Dribs + Dunks = Death: Giants 7, Phillies 3

by WholeCamels on Aug 2, 2009 8:27 PM EDT

Barry Zito won the Battle of the Flaky West Coast Lefties today in San Francisco, as the Giants scorched Cole Hamels for seven runs in just five innings pitched, and took the four game set three games to one.

To be completely fair to Hamels, the Giants' three run fifth inning was mostly a result of a series of Texas Leaguers, infield dribblers, and poor defense on Ryan Howard's overthrown backhand flip over Hamels' head at first base on a Pablo Sandoval dribbler. Only new Giant Freddy Sanchez's two run double was hit hard. And although the last two runs were charged to Hamels, they scored as a result of an Eugenio Velez bases loaded single off Chan Ho Park. Call that a team failure, I guess.

The Phillies, for their part, were miserable with runners on base yet again. And to their credit, the Giants limited the damage, issuing zero walks on the day. Oh, and can I call out Jayson Werth's idiotic baserunning in the fourth inning, when he got thrown out trying to steal third base for the third out of the inning?

Jimmy Rollins went long for the Phillies in the top of the fourth, and Ben Francisco contributed two hits.

Tomorrow is a much needed off-day for the Phillies (the first day off in over a month for the team's five All-Star representatives). Hopefully the bats can wake up, and the injured Shane Victorino can return from his knee injury. They start a three game series against the Wild Card contending Colorado Rockies in Philadelphia on Tuesday.

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The important thing is not to let this cold streak spiral. 4 out of 5 is frustrating, but not a disaster, and coming off a 19-3 run softens the blow a little bit. But a 5-game lead in the division can disappear pretty quickly, so let’s hope the bats wake up and keep the rest of the NL East at arm’s length.

by PhillyFriar on Aug 2, 2009 8:51 PM EDT reply actions

Right.

Not time to panick. We should be fine. Let’s just hope they don’t “take the cheese” as Bill Parcells used to say. In other words, don’t believe what they are reading in the paper about being the odds-on NL favorite for the world series. They still have to earn it.

by Boundforbeach on Aug 2, 2009 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions

I guess it could be worse

saw this article on Pat the Bat:

http://www.tampabay.com/sports/baseball/rays/article1023130.ece

by DeanH on Aug 2, 2009 9:12 PM EDT reply actions

They have no one to blame but themselves...

Pat’s uncanny knack for having prolonged dry spells was well documented around here for years. They knew what they were getting when the signed him. Better them than us. We’re having enough trouble getting runs in the past week.

by Boundforbeach on Aug 2, 2009 9:26 PM EDT up reply actions

that’s pretty harsh. When did Howard Eskin start writing columns in Tampa?

Feel bad for Pat. I hoped he was gonna knock the cover off the ball down there. Apparently not so much.

by Bilzo on Aug 3, 2009 2:01 PM EDT up reply actions

I was there the last 3 games...

since I live in San Francisco and they just looked uninterested/exhausted, especially today. I think this day off will rejuvenate them…hopefully…

by Kevin K on Aug 3, 2009 1:10 AM EDT reply actions

Damn you all

for giving us false hope.

NL West TempestTeapot
Nothing matters , and what if it did?

by victor frankenstein on Aug 3, 2009 5:39 AM EDT reply actions

First…I’ll take the blame for yesterday’s loss. I was riding home from an afternoon softball game, heard the phils were tied up 1-1 on a JRoll homer. Got home…pulled up MLBTV.com and saw Hamels immediately give up a hit to Zito, and the floodgates opened. I turned it off an inning later when there was a guy at third with no outs for the Giants, but by then it was too late. My bad guys.

I think some of the lethargy was with having Victorino out of the lineup. Nothing against Francisco, but when you take a sparkplug with a .320 avg out of your lineup, it’s gonna hurt.

by Bilzo on Aug 3, 2009 1:58 PM EDT reply actions