The Giants evened the series with the Cardinals behind a great start by Ryan Vogelsong. We all know the Vogelsaga. We all sing the Vogelsong. We all love the Vogelstart. We haven't seen that particular animal around as much of late, but Vogie had it going on tonight. He threw that nasty cut fastball into the righthanders and got a lot of popups and weak ground balls from some very tough hitters. He was able to throw all of his pitches including a nice, sharp curveball that dropped in for some big strikes. The Giants finally get a real start and it pays off with a huge win. Not only did Vogie do what needed to be done, he showed the way for the rest of the rotation. This is a matchup with the defending champs! These guys can really hit and can wear down a pitching staff with their patience and plate discipline. But if you throw strikes and work both sides of the plate and "hit Buster's glove" they can go down in order just like any other lineup. I hope Matt Cain was taking notes because he's going to have to do the same thing in St. Louis. But no worries--that's not until Wednesday. I want to enjoy this one. After all, the Giants were facing having to win four of the next six after losing the opener. But now they are on familiar ground, needing to win three of the next five, and we know they can do that.
The best Giants games feature lots of heroes, and tonight's win was no different. Angel Pagan had a great game, Marco Scutaro had a huge hit, and Brandon Belt looked good on both sides of the ball, and come to think of it so did Gregor Blanco. The hit by Matt Holliday on Scutaro at second base got Ol' Boch riled up, and understandably so, it was late and off the bag. Boch was correct in the post-game interview, it was an illegal slide under the newer rules. The problem was that it wasn't so blatant in real time that the umps could do anything. My biggest concern is that Scoots is healthy and can continue. The fact that he stayed in the game to get the big RBIs was amazing. Holliday said the right things after the game, for what it's worth. Shit happens. And, by defintion, shit ain't good.
The Giants got a break late on a bad call and squeezed out two more runs. The 7-1 final felt good, real good. Even Aubrey Huff got in on the act. The Cardinals made two errors in the game and Huff's "hit" was a pop fly down the line that the fielders gave up on. Ryan Theriot came in at second base in the second spot and stroked a two-run single. I like it when lots of guys put the ball in play and the lineup turns over many times. The Giants death-by-a-thousand-paper-cuts offense needs everyone to chip in.
Way to go, Vogie! You da man! Way to go, Giants. Keep it rolling!
--M.C.
9 comments:
Don't forget that Romo gets a half of a save in my book.
Fantastic win for the Good Guys!!!!! Lots of wonderful aspects, most importantly, Vogelsong giving them exactly what they needed. What a gem that was!!!!! Great, gritty AB's by a lot of Giants (especially both of our second basemen). Despite relative no-shows by Panda-Posey-Pence, we put 7 runs on the board - well, the last 2 were a result of yet another egregious error by the Umpires in what has been a rough postseason for those guys. Obviously, a lot will be expected of our 3-4-5 hitters going forward in the series, because they haven't shown up yet in the NLCS.
In my book, the slide by Holliday was atrocious. Real time, slow motion, you name it. That was NOT a good, hard slide into the bag with contact with the 2B - those types of slides are within the rules, part of the game, but, occasionally, result in injury. Holliday's slide was a premeditated attempt to injure someone. He didn't even start the slide until he was about 1 foot from the base, was completely airborne as he crossed the base, &, despite Scutaro doing everything he possibly could to avoid a serious collision, Holliday made contact several feet past the base. A post-game suspension or fine would be justified, but I don't know whether the rules allow it. I expect the Giants to 'move Holliday off of the plate' at some point in the series. Holliday's comical display of fielding (& hitting) for the remainder of the game was good retribution in its own way.
I am constantly surprised by the resilence of this team. I know it's only game 2, but it feels like a big come back. When they lose, it is a thousand deaths for us fans, but the team seems to know they can come back and win. Carpenter was their hero, their "big game" pitcher and we knocked him out of the box early. What's more, we added on against their flame-throwing relief. This seems like it just does so much. Sets up Vogie as a dependable starter, saves relief arms, saves Tim for a start, loosens up out hitters (nothing like a little success to do that).
Also, I think that Brian Wilson has the fingernails on one hand painted black and on the other hand, orange.
I was stuck in a TV-less gate waiting area at the San Diego Airport so I followed the second half of the game via texts from my daughter and a call to Weed for a chat with my Bro.
The crappy game Sunday I got to watch all of (with a crappy lead in from an ugly 49ers loss.)
I really love Pagan and Scutaro. When they're both hitting we're hard to beat. Another thing I love to see is contibutions from the Brandons. You gotta like these kids.
Big kudos to Vogelsong. I'm surprised he's been our best starter so far.
Mainly because I hoped Cain would be doing better. I think he and the others will improve in their next chance. But I'm not sure MadBum should get another chance. Something's wrong there.
Dick Tidrow to Bumgarner STAT! I just don't know if Holliday intentionally tried to nail Scutaro, or was just a hard nosed player sliding a little late. It certainly seemed to effect his play after that both in the batters box and in the field. I hope we get Scutaro back. If not I hope that Theriot has a fantastic series.
I guess that I should have mentioned 2 egregious umpiring mistakes in that game:
- Not giving a DP on the Holliday/Scutaro play.
- The tag on Blanco trying to get back to 1B after Jay's great catch.
Along with the 'Infield Fly' play in Cardinals/Braves & the obvious tagout at 2B play in Tigers/Yankees, those are 4 pretty big mistakes - & neither Joe West nor C. B. Bucknor was a part of any of them.
This just in ...
"Giants manager Bruce Bochy told The Associated Press in a text message that there’s a 'good chance' second baseman Marco Scutaro will play in Game 3 of the NLCS on Wednesday.
Scutaro strained his left hip when he was taken out on a hard slide by Cardinals left fielder Matt Holliday during the first inning on Monday.
Scutaro left the game after the fifth inning and was replaced by Ryan Theriot.
He had an MRI and traveled with the team Tuesday to St. Louis.
Bochy called Holliday’s slide 'illegal.' "
Sounds like great news for Scutaro & the Giants!!!!!
I was lucky enough to attend both games. Last night was incredible. Great crowd, Giants showed up huge. Vogelsong worked at it, and got better as the game went on. Made it a series, sent the Cards home thinking about it. If Pagan's ball in the 4th of game 1 goes one more foot to the left, maybe the Cards are down 2-0.
This team plays good defense, and scores some runs. The pitching sure ain't where it was at in 2010. These next 3 will be nail biters I bet. Hope the namesake comes correct tomorrow!
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