Giant Blues, Motown Style

Aug 25, 2022 | 2022 Season, Latest Post

by
Greek Giant

Logan Webb was cruising with a no-hitter through four innings when the bottom of the fifth happened. It went like this:

  • Carpenter lined out to left
  • Candelario singled to left
  • Barnhart doubled to right, Candelario to third
  • Badoo Walked
  • Greene struck out looking

Now the scenario is this: bases loaded, two outs, scoreless game, Logan Webb has a chance to escape the inning without a run being scored.

Then Reyes hit a one-hop rocket up the. middle right at Brandon Crawford. Unfortunately the ball ate him up and escaped his grasp flying into center field, two runs scored, Floodgates opened. The Tigers would get three more hits and score four more runs in the inning. Logan Webb would not see the bottom of the sixth. This game hinged on the play from Reyes’s hit.

“I think when Logan is ahead in the count he’s getting more swings and misses. So there was some contact in that inning. Some of it was unfortunate, some of it was hard. I think if Logan could have that inning back, he’d probably get ahead of the bottom of the lineup.”

–Gabe Kapler

Funny enough, Brandon Crawford made a sensational play in the top of the fourth to rob a hit on a similar liner up the middle. This time he fielded it cleanly and threw out the runner. In the case of the ball from Reyes, it has to be knocked down if it cannot be fielded cleanly.

C’est la vie. The Giants sing the Motown blues, getting a split against one of the worst teams in Major League Baseball. Why? Well, they managed only one run in the game because Tiger Starter Matt Manning was dealing and pitched six shutout innings and struck out eight Giants in the process. He also escaped some Giant traffic jams on the basepaths in the first and third innings, getting Evan Longoria with a 96 MPH fuzzball on the inside of the plate to thwart a rally in the opening frame.

Manning out-duels Webb. It happens. Tigers play better defense than the Giants. It should not happen.

This game reminds me of that weird game when in 2013 Matt Cain gave up nine runs in one inning. There was another game in St. Louis in which Can pitched a no-hitter for five innings but got tagged for a bunch of runs in one inning in which he was blasted.

There are no Giant offensive highlights. The boys from San Francisco scored their lone run on an RBI single by Tommy LaStella in the top of the seventh inning. Both clubs finished with eight hits. Both teams struck out thirteen times, an extraordinary stat and one you would never see in a 1990s baseball game.

Game Over.

Brandon Belt’s Knee is Acting Up Again

Brandon Belt was put on the 10-day IL yesterday because of issues (chronic inflammation) with his chronically un-well knee, the right knee to be exact and the one that has bothered him for years. That’s the same one he has already had surgery on twice. It says here he does not play again in 2022. He will, in all likelihood, need surgery. Outfielder Bryce Johnson was recalled from AAA to take Belt’s spot on the roster. This is Belt’s third trip to the injured list this year. It’s time for Belt to retire.

2023 Schedule Announced

Major League Baseball announced the 2023 schedule. The Giants open at Yankee Stadium. This the first schedule in Major League history in which every team plays the other for at least one series. It is more balanced which means fewer games against the team from SoCal.