Torture Ball is back. Madison Bumgarner’s gem was nearly undone by a near meltdown by the nearly injured Brian Wilson, who hurt his (Oblique? Ankle? Elbow?) before finishing the ninth in the most cringe-inducing fashion. You know it’s a bad inning when Jason Giambi accidently singles to load the bases.
Bottom line: Quality bounce back game from Bumgarner. He wasn’t leaving pitches up and was inducing ground balls at a Derek Loweian rate. This is the Bumgarner of the World Series, this is the Bumgarner of 2011.
The Giants continue to score runs. Melky Cabrera continues to drive in runs from the 2-hole, making Giants fans all but forget about Freddy Sanchez. I won’t forget you Freddy. With Melky-Panda-Posey, the Giants lineup isn’t imposing, but soft-tossers can’t coast through the lineup like seasons past.
Brandon Watch 2012:
-Belt: Milk Carton Status. If you have seen Brandon Belt or any of his last known associates, contact the Denver PD. Bochy should be finding ways to give Belt Abs, but instead finds reasons to NOT play him. Oh, Pill hasn’t started yet. Benched. Let’s get Nate in there. Benched. Brian Dallimore hasn’t played in a while. Benched.
-Crawford: 4 for his last 8, Probably not stoked to be leaving the spacious Coors Field. He could hit .250. Oh my God Crawford could hit .250.
Emmanuel Burriss replaced Ryan Theriot in the 8th inning for defensive purposes. I will now replace myself at GiantsPod with Charles Barkley for grammar purposes.
Stats of the Day:
5: The number of innings pitched by Bumgarner before giving up a run
4: The least number of runs scored by the Giants in any game this season
3: The number of times the Giants have scored exactly four runs, apparently the magic number
2: The number of pitches thrown by Javier Lopez, LOOGY to the max
1: The number of series won by the Giants this season, which is one more than yesterday