From the Porch: Better Barry

Monday, May 29, 2012


Giants 4, Diamondbacks 2 at AT&T Park


AZ (22-27) 001 000 010  2 9 0
SF (26-23) 310 000 000  4 9 0


WP: Zito (4-2)
LP: Cahill (2-5)
SV: Casilla (13)
HR: McDonald (3)


Cahill: 6ip 8h 4er 2bb 5k 3.96 era
Zito: 7ip 7h 2er 1bb 3k 3.41 era


In the NL West: Colorado beat Houston in the first of two; San Diego lost to Cubs and Dodgers lost to Milwaukee. Giants trail by 6.5. Rare that Giants win and Dodgers lose; SF beat 'em themselves on May 8; on May 6 SF won and LA lost to Chicago.


Comments: Wow, Barry Zito was actually quite good and the offense put together a very exciting 3-run first inning to give him a bit of a cushion. He still has that odd stat that I can't find -- if you give him 4 runs he pretty much never loses. He went deeper into the game (into the 8th) than any other time this year, and don't forget, this is four wins and he had only three all last year. Only one walk, outstanding.


Defense: Solid, no errors; Zito was working pretty quickly and getting lots of pop-ups, very nice.


Offense: Loving what Gregor Blanco is doing atop the lineup, .400-plus OBP, two doubles today; he hit a double in the first, was sacrificed to third by Crawford and then scored on nice double steal. Brandon Belt also contributed with a monster triple that scored the fleet afoot (ahem) Hector Sanchez. Blanco and Belt have the opportunity to be magicians if they can (Blanco already is) -- they can make Nate Schierholtz and Aubrey Huff disappear.


Baseball Quote of the Day: "Why is it there are so many nice guys interested in baseball? Not me, I was a real bastard when I played." (Burleigh Grimes)


Next game: Diamondbacks at Giants, 7:15 p.m. PDT Tuesday, May 29, at AT&T Park. Saunders (3-3, 3.79) vs. Vogelsong (3-2, 2.50). TV: CSN-BA