Bye, bye baby.
Coming into the series the Giants had a season total of 31 home runs, good enough for 29th in the league. 30Th? The Padres, of course, with 30. So color me surprised when the Giants go to Petco and score 5,6, and 8 runs on 13, 11, 15 hits, respectively. And a diminutive non-roster spring training invitee who had two home runs in 836 career plate appearances has two in the series, now three on the season.
Brian Sabean’s 2012 hits:
-Melky Cabrera trade
-Angel Pagan trade
-Gregor Blanco signing
-Clay Hensley signing (sorry I love Every Day Clay)
-Cain’s extension
Brian Sabean’s 2012 misses:
-Counting on Freddy Sanchez
-Manny Burriss’ continued existence
Considering both of his misses are pretty much the same mistake, it’s been a really good season to be Brian Sabean. Exclude all the ancient mistakes the Giants are still paying for (Zito, Rowand, Huff) and in a few years the Giants front office can stop getting bashed by FanGraphs. I continue to believe the Giants have their problems in the front office: overreactions to career years, veteranophelia, and the apparent lack of advanced metric-icians. But this year, everything seems to be coming up country gravy.
**
I sure do hate it when the Giants make an error behind Matt Cain, who just got his career record back to .500. But when the Giants have a complete meltdown behind their most tortured pitcher, there aren’t enough things for me to throw at my television. Fortunately for me, today, my television is older and weighs more than Ryan Theriot.
But Matt Cain looks adversity in the teeth and throws a flaming fastball through it. Nobody has a hit against Cain with runners in scoring position since the Dust Bowl, and he’s not sorry.
Brandon Watch:
-Belt: RBI single in the 9th. RBI double to the outfield wall earlier with the game still in doubt. A glimpse of power. Though the Giants media still waits for a Brandon Belt home run like TMZ waits for a Lindsay Lohan nip slip.
-Crawford: Absolutely dazzling with the glove in the last few weeks. Going forward, I’m no longer going to mention Crawford’s AVG/OBP/SLG or anything with a “w†before it or a “+†behind it. The way this team is constructed, it just doesn’t matter. As long as the glove holds up.
Stats of the Day:
-3.00: The Giants defense’s ERA today
-0.00: Matt Cain’s ERA today