GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at REDS 8/18

Wow, we needed that one…..down by 4 runs early the Giants looked like they would again be bested by the Northern Kentucky Reds and Homer Bailey….. but they rallied for the tie and then took the game in Extras to keep pace with the Rockies and likely the Dodgers (who are winning)….but tonight was important for more than just the W……the Giants proved they could pickup their STAR and Ryan Garko was finally welcomed to the team

GAMEBALL and JOKER--> GIANTS at REDS 8/18

GAMEBALL

GARKO

I will say it again, I like this kid….yeah, I know I know, everyone thinks he sucks…..but I see a player that WANTS to be here, CAN take a pitch, and of course is a RBI MAN (tm Joe Morgan)… but seriously, how can you not love a guy who chokes up with 1 strike in an RBI situation, sacrificing power numbers for the good of the team……and as far as a platoon with Ishi goes, neither player has much of a split so forget that whole "mashes lefthanders" thing…..Now I still think Ishi could pan out and Ishi probably has a higher ceiling that Garko……but Ryan is better than he has shown so far and will be a solid contributor if given a chance….and today he came through in spades with a HUGE single back up the box to bring the Giants even at 5, and then in extras plating 2 runs to give the Giants the lead…..who knows what the future will bring, but I am not going to complain if Garko gets consistent playing time in front of Ishi as the Giants make a push for the postseason…..and Ishi with his slick glove and home run swing makes a good bench compliment to Garko……and for the time being Garko has earned a little respect from the fans and from the Giants leadership, so go ahead and jump on the bandwagon now, and lets hope he has turned it around…..

TIP OF THE CAP :
HOWRY
Speaking of turning it around, Howry actually looked fairly solid tonight in earning the win, Howry's stuff seems solid but the execution has been suspect…..unlike Garko I am not yet on the Howry bandwagon, as this is only the second consequtive solid performance in a high leverage situation….leave him at #4 out of the pen for now…..

AFFELDT/ ROMO
And the setup twins didn't just turn in solid outings, they were flat out filthy carving up the dangerous Reds lineup…..I will say it again, these two are the most critical performers for the Giants, if they pitch up to their capabilities the Giants will hang around…..if they don't then we are looking at guys like Howry late in the game……and I don't think anyone wants to see that…..

WINN
Maybe Bochy knows something we don't? Nahhhhh, but whatever the anguish over today's lineup was forgotten once Winn came up with the 2 out Double in the 6th……man, can we pray that Winn has something left in the tank….. we could use that year end 2005 Winn right about now…..

URIBE
Got the Giants on the board with a solo shot, and gave the Giants insurance with a sac fly……and the DP on the hit and run looked easy…..but I am sure glad that our "Star LF" was in Left and not 2nd……

FRANK
The Wonderdog comes through with a BIG Rally in extras…….


JOKER

TIM

Ouch….not going to win any friends tonight, but I call them like I see em and I try to be as myopic as possible with this…..and Giant #1 was sorely off his game today…..Fastball all over the place…..Changeup less that stellar…..and Curveball…..well….hittable……I am used to watching Timmy battle through issues with his stuff and come out with the Win, and thanks to some Giants offense, he almost did today……but it wasn't to be…..after back to back singles on 0-1 Curveballs, Timmy gave up the Double Steal and then got a groundball……after an intentional walk to load the bases, Timmy walked in the first run of the game on 4 pitches and then gave the Pitcher a fastball which was slapped down the line for 2 more runs…….sure that ball was probably foul, but it was too close for comfort and was SMASHED down the line……against a pitcher with an 0 for YEAR Tim shouldn't have even allowed anything near a hit…….then a couple innings later Tim threw what looked like a hanger to Votto for a bomb…..Krukow called it a changeup, but it didn't have that fall away movement we are used to and my guess is it was a bad Curveball……anyways, with or without stuff we are used to getting solid performances from our Franchise player, and he fell well short tonight……go get em next time kid…….

SMACK OF THE STICK :
PABLO
If I pissed a few people off with my selection of Tim, I will piss off everyone else when I smack Pablo…..looked lost at the plate most of the day including the pivotal 6th where he went to a full count without seeing a pitch in the strike zone, and then had whiff on the first pitch he saw in the strike zone….a changeup……

MARVIN HUDSON
Replays sucked, but that sucker was probably foul, and Krukow talking about "its where the ball goes over the bag" ok, but that was not a grounder, you can clearly see from the side view that the first time that ball hits ground is past the bag…..and maybe it hits chalk, but from the reaction of everyone around I have to believe that was foul…..

SCHIERHOLTZ
K on 3 pitches in his pinch hitting appearance…..and watched his playing time diminish with a solid game from Winn and 2 more hits from Velez

WOTUS
First past over when Baker left…..then past over again when Alou left……and now Fred Lewis is bringing in the lineup card for you???? Hell, you might as well go to Balldude camp and see if you can get some action that way….

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(The fine print: There will be cussing and bad taste. This is written with the heat of the moment feel you may have during the game, with rational though sprinkled in now and then. This is entertainment folks, sure there is a lot of truth and I am a genius, but this is all about having a laugh and enjoying the ride…….now lets go heckle Jeff Kent in when he gets inducted to Cooperstown..)