Giants 2 Encarnacion 3.
That was a great game. Short, just 2:17, the good guys win and the star of the game was fan whipping boy Edwin Encarnacion. Edwin singled home 2 with the bases loaded in the 5th to give us a 2-1 read. Then with the scored tied at 2, he hit a solo homer in the 8th to win it for us. Then he ended the game with a terrific defensive play and he took a walk.
Other than EE we didn't do much on offense. 4 hits and 1 walk in total. It really is amazing that we loaded the bases for Edwin. We let Barry Zito pitch a complete game without hardly working up a sweat. Lewis, Hill, Lind, Wells and Bautista all had 0 fors.
Brandon Morrow wasn't great or more, he was great except for the 1st inning and the 6th. In the 1st he gave up two hits and two walks but just 1 run. The next 4 innings he gave up just 1 hit. Then in the 6th he gave up a double, hit a batter and a single, but he got out of that with just one run again. He was helped up when the Giants third base coach sent Aubrey Huff home on a ball hit to Jose Bautista. Big mistake. Bautista to Hill to Molina. Out by roughly 10 feet.
Our bullpen was perfect over the last 3 innings. Jason Frasor struck out the side in the 7th. Scott Downs had two ground outs and a fly out, to get the win. And Kevin Gregg got two ground outs to first and the last one to EE for his 17th save and the easiest one he's had in a long while.
Jays of the Day are Edwin (.419 WPA), Gregg (.167) and Downs (.109). Honorable mention to Frasor and Morrow. Fred Lewis (-.155, 0 for 4 with a k) and Hill (-.099, 0 for 4, all popups if I remember right) get the Suckage award.
There were a couple interest second guess moments in the game. After EE singled with the bases loaded, Jose Molina is up with runners on 1st and 2nd and Zito on the ropes. Cito has him bunt. I hate the sac bunt and I hate it more with runners on first and second. The bunt has to be so good and it wasn't. The Giants get the lead runner and with Jose's 'speed', almost double him up. I hate the move. Zito couldn't get any of the last 4 guys out so we give them an out. Next up Fred Lewis hit into a double play.
Then in the 8th, after EE homered, Molina singled. A good time for a pinch runner? Apparently not. But then in the bottom half of the inning Dewayne Wise goes into left as a defensive replacement. If you were going to put him in anyway, why not have him pinch run? Oh well.
Half the fun of baseball is second guessing and we won so who cares. Tomorrow Jesse Litsch gets his second start, it can't be worse than the first one right? Matt Cain (6-4, 2.05) starts for the Giants. 1:00 Eastern start. It might be a tough one.