going. Nobody has reached base for the Giants, can that be right?
We need to get one or two runs here. Who am I kidding? We need even one or two baserunners.
bunt, get hit, anything ….oooops! a hit by Beltsman! Rally! And that word is typically used wrong (or at least nontraditionally) by announcers. Rally always USED TO be reserved for coming from behind.
Wilco, I don;t think the football coverage is taking away from the baseball coverage. THe Niners are covered pretty hard, good or bad. They pretty much run parallel.
A perfect game? No kidding? Timmy’s warming up?
Yeah no hits, no runs, nothing. I can’t believe it.
Gahh! Even when they don’t scroe, they us up 30 pitches. We are lucky to get 12 out of Arroyo.
Well maybe he’s allowed a hit, but no runs.
Progress . . . !
Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhhh… This isn’t helping my acid reflux.
The Reds scouts must be amazing. I’m surprised there wasn’t someone standing right where Belt’s hit landed, it seems to happen to every other ball hit by the Giants.
bleeh.
Very, very strange about Tim not appearing to warm up. What the hey, maybe’s that was the key all season! I do honestly like how the crowd is behind him and behind our Giants. If we can manage to claw back and win this game, ANYTHING is possible.
THAT was fun. Let’s build on it.
Timmy lit up that crowd a bit…
Good job Timmy! Now let’s go get some fucking runs!!
I’m hoping that Timmy can be the catalyst for the hitters . . .
I’m not sure what catalyst means but I’m with ya, blade
Look it up ya illiterate dummy actor 🙂
hahaha
Oh, dear. Why do we watch strike one every AB.
Well, I thought starting Arroyo in game 2 was handing us the series.
On the bright side, these Reds starters will be more inclined to sign in SF when the time comes.
3 games going on right now, unfortunately Giants-Reds is by far the least exciting.
Bronson Arroyo is a painfully normal pitcher.
Here are the number of hits he’s given up in his last 4 starts, all losses (he hasn’t won a game since September 8th): 6,8,6,9
So when he’s given up FUCKING ONE through 6, and he’s at 75 fucking pitches, then we need to start looking for other reasons to explain this…….
Ghosts of Giants Playoffs Past? (See Steve Trachsel 1998; Bobby Jones 2000).
This is just sick and I don’t mean that in a good way.
Coupled with what Flav said about him this year, this 34-year-old fucking finesse pitcher surrendered a major-league leading 46 gopher balls in 32 starts last year and recorded a 5.07 ERA as well.
This evening? Fucker must have been sprinkled with fairy dust on the way to the phone park, because no other explanation makes sense. Everything he throws seems to go into the magnet laden glove of Phillips or another infielder.
And now the Yanks are gonna win to make this a shittier night.
Off to bed to dream of miracle comebacks.
That was probably game, set, match right there boys and girls.
I looked at the Stable Boy blog schedule and snarkk is in the bullpen warming up . . . Can’t wait to read his thread story line tomorrow morning after this fiasco. 😉
well, this is what we refer to as “sub-optimal”. Pagan and Scuturo have to make a significant turnaround if this series is going to go very far.
My man Bill Paxton knows when to pack it in . . .
I expected a win tonight for sure- but “ordinary” pitchers do pitch extraordinary games. Arroyo was sharp. I’ll be interested to see Snarrk’s piece also- as these two games don’t have one or two goats- it’s truly been a team failure.
Well, NOW is a good time to panic…
Why Bochy put in the second string relievers after Tim while still in hailing distance at 4-0 and the squad obviously in an offensive funk will be a question that needs to be asked. The bleeding had to be stopped stat; instead the wound was opened wider. Wow…
It’s a question some might ask, I wouldn’t say it needs to be asked. Mijares and Mota have both been used successfully with leads.( Mijares hadn’t given up a run in 5 weeks) Behind 4-0, I don’t see any issue at all, they just didn’t get the job done.
Hey, move over Dennis. There’s room on this ledge for both of us.
Woo Crap!!!