Giants vs Royals

Decent day at the ballpark today. The Giants won 6-5 in the 9th inning on a run scored by Fred Lewis that Lewis scored virtually on his own (with a little help from the Royals fielders).

Noah Lowry started and really did not look good at all. He threw a lot of balls and when he threw a strike....way too many of them got clobbered. I assume Lowry hit his pitch count after 3 2/3 innings. Osiris Matos came in with 2 out and 1 man on and got the only batter he saw to popup to Pedro Feliz on the 1st pitch.

Matos was followed by Armando Benitez, who continues to get my hopes up. Mando is not throwing as hard as I remember, but he seems to have a really good biting slider right now. Mando had a perfect inning with 2 strikeouts. No one even hit a loud foul off of him. I don't know.......I don't want to believe he is the best option for closer........but a couple more outings like this and I will have to become a believer. Benitez is using his legs better than he has since he has been a Giant. I see no sign of a limp or of him favoring his hamstring or knees.

Sun -Woo Kim followed Benitez and had yet another good spring outing. I am having a hard time getting a read on Kim. He seems to always give up 2 or 3 hard hit balls.....then makes a bunch of hitters look bad in the same game. Whether he succeeds or not seems to depend on how far those hard hit balls carry. I really don't know why that is. Today was no different as he went 2 innings, giving up 3 hits including a double, but striking out 4. All of the hits were stung pretty good.......but he looked like he totally outclassed the batters on the strikeouts. I really don't know what to make of him.

The 8th inning was pitched by Kevin Correia. Kevin wasn't at all overpowering, but he got the job done allowing only 1 single, no walks, no strikeouts. The way most of the bullpen has been performing, the Giants really need Correia to be able to perform as he did today. Just throw strikes.......just get outs. The 9th was thrown by the man who Righetti called "erratic". Brian Wilson was "erratic" once again today with a perfect inning, with 1 strikeout. I quit scorekeeping by the 9th inning, but if Wilson threw over 7 or 8 pitches, I would be shocked. Quick.....quick inning.

Offensively, the Giants didn't have much until the last half of the game. They were behind 5-0 after 3 1/2. They erased that margin with 2 in the 4th, 2 in the 6th and 1 each in the 7th and 9th. Fred Lewis pretty much stole the game with his hustle and heads up play. Fred is fast......no question about it......but the word "hustle" is usually not used in conjunction with his play. Today was an exception that I hope becomes a rule. Lewis got an infield single with 2 out in the 9th. He beat the throw cleanly, but the throw was slightly high and bounced of the firstbaseman's glove. The ball didn't get more than 20 feet away from 1B, but Fred never hesitated, he continued around 1B and was easily safe at 2B. I am not sure any other runner on the Giants could have accomplished that......especially not so easily. The next batter (Ellison I believe) hit what should have been the 3rd out of the inning and should have sent the game into the 10th inning. Once again the ball was off the mark at 1B and got away. Once again it wasn't all that far away from the firstbaseman......but Fred just kept on running and didn't stop until after he crossed home for the winning run. This is the type of play I have been waiting 3 years to see Fred make. Oh.....he also was 2 for 2 with a triple and an RBI. Considering he didn't enter the game until he pinch hit for Kim in the 7th......not a bad game for Lewis.

Ray Durham went 0 for 3 and left 4 runners on base. Ray is now batting under .200. Randy Winn was also 0 for 3. Todd Linden had a hit in 4 ABs. Jason Ellison had a hit in 2 ABs. Justin Knoedler was hitless in his only AB, but threw out Esteban German trying to steal 2B. Knoedler, really has a good arm and he put the throw right on the money, just to the right of the bag. I know I don't get a vote.......but add his arm and his age to his .529 spring batting average....and I am starting to like Knoedler instead of Alfonzo as the backup.

Like I said........decent day at the park. Lowry's performance kind of puts a damper on it. I like winning as much as the next guy........but Spring Training results mean nothing. Lowry's performance means a whole lot. As a Giants' fan.....I am always worrying about something. I'm going to have to add Noah Lowry to that list.

The Giants have their only day off of the spring tomorrow. My wife gets back in town and we are going to do our once a year Don & Charlie's dinner tomorrow night. The dinners are so-so and way overpriced......but you gotta go once a year just for the memorabilia fix.