SF Giants Game 11

Hi again. Guess who's back? Back again. JC's back. Tell a friend. Feel free to laugh at me, I'm fully aware of how goofy I can be. 

I don't think I could've physically gone to the game again tonight. I'm still tired from the last three days. Six Bart rides, six Muni rides, and countless indulgences the last three days really tired me out. Of course, even before the game started, I was already missing AT&T Park. Seriously, how do you not love this place?

I meant to take note of the things I wanted to write about tonight, but I had work I needed to do this evening (yes, on a Friday night) and then I bonked my head SUPER hard on my cupboard, so I'm a little "special" right now. Bear, or should I say Baer, with me.

First of all, if you haven't read Hunter Pence's blog filling in for the Brandons, you definitely need to. He is so damn funny. It also explains why Giants fans on twitter are going Brandon crazy. Enjoy this gem, because Together, We Are Brandon: http://brandon.mlblogs.com/2014/04/10/another-pinch-blogger-hunter-pence/. 

I was confident in Madison Bumgarner tonight. I thought he'd pitch well and stop the bleeding from the last couple nights. He wasn't at his best, but hitting a GRAND SLAM and ending your night with FIVE RBIs as the starting pitcher is pretty fan-fucking-tastic. 

We didn't get off to the best start, and that weird freebie run the Colorado Rockies scored when Josh Rutledge got caught stealing irritated me. Plus, the Rox got a lot of pitches out of MadBum in the first inning. It didn't take Jorge De La Rosa nearly as long to get out the Giants hitters, and before we knew it, MadBum was back on the mound. 

After an uneventful 2nd inning, Carlos Gonzalez hit a two-run home run to increase their lead to 3-0 in the 3rd. Admittedly, a small part of me was feeling negative and thought - great, here we go again! Thankfully, Brandon Crawford hit a triple to right field, and then the Game 11 MVP MadBum barely missed a home run in his first at bat but instead drove in the Giants first run of the game with a very long and well hit sac fly to CarGo.

His hair may always look wet, but we love him nonetheless.
 
The Giants half of the 4th inning was where all the magic happened. Pablo Sandoval singled, followed by Michael Morse's walk. Hector Sanchez flied out and Brandon Belt struck out before Brandon Hicks was hit by a pitch to load the bases with two outs. BCraw was walked on four straight pitches, bringing the score to 3-2. With MadBum walking up to bat, I tweeted this. I was kidding, mostly, but also partially hopeful that my wish would come true. https://twitter.com/JCSaturday/status/454826464068644864

On the first pitch he saw, our MadBum crushed a fast ball from De La Rosa over the left field wall. No doubt about it at all. The best part was there was no conceited strut around the bases, no show boating whatsoever, just a cool, calm and collected snot rocket on the way to the dugout as his teammates celebrated him. I could watch it over and over again. ICYMI, here you go:
http://m.mlb.com/video/v32004859/colsf-bumgarner-launches-a-grand-slam-to-left-field.

Side note: the last Giants pitcher to hit a grand slam was Shawn Estes in 2000. I distinctly remember that game because it was the day before my birthday and I like to think it was a birthday present for me. Ha. I LOVE HIM, in case you were unaware.

The Giants didn't score again, but there were some fun moments:
- Hunter Pence legging out a double and challenging CarGo's arm was hilarious. He swung so hard at the pitch that he fell over, got up, and still made it to second easily. He also tagged up on Sandoval's fly ball out, and showed off his speed once again. He was stranded on 3rd base though and looked pissed that he didn't score.
- Worth mentioning that former Giants prospect and hottie Charlie Culberson got a double and RBI off MadBum. Remember him? YUM.

- Glad to see Brandon Belt double in the 6th. He seemed frustrated during his previous at bats. Side note: I love that tonight's batting order featured Brandon Cubed - Belt, Hicks, Crawford.
- MadBum lasted six innings and was lifted for a pinch hitter in bottom of the 6th. Not his best pitching effort since he quickly hit 100+ pitches, but he definitely carried the team tonight. 
- There were many great defensive plays that helped keep the Rockies from scoring. After last night's awful errors that lead to defeat, it was nice to see a change tonight. Having said that though, the defense also had some very sloppy moments that the coaching staff needs to address and fix right away. 
- I was worried about our offense without both Buster Posey and Angel Pagan in the lineup, but MadBum more than made up for their absence. Worth mentioning that Bumgarner now has more RBIs than Pence and Sandoval. P.S. This photo cracks me up every time. Baby Brandon is so sassy. 

Last but not least, Sergio Romo was still fighting off a nasty flu bug. Regardless of his ailment, the umpires gifted him with a generous strike zone and he struck out the side looking. Troy Tulowitski was especially annoyed at his game ending caught looking strikeout. Neener neeer, Tulo. That's what's up!

I'm going to sleep cuddling stuffed Posey and my Pence bobble head. JK ;)  Good night!

xoxo,
JC