Okay, now this is a bit more balanced. Unfortunate and sad, but the Law of Averages is sitting there with a smirk on his mug.
Eight game winning streak complete with great pitching, little offense, and a lot of one and two-run victories. Two-game losing streak, complete with little offense, and two one-run losses.
Live by the narrow victory, die by the narrow defeat.
Not to beat a dead horse, but at least the horse can't fight back. It's almost like the horse is tempting me to get a few licks in while I can.
These last two losses to the Diamondbacks are basically the same games that the Giants had on their eight-game winning streak, the only difference being the armor of the pitching staff cracked slightly -- and the offense, meanwhile, keeps putting out it's same meager output of 2-5 runs each game.
Okay, enough doom and gloom, I'm sure you get my point (er, in case you don't, the point is...do something to help the offense sooner rather than later).
The interesting thing about the two losses is that the Giants had plenty of power -- four home runs hit between the two games -- but three of the four were solo shots by Mark Sweeney, Randy Winn, and Pedro Feliz, while the other one was only one run better, the two-run shot hit by Barry Bonds on Saturday. The moral to the story is...
...that the Giants are poor in two of the worst categories to be poor in when paired together: walks and home runs. They've been bad in both all season up until the last two games, where a bit of a power surge with the four home runs brought the Giants out from the cellar area in the NL in team home runs.
Only problem was, the Giants 2nd to last position in OBP has held strong, so four home runs in two games netted the team only five runs...and when both of those games are lost by one run, you can see how and why it's bad that the Giants are poor in those particular team statistics.
The pitching staff seems to be as advertised, at least, although I have my doubts about Runs Ortiz holding up over the course of the season. As a 5th starter, he technically just has to keep his team in the game in most of his starts and he's done his job. We'll see, but in the meantime it is of some comfort to know that there's a good chance the Giants will have a chance to win most of the games they play.
Hey, whaddya know? Ended things with a positive comment!
4 comments:
Russ Ortiz has a limited margin for error. Tim Lincecum is ready and he's going to be a stud. If one of these starters doesn't go down due to injury, one will be bumped from the rotation soon enough. I think Ortiz is that guy.
Of course, we're talking about Brian Sabean here, so he may trade Lincecum for Paul Byrd or Greg Zaun citing "moxie" and "experience."
I commented below on your Sabean post too. But I'll reiterate: Brian Sabean's act is tired.
No doubt I'd rather see Lincecum than Ortiz, but now that he's here Ortiz will be getting paid to eat innings like Kobayashi eats hot dogs. Russ always has been the grinder, what with the walks he's prone to issue -- the move to pick him up wasn't the most horrible move, as long as they're ready to give him the boot if he can't hold it together.
...and thanks for commenting and participating. I just wish I could write another time or two per week like I used to.
5th starter= 5th starter. Whatever.
Either someone else gets hurt in the next couple months, or Morris or Lowry takes a trip somewhere.
All of this assumes, of course, that St. Lincecum of the WHIP doesn't do a Mark Fidrych impersonation anytime soom. cf. Felix Hernandez in Seattle...
BB
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