I’ll Have What the Giants Are Having

Jul 16, 2019 | 2019 Re-Caps

by
Greek Giant

Game 1: Have Yourself a Game Brandon Crawford!

I could have called this post:

Have Yourself a Game Jeff Samardzija!
or
Have Yourself a Game Alex Dickerson!

But game 1 of this Denver double bill belonged to Brandon Crawford.

A 5-6 day with 8 RBIs and two dingers will stake a claim to any game.


You get the idea. It was a party from the first hitter to the last out.

The Giants went 10-15 with runners in scoring position. At one point, to start the game they were 8-8, with no cheapies!

That’s just insane!

Even the Rockies announcers couldn’t believe it. They tried hard to revise history by using the telestrator to scratch out the score during the broadcast:


The tone was set in the first inning when the Giants dropped a five-spot to open the festivities. Jeff Samardzija was excellent, going 6 2/3 innings allowing only two runs on nine strikeouts, four hits and one walk.

During the game I asked the TWG faithful what a safe lead may be in Denver. The responses varied from 13, to 20 to 7 runs. My number was 10. It turns out Smarge’s superb performance made the first inning stand up.

Who are these guys?

Remember when the Giants couldn’t score more than two runs during a game to start the season?

Remember when the Giants were at the VERY BOTTOM of the Major Leagues in practically every hitting category, from runs to hits, batting average and slugging?

Guess what? The Giants have the highest hard contact rate in the Major Leagues since June 1, 2019 Baby!

 


The Box


Game 2: D-Rod, the Bullpen, BCraw and Vogt Lead the Way to a Sweep of the Rockies!

It turns out Brandon Crawford wasn’t done:


The Giant shortstop went deep with another laserbeam to right. It was not a cheapie. Steven Vogt followed with a shot of his own and all of a sudden the Giants were up 2-0 and we were all thinking it was going to take way more than two runs to win a game in Vinny Castilla Park.

We were wrong.

Dereck Rodriguez, fresh from his call up from Sacramento, pitched a five inning gem. The bullpen did the rest and this pitcher’s duel was kind of a funny way to end a day that began with 19 runs. It will work. In both games the Giants were able to get their starters to go deep and save their pen.

After three horrendous years in Denver, the last two of which the Giants won only a single game against the Rox in their park, our boys from San Francisco appeared to have turned a mountainous corner on their season.

Suddenly the Giants are relevant again. Suddenly, we’re dreaming of the postseason.

It’s ok to dream.

The Box

Tonight Drew Pomeranz faces Peter Lambert. First pitch is at 6:40 PM, Dante Bichette time. Andrew Suarez was called up and there were murmurings that Pomeranz will have a very short leash. It is presumed that Suarez will be inserted deftly and early into the game should the former Red Sock falter, as Bruce Bochy gave the impression he is going to manage this game aggressively.

The Giants are on fire. Their hitting attack is smoking hot, even with Evan Longoria on the Injured List for about ten days.

The Giants are now 45-49 and only one half game behind the Padres for fourth place. Most importantly, they appear to be playing with a tremendous amount of confidence. The veterans are playing like they are 27 again. The young blood is producing. The new acquisitions like Mike Yastrzemski, Donovan Solano, and Alex Dickerson are playing excellent ball, coming up with huge hits and playing a mostly very strong defense.

This is fun.