Game Thread: 8/4 Champs @ Knaves

[1phlapdown]

This win, with doggies loss sure take the sting out of yesterday's GUT PUNCH.

 

[SFGRTB]

ERA+ for our SP
104-109-108-86-73

That's a 3, a couple of 2/3s, a 4 and a 5.

No ace.

Let's hope those numbers improve by season's end.

We know Bum is an Ace.

Heston/Leake are very similar pitchers. They'll give us 7 innings of good pitching. As you said, 2 2's/good 3's. Peavy has been a good 3 since returning. That's a solid group, and as Cal said, better than what we've had since last season.

Cain has been inconsistent at best, though we've seen flashes of a serviceable pitcher. As a number 5, that's fine.

 

[SFGRTB]

Also, we can't forget the milk!

 

[tzill]

Bum/Heston/Leake/Peavy is a hell of a lot stronger than what we had last year going into the playoffs.

It is not the best rotation of all the playoff teams, but it is not a horrible rotation.

Why you brought Cain into a discussion of 1-4 I am not sure.

Go back and re-read #117. I was reacting to the comment that the BP is the "weak link." The discussion WASN'T about the 1-4. The discussion WAS about the weak link. IMO, it's the SP, which includes the #5 (Cain). The numbers are NOT good. Now, Bum could certainly throw up 10 solid starts in a row and improve that OPS+ into the 115 range, as could any of the 5. Cain's numbers are awful, but he's only thrown 33 innings. He could throw an awesome 70 innings to finish the season and make all this moot.

But, right now, the SP is definitely the weak link. That gets mitigated if we make the playoffs as the #5 SP likely gets left off the roster altogether. But, we've got another 50+ games before that happens, and we need to get there. Given current production, it's hard to see. The Mets and their elite rotation is NO JOKE. The Turds are way out ahead and are a lock, the doyers and thier payroll are in. The Bucs are likely in. If we don't win the division (IMO our best chance at making the playoffs), we'll need to beat out one of the Nats/Mets. They both have superior SP.

Our hopes rest on some pretty clear improvement from our SP. If we don't get that, I can't see us in the dance.

 

[tzill]

We know Bum is an Ace.

Heston/Leake are very similar pitchers. They'll give us 7 innings of good pitching. As you said, 2 2's/good 3's. Peavy has been a good 3 since returning. That's a solid group, and as Cal said, better than what we've had since last season.

Cain has been inconsistent at best, though we've seen flashes of a serviceable pitcher. As a number 5, that's fine.

Bum may be an ace having a down year, and not pitching like an ace. That's my point: he's not pitching like an ace this year.

Yet.

 

[Stokes1931]

Per Baggs

The Giants improved to 28-11 with Pence in the lineup; they are 30-37 without him. Five of his seven homers have tied games or put the Giants ahead.

 

[Stokes1931]

 

[msgkings322]

Per Baggs

The Giants improved to 28-11 with Pence in the lineup; they are 30-37 without him. Five of his seven homers have tied games or put the Giants ahead.

Man, what do you guys think their record would have been with him there all year? Would they win 70% of their games like this year with him? Would they have at least gone .500, and be 4 games up on the Dogs? Did Pence need the rest maybe?

It's fun to speculate....but bottom line is Pence is just a joy to watch as a fan, he's why we like baseball.

 

[LHG]

lulz @Affeldt hitting

Bochy sure seems to favor putting the relief pitchers in for at-bats randomly? Why did he bat when he wasn't even going back out to pitch?

Only three relievers haven't batted yet this season - Lopez, Casilla and Broadway.

 

[Stokes1931]

Bochy sure seems to favor putting the relief pitchers in for at-bats randomly? Why did he bat when he wasn't even going back out to pitch?

Only three relievers haven't batted yet this season - Lopez, Casilla and Broadway.

Why not PH Bum? Dude can HIT.

 

[MarcoPolo]

Bochy sure seems to favor putting the relief pitchers in for at-bats randomly? Why did he bat when he wasn't even going back out to pitch?

Only three relievers haven't batted yet this season - Lopez, Casilla and Broadway.

I don't know what game you were watching, but the one I watched Affeldt went out and faced one batter in the 8th (AJ).

 

[LHG]

I don't know what game you were watching, but the one I watched Affeldt went out and faced one batter in the 8th (AJ).

That's the problem with not watching the game. I was only able to catch a bit of the gamecast and saw Affeldt hit. Came back a couple minutes later, saw that Petit was pitching next inning. Completely missed that Affeldt had faced one batter. Thanks for the correction Marco. Still a bit of a head scratcher but not nearly what I thought it was.

 

[calsnowskier]

That's the problem with not watching the game. I was only able to catch a bit of the gamecast and saw Affeldt hit. Came back a couple minutes later, saw that Petit was pitching next inning. Completely missed that Affeldt had faced one batter. Thanks for the correction Marco. Still a bit of a head scratcher but not nearly what I thought it was.

There were 2 out, AJP was due up and the bully is spent. Why burn JA and a PH in that situation?

 

[msgkings322]

AB: WE WON THAT DAMN GAME AND YOU MENTAL MIDGETS ARE STILL BITCHING? STFU AND LET ME WIN YOU LOSERS ANOTHER RING!

 

[tzill]

This article pretty much sums up where our chances lie:

Bay Area Sports Guy Giants postseason hopes rest on Matt Cains expensive right arm

 

[SFGRTB]

This article pretty much sums up where our chances lie:

Bay Area Sports Guy Giants postseason hopes rest on Matt Cains expensive right arm

I think the article is a little to dire.

If Matt Cain steps up his game, this starting staff becomes VERY good and the team is one of the most complete teams in baseball and would win the division.

If Matt Cain continues this path, the Giants are still a good enough team to make the playoffs. We're only 2 back of the Dodgers. I like our changes right now, with the way Cain is pitching.

They need him to start earning his massive paychecks between now and the end of September if they want to keep this season going into October.

I just disagree with the writer there. If Matt Cain was our number 2, then yeah it would probably be a big deal. If this was 2012, then yeah I'd we worried. Cain's our 5th starter.

 

[tzill]

I think the article is a little to dire.

If Matt Cain steps up his game, this starting staff becomes VERY good and the team is one of the most complete teams in baseball and would win the division.

If Matt Cain continues this path, the Giants are still a good enough team to make the playoffs. We're only 2 back of the Dodgers. I like our changes right now, with the way Cain is pitching.



I just disagree with the writer there. If Matt Cain was our number 2, then yeah it would probably be a big deal. If this was 2012, then yeah I'd we worried. Cain's our 5th starter.

I don't know that we can afford a shit the mound performance every fifth game. The other 4 are going to have their off days, but Cain can't be a disaster every time out. His ERA+ of 73 is nearly 30% below a #3 pitcher. That's pretty dire.

 

[1phlapdown]

For the record.....I wouldn't update the scoreboard normally, just thought it was pretty cool how the Phills slam and Pence's bullet happened at nearly the same moment.

Hey, fwiw, anytime someone hits a slam against the doggies, I WANNA HEAR ABOUT IT.