Wednesday, May 14, 2003

 

Another loss. Let's accentuate the positive:

* Neifi Perez scoring on an infield fly--something you just have to see to fully appreciate--is the funniest thing I've seen on a ball field since Calvin "The Freshmaker" Murray won a game early in 2002 by falling down on the basepaths five times.

* Marquis Grissom had a great day at the plate, going 4-for-4.

* Edgardo Alfonzo continues to heat up, going 2-for-4 with a 3-run homer.

* Giants bullpen was solid as always, pitching 2 1/3 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and two walks.

* The Dodgers lost too, so the Giants are still 6 games up in the National League West.

Now that that's out of the way, let me give in to my more cynical, awful self and vent a little bit.

Three times last night, Vladimir Guerrero came up with runners on base and two out. In the first inning, he came up with an open base at first, and Felipe Alou decides to pitch to him. Vladimir got an RBI single. In the seventh inning, he came up with a man on first in a tie game. Alou pitches to him again, and Vladimir hits a mammoth two-run homer which proves to be the game-winner. Finally, in the ninth inning, Vladimir came up with two out and a man on second. Finally, Alou walks him. Then Wil Cordero strikes out, getting Worrell out of the inning.

Why, why, why pitch to a monster like Guerrero in any of those situations? I guarantee you that Bonds would have been walked all three times. Sure, Guerrero's having a slow start (.281/.403/.492 after last night's game), but you know it's not going to last. And Cordero, batting behind Bad Vlad, is easier to get out (.299/.358/.443).

The Giants' record against good teams is starting to bother me. Against teams who are currently over .500 (Atlanta, Montreal, Philadelphia, Cincinnati, Houston, and Chicago), they're 7-10. Against the rest of the world, they're 18-3. This does not bode well for their hopes of advancing deep into the postseason again. It's still early yet, though. You can point out that most of those losses to good teams have come in the last two weeks, during which time the Giants offense has been slumping. I might buy that.

Speaking of slumping, J.T. Snow has cooled off a lot. He's now hitting only .276/.369/.410. Andres Galarraga, in about half the plate appearances, is putting up an ungodly .372/.426/.628. There's no way the Big Cat will keep up those numbers at age 42, but it's time for the annual "what do we do with Snow" debate. I admit that I love the Big Cat, and would love to see him playing every day, so I'm not the world's most objective observer. But you have to wonder if Alou is thinking about platooning them more often.

Four-game losing streaks make me cranky.

Jefferson 12:53 PM

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