Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Giants vs Angels 3-6-07

Another good win for the Giants today. They fell behind 3-0 with 2 of the runs being "semi" unearned off of Matt Cain. They came back with 2 in the 2nd, 4 in the 4th and 1 each in the 6th and 7th to win 8-4. As a team they had a very decent total of 13 hits.......although they continue their dearth of extra base hits with doubles by Vizquel and Bonds and a triple by Schierholtz being their only extra base hits.

I detailed all of the pitchers as photo captions except for Ryan Meaux. Ryan was abysmal in his last outing, however today, he relieved Cain with 2 out in the 3rd and struck out the only batter he faced. The biggest news flash of the day was that big Scott Munter's ball was sinking again today. In his last outing everything was up.....but today he looked more like his old self from 2005. Scott needed only 11 pitches to get through the 8th inning and only had one 2 ball count. Quite a change from his last outing.

Offensively, the Giants again (for the second time against 2 AL teams) used the DH for a home game, with Bonds hitting 3rd as the DH. I could have sworn I read a quote from Bruce Bochy saying he wasn't going to do that. The Giants only started 4 regulars, including Bonds. Bochy continues to play the starters longer than either Dusty Baker or Felipe Alou did. No replacement player had more than 1 plate appearance. Lance Niekro and Jason Ellison had the only hits among the non-starters. Ellison went 1 for 1 and now has 6 hits in 9 ABs this spring. No way that he beats out Linden for the #4 outfielder job..........but he is making a good case so that maybe the Giants can trade him rather than just releasing him. Justin Knoedler started at catcher and had a good day. He went 1 for 2 with a single, a walk, a strikeout and 1 run scored. I have said this before.....but I really like Knoedler's bat. As a converted pitcher.......the question is does he have the defensive nuances of the position down?

That is it for today. I read in the Chronicle that Tim Lincecum is starting the split squad game in Peoria against the Mariners tomorrow. They better be right. I have tickets for the split squad game against the Brewers in Maryvale tomorrow.......but when I read that Lincecum is starting in Peoria, I went on-line this morning and purchased 2 tickets to the game in Peoria. Given the choice, I just have to see Lincecum pitch. If I spent an extra $50 and he doesn't pitch.....I will not be a happy man.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

On sfgiants.com it says Lincecum will pitch tomorrow against Dave Bush at Maryvale. That's where Im heading. So hopefully they are right.

Anonymous said...

And here to:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/03/06/sports/s154423S35.DTL&feed=rss.giants

Top prospect Tim Lincecum will make his first appearance of the spring in San Francisco's game against Milwaukee, while RHP Matt Morris will travel with Bonds to face the Mariners. ...

Anonymous said...

Sorry link got cut off. Goto:
http://www.sfgate.com/sports/
Click on, "Bonds Back And Bashin'"

allfrank said...

Didn't Knoedler give up 4 stolen bases? I thought he had an outstanding arm. What was up?

Giantfan9 said...

Damn........as I have said forever......you can't believe the press. I just looked it up and actually I read it in the Contra Costa Times today:
"Right-hander Matt Morris will start against Milwaukee in Maryvale on Wednesday, and right-hander Tim Lincecum will start against Seattle. Lincecum will square off against another touted pitcher, Mariners right-hander Felix Hernandez."

Well I have both tickets........which do I believe?

Anonymous said...

Wait outside of Scottdale Stadium in the morning and see which bus lil' Timmy gets on.

Giantfan9 said...

3 of the 4 including a double steal were while Hennessey was pitching. Hennessey was TERRIBLE on holding batters. The other was off of Cain. ...again.....not even close. Righetti NEVER held runners worth a damn........and most of the pitchers he coaches aren't much better.

Anonymous said...

it says morris will start against the mariners on the official site.

allfrank said...

Thanks, GF9. I didn't think Knoedler was that bad. Actually, I am hoping he will have very outstanding defensive skills

Anonymous said...

Here is a quote from the Chronicle:

Briefly: Tim Lincecum, the Giants' first-round draft pick in 2006, will make his Giants debut Wednesday in one of two split-squad games, facing either the Brewers or Mariners.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/chronicle/archive/2007/03/05/SPG56OFD6P1.DTL

Giantfan9 said...

Well, it appears I wasted $53 for the tickets for the Game in Peoria. Every source this morning says Lincecum will pitch in Maryvale. So I guess I will be using my original tickets.