Giants vs Cubs

I am posting this photo because I have been told I am a liar when I say I see Barry Bonds sign autographs 2 or 3 times each spring. He signed for about 10 minutes today......here is the photographic proof. He might have gone longer, but he was interrupted when Jacque Jones of the Cubs came over to greet him. I don't know where they know each other from.......but they acted like best friends.

As far as the game goes, it was a pretty lackluster affair, with the Giants losing to the Cubs 10-5. Both teams played most of their starters for 5-6 innings. The difference in the game was the difference between starting pitchers Carlos Zambrano and Matt Morris, with a little bad defense thrown in. The Giants had 3 scored errors and another 3 or more misplays in the game. We all know that Matt Morris just isn't good enough to overcome bad defense anymore.

I didn't take a lot of photos today, so I will cover more in the narrative. Steve Kline pitched the 6th inning and had one of his few scoreless outings of the spring. Kline's control was off as he gave up 2 walks........luckily he did not give up any hits to go with the walks. One of Kline's baserunners was erased when Bengie Molina threw out Alfonso Soriano trying to steal 2B. Soriano got a good jump, and I thought he would steal it easily. Molina's throw featured a quick release and the ball was right on the bag. It was literally the only place Bengie could have put that throw and gotten Soriano out. This is Molina's 2nd caught stealing of the spring.

Kline was followed by Scott Munter who did not have a good outing, although he also was victimized by poor defense. The leadoff batter hit a ball to 2B and Eugenio Velez threw the ball about 15 feet over Lance Niekro's head at 1B. The next batter walked. I wasn't too upset with the walk because every single ball was too low. It's a good thing when Munter is keeping the ball down. The 3rd batter hit a bloop into shallow RF.........Nate Schierholtz got a good jump on the ball and had the ball in his glove before Velez ventured too far out into RF and collided with Nate, knocking the ball out. Both players were down and Omar Vizquel had to run out and get the ball back into the infield. The play was scored as an RBI double, but no question Nate catches that ball without the collision. Nate stayed in the game for another inning or 2 but Velez had to come out after the collision. The next batter grounded out to 1B and the inning should have been over. Of course as always happens....the next batter hit a legitimate double for 2 RBI. Munter got the next 2 batters on a strikeout and a fly out. Munter ended up giving up 3 runs......1 of them officially unearned.

Brian Wilson rebounded from his last outing and should have had a 1-2-3 inning........but you guessed it.......bad defense. Lance Niekro fielded a groundball from the leadoff batter and promptly threw it right past Wilson covering 1B for a throwing error. This error didn't hurt the team as Willson easily retired the next 3 batters. In contrast to his complete loss of control in his last game, even with the error, Wilson threw only 15 pitches in the inning, 9 of them strikes. Wilson was followed by Osiris Matos, who had another good outing. Matos retired the side in order on 2 flyballs and a strikeout. Matos has yet to give up a run in his 3 appearances.

Offensively, the Giants had 10 hits, but only Omar Vizquel and Pedro Feliz had multiple hits (2 each). Vizquel and Feliz also had 2 of the 3 extra base hits of the game for the Giants (both doubles). Pedro had 2 RBI with his double. The other extra base hit was a solo HR by Chad Santos, in his only AB, that went into the Giants bullpen in RF. Barry Bonds was 1 for 3 with a bloop single and a strikeout.

That's about it for the day. A bad defensive day for the Giants. The pitching was really not as bad as the 10 runs might indicate.........but Morris in particular was just not very good. Good to see Wilson rebound from his outing against the Brewers. I am also intrigued by Osiris Matos. I would like to see him throw a few more innings.

Tomorrow is a night game at Scottsdale against the A's, so my posting will be late night or early the next day. I just got back from taking my son, daughter-in-law and wife to the airport.......back on my own again.........so the postings will probably go back to being a little more consistent.