Game 3 Report Card: San Francisco Giants
The Giants have been torturing the San Francisco faithful all year and this game was no different. This game had two blown saves, two lead changes, and a crucial error all within one inning.
Bottom line is, they won 3-2 and have a 2-1 series lead going into Monday's Game 4.
Pablo didn't play. Jonathan Sanchez's stellar performance. How does Brooks Conrad fit in?
Starting pitching, bullpen, offense, and managerial decisions. All to be analyzed.
Let's see how the Giants fared after Game 3 of their series with the Atlanta Braves.
Starting Pitching: A-
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What else can you say about the performance Jonathan Sanchez had Sunday night. He pitched seven and one-third inning, giving up two hits, and one earned run while striking out 11.
You could make the case that the one run should never have scored had Sergio Romo done his job. But an earned run is an earned run.
Sanchez had been plagued by control problems all season, but his last month of the season carried right into the postseason. Sanchez had walked 96 batters in 193 innings but in this start he only walked one.
The only reason he doesn't get an A is because of the performances recently from, let's say, Tim Lincecum.
Nonetheless, you could not ask more of Sanchez.
Bullpen: C-
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With the Giants leading 1-0 going into the eighth inning, starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez gave up a hit to Alex Gonzalez, got Brooks Conrad to pop up a bunt, and then a pinch hitter came to the plate.
The announced pinch hitter was Troy Glaus. Giants fans remember this name from the 2002 World Series when he hit a game changing double off of Tim Worrell in the pivotal Game 6.
With the right-handed hitter coming to the plate, Giants manager Bruce Bochy did what almost any manager would have done: He made a call to the bullpen.
In comes Sergio Romo, who did not record an out in his Game 2 outing, allowing two runs in the process.
When Romo entered the game, Braves manager Bobby Cox went back to his bench and grabbed Eric Hinske. Hinske has been to three consecutive World Series, so the guy knows how to win.
Romo proceeds to give up a two-run home run to right field, giving the Braves a 2-1 lead.
Here we go again.
Luckily for Romo, the Giants retook the lead in the ninth and closer Brian Wilson shut the door.
The performance of Romo is troubling for a guy who had been the Giants set-up man all season.
Offense: C+
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They would not say "die."
The offense was absolutely useless against Braves starting pitcher Tim Hudson. In fact, the Giants offense was ineffective until the ninth.
To that point, the Giants had six hits, one unearned run, and eight strikeouts.
But with Billy Wagner on the shelf, the Giants took advantage in the ninth.
With Travis Ishikawa already on first via a walk, Freddy Sanchez grounded a single to center field on a 1-2 count to keep the Giants alive.
At this point, Bobby Cox went to the bullpen and got Mike Dunn to face Aubrey Huff. Huff ripped a base hit to right field, allowing Ishikawa to score, tying the game 2-2.
Cox, once again, went in favor of the matchups, and had Peter Moylan face Buster Posey. He hit a routine ground ball to second and Brooks Conrad had it go under his glove and into right center field.
This allowed the go-ahead run to score.
In the ninth, they showed grit and determination but bottom line is, the Giants scored one earned run and two unearned.
They were 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position.
The ninth inning saved them from a worse grade.
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Managerial Decsions: B-
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Bruce Bochy did not play Pablo Sandoval. Good move.
Using Travis Ishikawa as a pinch hitter? Solid.
Putting in and leaving Sergio Romo in to face Hinske? Not so good.
In the never-ending game of managerial chess, Bochy had already gotten Bobby Cox to burn Troy Glaus. He had Javier Lopez ready in the bullpen.
Once Hinske was announced as the new pinch hitter, why not use Lopez to face a dangerous lefty? Neither are unfamiliar to the playoffs and Lopez has been the Giants' lefty specialist.
But I could see how Bochy went to his set-up man in that position. Despite Romo's performance in Game 2, who would have thought he'd have the same in Game 3?
Romo has done the job all year. He had a bad game. Good relievers have short memories.
Then, Sunday happened to Romo.
The grade is low only because of Romo's performance, not the move. Almost every manager would have gone with their set-up man.
Overall: B-
5 of 5
Well, fact is, they got the win. There was nothing pretty about it, but it happened.
Starting pitching was amazing again. The Giants' bats came alive, sort of, in the ninth. It is a road win against the team with the best home record in the National League.
This guarantees the Giants a trip home, if necessary, for Game 5. It places all the pressure on the Braves to finish the job and the Giants can at least relax a little bit.
Offense still needs to help the cause early in games. The bullpen, which had been so reliable during the regular season, has been the Giants' Achilles heel in the postseason.
The series would be over had the Giants' bullpen not blown Game 2. There is still much to improve on going into Game 3.
As it is, they have a 2-1 lead and a chance to close the series out with a game Monday afternoon.
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