Giants vs Angels @ AT & T Park - March 30th, 2006

Before I get into last night’s game, I would like to just write a little note about the Giants final game in Arizona, a 12-0 shellacking of the A’s. Jason Schmidt looks to be his old self. His fastball seems to have more life than last year and his off-speed stuff, particularly the changeup, is just getting hitters WAY out in front. The only time Schmidt even remotely got in trouble was when he gave up a hit and a walk in the same inning. Other than that, the A’s never threatened. The only thing that concerns me (you always have to have some concern) is that Schmidt only struck out 1 batter in the game. He took several batters to a 2 strike count, but usually the at bat resulted in a popup or a groundball out. As I said…….to my eye, the fastball seems to be back to the mid-90’s range…….but with the lack of strikeouts, I will be interested to see what the gun reads the first time he pitches in a park that displays the pitch speed.

The offense in the A’s game was just superb. Seven HRs from 7 different players, including both veterans and youngsters was very good to see. I must say though that there was a very strong wind blowing directly out to LF…….Omar Vizquels HR, at the very least, would never have made it to the warning track on any other day. As it was, the ball made it over the wall by just inches. Another 17 hit day, where 11 Giants got base hits, off of some very good A’s pitchers was also good to see. Since I left early to get to the airport to catch a plane, I didn’t get to see the 9^th inning. But the 4 runs on 6 hits (including 2 HRs) off of A’s phenom closer, Houston Street, must have been a thing of beauty. A VERY nice ending to my 6 weeks in Arizona.

I returned to the Bay Area on Wednesday evening. When the Giants break camp and head to San Francisco………I break camp and head to San Francisco.

Last night’s game, against the Angels, was not the most enjoyable game I have been to. It was chilly and threatening rain pretty much all night. The rain finally came in torrents, with 1 out in the 6^th inning, causing an immediate end to the game. The Angels were playing with a split squad and the Giants fielded a team that LOOKED like it was a split squad. I am sure that Felipe Alou didn’t want many of his veterans to risk a late spring injury on the wet field. At any rate, the Giants fielded a team that looked a lot like the lineups they used in early spring when 4 starters were off playing in the WBC. Personally, I think they should stay in Arizona longer and take advantage of the better weather……..but since they wouldn’t be able to take advantage of 20,000 season ticket holders paying regular season prices to see the Fresno Grizzlies play…..I am sure that won’t happen any time soon.

The Giants lost 1-0 as it looked like most players from both teams looked like they would rather be anyplace else in the world than at the ballpark. The Giants managed only 2 hits off of Angel’s starter Jared (the other) Weaver, as the offense never got untracked. Matt Morris pitched a very good game, giving up 1 unearned run on 4 hits, no walks and 3 strikeouts. The unearned run came on a fly ball down the RF line that Abraham Nunez got to, but then dropped the ball after it hit in his glove. It looked like Nunez was more concerned with his footing than in watching the ball all the way into his glove, which was understandable with the wet turf. The run scored on a 27 hop ground ball that just made it out of the infield past a diving Kevin Frandsen. Morris really only gave up one hard hit base hit, a double in the 4^th inning by Angel’s DH Mike Napoli (a AA player last year).

When the rains finally came, those of us who were prepared let out a huge cheer. It may have sounded strange on the radio, but it is actually kind of fun when the team is playing in the pouring rain and you are staying dry because you thought to bring the proper rain gear and the fans who were unprepared are scampering for the sheltered areas of the park. But we knew the game would soon be called. After Jeremy Accardo got 1 out in the top of the 6^th, the umpires stopped play and very soon thereafter the game was called. As a note, lost in the hoopla about who will be the 5^th starter and how Benitez, Walker, Hennessey and Correia are doing, is the little known fact that Jeremy Accardo has a 1.42 ERA this spring, giving up only 1 run in 5 appearances.

So it was a rain shortened night at the ballpark. Not exactly what I had hoped for on my first game back in the Bay Area. With rain predicted for the entire weekend…..this may not be the last rain shortened game before the regular season starts. Tonight is the Giants vs the A’s with Noah Lowry on the mound. I would hope to see more regulars on the field tonight, but with the rain…….I wouldn’t bet on it.

Giants vs Royals - March 27th, 2006

Well, as encouraging as the pitching was the day before…..…it was downright depressing in yesterday’s 15-6 loss to the Royals. The Royals hit early and often in yesterday’s game, amassing a total of 18 hits.

Matt Cain started the game and although he pitched better than he did the last time out (when he gave up 8 runs) he didn’t do that much better. Matt went a total of 5 1/3 innings and gave up 8 hits (including 2 doubles and 2 triples), 3 walks, 5 runs and registered 3 strikeouts. As with most poor pitching performances, the problem was location, location, location. Cain was unable to hit his spots and fell behind in the count often. When he threw a “get it in” strike, the Royals blasted it. Cain was relieved by Jack Taschner who, as opposed to the day before, was a pitching bright spot. Jack came into the game with a runner on 3B with 1 out after Cain gave up his 2nd triple of the day. Jack struck out both batters he faced to strand the runner on third.

Armando Benitez came on to pitch the next 1 1/3 innings and was just horrid. He really was bad…..but not as bad as his 10 runs on 9 hits, a walk and a HR would indicate. The first hit Benitez gave up was a broken bat blooper, followed by another blooper….then after the first 2 lucky hits he started getting hit hard. In his second inning of work, he looked like he was pissed off and was throwing the ball harder than I had seen him throw as a Giant. The good news was that he induced what should have been an inning ending double play which would have led to a scoreless 2nd inning of work. The bad news was that Angel Chavez threw the ball away and didn’t even get 1 out. That led to yet another 5 run inning for Benitez. Benitez just started grooving the ball after the botched DP. Only 1 run was unearned because of Angel’s error, since the scorer can’t presume a double play…….but in reality the error allowed all 5 of Benitez’ runs in that inning. I am not making excuses for Benitez as he threw way too many pitches over the heart of the plate that were hit hard, but his disastrous 1 1/3 innings were not entirely his fault.

Steve Kline came on to relieve Benitez with 1 out in the 8th. After giving up another bloop single to allow the last of Benitez’ runs to score, Kline got the next 2 batters out to mercifully end the inning. Merkin Valdez finished the game off, pitching a no hit 9th inning. Unfortunately, while he gave up no hits and struck out one, Merkin walked 2 batters in his inning of work. Merkin’s stuff may be “electric” but all too often he has no idea of where it is going once the ball leaves his hand.

Offensively, the Giants had 14 hits of their own and scored runs off of all 3 of the Royals pitchers. Moises Alou was the only starter to not get on base and he and Jose Vizcaino were the only starters to not get a hit. Randy Winn was 3 for 4 with a double, a RBI and a run scored. The Giants had SIX doubles in the game. I am still not sure how they had 14 hits with 6 of them being doubles and only scored 6 runs. Lance Niekro was the only other Giant to have multiple hits, going 2 for 3 also with a double and striking out once.

After the starters left the game, the replacements hit pretty well too. Kevin Frandsen, Jason Ellison, Angel Chavez and Jed Hansen all went 1 for 1, with Frandsen and Ellison chalking up an RBI each with their hits. In a shocking development, Frandsen DID NOT get a double today. I can’t remember the last time that happened. Abraham Nunez also went 1 for 2, while Daniel Ortmeier, Todd Greene, Eliezer Alfonzo and Todd Linden were hitless in 1 AB each. Mark Sweeney was 0 for 2.

I can’t believe that yesterday was the final game of the spring at Scottsdale Stadium. Seems like just yesterday that I went to the stadium to see the first practice session. I have now been to 25 games and will headed back to San Francisco tomorrow evening after the A’s game at Phoenix Muni. Six weeks gone already. Time flies when you are having fun.

I won’t be taking the 4 hour roundtrip drive to Tucson today. It has been drizzling all morning and we have a lot of cleaning and laundry to do before heading back tomorrow. I seem to always find a reason not to make the drive to Tucson…….but as my wife says……we have seen enough baseball. I will probably post a few photos later in the day, but I probably won’t be able to post my final review (of the A’s vs Giants) until I am back in San Francisco on Thursday.

Giants at Padres - March 26th, 2006

I am finally back on-line. I am afraid that, this being the last weekend of Spring Training, I have been partying all weekend and just didn’t have the time to update my blog. I think most people are getting a little tired of Spring Training games anyway. I know the daily readership of the blog has been dropping pretty steadily since the first week or so of games.

At any rate…..the Giants lost to the Padres yesterday at Peoria Sports Complex. I can’t remember the last time the Giants won a road game this spring……of course I also can’t remember the last time the Giants brought more than 2 starters to an away game. It’s kind of funny because many of the Padres fans asked where Barry Bonds was, and spoke derogatorily of him not being present. When I pointed out that the Giants only brought 2 starters to the game and only 2 or 3 other players that had a chance to make the 25 man roster…….they had no idea. They know when Bonds is missing…….but they are clueless that Alou, Finley, Winn, Durham and Visquel are also not present. It is truly a love/hate relationship…..the say they don’t like Bonds……but their biggest disappointment of the spring is attending a Giants game where he doesn’t play.

Yesterday the starters that made the trip to Peoria were Lance Niekro and Pedro Feliz……and the two of them accounted for all 5 of the Giants’ runs. Feliz with a solo HR in the 5th inning and Niekro with a 2 run HR and a double plus two additional RBIs. Feliz’ HR was his only hit of the game, but his 1 for 3 performance raised his spring average to .294. Niekro’s 2 for 3 performance raised his spring average to .386. Niekro also leads the Giants with 18 RBI, even though he missed almost a week with shin splints.

The only other offensive star of the game was Kevin Frandsen (again). Kevin went 3 for 4 with not just his daily double….but with 2 doubles and 2 runs scored. After a 0 for 12 start, Frandsen now has his average up to .385. Those of you, who have been reading my stuff for more than this year, know that I said last year in Spring Training that Frandsen reminds me of Robby Thompson. I caught a little flak for that comparison, but now I am hearing a lot of people saying the same thing. The only other hits in the game came from Angel Chavez (a double) and Clay Timpner (a single). Timpner actually started the game in CF and had a couple of good running catches. By the 6th inning the Giants had Chad Santos at 1B, Jed Hansen at 3B, John Bowker in LF, Brian Horwitz in RF and the scoring was over for them. Yeah…….I didn’t know who Jed Hansen was either. The media guide says he is a 33 year old Minor League journeyman who the Giants picked up in May of last year as a warm body for AAA Fresno. This guy was in the Majors in 1997, 1998 and 1999 with the Royals and hasn’t made it back yet. Talk about perseverance.

Noah Lowry started the game and had his best game of the spring. He threw 5 shutout innings before running into trouble in the 6th. Noah ended up pitching 5 2/3 innings, giving up 3 hits, 2 walks and 2 runs. Through 5 innings he was spotting his fastball well and both the change and the curve were working well as evidenced by his 5 strikeouts. He lost his location in the 6th, but when he left the game, only 1 run had scored. Scott Munter allowed Noah’s 2nd run to score when he allowed an uncharacteristic RBI double instead of his usual groundball. Munter only went 1/3 of an inning and got the out on the very next batter.

Tyler Walker followed Munter and had one of his better appearances of the spring with a 1-2-3 7th inning. Jack Tashner followed and had just a disastrous outing, picking up the loss in the process. Jack had only given up 2 runs the entire spring before giving up 4 runs on 3 hits (2 of them HRs) and 1 walk in only 1/3 of an inning. Jack’s pitches had nothing on them. I don’t know if he has hit a dead arm period or what, but his pitches just did not have their usual life. Tim Worrell relieved Taschner and allowed no runs on 1 hit and 1 strikeout.

Even though this was another loss for the Giants, there were a lot of good things happening. The pitching was very good, except for Taschner’s melt down. Even though the Giants played mostly very young players, it took the Padres until their last AB to beat them. The two starters that did play in the game brought a ton of offense to the game and Lance Niekro in particular continues to justify the Giants’ trust in him in naming him as the starting firstbaseman. You hate a late inning loss, even in Spring Training, but given the circumstances, and who played (or more accurately who DIDN’T play), it was a good game.

Today is the Giants vs the Royals at Scottsdale. Showers are again in the forecast (even though the temperature is about 74 as I type this) so I probably won’t take my camera to the game. I would think that the Giants would play mostly starters today with Matt Cain taking the mound. It will be interesting to see how Cain reacts after he last, very poor, outing.

Because of the location of my seats.....yesterday was closeup day with the camera.

Pablo Sandoval replaced Pedro Feliz at 3B. He went hitless in his only AB.

Scott Munter was the final Giants pitcher. He went 1 inning, giving up no hits and no walks while striking out 1. Munter's only baserunner was on a groundball to Jake Wald at SS that jake booted for an error. Munter lowered hi spring ERA to 1.42 and is still throwing nothing but groundballs.

Clay Timpner contemplates his upcoming AB while watching Dan Ortmeier at the plate. Clay was 0 for 1 with a strikeout. Ortmeier was 0 for 2 with an RBI on a groundout.

Tyler Walker was the 3rd pitcher of the day and had one of his better outings. 1 perfect inning with 1 strikeout. He reduced his ERA to 9.53. His new "grey beard" look makes him look as old as Fassero.

It may not be Milwaukee.....but they still have the Sausage races. Gametime temperature in Maryvale......75 degrees........gametime temperature in Milwaukee.....39 degrees. OH......and for those of you placing bets.....the All-American Hot Dog won the race.

Derin McMains takes a BIG swing. Looks like a good way to turn an ankle doesn't it?

Derin McMains replaced Frandsen at 2B. Good day at the plate going 1 for 1 with a triple. Bad day in the field when he bobbled a ground ball, panicked and threw the ball into the dirt in front of 1B....even though he was only about 30 feet from Tyler Von Schell. Does this kid look like he is 12 or is it just me?

Jeff Fassero was the second pitcher of the game. He threw 1 2/3 innings giving up only 1 unearned run (due to a McMains throwing error) on 1 hit and 2 strikeouts. The old man has a 1.86 ERA for the spring. Not bad for a guy with that much grey hair.

Todd Linden heads back to the dugout after yet another out. Linden went 0 for 2 with a walk, a strikeout and a run scored.

Todd Greene started at C. Good thing he is short..makes it easy to get out of the way at pitches heading straight for your head. Todd went 1 for 2 with a strikeout.

Randy Winn was one of the 3 starters that the Giants brought to Maryvale. Winn went 0 for 3 dropping his spring average to .154.

Firstbaseman Lance Niekro got his first playing time in 4 or 5 games due to shin splints. He looked a little rusty going 0 for 3 in the game.

Kevin Frandsen got the start at 2B - He responded with a 1 for 3 day at the plate. Frandsen got yet another double.....seems like he does that every game. He is now batting .348 on the spring after a 0-12 start. I love this kid!

Pedro Feliz at 3B - 1 for 3 at the plate but with a costly error in the first inning that allowed 2 unearned runs and set the tone for Hennessey's outing.

Starting P - Brad Hennessey - Bad day for Brad that was not helped by the defense behind him. 4 1/3 innings pitched; 6 runs (4 earned) on 9 hits, 3 walks and 1 strikeout.

Starting SS - Angel Chavez - 1 for 4 with a RBI