Heading South?

Was it a Self Fulfilling Prophecy?

Friday's Game

During their four days in New York Bochy and the Giants let everyone know that they were not happy about playing a night game on get away day.  The intended prediction was that the Giants will be tired after flying all night and will not be able to play very good baseball the next day.  That prophecy was fulfilled as the Giants managed only two hits in losing to the D'Backs 1-0.  The Giants have not won at AT&T since May 29th indicating that they may enjoy playing on fields that it is easier to hit instead of their unfair home ballpark.  Anytime Bumgarner allows only one run and loses it is a disaster for the Giants who are going to need a win from him almost every time out.

The game was marred by some terrible ball and strike umpiring.  If you watched Panik in the 9th inning at the plate you know what I mean.  Two pitches ankle high at best were called strikes.  Then he was forced to swing at a bad pitch and ground out.  Bochy said after the game that the umpire never gave Panik a chance.  No kidding!  It broke his 14 game hitting streak.

The Panik situation was very noticeable because it was the ninth inning and he represented the tying run.  These calls are not always that apparent but happen continually during a game. In many cases if the 2nd strike is off the plate or high or low bad call the batter is stuck.  He can't take a chance taking a pitch so he has to swing at almost anything and in nearly all cases the pitchers knows it.  It is my contention that these bad calls, which cannot be reviewed, change the course of the game more then overturning a call at first base. For this reason I believe Instant Replay is an waste of time, money and energy but I also understand when an umpire call is overturned even though in some cases it could take up to five minutes to decide,  people feel good about getting the call right.

Saturday's Game

It felt like it was over in the first inning.  Vogelsong walked four led to a 3 run first inning for the D'Backs who eventually won the game 4-2.  The Giants finally got a hit in the 6th inning with Panic smashing a double down the right  field line.  Last night it took them seven innings to get their first hit in a game they managed only two.  Tonight they got four which was a big improvement.  It's becoming more obvious that they can't hit or win at AT&T.  Batting averages are starting to level off and how long can Bochy continue to bat Pagan third?  Parker looked like a good AAA player in his debut and the new pitcher Broadway got the D'Backs out without any damage in the inning he pitched.

Sunday's Final Game

The D'Backs Sweep!  Those dam Mets!  Somebody has to take the blame.  They scheduled a night game on get away day forcing the Giants to fly overnight to San Francisco.  Little did we realize that the flight hangover would last three days.

Bochy managerial philosophy was again very evident in this game.  Heston was trailing 3-0 and the D/Backs had loaded the bases with one out.  Many managers would have pulled their pitcher.  Not Bochy.  It was the fifth inning and Heston still could get a win so he left him in and it was the right decision as he retired the next two batters without Arizona scoring.  The strategy almost paid off  in the Giants half of the fifth with two on Duffy pinch hitting hit a long fly to deep left center that was caught.  K & K the Giants TV broadcasters said without the wind that might have gone out to tie the game.  But this is San Francisco and AT&T Park.

I had just awakened from a nap and turned on the game in the 1st inning only to see McGehee hit into a double play with the bases loaded.  I believe the team hit into five during the game.

The Family

We had to take my wife Barbara to the Hoag Irvine Emergency Hospital around 9:15 Saturday night. My daughter Jane joined us a little later.  Barbara had an Arial Flutter.  Her heart was pounding for about two days and after talking to our other daughter Katie,  we finally decided not to be stupid any longer so went to emergency.  They took Barbara right away and the staff did a great job getting the heart back into rhythm.  We got home about 2:30 am.  So Monday is off to our cardiologist.  She has relaxed today and is doing very well.

To compound things Barbara has had a tough time with her COPD recently so we didn't know if this was playing a part with the heart.  She has tried to avoid steroids but recently every time she goes off her breathing acts up.  Last Wednesday Barbara finally decided that she had to stay on steroids so now we are attempting to discover the right level of dosage.

Comments 

Broadway the new Giant pitcher brought up from Sacramento has pitched in the minors for 10 years.  I am not sure if this is his first opportunity in the big leagues.  If it is congratulations to the Giants for their decision to give him a chance at the major league level.

Aoki went 0 for the D'Backs after raising his batting average to .338 on the trip east.

The Giants have now lost 8 straight games at home.  They are not heading south to overtake the Dodgers but southeast to be taken over by Arizona.  The Giants trail the Dodgers by 3 1/2 games but are only 3 games in front of Arizona.

The Giants only scored 2 runs in losing 3 straight to a team that came to SF with a 4 game losing streak.