GAMEBALL and JOKE 5/4 GIANTS at CUBS

I can take a loss as well as the next guy, but when you spend the night beating yourself….well it ……makes one pretty pissed ….(you know it’s a bad night, when beating yourself isn't followed by some sort of dick joke)

Miscues in the field, Walks left and right, swinging at pitches 10 feet off the plate…….The Giants brough home the Triple Crown of suck tonight….and somehow managed to only lose by 2……..so much potential here…..so much potential…….so much suck…….

GAMEBALL and JOKE
5/4 GIANTS at CUBS


GAMEBALL

BOCHY

Hard to find something to hang your cap on, when the night is a dismal shoot yourself in the foot uphill battle……
But there were a few things I take as signs of encouragements, such as Howry's performance tonight…..
Howry came into a game with the Giants down by 2 runs and proceeded to shut down the Cubs for 2 innings giving the Giants a final chance to catch up…….
The performance itself was encouraging, but more than that was how Howry was used……WHEN THE GIANTS WERE TRAILING…….yes, kids hopefully we can take this as a sign that Howry has worked his way down the pecking order, and some setup chances will come Miller, Medders, and maybe even the mystery men Matos and Valdez might get a shot…of course…..nothing like two scoreless innings to work your way back into Bochy's lap……

TIP OF THE CAP :
SANDOVAL
Refuses to get dragged into the morass that has engulfed the rest of the Giants offense……..

MILLER
2 solid innings, to keep things close….not bad for a guy that didn't even break with the team on opening day…..


JOKER

ROWAND

I could pick on anyone of 15 Giants here……but you know what? Rowand is pissing me off more than any of these fuckers…….
In the number 5 spot…..which was the pivotal position in tonights game……
After a shaky 1st inning from Sanchez, Molina lead off the 2nd with a single….only to have Rowand bounce into an easy DP
In the fourth, with Sandoval standing on 2nd, Rowand hit a 27 bouncer to Short….
In the 6th, after the Giants rallied for 2 runs and Molina on first……Rowand quickly down 0-2 fough off a ball off that was literally 2 feet off the plate, only to then try to hit a pitch about shoulder high…
And then in the 9th trying to comeback from a 2 run deficit…….Rowand got strike 2 on a swing and misse at a slider so low and off the plate that Pedro Feliz started laughing….and to add injury to insult…..Roward then watched strike 3 float across the outside corner o the plate…..

FUN WITH GAMEDAY!!!
Red dot = Stiike/ Foul
Green dot = Ball
Image 1, Rowand's 4th inning AB

Image 2, Rowand's 9th inning AB (notice, I have to zoom out to get pitch 3 in frame)


And just for fun, lets take a look around the National League lineups tonight at the #5 hitters…..
A Ramirez, M Tejada, E Dukes, B Moss, M Cameron, J Bruce, D Uggla, J Francouer, D Wright, C Headley, B Hawpe, J Werth, B Ludwick, J Upton, J Loney……
Compare that to A Rowand…….The only guy I wouldn't take over Rowand would be B Moss……and he's just a kid…..and Moss actually had a RBI tonight…..


SMACK OF THE STICK :
BATS
If hitting is contagious, then someone needs to do a Swine Flu screening on the Giants bats……and like a Contra Costa elementary school, the Giants bats have been shut down since last week……
Bad at bats followed by bat at bats…..this team's offense is stuck in quicksand and the more they struggle the tighter the grip…….Tonight's image that struck me was Winn at the plate getting a belt high curveball which he pounds straight into the ground …..the camera shot shows an obviously frustrated and pissed off Winn, as Ishikawa is watching over him from the on deck circle……that sort of thing has to rub off on the kids…..if here is a "proven veteran" hitter having one hell of a time at the plate, then what chance does Ishikawa have?
Ishi proceeds to work a 3-0 count, only to get jammed by a 90 MPH fastball on the hands a few pitches later…….I swear one big bat in the middle of this lineup, and the complexion of the game changes…..these guys can relax and play their game…….but until then, it’s a struggle……..so pray of a run scoring double play and a 1-0 win

GLOVES
You thought bad hitting was contagious, what about bad outfield defense……
Winn came down with a case of "Freddie" playing matador with a ball lost in the lightswith 2 men on and no one out that directly lead to the Cubs 4th run…..
And then Rowand also showed symptoms of "Freddie" by getting his heel of the glove on the ball and dropping the catch……

UMPS
Borderline calls to be sure……but sure woulda been nice to have just 1 of those
more fun with gameday
Red dot = Stiike/ Foul
Green dot = Ball
Soto's bases loaded walk in the 1st