Well, apparently I spoke too soon yesterday when I said the offense has not been the problem with the Giants so far this spring. Today's game was very disappointing from an offensive standpoint.Royals starter Gil Meche (he of the career 4.44 ERA) throttled the Giants in the first 3 innings. He allowed only 2 singles, but faced the minimum due to a double play and a caught stealing. Even more embarrassing was the fact that 60 year old Hideo Nomo, who hasn't pitched in the Majors in two years, shut the Giants down over the next 3 innings. The Giants left the bases loaded in the 4th against Nomo.....then left 2 on base in the 5th.......then were really embarrassed as they went down 1-2-3 in the 6th on a weak groundout to 1B and 2 strikeouts.
The Giants had back-to-back-to-back singles to lead off the 8th inning. One batter later, they had yet another single and yet they only scored 1 run in the inning. The reason for that is the other 3 batters in the inning failed to even make contact as the #3 hitter (Lewis) the #5 hitter (Frandsen) and the #6 hitter (a pinch hitting Scott McClain) all struck out against some guy named Gobble who has a career 4.94 ERA. As an aside....those 3 spots in the order went a combined 0 for 10 with only Frandsen reaching base once on a hit batsman.
As an aside.......Eliezer Alfonzo was 0 for 2 with a strikeout and is still hitless this spring. Alfonzo was the designated hitter in what has to be one of the few times that the DH batted 8th.
5 comments:
Just read that the Giants optioned Randy Messenger to Fresno and assigned Harper and Scott McClain to the minor league camp. Messenger was unimpressive in two appearances this spring, but I thought it was a bit early to option him out. I was hoping McClain would've gotten a longer look just because I'm a fan. I think Scott Williamson was cut loose, also. Any thoughts?
I don't have any problem with any of that. Messenger and Williamson looked horrible every time I saw them pitch. I had hopes for Messenger when he first came from Florida....but he has since gone into the dumper.
I am sure many fans have a soft spot in their hearts for McClain. You have to admire his commitment to the game. But...most of us would rather not see 35-36 year old veterans on the team....much less a 35-36 year old career Minor Leaguer.
I hear ya. Williamson has a slow delivery and a habit for picking up niggling injuries. I, also thought Messenger would have fared better after acquiring him last year. Glad Zito looked better.
Best of luck to Mr. McClain. Maybe Crash will hit a few more HRs in AAA this year.
I have tickets to the game tomorrow. Any idea who the starting pitchers will be?
Great blog BTW
If the rotation went true to form the starter for the Giants would be Lowry. Since he is out for a few days I would guess Correia. No idea for the A's.
>>>I am sure many fans have a soft spot in their hearts for McClain.
I'm one of those guys. Since the Giants are not really going anywhere this year, I'd have loved to have seen them give McClain a long look.
I'd rather have McClain sitting on the bench in SF than starting in Fresno.
I'm not deluding myself about the guy or his abilities. (He is definitely not the second-coming of the The Natural.) I believe he'd do as well as Feliz at the plate.
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