In Barry Zito's fifth 2nd half start, he once again pitched a quality start. Giants starters have now tossed 11 quality starts in their last 13 games; Zito's line: 7 innings, 2 ER, 2 HR, 2 BB, 10 K. Giants fans should come to expect performances like this down the stretch, as Zito has proven to be a 2nd half pitcher over his career. The Giants' offense was quiet, as should have been expected against Tommy Hanson. Torres and Burrell, however, each managed 2 hits; Torres showed how valuable he is to this team by singling to center, stealing second, stealing third, and scoring on a groundout. With the Giants losing 2-1 in the top of the 9th, luck came their way. Buster Posey reached on an error after Huff was hit by a pitch, and Uribe advanced Huff to third with a flyout. Then, Chipper Jones pulled a Bill Buckner on a groundball by Pablo Sandoval to third, with Huff scoring on the play. With a 2-2 game, Giants relievers managed to keep the Braves scoreless and in the 11th, after a trio of walks by Peter Moylan, Pat Burrell hit a sac fly to give the Giants the 3-2 lead. Wilson came in, shut the door, and secured the win for the Giants. Kudos to the bullpen for great work tonight: Chris Ray, Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez, and Brian Wilson combined to shut down the Braves for 4 innings, allowing just 2 baserunners and striking out 5.
Notes:
- Buster Posey is 0 for 8 in this Atlanta series. He'll bounce back eventually: he's only struck out once in this series, so he's not exactly having trouble seeing the ball. Heyward was 0 for 5 on Friday night.
- The Giants have hit 0 HRs in this series, while the Braves have hit 4. This will be key going forward as the Giants have not been able to manufacture without home runs. They are 19-26 on the year in games in which they don't hit a home run.
- Pablo Sandoval was 0 for 4, but he did have 2 walks (1 intentional) and an RBI. And zero strikeouts. I'm still optimistic about his performance down the stretch.
- You might see Aaron Rowand in the lineup tomorrow. He's 8 for 18 in his career against Tim Hudson. Collectively, the Giants are hitting .252 against Hudson in 103 AB with 1 HR and 12 strikeouts.
- Pat Burrell once again contributed greatly to the Giants victory, reaching base 5 times on 2 hits and 3 walks (1 intentional), and also coming through with the winning RBI on a sacrifice fly. His plate discipline and power (7 HRs in 129 ABs with the Giants) have been valuable. I don't think we'll be forgetting about this any time soon:
In the news...
Giants Press Release: "Buster Posey of the San Francisco Giants was selected by fans in an online vote as the winner of the "Major League Baseball Clutch Performer of the Month Award Presented by Pepsi" for July, it was announced today. The award recognizes the player who performed his best when the game was on the line. [...] Posey hit .417 (43-for-103) with six doubles, a triple, seven home runs and 24 RBI for the N.L. Wild Card-leading San Francisco Giants during the month of July."
Here's a video of his clutch performance
