Results tagged ‘ Dodgers ’

Any win over LA is a good win

It may have come on the second game of spring training, but any win over the hated Dodgers (is that redundant) is worth celebrating. The Giants spoiled the spring managerial debut of Don Mattingly with a 8-3 win on Saturday. Let’s see if we can spoil his regular-season debut on March 31.

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Again, it’s early. But Saturday’s win over the Dodgers was filled with some encouraging signs.

PANDA POWER: Pablo Sandoval slammed his first home run of the spring training. Given that one of the biggest pieces of Sandoval’s dissapointing 2010 season was his lack of power, this was an encouraging sign.

“When that happens, you get excited about what you do in the cage and all the work you do in the offseason,” Sandoval told the Associated Press.

Sandoval has been working on getting deeper into counts this spring. Yet his home run Saturday came on the first pitch from Oscar Villarreal in the fourth inning.

“He threw that same little cutter to (Aubrey) Huff and Andres (Torres),” Sandoval told the San Jose Mercury News. “I know sometimes I get in trouble when I swing at the first pitch. But I was looking for that pitch.”

That’s exactly what Sandoval should be doing on the first pitch — treat it like the count is 2-0. He should look for a particular pitch and a particular spot. If he doesn’t get that pitch, take it. If he does, hammer it. That’s what he did Saturday.

DEROSA IS RAKING: Mark DeRosa had three singles in three at-bats on Saturday, looking like the player the Giants hoped for when they signed him prior to the 2010 season. DeRosa missed most of 2010 after wrist surgery.

“(Fans) don’t care if you’re hurt,” DeRosa told the Mercury News. “They look for production and it wasn’t there. … Now I’m feeling good. I really do. I’m not having to cheat on fastballs, to do certain things to relieve the pain, to force-feed every pitch to right field.”

Again, encouraging.

STRIKES FOR SANCHEZ: When we last saw Jonathan Sanchez in the postseason last fall, he was struggling to find the plate on a consistent basis, and therefore struggling to get outs.

Throwing strikes is a focus for Sanchez this spring. And early signs Saturday were good.

Sanchez walked one in 1 2/3 innings of work, giving up no runs on four hits.

One more reason to hate the Dodgers

It’s not like we need another reason to hate the Dodgers, but here’s one.

During the Winter Meetings, ESPN proposed having the Dodgers and Giants open the 2011 season with a  game on March 31 at AT&T Park. It would be a change from the original schedule, which had the Dodgers and Giants opening with a four-game series in Chavez Ravine on April 1.
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So the plan was for the Dodgers and Giants playing at 5 p.m. game in San Francisco on March 31, then playing a four-game series in LA starting the next day.

MLB was on board. The Giants were all for it. But ultimately, the Dodgers said “No.”

Freakin’ Dodgers.

So now the plan is for the Dodgers and Giants to open on March 31 with at 5 p.m. game, but it will take place in LA. ESPN will carry the game as a third part of a opening day tripleheader.

All games in the series were moved up on day. Here’s the schedule:

  • Thursday, March 31: Giants at Dodgers, 5 p.m. (ESPN)
  • Friday, April 1: Giants at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m.
  • Saturday, April 2: Giants at Dodgers, 1:10 p.m. (FOX)
  • Sunday, April 3: Giants at Dodgers, 5 p.m. (ESPN2)

Monday, April 4 will be a day off. The Giants will play their home opener on Friday, April 8 with a 1:35 p.m. game against the St. Louis Cardinals.

We assume the Giants will receive their World Series rings on April 8. And the Giants had better not give Juan Uribe his ring until the Dodgers come to San Francisco on April 11.

For a complete look at the Giants, 2011 schedule, click here.

The Top 10 List of Non-Giants Who Should Be on Every Giants Fan’s Christmas Card List: No. 2, Jonathan Broxton

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This is the perfect fit. Anytime More Splash Hits thinks about a Dodger, we think about No. 2.

So the No. 2 spot is perfect for Jonathan Broxton.

Into late June, Broxton was as good as any closer in baseball. By June 26, he was 3-0 with 16 saves and an ERA at 0.83.

On June 27, Broxton got tagged for four runs on four hits and two walks in a 8-6 loss to the Yankees. It was the fourth game Broxton had pitched in five days.

From there, things went downhill for Broxton, and the Giants contributed to his woes.

Against the Giants, it started on July 20 at Dodger Stadium.  The Dodgers took a 5-4 lead into the top of the ninth. Broxton was called on to get the save.

He promptly gave up an infield single to Juan Uribe and walked Nate Schierholtz on a full-count pitch. After Aaron Rowand sacrificed the runners to second and third, Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked to load the bases.

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This is where Don Mattingly, the Dodgers’ acting manager after Joe Torre was ejected along with pitcher Clayton Kershawn for hitting Rowand with a pitch two innings earlier, came out to the mound to speak to Broxton. As Mattingly began to head back to the dugout, he took one step off the dirt area, spun around back onto the dirt circle to say one more thing to either Broxton or his infielders.

Giants manager Bruce Bochy saw this, and went to the umpires and contested that, by rule, Mattingly should be charged with two visits to the mound. This is would require Broxton to be removed from the game.

Now while the umpires were conferring and then began speaking to Mattingly, right-hander Travis Schlichting was throwing in the bullpen. When the Dodgers became aware that they would have to remove Broxton, they got the left-hander George Sherrill up to throw. He got about three tosses in the bullpen before the umpires summoned him into the game.

The umpires told Mattingly that Sherrill would have as much time as possible to get ready. But Sherrill was not made aware of this. After eight warm-up tosses, umpire Tim McClelland asked Sherrill if he was ready, and he said “Yes, I guess, ’cause I’m not getting any more”

Mattingly didn’t come out to make sure his pitcher was ready. And Sherrill promptly gave up a two-run double to Andres Torres. THEN, Schlichting replaced Sherrill and gave up a single to Buster Posey to score another run, the Giants went on to win 7-5.

Broxton was charged with all three runs. But the story doesn’t end there. A day later, MLB said the umpires had not ruled properly in this case. According to the rules, Mattingly should have been ejected from the game (which he wasn’t) and Broxton should have been allowed to pitch to Torres (which he wasn’t).

On July 31 in San Francisco, the Dodgers were nursing a 1-0 lead in the eighth when Hong-Chih Kuo easily retired the first two batters he faced in the inning. But then he hit Buster Posey with a pitch, and Torre came out to replace Kuo with Broxton.

patdbat.jpegBroxton faced Pat Burrell, who worked the count full before hammering a pitch over the left-field wall for a two-run homer. The Giants went on to win the game 2-1.

For the highlight go to:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=10465835

On Sept. 4 in Los Angeles, the Dodgers took a 4-0 lead off Matt Cain before the Giants because to chip away at the lead. First Buster Posey homered off LA starter Ted Lilly in the seventh.

Edgar Renteria homered off Lilly to open the eighth. Lilly was replaced by Octavio Dotel, who promptly gave up a home run to Pat Burrell, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 4-3.

After Dotel walked Freddy Sanchez, Kuo was brought in for Dotel. He ended the inning by getting Huff and Posey out on just six pitches.

Instead of staying with Kuo to pitch the ninth, Torre went with Broxton in the ninth.

Broxton struck out Jose Guillen before giving up a single to Cody Ross. Then Juan Uribe hammered a 1-0 pitch deep over the wall in left-center, and the Giants went on to win 6-5.

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For the highlight, go to:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=11722855

Broxton finished the season 5-6 with a 4.04 ERA.

Against the Giants, he was 0-3 with a 20.00 ERA.

There were two pitchers who the Giants managed to beat three times during the 2010 regular season. Roy Oswalt was one of them. Broxton was the other.

manlove.jpegAnd while we passing out gratitude to Broxton, we should share some for Joe Torre, who had some serious man-love for Broxton. Torre kept going to Broxton, when it was clear he wasn’t very effective in the second half of the season, and when Kuo was a far better option.

Let’s review. On June 26, Broxton was 3-0 with 16 saves and an 0.83 ERA. He finished the year 5-6 with 22 saves and a 4.04 ERA.

So thanks Joe. And we should also thank Don Mattingly and George Sherrill for their contributions.

The Top 10 List of Non-Giants Who Should Be on Every Giants Fans Christmas Card List:

No. 3, Larry Beinfest

No. 4, Cliff Lee

No. 5, Chase Utley

No. 6, Andrew Friedman and Neil Huntington

No. 7, Roy Oswalt

No. 8, Bud Black

No. 9, Paul Emmel

No. 10,

Uribe is full of hoooo-ribe

EDITOR’S NOTE: To San Francisco Giants fans with weak constitutions, we advise that you quickly avert your eyes from the below image and move quickly to the blog post below. Reader discretion is strongly advised.
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You know, for Christmas, what More Splash Hits really would like is for some free agent baseball player to come out at the press conference announcing his signing and say “You know, I really hoped I could re-sign with the team I’ve been playing with for the past couple of seasons, but this team here offered me WAY more money. So I took it. Woohoo!!”

I get so tired of players walking up to the mic and saying how their first choice was to sign with the team that just gave them a boatload of cash.

The press conference remarks from Juan Uribe after signing a three-year, $21 million deal with the Dodgers just about sent me through the roof.

“As far as leaving (the Giants), I have no control over the teams I play for,” Uribe said through a translator.

Huh-Who-What!?!?!?!

We can only assume BS doesn’t translate well from Spanish to English.

A story by San Francisco Chronicle writer Henry Schulman makes Uribe’s words sound even more hollow.

Schulman wrote that the Giants were willing to match the Dodgers’ initial offer of three years for $20 million. So the Giants let Uribe walk over $1 million? Not quite.

When the Giants said they’d match the Dodgers’ offer, the Uribe camp responded with a request of $27 million for three years. Uribe eventually came down to $25 million for three years.

The Giants declined those proposals, and Uribe signed with the Dodgers for $21 million.

So it appears that Uribe felt the Giants owed him more than what the Dodgers did, probably because of the production he gave them over the past two seasons while being paid $4.5 million.

Giants GM Brian Sabean said: “He obviously wanted to be a Dodger more than he wanted to be a Giant.”

For any Giants fans who were reluctant about booing Uribe when he shows up at AT&T Park in Dodger Blue, do you need to know anything else?

Booooooo–ribe!!!! Uribe signs with Dodgers

JuanU.jpegWell, it’s happened. After driving up the cost for the Giants to re-sign Aubrey Huff, the Los Angeles Dodgers went and signed shortstop Juan Uribe away from the San Francisco Giants.

Uribe agreed to a three-year deal for a reported $21 million with the Dodgers on Monday. He’ll likely play second base for the Dodgers in 2011.

When More Splash Hits began seeing reports that the Dodgers were willing to offer a third year, we knew the party was just about over for the Giants retaining Uribe.

The reported $21 million deal is quite a haul for a player who played two years with the Giants (earning $1 million and $3.25 million) and arrived in camp as a utility player. Uribe played himself into an everyday player in 2010.

If there’s any good news, it’s that the Giants offered Uribe arbitration, which will garner the Giants a sandwich pick in next June’s draft.

Losing Uribe hurts. Losing him to the Dodgers hurts more. Oh, and Opening Day 2011 for the Giants: April 1 at Los Angeles. No fooling.

Can’t blame this one on Zito

Dodgers 2, Giants 1

LP: Romo (0-1)

Giants HR: Uribe (1)

Record: 8-4, 1st in NL West, 2 games ahead of Colorado, Los Angeles and San Diego

Told you the Giants should have saved some runs for Sunday.

They only got one on Sunday, and that wasn’t enough. Usually, it isn’t. But on Sunday, it almost was.

Barry Zito pitched seven scoreless innings and took a 1-0 lead into the eighth on the strength of Juan Uribe’s home run. But Zito’s one-out walk to Garret Anderson (is there anything worse than a former 2002 Angel now playing for the Dodgers???) led to his exit from the game.

Sergio Romo hung a 1-2 slider to Manny Ramirez, and Ramirez pounded it for a two-run homer. And the Dodgers went on to win, 2-1.

As frustrating as watching the Giants only manage four hits off Dodgers pitching, there is one thing to take away from this loss — Barry Zito is pitching great.

In 2007, Barry Zito was terrible in April. In 2008, he was just as bad. But last season, Zito actually pitched well, even though his win-loss record didn’t show it. That’s because he got a severe lack of run support (kinda like what he got Sunday).

But Zito is 2-0 with a 1.86 ERA in April this season. Zito was a decent pitcher in the second half of the season in both 2007 and 2008. So if Zito is going this well in April, what’s yet to come this season.

We’ll take that as a good sign.

Time to move on from Dodger Stadium, and focus on winning some games in San Diego.

Matt Cain gets the call on Monday night against the Padres.

Long (ball) night for Wellemeyer

Dodgers 10, Giants 8

LP: Todd Wellemeyer

Giant HR: Pablo Sandoval (2), Eugenio Velez (2)

Record: 7-3, first in NL West 2 games ahead of Arizona and Los Angeles

More Splash Hits didn’t get a chance to see Friday’s games — too many family commitments. And it’s just as well. Looks like it would have been a waste of a good Friday night.

Somebody forgot to tell the Giants that Vicente Padilla is NOT a strikeout pitcher. And somebody forgot to tell Todd Wellemeyer that he IS supposed to be a groundball pitcher.

Five of the first nine batters the Giants sent up against Padilla fanned on Friday, while the Dodgers belted three home runs in the first two innings off Wellemeyer, building a 7-0 lead.

As for the Giants’ hitters, this is a trend we’ve been seeing a bit this young season. They struggle against pitchers the first time they see them, then make adjustments the second time through the lineup. It happend against Tim Hudson, Kenshin Kawakami and Paul Maholm. But the difference in those game is that the Giants pitching kept them in the game.

That was not the case Friday night.

The Giants hitters did eventually get going, scoring three runs off Padilla. But it was too little, too late. The game was more lopsided than the final as the Giants tallied five runs in the top of the ninth. Eugenio Velez is becoming the Giants’ big power bat. He belted a three run homer in the ninth to get the game to 10-8.

Hopefully, pitching won’t be the problem Saturday with Tim Lincecum on the mound. But the Giants are facing a young knuckleballer in Charlie Haeger. Let’s hope the Giant hitters can show some patiences and see a lot of pitches. That’s how you win against a knuckleballer. It is not the Giants’ hitting M.O. however.

Setting up the weekend series in LA

The Giants are 7-2 and in first place in the National League. The 11 days the Giants have spent in first place are more days than the Giants have spent in first since 2006.

But now things get a little tougher for the G-men, and it starts with a six-game road trip to Los Angeles and San Diego.

Last year, a similar trip put the Giants in an early hole when the Giants went 0-6. It led to a season-long struggle on the road in Southern California, where the Giants finished 5-13 at Los Angeles/San Diego.

The Giants will need a good road trip because things don’t get any easier when they come home for a six-game homestand against the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies.

Todd Wellemeyer takes the hill Friday night against Vicente Padilla. Wellemeyer pitched well for six innings against the Braves last Saturday before things unravelled in seventh.

Here’s the weekend pitching matchups:

FRIDAY: Todd Wellemeyer (0-1) vs. Vicente Padilla (0-1), 7:10 p.m.

SATURDAY: Tim Lincecum (2-0) vs. Charlie Haeger (0-0), 1:10 p.m. (FOX)

SUNDAY: Barry Zito (2-0) vs. Clayton Kershaw (1-0), 1:10 p.m.

Spring training: Giants, 6, Dodgers 2

The Giants ended spring training in Arizona on as high a note that you can — with a win over the hated Dodgers and a solid outing from ace Tim Lincecum.

Lincecum pitched in a minor league game against the A’s Double-A players. He threw 97 pitches, giving up no runs on five singles and four walks in six innings. He also struck out eight. He hit 95 mph on the radar gun.

“I felt like I had the right stuff,” Lincecum told the San Jose Mercury News. “The breaking balls, both of them, were good. Change-up was good. Fastballs feel like their getting life on it. I feel ready for the season.”

It’s a good sign for Giants fans, who had seen stellar outings from Cain, Zito, Sanchez and Wellemeyer, and not Lincecum. But, by all accounts, he looked ready to go next Monday in Houston.

In the game against the Dodgers, Eugenio Velez was 3 for 5 with a triple, run, RBI and stolen base. Juan Uribe hit a home run.

Up next

The Giants broke camp with 38 players still on the roster. That number must be reduced to 25 by Monday. Barry Zito takes the mound as the Giants return home to San Francisco to open a three-game series with the A’s. Game time is 7:05 p.m. and it’s on MLB Network. Friday night’s game, which is expected to feature Matt Cain on the hill, also will be on MLB Network.

Spring training: Giants 3, Dodgers 2, 10 inn.

It’s a good day in Giants Nation. It may just be spring training, but any day that ends with a win over the Dodgers is good day.

Ryan Rohlinger singled home Brooks Kieschnick to carry the Giants to a 3-2 win over the Dodgers in 10 innings.

Pitchers Barry Zito and Todd Wellemeyer put in solid outings on the mound. Both pitchers give up one run on in three innings of work.

Inside the box score

Aaron Rowand went 1 for 2 with a run scored. He walked once and struck out once.

Pablo Sandoval was 1 for 3 with an RBI

John Bowker was 1 for 2 with a triple, run scored and one walk.

Buster Posey entered the game late and played first base for a spell.

Guillermo Mota pitched a perfect inning, with two strikeouts.

Injury updates

Mark DeRosa tested his surgically repaired wrist in batting practice. He hopes to make his spring training debut Tuesday or Wednesday.

Emmanuel Burriss was told that he can return playing within two months, barring any further complications with his broken foot.

Nate Schierholtz had a rough day in Sunday’s simulated game. First, he fouled a ball off his knee. Unable to stand on the sore knee, he stumbled backward and hit his head on the batting cage. But he appeared to be all right afterwards.

 

 

 

Up next

Matt Cain takes to the mound as the Giants face the White Sox on Tuesday.

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