As much as people might dispute me for saying this, I feel that managers have a lot of tough decisions to make during a baseball game. What it comes down to is two schools of thought. One is to grind it out for 162 games and try to win every game you can. It seems easy on the surface and yes, there is at least one team that does that.
Of course, usually what that leads to is a New York team that choked to a team in Philadelphia for two seasons in a row. Let’s face it, years later, one announcer said that as far as Charlie Manual is concerned, if you have to use your bullpen, then game is already lost. Who knew.
On the other side, when you have the media behind you, it’s easy to say that you have a lousy bullpen and the answer is just to trade to get a better bullpen and the next year, you wind up doing the same thing year after year while your starting pitchers still can’t go more than six innings for various reasons.
In any case, on that note, let’s turn to the San Francisco Giants and their current four game winning streak. This was after having a five game losing streak. Lost the last two games to the Arizona Diamondback’s, then got swept in Petco Park by the San Diego Padres. Now we’re even since we swept the Padres earlier in the season. Thanks to the great schedule that MLB has made, we’re in Arizona for the first of a three game series again. So, if you get sick of seeing the same teams meeting over and over again for 18 games, then I guess you can send an e-mail to MLB about that.
So, here we are. First game for the Giants on a five game losing streak and Matt Cain is on the mound. Tough year for him. Still hasn’t gotten his first win. 0-2. Took a beating from the Cardinals in a previous start. On the mound for the D’Backs. Ian Kennedy.
The Giants would draw first blood in the first inning, taking a 2-0. Singles by Scutaro, the Panda Bear, and a walk to Posey loaded the bases for Hunter Pence. He flied out to center and Scutaro scored. Henry Blanco, the white shark, would single in another run. The Giants would score again in the second on a homer by the baby giraffe, Brandon Belt. Hopefully, we’ll get some new water buffalos now that Audrey Huff and Pat Burrell are gone. Hunter Pence would be a good choice.
So, here we are in the 4th inning now and the D’Backs are up and it’s 3-0 Giants. Well, with Cain in, I hope that it’s time for him to come around and keep the lead. Only six more innings to go.
Cody Ross walks. Then Jason Kubel slams a two run shot. Now it’s 3-2. Okay. No need to panic. We still have the lead. Here comes Eric Chavez. He hits a solo homer. Tie game. 3-3. Yes, back to back homers. No one out. Is it time to get the bullpen running? Cain gets the next two outs. Now up comes Martin Prado. He hits a blast to dead center. D’Backs lead 4-3 . Yes, it’s time for Boch and the fans to roll their eyes. Someone on twitter says that Cain must be hurt. In any case, Cain gets the final out by striking out Parra.
Giants come back in the fifth. Scutaro gets another single, goes to second on a wild pitch by Kennedy. Then Panda singles him in. Game is tied 4-4. Now the question is is Cain coming back. Hey, he blew the lead on three homers. No way, we shouldn’t forgive him for this. We have plenty of pitchers in the bullpen. Five game losing streak. Let’s face it, these guys in the bullpen will have plenty of time to rest during the All Star Break and the end of the season. Make that call now, Boch.
Nope, here comes Cain for the fifth and the 6th inning. No disaster. Game is still tied 4-4. Cain is out after that. 96 pitches. No reason to go over 100. Let’s face it, Kennedy hasn’t been that great either but he’s out after 7 innings and 105 pitches. Kirk Gibson has been to the playoffs and has turned this team around. He knows it’s a long season as well.
At the end, the Giants broke the losing streak when Brandon Belt singled in two runs in the 8th. Giants win 6-4. It’s been a tough year for Belt. Still waiting for him to turn the corner. No threats to send him down to the minors. 29 managers know how to be patient. He would hit a home run to win the third game of the series.
Far as the bullpen is concerned, Romo got the save. Machi, Lopez, and Casilla were in earlier, keeping their pitch count under 20 pitches. Two relief pitchers in for the D’Backs. Both went over 20 pitches.
If there is a lesson to be learned, maybe it’s this. Starting pitchers aren’t always sharp. So what do you do? Bail them out every time. Boch and Gibson are successful. Just something to think about. It happens more than you think for 29 teams.
Yes, I know, other people will say that pitchers have rubber arms. Maybe Pedro Feliciano will be back next year. He’s been off for two years now. What was it, 92 appearances in a year. The league average is above 70 for 29 teams. This was after the Yankees complained that he was damaged goods. Mets had a good laugh on that one. Hey, I think it’s funny.
After all, as Joe Girardi told Feliciano when he came to the Yankees, you’ll never have as much work with me as you did with the Mets because it would be rare that I would go more than two games with the same relief pitcher. Guess we never found out how that worked out.
Rick Holman
Of course, usually what that leads to is a New York team that choked to a team in Philadelphia for two seasons in a row. Let’s face it, years later, one announcer said that as far as Charlie Manual is concerned, if you have to use your bullpen, then game is already lost. Who knew.
On the other side, when you have the media behind you, it’s easy to say that you have a lousy bullpen and the answer is just to trade to get a better bullpen and the next year, you wind up doing the same thing year after year while your starting pitchers still can’t go more than six innings for various reasons.
In any case, on that note, let’s turn to the San Francisco Giants and their current four game winning streak. This was after having a five game losing streak. Lost the last two games to the Arizona Diamondback’s, then got swept in Petco Park by the San Diego Padres. Now we’re even since we swept the Padres earlier in the season. Thanks to the great schedule that MLB has made, we’re in Arizona for the first of a three game series again. So, if you get sick of seeing the same teams meeting over and over again for 18 games, then I guess you can send an e-mail to MLB about that.
So, here we are. First game for the Giants on a five game losing streak and Matt Cain is on the mound. Tough year for him. Still hasn’t gotten his first win. 0-2. Took a beating from the Cardinals in a previous start. On the mound for the D’Backs. Ian Kennedy.
The Giants would draw first blood in the first inning, taking a 2-0. Singles by Scutaro, the Panda Bear, and a walk to Posey loaded the bases for Hunter Pence. He flied out to center and Scutaro scored. Henry Blanco, the white shark, would single in another run. The Giants would score again in the second on a homer by the baby giraffe, Brandon Belt. Hopefully, we’ll get some new water buffalos now that Audrey Huff and Pat Burrell are gone. Hunter Pence would be a good choice.
So, here we are in the 4th inning now and the D’Backs are up and it’s 3-0 Giants. Well, with Cain in, I hope that it’s time for him to come around and keep the lead. Only six more innings to go.
Cody Ross walks. Then Jason Kubel slams a two run shot. Now it’s 3-2. Okay. No need to panic. We still have the lead. Here comes Eric Chavez. He hits a solo homer. Tie game. 3-3. Yes, back to back homers. No one out. Is it time to get the bullpen running? Cain gets the next two outs. Now up comes Martin Prado. He hits a blast to dead center. D’Backs lead 4-3 . Yes, it’s time for Boch and the fans to roll their eyes. Someone on twitter says that Cain must be hurt. In any case, Cain gets the final out by striking out Parra.
Giants come back in the fifth. Scutaro gets another single, goes to second on a wild pitch by Kennedy. Then Panda singles him in. Game is tied 4-4. Now the question is is Cain coming back. Hey, he blew the lead on three homers. No way, we shouldn’t forgive him for this. We have plenty of pitchers in the bullpen. Five game losing streak. Let’s face it, these guys in the bullpen will have plenty of time to rest during the All Star Break and the end of the season. Make that call now, Boch.
Nope, here comes Cain for the fifth and the 6th inning. No disaster. Game is still tied 4-4. Cain is out after that. 96 pitches. No reason to go over 100. Let’s face it, Kennedy hasn’t been that great either but he’s out after 7 innings and 105 pitches. Kirk Gibson has been to the playoffs and has turned this team around. He knows it’s a long season as well.
At the end, the Giants broke the losing streak when Brandon Belt singled in two runs in the 8th. Giants win 6-4. It’s been a tough year for Belt. Still waiting for him to turn the corner. No threats to send him down to the minors. 29 managers know how to be patient. He would hit a home run to win the third game of the series.
Far as the bullpen is concerned, Romo got the save. Machi, Lopez, and Casilla were in earlier, keeping their pitch count under 20 pitches. Two relief pitchers in for the D’Backs. Both went over 20 pitches.
If there is a lesson to be learned, maybe it’s this. Starting pitchers aren’t always sharp. So what do you do? Bail them out every time. Boch and Gibson are successful. Just something to think about. It happens more than you think for 29 teams.
Yes, I know, other people will say that pitchers have rubber arms. Maybe Pedro Feliciano will be back next year. He’s been off for two years now. What was it, 92 appearances in a year. The league average is above 70 for 29 teams. This was after the Yankees complained that he was damaged goods. Mets had a good laugh on that one. Hey, I think it’s funny.
After all, as Joe Girardi told Feliciano when he came to the Yankees, you’ll never have as much work with me as you did with the Mets because it would be rare that I would go more than two games with the same relief pitcher. Guess we never found out how that worked out.
Rick Holman