Results tagged ‘ Diamondbacks ’
Giants win, but Cain feels pain
The Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-2 on Wednesday, but the big news of the day was the Matt Cain was scratched from his scheduled start on Thursday.
An MRI revealed inflammation in his elbow with no structural damage. Cain will skip his Thursday start, and the Giants hope he only misses one start.
“Obviously we hope it doesn’t have to take missing more than one start,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We’ll see where he’s at in a couple of days. Now’s the time to back off and calm this down a little bit.”
That next start will be on Tuesday, so we’ll see. It wouldn’t surprise us to see him throw a minor-league game or simulated game next week.
After that, we’ll start to breathe again
In other injury news, Brian Wilson is set to throw live batting practice Thursday, then the Giants hope to get him into games this weekend. Wilson has been slowed with back problems this spring.
Other highlights from Wednesday’s game vs. Arizona:
JONATHAN SANCHEZ: Sanchez gave up two runs (one earned) on four hits in three innings pitched. He struck out three and walked one. “My slider was nasty,” Sanchez said. “I was in the zone with all my pithces.”
JEREMY AFFELDT: Making his first appearance of the spring, Affledt threw one hitless inning.
AARON ROWAND: Whoops, we spoke too soon. We thought when Freddy Sanchez hit in the leadoff spot Tuesday that Bruce Bochy had come to senses. We were wrong. Rowand was back in the leadoff spot Wednesday. He went 0 for 2 with a sacrifice fly.
FREDDY SANCHEZ: Speaking of Freddy, hitting in the No. 2 spot, Sanchez got his first hits of the spring, going 2 for 3.
PABLO SANDOVAL: The Panda continues to hit, going 1 for 2 with a run scored.
More Panda power
Well, you can’t win them all. And in the spring, I’m not even sure you want to.
But the Giants were looking like they were headed to a 3-0 spring start when they were leading 3-0 over the Diamondbacks Sunday. But Arizona tallied four runs in the eighth of relievers Jose Casilla and Alex Hinshaw to post a 4-3 lead.
Again, we saw more encouraging signs from the desert:
MORE PANDA POWER: Pablo Sandoval continues his hot start to the spring, belting his second home run in as many days.
Sandoval belted an 0-2 pitch from Daniel Hudson deep over the fence in right in the fourth inning.
Sandoval also struck out twice, each after Pat Burrell walked. But at least he didn’t ground into a double play, right?
The strikeouts will come this spring for the Panda, as he works on getting taking more pitches and working deeper into the count.
That’s a challenge for Sandoval because, in the spring, pitchers focus on throwing strikes. So if Sandoval is taking, he’s falling behind. Even his home run came on an 0-2 pitch.
MORE HITTERS: Buster Posey continued to swing the bat well, hitting a single and double in three at-bats. Outfielder Cody Ross had two doubles in three at-bats.
CAIN BEING CAIN: Matt Cain continues to throw scoreless innings, even in the spring. Cain tossed 21 scoreless innings in the postseason last fall. On Sunday, he threw two more scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.
Torture is back … and it’s wonderful
The San Francisco Giants began the 2011 Spring Training schedule the way they ended many of their games from the 2010 championship season — with some drama.
The Arizona Diamondbacks scored two runs in the top of the ninth and had the tying run on second base when non-roster invitee Casey Daigle struck out the final batter to preserve a 7-6 win for the Giants in their spring opener Friday.
As the Giants left the field, one fan at Scottsdale Stadium shouted “Awww, the torture’s back already? Couldn’t you break us in?” the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Is torture possible on Feb. 25? Not really.
Tim Lincecum gave up three runs on five hits in his 1 2/3 innings of work. He gave up four consecutive singles to open the game, leading to the three-run first. But the Mercury News reported he was throwing 93 mph while focusing on his fastball and slider. He did not throw his change-up.
Here are some other highlights from Friday’s game.
- Madison Bumgarner had a solid outing, other than hanging a change-up that Xavier Nady hit out of the park. MadBum was throwing 91-92 mph, which is much better than the upper-80s he had last spring.
- Leadoff hitter Andres Torres drew two walks in three plate appearances and scored both times.
- Buster Posey went 2 for 3, including a two-run double.
- Pablo Sandoval showed some plate discipline, refusing to swing at a pitch in the dirt during an at-bat that ended with a sacrifice fly. He later didn’t offer on a high pitch on a 3-2 count and drew a walk. Encouraging.
Spring training: Giants 4, Diamondbacks 3
The San Francisco Giants got on the board quickly and Kevin Pucetas led another solid pitching effort as the Giants beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3 on Sunday in Tucson.
The Giants opened the game with a walk to Aaron Rowand, Andres Torres was hit by a pitcher and John Bowker belted a three-run home run.
Rowand delivered an RBI single in the second for the other Giant run.
Pucetas again made his case for winning the No. 5 rotation spot. He gave up one run (his first of the spring) on three hits and two walks in five innings of work.
Inside the box score
Rowand 1 for 2 with walk, run and RBI in his first game in a week
Travis Ishikawa was 1 for 4 in his first start at 1B of the spring.
Eli Whiteside was 0 for 3 … at the plate and behind it. The Diamondbacks stole three bases off Pucetas and Whiteside.
Up next
The Giants (14-6) will face the Rangers with Barry Zito on the mound.
Spring: Giants (ss) 12, Diamondbacks 6; Brewers 12, Giants (ss) 1
John Bowker hit a three-run home run as part of a nine-run fifth inning as the Giants split-squad beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 12-6. Kevin Pucetas gave up just one hit in three scoreless innings of work, but the Milwaukee Brewers jumped on the pitchers who followed Pucetas, handing the Giants their first loss of spring training, 12-1.
mlblogsmoresplashhits
Recent Comments