Come On!

Jun 21, 2019 | 2019 Re-Caps

by
Greek Giant

That’s the line I woke up to this morning. It was a text from a fellow Giants fan in Los Angeles who mistakenly thought I was watching the game. I was asleep by the sixth inning. I simply will not allow a 95-loss team to dictate my sleep patterns. It’s not a difficult choice, believe me.

Nevertheless I was hoping for a victory, or at least a great Bumgarner start as I crawled into my bed dreaming of pennant races and future World Series games at Willie Mays Field…

I woke up to the reality of a soul-crushing loss and a variety of intriguing comments on this blog. I woke up to “Come On” which was referring to the instant reply review of a close call at third on Tyler Austin’s bunt attempt with two runners on and nobody out. Steven Vogt was called out on a breathlessly close play that could have gone either way. You could argue he was safe but the umps and the New York Replay Team did not see it that way.

This controversy begs the question: Why on Earth was Tyler Austin bunting when the Dodger pen was in flames and the Giant righty could put the game away in one swing? I believe it was a bad strategic call for so many reasons, not least of which is the fact that Austin probably bunts as often as Brandon Belt pitches in relief: Never. I hate bunts. I HATE giving away outs when the opposing team is reeling. I hate bunting on the road when you still have to defend in the following bottom half of the inning even if you do go ahead. A bunt is almost never a good play in this situation, no matter what anyone says.

That call was not why the Giants lost. They still had two more opportunities to drive in the tying and winning runs against a fading Kenley Jansen. No Dice.


This was a heartbreaker,  pure, unadulterated knife to the neck that only baseball, in its infinitely sublime way, can deliver.

The real takeaway from this horrible game, however, is Bumgarner getting rocked. Is our ace mortal? Is he just an average pitcher now? Or was he done in by a few lucky swings and a blip here and there in the Giants-Bumgarner Matrix that we should not take too seriously?

Last night marks the third straight time the Dodgers scored 9 runs on the Giants.

There were grumblings and anger from Bruce Bochy after the game.


There were also a variety of twitter feuds and barbs traded between the Giants and Dodgers reporters concerning Bruce Bochy’s press conference.

The Giants leave Los Angeles licking their wounds and finding that they don’t measure up to the perennial NL West champs. These three games were a dreary illustration of how big the talent gap is between San Francisco and the Hollywooders.

The Box

Together We’re Giants is looking for writers!