Brian Buscher came into the game to relieve Chavez at 3B. He was 0 for 1 at the plate.
Tuesday, March 14, 2006
Monday, March 13, 2006
Giants vs Padres - March 12th, 2006
The Giants lost to the Padres yesterday 10-6 in Scottsdale. For the most part it was a good game for the Giants with a couple of notable exceptions.
Matt Cain started for the Giants and it looked like it was going to be a long day for the kid. He gave up a long double and a HR to the first 2 batters he faced. Then all of the sudden, it was like a light switch came on and he just shut the Padres down. Cain struck out the next 2 batters on called third strikes, and then went on to get a total of 6 on the day. Cain went 4 innings giving up only the 2 runs and only an additional double and single after the first 2 batters. Also very encouraging is that he allowed zero walks to go along with his 6 K’s, against the Padres regular starters.
Armando Benitez followed Cain and did not fare nearly so well. It looked like Benitez was specifically working on a splitter or a sinker. Whatever it was, it was dropping out of the strike zone, low and the Padres were not swinging at it. Benitez kept working on that pitch even though he was walking everyone in sight. The good news was that the pitch had a ton of downward bite on it……the bad news was he couldn’t throw a strike with it to save his life. With the Padres disregarding that off-speed pitch, they were able to jump on what few fastballs he threw. Piazza’s grand slam was on one of the few fastballs Benitez threw. Piazza looked like he was just sitting on the pitch…..and I’m sure he was. Benitez ultimately got only 1 out, while giving up 6 runs on 4 walks and 3 hits. Benitez’ only out was a strikeout. For what it is worth the Padres only hit 2 balls hard off of Benitez (the other hit was a bloop single), but that is more than enough when you walk 4 batters in 1/3 of an inning.
Billy Sadler came on to relieve Benitez and he didn’t help much. He only gave up 1 double and no runs of his own in 2/3 inning, but he allowed both runners he inherited from Benitez to score. Tim Worrell pitched next and threw a perfect inning with 1 strikeout. Jesus Reina followed with 2/3 of a very forgettable inning. Reina gave up 1 run on 1 hit and 2 walks while registering 1 strikeout.
Scott Munter relieved Reina with 2 out and 2 on and immediately got a ground ball to end the inning. Typical Scott Munter line……1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 groundball outs and 2 broken bats. Don’t let the boxscore fool you…….the boxscore says it was Brian Munhall but I assure you Brian is still a catcher and it was really Munter who pitched. The published boxscores this spring continue to be as inaccurate as I can ever remember. Jack Taschner pitched the 9th inning, giving up a run on 2 hits.
Offensively, it was a good day for the Giants as we saw more regulars and Major Leaguers in this game than we have seen so far this spring. Of the starting 8 position players only Angel Chavez at 3B is not a lock to make the 25 man roster. Jason Ellison led off and played RF, going 2 for 4. Jose Viscaino batted second and got a hit in 3 trips to the plate. Steve Finley batted 3rd and went 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Barry Bonds hit 4th and went 1 for 2 with his first HR of the spring. Bonds struck out looking in his first AB on a very questionable strike call (looked way outside to me). In his second AB he was way out in front of a Woody Williams off-speed pitch, but managed to keep his hands back. Bonds hit a rocket into the party patio in straight away RF with just his wrists. It was just a remarkable shot. Bonds had lost his lower body completely. Most hitters would have continued thru the zone and missed the pitch by a mile. Bonds somehow kept his hands back and hit one of the hardest wrist shots I have ever seen. Normally, if a player manages to hit a HR with just his wrists, he does it by hooking the ball down the line just inside the foul pole. Barry’s went to straightaway LF, on a line and made it out easily. Amazing…….just amazing.
Mark Sweeney batted 5th and went 1 for 3 with a HR. Ray Durham batted 6th, going 0 for 1 with the Giants’ only 2 walks of the game. Mike Matheny hit 7th going 0 for 1. Interestingly, Matheny had only 1 plate appearance before coming out of the game. My guess is that his back was bugging him again. Angel Chavez batted 9th and went 1 for 3 with a double. Todd Greene replaced Matheny and had a solo HR to show for his 2 ABs. Lance Niekro replaced Sweeney and had a triple….that’s right……..Lance legged out a triple…….in his 2 ABs.
For once the kids did not come in and bale the veterans out with late inning heroics. Nate Schierholtz, Tomas De La Rosa, Derin McMains, Fred Lewis, Dan Ortmeier, Kevin Frandsen, Brian Buscher, Todd Linden and Adam Shabala went for a combined 2 for 10 with Shabala and Buscher each picking up a hit in their only AB. Derin McMains also had a SAC fly for an RBI.
One defensive item of note. Fred Lewis had 1 chance in CF and dropped the ball for an error. Normally, I would not make a big deal out of this, but in the October/November 2004 Arizona Fall League, I attended almost the entire season and saw Lewis play some of the worst outfield I had seen since Marvin Benard. Lewis led his team in errors with 9 in only about 20 games played. It’s pretty hard to lead your team in errors from the CF position…….but Lewis managed. He also was among the team leaders in errors at Norwich last year, with 14, and WAS the team leader until the last couple of months of the season when they moved him to the corner position and he seemed to fare better. Yesterday’s error was the same type I have seen many times before. The ball was hit right to him and Lewis hardly had to move at all. The ball hit him square in the glove and just popped out. No reason for it at all, he just didn’t squeeze it. I bet 8 of his 9 errors in the AFL were just like this one. His concentration level must be just horrible. I am really losing patience with this guy. With all of his athletic ability he should be a sterling fielder. But he just can’t catch the ball.
Although, it didn’t rain at all yesterday, there was rain in the forecast so I did not bring my camera to the game. So, no photos today. Also I picked up a little cold over the past two cold and rainy days, so I am going to skip the 4 hour roundtrip drive to Tucson and will not be going to the Giants vs Diamondbacks game today. I will pick it up again on Tuesday, with the Giants against the Rangers at Scottsdale. Wish me luck on shaking this cold.
Matt Cain started for the Giants and it looked like it was going to be a long day for the kid. He gave up a long double and a HR to the first 2 batters he faced. Then all of the sudden, it was like a light switch came on and he just shut the Padres down. Cain struck out the next 2 batters on called third strikes, and then went on to get a total of 6 on the day. Cain went 4 innings giving up only the 2 runs and only an additional double and single after the first 2 batters. Also very encouraging is that he allowed zero walks to go along with his 6 K’s, against the Padres regular starters.
Armando Benitez followed Cain and did not fare nearly so well. It looked like Benitez was specifically working on a splitter or a sinker. Whatever it was, it was dropping out of the strike zone, low and the Padres were not swinging at it. Benitez kept working on that pitch even though he was walking everyone in sight. The good news was that the pitch had a ton of downward bite on it……the bad news was he couldn’t throw a strike with it to save his life. With the Padres disregarding that off-speed pitch, they were able to jump on what few fastballs he threw. Piazza’s grand slam was on one of the few fastballs Benitez threw. Piazza looked like he was just sitting on the pitch…..and I’m sure he was. Benitez ultimately got only 1 out, while giving up 6 runs on 4 walks and 3 hits. Benitez’ only out was a strikeout. For what it is worth the Padres only hit 2 balls hard off of Benitez (the other hit was a bloop single), but that is more than enough when you walk 4 batters in 1/3 of an inning.
Billy Sadler came on to relieve Benitez and he didn’t help much. He only gave up 1 double and no runs of his own in 2/3 inning, but he allowed both runners he inherited from Benitez to score. Tim Worrell pitched next and threw a perfect inning with 1 strikeout. Jesus Reina followed with 2/3 of a very forgettable inning. Reina gave up 1 run on 1 hit and 2 walks while registering 1 strikeout.
Scott Munter relieved Reina with 2 out and 2 on and immediately got a ground ball to end the inning. Typical Scott Munter line……1 1/3 innings, 0 runs, 1 walk, 4 groundball outs and 2 broken bats. Don’t let the boxscore fool you…….the boxscore says it was Brian Munhall but I assure you Brian is still a catcher and it was really Munter who pitched. The published boxscores this spring continue to be as inaccurate as I can ever remember. Jack Taschner pitched the 9th inning, giving up a run on 2 hits.
Offensively, it was a good day for the Giants as we saw more regulars and Major Leaguers in this game than we have seen so far this spring. Of the starting 8 position players only Angel Chavez at 3B is not a lock to make the 25 man roster. Jason Ellison led off and played RF, going 2 for 4. Jose Viscaino batted second and got a hit in 3 trips to the plate. Steve Finley batted 3rd and went 1 for 3 with a run scored.
Barry Bonds hit 4th and went 1 for 2 with his first HR of the spring. Bonds struck out looking in his first AB on a very questionable strike call (looked way outside to me). In his second AB he was way out in front of a Woody Williams off-speed pitch, but managed to keep his hands back. Bonds hit a rocket into the party patio in straight away RF with just his wrists. It was just a remarkable shot. Bonds had lost his lower body completely. Most hitters would have continued thru the zone and missed the pitch by a mile. Bonds somehow kept his hands back and hit one of the hardest wrist shots I have ever seen. Normally, if a player manages to hit a HR with just his wrists, he does it by hooking the ball down the line just inside the foul pole. Barry’s went to straightaway LF, on a line and made it out easily. Amazing…….just amazing.
Mark Sweeney batted 5th and went 1 for 3 with a HR. Ray Durham batted 6th, going 0 for 1 with the Giants’ only 2 walks of the game. Mike Matheny hit 7th going 0 for 1. Interestingly, Matheny had only 1 plate appearance before coming out of the game. My guess is that his back was bugging him again. Angel Chavez batted 9th and went 1 for 3 with a double. Todd Greene replaced Matheny and had a solo HR to show for his 2 ABs. Lance Niekro replaced Sweeney and had a triple….that’s right……..Lance legged out a triple…….in his 2 ABs.
For once the kids did not come in and bale the veterans out with late inning heroics. Nate Schierholtz, Tomas De La Rosa, Derin McMains, Fred Lewis, Dan Ortmeier, Kevin Frandsen, Brian Buscher, Todd Linden and Adam Shabala went for a combined 2 for 10 with Shabala and Buscher each picking up a hit in their only AB. Derin McMains also had a SAC fly for an RBI.
One defensive item of note. Fred Lewis had 1 chance in CF and dropped the ball for an error. Normally, I would not make a big deal out of this, but in the October/November 2004 Arizona Fall League, I attended almost the entire season and saw Lewis play some of the worst outfield I had seen since Marvin Benard. Lewis led his team in errors with 9 in only about 20 games played. It’s pretty hard to lead your team in errors from the CF position…….but Lewis managed. He also was among the team leaders in errors at Norwich last year, with 14, and WAS the team leader until the last couple of months of the season when they moved him to the corner position and he seemed to fare better. Yesterday’s error was the same type I have seen many times before. The ball was hit right to him and Lewis hardly had to move at all. The ball hit him square in the glove and just popped out. No reason for it at all, he just didn’t squeeze it. I bet 8 of his 9 errors in the AFL were just like this one. His concentration level must be just horrible. I am really losing patience with this guy. With all of his athletic ability he should be a sterling fielder. But he just can’t catch the ball.
Although, it didn’t rain at all yesterday, there was rain in the forecast so I did not bring my camera to the game. So, no photos today. Also I picked up a little cold over the past two cold and rainy days, so I am going to skip the 4 hour roundtrip drive to Tucson and will not be going to the Giants vs Diamondbacks game today. I will pick it up again on Tuesday, with the Giants against the Rangers at Scottsdale. Wish me luck on shaking this cold.
Saturday, March 11, 2006
Giants @ A's
Today's game was rained out. It has been raining pretty much all day and shows no real signs of letting up. The forecast calls for showers for most of the evening with a "couple of showers" in the morning. Hopefully, they will be able to get tomorrow's Giants vs Padres game in.
Team USA vs South Africa - March 10th, 2006
Not much to say about this game, so I just will post a few photos. South Africa had the results I had expected in both the games I had already seen them play in the tournament. A 17-0, 5 inning, mercy rule win for Team USA. They should have stopped the game after the first 2 innings. South Africa has a little work to do with their baseball program.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Giants @ Angels
I guess the big story of the day was the return of one Barry Lamar Bonds. Bonds was in extremely good spirits and seemed very happy to be returning to action. He visited with a few of the Angels players before the game and did several running drills prior to game time. Barry ran high knee lifts, side shuttle runs, and full sprints and seemed to be running very well. I saw no signs of a limp either before or after the game.
Bonds had two at bats as the DH. He went 1 for 2 with a relatively weak bouncer in the hole between 1B and 2B and a strikeout. The Giants stranded him on 1B, so we did not get to see him run the bases. All and all I am sure he was happy with his performance. It was good to see him play in a spring game for the first time in 2 years. The fans gave him a mixed reaction, but I was surprised that in an away park, the cheers far outnumbered the boos. I just watched Sport Center and their coverage sounded like the cheers and boos were about even. I don’t know where they had their microphone, but that is not the reaction I heard. The Angels fans were actually quite receptive. They seemed to be as happy to be able to see Bonds play as the Giants fans did.
The Giants lost the game when Kendry Morales slammed a solo HR off of Tyler Walker in the 9th inning to break a 5-5 tie. It is hard to tell how Tyler was pitching, as Morales was the leadoff hitter in the 9th. I don’t think Tyler quite has it yet. This is the second game he has blown already this spring.
Matt Morris started the game and got in 4 innings of work. He wasn’t at all sharp, giving up 7 hits and 4 earned runs. Morris seemed to be around the plate and was not falling behind the batters, but the batters were just hitting him with regularity. Armando Benitez relieved Morris and gave up 3 hits to the first 3 batters he faced, 2 of the hits were on first pitches. Benitez, then buckled down and got out of the inning with only 1 run scored.
Jamey Wright pitched scoreless 6th and 7th innings while giving up 2 hits and recording 2 strikeouts. I like what I have seen in Wright so far. He has a good pitcher’s build, decent velocity and has been around the plate in his appearances. The old man, Jeff Fassero pitched a perfect 8th inning while striking out 1 Angel. In a change from what we saw last year…..the Giants’ pitchers have been avoiding the walk like the plague this spring. Despite giving up 6 runs today, the Giants’ gave up zero walks. Giants pitchers are averaging less than 2 walks per 9 innings this spring.
The Giants’ had 10 hits in this game to go along with 1 walk and 2 errors committed by the Angels. Steve Finley led the attack going 2 for 2 with a HR, a run and 2 RBI. Todd Greene was 2 for 3 with 2 LONG doubles off the CF wall at the 420 foot mark. Lance Niekro went 1 for 3 and in yet another big change from last year, received his FIFTH walk of the early spring season. Jason Ellison went only 1 for 4 but he had an easy triple, had 2 RBI and scored a run.
It was a close, well played game on both sides. The Giants’ record now stands at 5-3 for the spring. I am always a little uncomfortable about the Giants having a winning Spring Training record, but I must admit that it is more fun to watch a win than a loss.
Tomorrow the Giants play the White Sox in Tucson. This will be the only Giants game of the spring that I will miss. Rather than take the 2 hour drive to Tucson, I will be staying in Scottsdale and watching Team USA try to make the next round of the WBC tournament by beating a truly awful South African team. I sure hope the Americans remember who they are and play better than they have been. If they put Al Leiter in the game, I will just scream!!!
Bonds had two at bats as the DH. He went 1 for 2 with a relatively weak bouncer in the hole between 1B and 2B and a strikeout. The Giants stranded him on 1B, so we did not get to see him run the bases. All and all I am sure he was happy with his performance. It was good to see him play in a spring game for the first time in 2 years. The fans gave him a mixed reaction, but I was surprised that in an away park, the cheers far outnumbered the boos. I just watched Sport Center and their coverage sounded like the cheers and boos were about even. I don’t know where they had their microphone, but that is not the reaction I heard. The Angels fans were actually quite receptive. They seemed to be as happy to be able to see Bonds play as the Giants fans did.
The Giants lost the game when Kendry Morales slammed a solo HR off of Tyler Walker in the 9th inning to break a 5-5 tie. It is hard to tell how Tyler was pitching, as Morales was the leadoff hitter in the 9th. I don’t think Tyler quite has it yet. This is the second game he has blown already this spring.
Matt Morris started the game and got in 4 innings of work. He wasn’t at all sharp, giving up 7 hits and 4 earned runs. Morris seemed to be around the plate and was not falling behind the batters, but the batters were just hitting him with regularity. Armando Benitez relieved Morris and gave up 3 hits to the first 3 batters he faced, 2 of the hits were on first pitches. Benitez, then buckled down and got out of the inning with only 1 run scored.
Jamey Wright pitched scoreless 6th and 7th innings while giving up 2 hits and recording 2 strikeouts. I like what I have seen in Wright so far. He has a good pitcher’s build, decent velocity and has been around the plate in his appearances. The old man, Jeff Fassero pitched a perfect 8th inning while striking out 1 Angel. In a change from what we saw last year…..the Giants’ pitchers have been avoiding the walk like the plague this spring. Despite giving up 6 runs today, the Giants’ gave up zero walks. Giants pitchers are averaging less than 2 walks per 9 innings this spring.
The Giants’ had 10 hits in this game to go along with 1 walk and 2 errors committed by the Angels. Steve Finley led the attack going 2 for 2 with a HR, a run and 2 RBI. Todd Greene was 2 for 3 with 2 LONG doubles off the CF wall at the 420 foot mark. Lance Niekro went 1 for 3 and in yet another big change from last year, received his FIFTH walk of the early spring season. Jason Ellison went only 1 for 4 but he had an easy triple, had 2 RBI and scored a run.
It was a close, well played game on both sides. The Giants’ record now stands at 5-3 for the spring. I am always a little uncomfortable about the Giants having a winning Spring Training record, but I must admit that it is more fun to watch a win than a loss.
Tomorrow the Giants play the White Sox in Tucson. This will be the only Giants game of the spring that I will miss. Rather than take the 2 hour drive to Tucson, I will be staying in Scottsdale and watching Team USA try to make the next round of the WBC tournament by beating a truly awful South African team. I sure hope the Americans remember who they are and play better than they have been. If they put Al Leiter in the game, I will just scream!!!
Mexico vs South Africa - March 8th, 2006
Another short note on the WBC game. Boy, this game was a lot more exciting than the Canada vs South Africa game. I was shocked that the Mexico team did not beat South Africa by more than the 10-4 final score. The Mexican’s are MUCH more talented, but the South Africans were like pests that Mexico just couldn’t swat away. In the 9th inning the South Africans actually loaded the bases and provided at least a little doubt about the outcome, but all 3 men were still on base as the game ended.
The Mexicans sure know how to be fans. The stadium was about 75% full of people of Mexican heritage. It reminded me of the Giants vs Expos games I went to a couple of years ago in Puerto Rico. Drums, horns, costumes and a whole lot of loud & boisterous rooting. Almost every Mexican fan had both a hat & jersey and the Giants Dugout store sold out almost completely of souvenirs related to Team Mexico. Fun…fun game.
PS…..How did Team USA lose to what was just an atrocious Team Canada just the night before?????
The Mexicans sure know how to be fans. The stadium was about 75% full of people of Mexican heritage. It reminded me of the Giants vs Expos games I went to a couple of years ago in Puerto Rico. Drums, horns, costumes and a whole lot of loud & boisterous rooting. Almost every Mexican fan had both a hat & jersey and the Giants Dugout store sold out almost completely of souvenirs related to Team Mexico. Fun…fun game.
PS…..How did Team USA lose to what was just an atrocious Team Canada just the night before?????
Giants @ Mariners - March 8th, 2006
Yet another good day for the kids yesterday as the Giants came back from a 2-0 deficit after 6 innings to beat the Mariners 4-2. The temperature must have dropped 15 degrees from Tuesday, but the Giants kids stayed hot.
Jason Schmidt started the game and pitched well, but I don’t think he was as sharp as he was in his first game. Jason had a little trouble finding the strike zone in his first inning, fell behind a lot of batters and threw too many pitches in the first. He gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk. He also struck out 5 Marines in 3 innings, so you know he had his “A” stuff. The 2 runs probably shouldn’t have happened as 1 hit he surrendered was a 97 hop grounder that Tomas De La Rosa, who started the game at 3B, got to, but just didn’t bend over far enough to field. The ball went under De La Rosa’s glove for a scored single. The Mariners would not have scored if De La Rosa makes that play……..a play that most Major Leaguers would have made.
The remainder of the pitching was even better than Schmidt. Tim Worrell, Steve Kline, Matt Kinney, Jack Taschner and Merkin Valdez followed Schmidt. Kinney threw 2 innings, the others 1 complete. Each of them gave up 1 hit and zero runs. Taschner was particularly impressive with 2 strikeouts in his 1 inning of work. Very nice pitching, indeed. If this continues, it will be interesting to see how the Giants sort out this sudden glut of good arms.
Offensively, the Giants starters, including the few veterans that played in the game, had a ton of trouble with Mariners starter Jaime Moyer. Even with a number of new players, the Giants STILL have trouble with junk ballers. Some things never change I guess. The starters; Jason Ellison, Jose Vizcaino, Mark Sweeney, Todd Linden, Ray Durham, Abraham Nunez, Adam Shabala, Tomas De La Rosa and Yamid Haad; went a combined 1 for 22 with 2 walks, no runs, no RBI and 6 strikeouts.
The replacements; Nate Schierholtz, Jake Wald, Travis Ishikawa, Fred Lewis, Kevin Frandsen, Derin McMains, Brian Buscher, Justin Knoedler and Todd Jennings; went a combined 7 for 14 with 1 walk, 4 runs, 4 RBI and only 1 strikeout. Included in these numbers were McMains’ pinch hit solo HR for the Giants’ first run of the game and Schierholtz’ solo HR in the 8th. Schierholtz hit a tape measure shot, which cleared the RF bullpen and reached the top of the grass berm behind it. Of the subs, only Ishikawa and Jennings were hitless.
That’s about it for today, I know Spring Training performances don’t mean a thing, but it is nice to see the youngsters lead a come from behind win and even nicer to see the pitching do so well. Sorry that there are no photos again today. I just don’t have the time to go to 2 games AND take and post photos. I am only going to one game today, Giants @ Angels in Tempe, so hopefully I can get a few photos up of today’s game.
Jason Schmidt started the game and pitched well, but I don’t think he was as sharp as he was in his first game. Jason had a little trouble finding the strike zone in his first inning, fell behind a lot of batters and threw too many pitches in the first. He gave up 2 runs on 2 hits and a walk. He also struck out 5 Marines in 3 innings, so you know he had his “A” stuff. The 2 runs probably shouldn’t have happened as 1 hit he surrendered was a 97 hop grounder that Tomas De La Rosa, who started the game at 3B, got to, but just didn’t bend over far enough to field. The ball went under De La Rosa’s glove for a scored single. The Mariners would not have scored if De La Rosa makes that play……..a play that most Major Leaguers would have made.
The remainder of the pitching was even better than Schmidt. Tim Worrell, Steve Kline, Matt Kinney, Jack Taschner and Merkin Valdez followed Schmidt. Kinney threw 2 innings, the others 1 complete. Each of them gave up 1 hit and zero runs. Taschner was particularly impressive with 2 strikeouts in his 1 inning of work. Very nice pitching, indeed. If this continues, it will be interesting to see how the Giants sort out this sudden glut of good arms.
Offensively, the Giants starters, including the few veterans that played in the game, had a ton of trouble with Mariners starter Jaime Moyer. Even with a number of new players, the Giants STILL have trouble with junk ballers. Some things never change I guess. The starters; Jason Ellison, Jose Vizcaino, Mark Sweeney, Todd Linden, Ray Durham, Abraham Nunez, Adam Shabala, Tomas De La Rosa and Yamid Haad; went a combined 1 for 22 with 2 walks, no runs, no RBI and 6 strikeouts.
The replacements; Nate Schierholtz, Jake Wald, Travis Ishikawa, Fred Lewis, Kevin Frandsen, Derin McMains, Brian Buscher, Justin Knoedler and Todd Jennings; went a combined 7 for 14 with 1 walk, 4 runs, 4 RBI and only 1 strikeout. Included in these numbers were McMains’ pinch hit solo HR for the Giants’ first run of the game and Schierholtz’ solo HR in the 8th. Schierholtz hit a tape measure shot, which cleared the RF bullpen and reached the top of the grass berm behind it. Of the subs, only Ishikawa and Jennings were hitless.
That’s about it for today, I know Spring Training performances don’t mean a thing, but it is nice to see the youngsters lead a come from behind win and even nicer to see the pitching do so well. Sorry that there are no photos again today. I just don’t have the time to go to 2 games AND take and post photos. I am only going to one game today, Giants @ Angels in Tempe, so hopefully I can get a few photos up of today’s game.
Wednesday, March 08, 2006
Canada vs South Africa - March 7th, 2006
Just a very short comment on the South Africa vs Canada WBC game. VERY bad baseball. The heavily favored Canadians had to have a 4 run rally in the 9th to beat the South Africans 11-8. The pitchers were wild and ineffective. Until late in the game, the batters were weak. And the defense was just terrible. At one point around the 5th inning, both teams had only 4 hits, but 7 runs had scored because of walks and errors. By the 5th the Canadians had 2 errors and the South Africans had 3. If the scorekeeper had not been charitable, the teams would have had more errors than hits at that point in the game. Two or three of the hits looked like very questionable defensive plays to me. There were a total of SIXTEEN walks in the game, 11 of them by South African pitchers.
The game got exciting in the last couple of innings. But we were looking at who would make the mistakes to lose the game, not who would step forward and WIN it. It honestly reminded me of a Little League game with all of the walks and errors. Not good baseball……not at all good baseball.
The game got exciting in the last couple of innings. But we were looking at who would make the mistakes to lose the game, not who would step forward and WIN it. It honestly reminded me of a Little League game with all of the walks and errors. Not good baseball……not at all good baseball.
Giants @ Padres - March 7th, 2006
Well, for yesterday’s game you can pretty much take the first paragraph of the Angels game review, change a few names and use it for the first paragraph here. The Padres started essentially their regular starting lineup, the Giants played only 1 starter and 1 player who is certain to make the team and still walked away with a 12-3 victory. What’s more, the regulars really didn’t contribute much with Lance Niekro going 1 for 4 with a run scored and Steve Finley going 0 for 2.
Yesterday was the attack of the offensive lineman. In just about every Giants’ rally, the guys with numbers in the 70’s figured prominently. Kevin Frandsen (#79) got the party started with a solo HR in the 1st inning. Todd Greene (#78) went 1 for 3 with a run scored. Tomas De La Rosa (#72) went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. And the best performance from an offensive lineman came from Abraham Nunez (#73), who went 4 for 4 with 2 runs & 1 RBI. Add in Angel Chavez’ 3 for 3 with a run and 3 RBI and Derin McMains’ 1 for 1 with a 3 run HR (his second of the spring) and you pretty much have all the Giants scoring. Yet another game where the Giants kids pounded out 16 hits against pitchers like Chris Young, Andy Ashby and Trevor Hoffman.
Meanwhile, the Padres regulars tallied only 7 hits against youngsters like Matt Cain, Erick Threats, Matt Anderson, Jonathan Sanchez, Jeff Miller, Brian Wilson and Michael Tejera. In what has become a trend for Giants pitchers this spring, Cain pitched 2 scoreless innings before giving up a run in the third. He looked good and only gave up 2 hits and 1 walk in his 3 innings. He also tallied 3 strikeouts. Erick Threets pitched the 3rd inning and did his best imitation of Rick Vaughn from Major League. He was wild when he started the inning and hit the first batter he faced. He gave up a hit to go along with the HBP and then got out of the inning by striking out 2. In a nice touch, an obviously knowledgeable person in the control booth played “Wild Thing” on the stadium sound system as Threets came to the mound and warmed up.
Sanchez gave up 2 runs on 2 walks and a hit. Then Miller, Wilson and Tejera shut down the Padres for the last 3 innings on a total of 2 hits and 1 walk. Brian Wilson was a little wild, giving the walk and 1 of the hits.
Once again the depleted Giants, easily handled a team that you would think would have a big advantage given the numbers of Major League vs Minor League players for each team. The kids continue to play hard and show that they want management to look their way when vacancies occur on the 25 man roster.
Today, it is back to Peoria for the Giants vs the Mariners. Then this evening it is Mexico vs South Africa at Scottsdale Stadium.
Yesterday was the attack of the offensive lineman. In just about every Giants’ rally, the guys with numbers in the 70’s figured prominently. Kevin Frandsen (#79) got the party started with a solo HR in the 1st inning. Todd Greene (#78) went 1 for 3 with a run scored. Tomas De La Rosa (#72) went 2 for 5 with 2 runs scored and an RBI. And the best performance from an offensive lineman came from Abraham Nunez (#73), who went 4 for 4 with 2 runs & 1 RBI. Add in Angel Chavez’ 3 for 3 with a run and 3 RBI and Derin McMains’ 1 for 1 with a 3 run HR (his second of the spring) and you pretty much have all the Giants scoring. Yet another game where the Giants kids pounded out 16 hits against pitchers like Chris Young, Andy Ashby and Trevor Hoffman.
Meanwhile, the Padres regulars tallied only 7 hits against youngsters like Matt Cain, Erick Threats, Matt Anderson, Jonathan Sanchez, Jeff Miller, Brian Wilson and Michael Tejera. In what has become a trend for Giants pitchers this spring, Cain pitched 2 scoreless innings before giving up a run in the third. He looked good and only gave up 2 hits and 1 walk in his 3 innings. He also tallied 3 strikeouts. Erick Threets pitched the 3rd inning and did his best imitation of Rick Vaughn from Major League. He was wild when he started the inning and hit the first batter he faced. He gave up a hit to go along with the HBP and then got out of the inning by striking out 2. In a nice touch, an obviously knowledgeable person in the control booth played “Wild Thing” on the stadium sound system as Threets came to the mound and warmed up.
Sanchez gave up 2 runs on 2 walks and a hit. Then Miller, Wilson and Tejera shut down the Padres for the last 3 innings on a total of 2 hits and 1 walk. Brian Wilson was a little wild, giving the walk and 1 of the hits.
Once again the depleted Giants, easily handled a team that you would think would have a big advantage given the numbers of Major League vs Minor League players for each team. The kids continue to play hard and show that they want management to look their way when vacancies occur on the 25 man roster.
Today, it is back to Peoria for the Giants vs the Mariners. Then this evening it is Mexico vs South Africa at Scottsdale Stadium.
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
Giants vs Angels - March 6th, 2006
Yesterday’s game was a good barometer of the depth of the Giants system. I follow the farm system closer than most, but even I didn’t expect the outcome of the 11-3 win over the Angels. This year at Scottsdale Stadium, they have a large dry erase board on the concourse behind 3B, where they post the starting lineups. When I saw the Giants starting lineup of Ellison, Ortmeier, Sweeney, Linden, Durham, Alfonzo, Chavez, De La Rosa and Haad were facing the Angels starting lineup of Figgins, Izturis, Cabrera, Guererro, Salmon, Erstad, Quinlan, Kotchman and Molina…...I figured the only chance of a Giants win would be if Noah Lowry and the rest of the Giants pitchers would out-duel Jeff Weaver and the rest of the Angels pitchers for a low scoring game. Yeah…..I hit that on right on the head.
A 3-run HR by Mark Sweeney and another 3-run HR by Eleizer Alfonzo, before Weaver got the first out of the game, pretty much sent my predictions down the ole dumper. I guess that’s why they play the game instead of calculating the probable outcome on paper. The Giants kids blistered Jeff Weaver for 8 runs on 8 hits in only 2 1/3 innings. That will do bad things to your ERA.
Only 2 Giants starters didn’t get at least one hit and one of them got an RBI, so the entire team contributed to the offensive output. The Giants had fifteen hits on the day. Jason Ellison is now hitting .400 on the spring, Todd Linden .462, Daniel Ortmeier .286, Brian Buscher .300, Nate Schierholtz .500 and Eleizer Alfonzo a ridiculous .750 (with a 1.500 slg %). I would say the kids are more than holding their own. Add to that Mark Sweeney’s .400, Ray Durham’s .400, Steve Finley’s .600, Jose Vizcaino’s .400 and Mike Matheny’s .500 and you can see why the Giants players are grabbing their bats and RUNNING to the batters box these days.
OH…….and the kids pitched pretty well too. Noah Lowry gave up 1 run in 3 innings while striking out 3 Angels and Brad Hennessey gave up 2 runs in his 3 innings, also striking out three. Hennessey was particularly sharp, giving up only one mistake to Erstad, resulting in a 2-run HR in his 3rd inning of work. It seemed like Hennessey was 0-2 to every batter. Benitez, Walker and Munter finished the Angels off with 3 perfect innings. As a matter of fact, the Giants pitchers gave up ZERO walks on the day. A good sign…a very good sign.
Today is a double header for me. Giants vs Padres at 1:00 PM at Peoria, followed by Canada vs South Africa at 7:00 PM in Scottsdale. I don’t know when I will have a chance to post…..but I will try.
A 3-run HR by Mark Sweeney and another 3-run HR by Eleizer Alfonzo, before Weaver got the first out of the game, pretty much sent my predictions down the ole dumper. I guess that’s why they play the game instead of calculating the probable outcome on paper. The Giants kids blistered Jeff Weaver for 8 runs on 8 hits in only 2 1/3 innings. That will do bad things to your ERA.
Only 2 Giants starters didn’t get at least one hit and one of them got an RBI, so the entire team contributed to the offensive output. The Giants had fifteen hits on the day. Jason Ellison is now hitting .400 on the spring, Todd Linden .462, Daniel Ortmeier .286, Brian Buscher .300, Nate Schierholtz .500 and Eleizer Alfonzo a ridiculous .750 (with a 1.500 slg %). I would say the kids are more than holding their own. Add to that Mark Sweeney’s .400, Ray Durham’s .400, Steve Finley’s .600, Jose Vizcaino’s .400 and Mike Matheny’s .500 and you can see why the Giants players are grabbing their bats and RUNNING to the batters box these days.
OH…….and the kids pitched pretty well too. Noah Lowry gave up 1 run in 3 innings while striking out 3 Angels and Brad Hennessey gave up 2 runs in his 3 innings, also striking out three. Hennessey was particularly sharp, giving up only one mistake to Erstad, resulting in a 2-run HR in his 3rd inning of work. It seemed like Hennessey was 0-2 to every batter. Benitez, Walker and Munter finished the Angels off with 3 perfect innings. As a matter of fact, the Giants pitchers gave up ZERO walks on the day. A good sign…a very good sign.
Today is a double header for me. Giants vs Padres at 1:00 PM at Peoria, followed by Canada vs South Africa at 7:00 PM in Scottsdale. I don’t know when I will have a chance to post…..but I will try.
Monday, March 06, 2006
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Giants vs Team USA
Giants vs Team USA seemed to be fun for most of the fans in attendance, but it was actually kind of a snoozer for me. Even though Team USA had 12 hits and 11 runs they were out hit by the split squad version of the Giants, who had 13 hits. Chase Utley had 5 of their 12 hits and they scored 6 of their runs off of AA pitcher Billy Sadler (even though 3 of the runs were charged to Matt Morris) and another 2 runs off of AA pitcher Merkin Valdez. I really expected a lot more fireworks out of that lineup. I know it is their first game as a team, but the WBC tournament starts for real on Tuesday.
Matt Morris pitched perfect 1st & 2nd innings. In the 3rd, he got the first out and then gave up a single and two walks. When he was facing Randy Winn, Morris had a 1-2 count and threw a fastball right down the middle…..for a called ball. Then on a 2-2 count, he threw a perfect curveball that caught the bottom of the strike zone…..and was again called ball three. Then on a 3-2 count, he threw another fastball and Mike Matheny did not move his glove at all……..again, Morris didn’t get the call and Winn walked.
Billy Sadler relieved Morris with the bases loaded and 1 out. Sadler proceeded to give up 2 hits, including a HR to Chipper Jones. Sadler gave up all 3 of Morris’ runs (all earned) as well as 3 runs of his own. All 3 of Sadler’s runs were unearned on another error by Ray Durham. Ray now has 2 errors in the short exhibition season. In addition he had a 3rd mental error in the first game of the spring when Lance Niekro was standing underneath a pop foul, when he was called off by Durham. Durham was unable to make the grab, but it was not scored as an error. I know many fans who heard the game on the radio blamed Niekro for the missed pop up…….but Durham clearly called him off and then couldn’t get to the ball. Not a good defensive spring so far for Ray Ray.
Jamey Wright came in to pitch the 4th inning and practically duplicated Morris’ outing. After 2 scoreless innings, Jamey left 2 men on base with 1 out and was relieved by Jeremy Accardo. Accardo allowed 1 of Wright’s runners to score, but got out of the inning without further damage. Jack Tashner then came on to give up 2 more runs on a 1 out 2 run HR by Chase Utley. Merkin Valdez finished off the game by giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in the 10th inning. The game went 10 innings because Team USA asked the Giants for a 10 inning game to provide extra work for the Team USA players.
As far as Team USA goes, Clemens pitched 2 good innings, giving up 2 hits and no runs while collecting 3 strikeouts. All Leiter was terrible, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits in his one inning of work. Todd Jones also did not pitch well, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits in 2/3 of an inning. I was more than a little surprised that the Giants lineup of mostly single A and AA players would get 13 hits off mighty Team USA.
The Giants reached deeper into their farm system in this game than they have in quite awhile. Even though the Giants had a total of 69 players invited to camp, they played at least 2 players who they pulled from the Minor League camp; Tyler Von Schell and Julio Cordido. In addition to that; Clay Timpner, Abraham Nunez, Angel Chavez, Derin McMains, Jake Wald, Eliezer Alfonzo, Fred Lewis, Adam Shabala and Nate Schierholtz all had considerable playing time in the game. Lewis and Shabala started in the game and played the entire way. Honestly, I love our kids…….but I really thought Team USA should have run away with this game. The fact that a team of All-Stars would be out hit by the lineup the Giants threw out there does not bode well for the USA in the WBC tourney.
At any rate….the good news is that the Giants kids (and veterans) fared surprisingly well against Team USA. The bad news was that Team USA did not show the depth of pitching or hitting that I expected from them. Take away a couple of terrible pitches by Billy Sadler, a couple of margin ball calls by the umpires and Ray Durham’s error…….and Team USA would have been beaten in this game……by a VERY young Giants team who played only 2 projected starters and very few players from the projected 25-man roster. All in all a very mixed bag of good & bad news, depending on whether you are looking at it as a Giants fan or as a fan of Team USA.
Tomorrow will be the Giants vs the Angels in Scottsdale. This will be the Giants last home game until Sunday, after the first round of WBC competition is over. It will be interesting to see if Barry Bonds will play in any of the away games over the next several days or if he will wait until the Giants return home in almost a week. It will be equally interesting to see if Team USA can play better than they did against the Giants kids today. If not…this could be very embarrassing for the home fans.
Matt Morris pitched perfect 1st & 2nd innings. In the 3rd, he got the first out and then gave up a single and two walks. When he was facing Randy Winn, Morris had a 1-2 count and threw a fastball right down the middle…..for a called ball. Then on a 2-2 count, he threw a perfect curveball that caught the bottom of the strike zone…..and was again called ball three. Then on a 3-2 count, he threw another fastball and Mike Matheny did not move his glove at all……..again, Morris didn’t get the call and Winn walked.
Billy Sadler relieved Morris with the bases loaded and 1 out. Sadler proceeded to give up 2 hits, including a HR to Chipper Jones. Sadler gave up all 3 of Morris’ runs (all earned) as well as 3 runs of his own. All 3 of Sadler’s runs were unearned on another error by Ray Durham. Ray now has 2 errors in the short exhibition season. In addition he had a 3rd mental error in the first game of the spring when Lance Niekro was standing underneath a pop foul, when he was called off by Durham. Durham was unable to make the grab, but it was not scored as an error. I know many fans who heard the game on the radio blamed Niekro for the missed pop up…….but Durham clearly called him off and then couldn’t get to the ball. Not a good defensive spring so far for Ray Ray.
Jamey Wright came in to pitch the 4th inning and practically duplicated Morris’ outing. After 2 scoreless innings, Jamey left 2 men on base with 1 out and was relieved by Jeremy Accardo. Accardo allowed 1 of Wright’s runners to score, but got out of the inning without further damage. Jack Tashner then came on to give up 2 more runs on a 1 out 2 run HR by Chase Utley. Merkin Valdez finished off the game by giving up 2 runs on 3 hits in the 10th inning. The game went 10 innings because Team USA asked the Giants for a 10 inning game to provide extra work for the Team USA players.
As far as Team USA goes, Clemens pitched 2 good innings, giving up 2 hits and no runs while collecting 3 strikeouts. All Leiter was terrible, giving up 4 runs on 5 hits in his one inning of work. Todd Jones also did not pitch well, giving up 2 runs on 2 hits in 2/3 of an inning. I was more than a little surprised that the Giants lineup of mostly single A and AA players would get 13 hits off mighty Team USA.
The Giants reached deeper into their farm system in this game than they have in quite awhile. Even though the Giants had a total of 69 players invited to camp, they played at least 2 players who they pulled from the Minor League camp; Tyler Von Schell and Julio Cordido. In addition to that; Clay Timpner, Abraham Nunez, Angel Chavez, Derin McMains, Jake Wald, Eliezer Alfonzo, Fred Lewis, Adam Shabala and Nate Schierholtz all had considerable playing time in the game. Lewis and Shabala started in the game and played the entire way. Honestly, I love our kids…….but I really thought Team USA should have run away with this game. The fact that a team of All-Stars would be out hit by the lineup the Giants threw out there does not bode well for the USA in the WBC tourney.
At any rate….the good news is that the Giants kids (and veterans) fared surprisingly well against Team USA. The bad news was that Team USA did not show the depth of pitching or hitting that I expected from them. Take away a couple of terrible pitches by Billy Sadler, a couple of margin ball calls by the umpires and Ray Durham’s error…….and Team USA would have been beaten in this game……by a VERY young Giants team who played only 2 projected starters and very few players from the projected 25-man roster. All in all a very mixed bag of good & bad news, depending on whether you are looking at it as a Giants fan or as a fan of Team USA.
Tomorrow will be the Giants vs the Angels in Scottsdale. This will be the Giants last home game until Sunday, after the first round of WBC competition is over. It will be interesting to see if Barry Bonds will play in any of the away games over the next several days or if he will wait until the Giants return home in almost a week. It will be equally interesting to see if Team USA can play better than they did against the Giants kids today. If not…this could be very embarrassing for the home fans.
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