Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Giants Lose Opener in Philadelphia: The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly

Burrell homers in his first AB against former team
The Giants' playoff hopes are starting to fade away. They lost to the Phillies 9-3 thanks to an 8th inning meltdown (5 Phillies scored), and along with it, they lost their lead in the NL Wild Card. They now stand 1.0 GB in the NL Wild Card, and an almost insurmountable 5.0 GB in the NL West.


The Good:

  • Buster Posey hits well in the 2-hole. He's now 5 for 8 when batting second in the order. The combination of Torres and Posey in the first and second slots in the order will lead to a lot of first inning rallies like the one they started today.
  • Jose Guillen's day at the plate. He was the most productive Giant on Tuesday, going 2 for 4 with a HR.
  • Pat Burrell's first AB in his return to Philadelphia: a solo HR.

The Bad:
  • A double play killed yet another rally: In the first inning, with runners on the corners, Aubrey Huff grounded into a double play. Pat Burrell would then come up and hit a 2-out solo home run. It could have been a different inning had Huff not GIDP (grounded into a double play...).
  • The Giants' 8th inning meltdown. Chris Ray gave up a walk and 3 hits and did not record a single out.
  • The icing on the cake in the 8th inning meltdown: I actually can't decide if it was the Ramon Ramirez balk that allowed the eighth run to score, or the Mike Fontenot error that allowed the ninth run to score.

The Ugly:
  • If there's any proof that batter vs. pitcher statistics are meaningless, it's Juan Uribe. He took ownage vs. Oswalt into today's match (6 for 13, 1 HR), but ended up striking out three times.
  • These 9 runs allowed were without Ryan Howard in the lineup...
  • Giants' future: 2 more games against Philadelphia, then a 3-game series in St. Louis and a 3-game series against Cincinnati. They will be playing their 3 main wild card threats, and at the rate they are playing, their future looks bleak.
  • Running statistic: Giants' runs allowed per game with Guillen in the starting lineup - 8.5, record with Guillen in starting lineup: 0-2