Giants stung late to lose finale
07/16/2006 9:13 PM ET
Giants stung late to lose finale
Phillies score four in eighth inning; Bonds homers in defeat
By Rich Draper / MLB.com
Matt Cain allowed one hit for the third time this season, tops in the Majors.
(Jeff Chiu/AP)
SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants' starting pitching has been magnificent as a whole
this season -- they are among the National League leaders -- and that trend
continued Sunday in a six-inning, one-hit performance by rookie Matt Cain.
Yet for the second straight day, the bullpen imploded in a 6-2 loss to the
Philadelphia Phillies, giving up five runs in the seventh and eighth innings,
in a matter of minutes turning a pitching duel into a shockingly lopsided
event.
Bad enough that reliable reliever Jeremy Accardo would blow a save by yielding
a homer to leadoff batter David Bell in the seventh, especially after slugger
Barry Bonds cracked his 13th homer of the season and 721st blast of his
career in the sixth.
That blow had lifted the Giants to a 2-1 lead, while the 21-year-old Cain had
allowed only one run before hitting the 105-pitch mark and continually going
deep into counts.
But the four-run Phillies eighth came on the heels of Saturday's blowout
affair in which the relievers would have one of their worst games of the
season.
After Noah Lowry went only 3 2/3 innings, the 'pen gave up seven earned runs
over 5 1/3 innings, turning a mere 6-3 Philadelphia lead into a 14-6 nightmare
.
Oops. Nothing like a 10.80 ERA for the relievers over 8 1/3 frames.
"Our starters are pitching great, every day giving up quality starts, but the
bullpen has to pick it up a notch," said veteran Steve Kline, who took the
loss after being rocked for three runs on two hits, including a triple to kick
off the eighth to Chase Utley.
OK. A problem. An intentional walk to hot hitter Pat Burrell -- fair enough --
but then Ryan Howard slammed a single into right field to start the deluge.
"It's weird," said Kline. "I threw two good pitches and thought they were outs
. I got that big lug [Howard] to hit a ground ball, and that's all you can ask
for. But the wheels fell off the circus [wagon]."
Utley's ball also seemed to drift and drift in the stiff AT&T Park breeze, an
ill wind indeed.
So what can the Giants do after losing the series and kicking off the second
half with a 1-2 record? Kline says it'll have to be a team-wide effort.
"We just need to play better," said the left-hander. "We need to start
thinking playoff baseball here, tying up the loose ends and get this thing
going. We can't wait until the last month to pick up games.
"We still have 70 games left, and we're not going to panic and start
sacrificing live chickens," he said, noting the Giants could have gained big
ground over the weekend with divisional foes San Diego, Colorado and Los
Angeles getting swept. "We need to play good baseball and do the little things
."
Keeping players healthy is another thing, and second baseman Ray Durham -- he
has hammered four homers in the past six games after a solo shot in the second
inning Sunday -- was yanked from the contest after jamming his right shoulder
on a swing.
Trainer Stan Conte said the injury didn't appear to be that serious, and
Durham's condition is day to day.
On a positive note, Cain faced only 24 batters over six innings, allowing one
run in the fourth on two walks and a run-scoring double by Aaron Rowand. Alas,
his pitch count kept climbing.
"I threw the ball well, but I made a couple of mistakes getting behind guys
then having to battle back to get back in the count," said Cain, who had
struggled against the Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on May 5 when he gave up
six runs over four frames.
Sunday's effort was Cain's third start this year in which he has allowed only
one run, best in the Major Leagues.
"I'm pretty happy with things," said the rookie. "You're never going to
complain about an outing [like] today was -- you always want to learn from it
and build from it and move on. You want to get better every start."
As for Bonds, his big bop cheered the crowd and perhaps buoyed the Giants'
spirits even in the loss.
Alou said he sees the slugger attacking the baseball more lately, being more
aggressive. Like before. Like always.
"There have been some changes," he said. "It looks like he's going out and
attacking the pitches outside the zone. And he's stealing bases."
Bonds, though, wouldn't go that far, although he does appear more spritely at
the plate and in the field.
"I'm not doing anything different," he said. "Today I went after two high
fastballs. I'm just swinging and hoping they drop in."
Rich Draper is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the
approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
--
COBRAS.....只有三種......
嚴肅認真的COBRAS.......
幽默搞怪的COBRAS.......
還有.....溫柔體貼的COBRAS.......
--
※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc)
◆ From: 61.223.243.182
SFGiants 近期熱門文章
PTT體育區 即時熱門文章
