Hi there! It's been a while...miss me? I've missed you. I've also missed the Giants. I hate Thursday off days. The only positive is that it gives me a chance to catch up on the shows I wanted to watch (Survivor & The Mindy Project). A little about me - it's been a very busy week at work. Like, crazy busy. I've also gone bridesmaid dress shopping, had sushi twice, went on a hike at Bishop Ranch, and spent a lot of time at the gym. My trip to Peru is coming up, so I'll be busy working out. That means few chances to live tweet the game and even less time to write :( I'm going to keep up with my blog though because it's become a source of relaxation for me.
Anyway...I'm excited to be back at AT&T Park tonight, tomorrow, and Sunday. Yes, I'm doing another three-game series. I love it. Also, my friend Chris is in town visiting and I'll be meeting up with my favorite Giants friends/fans, so this weekend will be a blast!
Aren't you glad I'm done writing about myself? ;) Let's relieve that stressful and demoralizing series with a happy ending, shall we?
Game 20 - Vogelsong
This game sucked. Vogelsong was not effective at all, and even admitted post game that he was embarrassed by his performance. I feel bad for him. This picture says it all.
Here are some lowlights from the 8-2 loss:
- Vogey lasted only 1 1/3 innings, allowing five runs on three home runs.
- Charlie Blackmon hit two of the five total home runs for the Rockies. All eight of their runs were scored via home run.
- The Rockies sent nine men to the plate in the first inning. It was just awful from the beginning. Nolan Arenado and Wilin Rosario both hit home runs in the 1st, giving the Rockies a 4-0 lead. Blackmon led off the 2nd inning with a home run.
- From Owen Perkins at mlb.com: It was Vogelsong's shortest outing in 82 starts as a Giant and the shortest start by any National League pitcher this season.
- David Huff came in to relieve Vogey and promptly got a double play to end the 2nd inning. He also had his first AB in the majors and made it safely to first, beating out the throw. Unfortunately, he hurt himself in the process. He stayed on base and scored his first run when Buster Posey GIDP but didn't pitch in the bottom of the 3rd. More suckage.
- Yusmeiro Petit replaced Huff in the 3rd. After Rosario singled, Corey Dickerson hit a two-run home run. DJ LeMahieu doubled, but the Petit settled down and got the next three batters out. He also led of the 5th inning and it was funny to watch.
- In the 5th, Hunter Pence had a ground rule double that potentially kept Angel Pagan from scoring. With Pence and Pagan on 2nd and 3rd, both Posey and Michael Morse couldn't get them home.
- In the 7th, Pagan struck out on a called strike and argued with the ump. According to Bruce Bochy, he was going to be pulled for Gregor Blanco to rest anyway, so he let Pagan argue longer and "get his money's worth." Gotta love Boch!
- Jean Machi replaced Petit in the 7th. Juan Gutierrez came in to pitch in the 8th and Blackmon hit his 2nd home run off him.
- Brandon Belt singled in the 9th, and following a wild pitch and a passed ball, Belt was on third with no outs. Brandon Hicks/Crawford both made outs, and Belt eventually scored. On a error. Oy vey.
- The Giants were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
Game 21 - Bumgarner
Ugh, this game. Madison Bumgarner deserved so much better than this, but his teammates failed him. The Giants lost 2-1, despite Bumgarner going the distance against Franklin Morales in this great pitchers duel. All three runs were scored via solo home runs. Notable details and tidbits on this game:
- MadBum had an eight inning complete game. He struck out six, only allowed two runs, and only threw 97 pitches. He's also the 2nd pitcher in the history of Coors Field who has pitched a complete game, allowed two or less runs, and got the loss.
- In his last two starts, Bumgarner has gotten one run from his teammates. ONE.
- Troy Tulowitski hit a solo home run in the 4th, breaking the scoreless tie. Rosario and Justin Morneau both singled. Drew Stubbs GIDP and then MadBum intentionally walked LeMahieu. Belt committed an error, but no other runs were scored.
- Pence hit his own solo homer in the 5th with two outs to tie the game. It's only his 2nd HR of the season.
- Arenado put the Rockies ahead in the 6th with a solo home run. He has a 13 game hitting streak.
- Bumgarner was strong in the 7th and 8th, quickly getting out of both of those innings. He also doubled with two outs in the 7th, but then Pagan struck out.
- In the 8th, Pence singled, Posey struck out, and then Morse singled. Useless Pablo Sandoval then GIDP. Like I said in a previous post, my patience for his struggles is at an all-time low.
- Last chance in the 9th for the Giants to at least tie it up for MadBum. After Belt ground out, Crawford walked, followed by a single from Blanco. Hector Sanchez struck out, and then Pagan grounded out. Game over :(
- The Giants are now 3-for-40 with RISP. It's getting really sad, you guys.
Game 22 - Cain
This game was pure bipolar baseball, down to the last outs. I couldn't watch live because I was at work, but listening to the radio broadcast and following along on mlb.com was so very stressful. My heart was racing at various points in the game, and the only reason why the Giants didn't send me into the pit of depression is because they somehow avoided the sweep and managed to win this game despite all the shenanigans that occurred. Watching the replay was fun though. Let's take it from the top!
1st inning highlights
Blackmon singled, and then scored on Tulowitski's home run. Rockies lead 2-0.
2nd inning highlights
Morse led off the inning with a home run. Sandoval walked, but then Sanchez GIDP. Crawford lined out to end the inning. In the Rockies half of the inning, Brandon Barnes, LeMahieu, and Tyler Chatwood (the starting pitcher) all singled to load the bases. Blackmon grounded out to score Barnes and then an error by Belt on a pick-off attempt allowed LeMahieu to score. Blackmon later scored on a single by Tulowitski.
3rd inning highlights
Hicks led off the inning and hit a home run. Matt Cain singled, Blanco struck out, Pence singled, and Belt flied out. With two outs, Morse hit a three run home run, his second of the game, to tie it up at 5-5. Because he cleared the bases, it was overlooked that Sandoval struck out. AGAIN.
4th inning highlights
When Hicks was called out on strikes, Bochy argued with the umpire briefly and was subsequently tossed from the game. LAME. Meanwhile, the Rockies took the lead when Blackmon hit a solo home run. I'm getting sick of that guy - he had an excellent series against our pitching.
5th inning highlights
The Giants had a great opportunity to take the lead when Cain singled, followed by Blanco and Pence walking to load the bases. But this is the 2014 Giants, so of course they didn't get any runs with the bases loaded with no outs. Belt, Morse, and Sandoval all failed to get an RBI.
6th inning highlights
Nada.
7th inning highlights
Belt hit a two run home run (Pence had walked) off relief pitcher Rex Brothers. Cain was left in the game - bad decision - and walked Blackmon. Arenado doubled him home and the Rockies tied it up. AGAIN.
8th inning highlights
Sanchez led off the inning with a home run off relief pitcher Matt Belisle. Unfortunately, the Rockies tied it up once more in their half of the inning against Santiago Casilla when Blackmon drove LeMahieu home.
9th inning highlights
Pence led off the inning with a double, but Belt, Juan Carlos Perez, and Joaquin Arias could not get him home.
10th inning highlights
The only thing of note is that Posey came in as a pinch hitter and was intentionally walked. I feel like that will continue to happen throughout the season.
11th inning highlights
Pence singled, then Belt walked. Perez sacrificed them over and then the Rockies intentionally walked Arias to load the bases. After a long and intense 10-pitch battle, Sanchez made our baseball dreams come true and hit a GRAND SLAM. Whooooo hooooo, Giants lead 12-8.
Sergio Romo was in to pitch the bottom of the 11th even though it wasn't a save situation and of course, the Rockies did not go quietly. Tulowitski singled and subsequently scored on Morneau's two run home run, to bring the Rockies within two. After Rosario grounded out, Stubbs singled, but then Romo got Barnes to GIDP to finally, and mercifully, end this rollercoaster of a game.
Fun facts:
- There were a total of nine home runs, six for the Giants and three for the Rockies.
- It was Sanchez's first career grand slam. He had two home runs in the game (also a first), as did Morse. Two Giants players last hit two homers in the same game on May 25, 2005 (my birthday, just FYI) - Moises Alou and Pedro Feliz against the Dodgers. Sanchez also had a career high five RBIs.
- Pence and Hicks both had three hits. I'm hoping Pence is starting to get hot.
- Jeremy Affeldt was able to get out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th inning. He's doing well and I'm so glad he's back.
- Machi got the win and is now 4-0. Lmfao.
- Speaking of funny things, my friend Brooke called the Rockies "Rocktards" and I haven't stopped laughing about it since. Well done.
- Wednesday's game was just the second win for the Giants in the last seven games :( They also finished the series going 3-for-31 with RISP.
- Happy flight and some momentum going into their off day.
See you at the ballpark! GO GIANTS!!!
xoxo,
JC
I'm bummed that I've been so busy because that means there is little time for baseball. When I can't watch the games, it gives me anxiety.
On Thursday,
I had back to back meetings, so I didn't get to watch or listen to the game much. I did follow along
on the MLB app while I was in training, so you can't say I didn't try
;)
Quick tidbits from Game 16
- I'm sure you're aware of this, but let's start from the beginning: the Giants lost 2-1 versus the Dodgers, but secured the series win with their victory the day before.
- Pablo Sandoval's batting average continues to plummet.
- "Trader" (lol, Twitter folks that can't spell) Brian Wilson came in to pitch in the 8th inning. I heard the loud boos on the radio broadcast. Ehire Adrianza doubled to lead off the inning and then Hunter Pence walked. Unfortunately, Wilson got Sandoval and Buster Posey out to end the threat.
- This was the 7th consecutive one-run game the Giants have played in.
- Madison Bumgarner only lasted 4 1/3 innings due to high pitch count.
- Hyun-Jin Ryu pitched so well against the cold Giants bats and shut them down until he exited the game.
- The lone run the Giants scored was in the 9th inning. Michael Morse struck out, but reached base due to Kenley Jansen's wild pitch. Brandon Belt grounded into a force out and later advanced to 2nd on defensive interference. Hector Sanchez struck out, followed by a walk from Gregor Blanco. Adrianza singled to left, scoring Belt. He was 3 for 3 after coming in to replace Brandon Hicks. The rally was on and I was excited for the possibility of our boys tying it up, but then Brandon Crawford struck out to end the game.
Friday night, I was busy making penis shaped cakes and blowing up penis shaped balloons. No, I'm not a weirdo (well, actually I am, but let's not get into that)...it was for a bachelorette party. By the time the game started, I was seated at Mas Sake in San Francisco with five of my girlfriends drinking many, many sake bombs. But of course, the TV showing the game still had some of my attention.
Quick tidbits from Game 17
- This was the 8th consecutive one-run game for the Giants. Their record in these games is 4-4.
- The Giants have only scored two runs in the last 19 innings, and four runs in the last 26 innings. Pitiful.
- Angel Pagan led the game off with a ground rule double, but Blanco, Belt, and Sandoval were unable to get him home. In the Padres half of the 1st, Chris Denorfia tripled to center. With two outs and Jedd Gyorko at the plate, a passed ball by Hector Sanchez allowed Donorfia to score. I was so frustrated at this.
- Posey and Morse had the day off, but were both put in as pinch hitters in the 8th inning. Neither got a hit. The Padres' Yasmani Grandal, pinch hitting for Tyson Ross, hit a home run off Juan Gutierrez to bring the score to 2-0.
- Belt hit his 6th home run of the season against Huston Street in the 9th, cutting the lead to 2-1. Pence walked with two outs and then stole second base. Sanchez then ended the game with a silly strikeout.
- The Giants had three stolen bases in this game.
- Matt Cain pitched really well but got Cained by his teammates once again.
I'm hoping the rest of the San Diego series goes better and our guys get hot at the plate again. It's not just one player, it's so many of them. I'm most concerned about Sandoval though. He needs to find his groove...and quickly because I'm getting really frustrated with him. However, the Giants offense as a whole needs to get hot. Losing these one-run games sucks :(
GO GIANTS!
xoxo,
JC
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
