Wednesday, October 01, 2003

 

Ponson, Bullpen Serve Up Batting Practice; Giants Lose Game 2

That's the bad news. And now, over to me for the good news.

I got to leave work at 10am, pick up my girlfriend Dawn, and play hooky with official leave (which I guess makes it not hooky after all...oh well). We took BART out to the city, and as is our custom, had lunch at the Acme Chophouse before the game. I know it's a semi-tourist attraction, being situated within the walls of the stadium. I know it's a bit overpriced, perhaps. But damn, is the food ever good there. Oysters on the half shell as an appetizer, all from Tomales Bay just an hour's drive from the city. Those were terrific as always. Onion rings, sweet, thin, and lightly battered, almost like they were tempura. They didn't have ranch dressing to put them in, but they didn't need them. They weren't salted to death, or battered to death. A perfect balance of batter and onion, and just the perfect consistency. Finally, pulled pork sandwich. (Neither of us really know what they mean by "pulled" pork, but I always imagine some poor pig on the rack. You know, the rack with the cranks and the associated screaming?) I couldn't tell you what sauce they used, but it was spicy and moist. (Dawn says it probably had paprika in it.) They had some coleslaw in the sandwich, too; I'm told that's a sign of a Carolina recipe. Whatever--it was really fantastic.

Then we got to go inside, and they gave us all orange foam sticks to wave around and raise hell with. They're the perfect size for play fencing, if you don't mind having a slightly floppy rapier. We Errol Flynned our way to section 135, where my company has its season tickets. It was cloudy, but not cold and windy, and the sun was offering to come out later in the afternoon.

Then the game started, and the Giants did great, at least for the first four innings. Ponson had a shaky first inning, but gave up only one run. The Giants tied it up right away, thanks to Barry Bonds' RBI double. Then in the fourth, the Giants broke it open with three runs. The Fish walked Barry intentionally with Aurilia on first and nobody out. Alfonzo immediately made them pay by driving a double into Death Valley. Bonds practically ran over Aurilia as they raced to the plate. Alfonzo would later score on a Marquis Grissom grounder. It was 4-1 Giants, and life looked good.

I have to say a quick word about Bonds. He has another gear for the playoffs. He made an amazing sliding catch to end the second inning. I can't remember the last time I saw him slide or dive for a fly ball. On Alfonzo's double, he was running faster than I could recall ever seeing before. You know all that talk about conserving energy? This is what he's saving it for. After two games, he is 1-for-3 with 5 walks, a double, an RBI, 2 runs scored, and a stolen base. His OBP is .750. His slugging percentage is .666. Not bad at all.

Ponson went back to his shaky side in the fifth inning. He gave the lead right back, giving up about a hundred and fifty little singles. Felipe Alou could see Ponson was done, and started Herges warming up in the bullpen. Ponson finished the fifth with the score 4-4, but Alou smartly pinch-hit for him in the bottom of the fifth. Ponson was due to lead off, but Alou sent up Pedro Feliz. And wouldn't you know, Feliz crushed a ball into Triples Alley that bounded off the wall, over Pierre and Encarnacion, and back to the infield. A faster runner would have had an inside-the-park homer; Feliz settled for an easy stand-up triple. Snow would drive him in with a single to right field. At the end of five, the Giants led 5-4. Ponson was the pitcher of record, and reliable Joe Nathan was coming in from the bullpen.

Here endeth the good news.

Nathan pitched batting practice in the sixth inning. That's the only conclusion. Homer to Encarnacion, singles to Conine, Gonzalez, Hollandsworth, and you could see the Marlins dugout drooling all the way from our section. Before the feast got completely out of hand, Alou intervened and summoned Jason Christiansen. Oops, more BP. Then Herges. Nothing helped. Before the dust settled that inning, it was 7-5, and it wasn't over.

Rodriguez served up BP in the seventh, too. The Marlins drove the ball hard against time several times, but somehow only scored once. Brower came in and gave up a run in the eighth. It was 9-5, and the Giants had stopped hitting. Five runs should be enough to win, but that assumes your bullpen isn't going to give up five runs all by itself.

The Giants outfield didn't help by barfing up on two fly balls. Cruz overran a ball deep in the right field corner in the fifth, which ended up costing the Giants a run. Grissom simply dropped one that he had run down in the eighth, accounting for Brower's run. Grissom was not charged with an error. The sky today was pretty rough. Fast-moving patches of clouds played tag with the sunshine, changing literally every few seconds. Nonetheless, the Marlins outfield made their plays; the Giants didn't.

Well, in my preview a few days ago I indicated that Game 2 was the one I was most worried about. It looks like I was right. We're going to Miami even up, but now the Giants get to feast on left-handed pitching. They got a little appetizer today. Jack McKeon sent in Dontrelle Willis to pitch the eighth. Alfonzo and Santiago promptly got back-to-back singles. McKeon then yanked Willis and sent in a right-hander, and the Giants bats went back to sleep. But we will get a lot of innings of Redman and Willis starting Friday. I don't think the Marlins will survive that.

And hey, I got to go to a playoff game! How cool is that?

Jefferson 5:46 PM

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