San Francisco Giants 3 Up, 3 Down: Winning Series Against Arizona
3 DOWN
1 – Headshots
Though clearly unintentional, there were a couple scary moments during the weekend series. On Friday, Brandon Belt was hit in the helmet by a curveball from rookie lefty Anthony Banda and immediately went down in a heap. He was removed from the game immediately and placed on the disabled list with his fourth concussion dating back to college.
On Sunday, Brandon Drury was the victim of another headshot. Cory Gearrin lost grip of his own pitch, catching Drury on the top of his helmet and sending him stumbling to the ground. Luckily for him, the ball didn’t catch him flush and he was able to stay in the game, saying he was feeling fine after the game.
These was certainly no malice behind those hit-by-pitches, but it’s never not scary to watch a player get hit up high.
2 – Being Unsupportive
Madison Bumgarner just can’t catch a break. He pitched another fine ballgame on Friday, giving up just a couple runs over seven inning, but was hung with another tough-luck loss because of a lack of run support. The Giants mustered only one run, which becomes even more frustrating after they scored five runs on Saturday and one run on Sunday.
It’s an odd coincidence for Bumgarner. The lineup just doesn’t work when he’s pitching. The Giants average 2.85 runs in Bumgarner’s starts, and have scored two runs or fewer of support seven times in his nine starts. Bumgarner pitches well enough to win in these games (2.88 ERA and 1.045 WHIP), but he needs a little help.
3 – Rookie Struggles
Ryder Jones came back to the big leagues in a great way, picking up two hits in his first two at-bats against the Oakland Athletics on Thursday. Since, he’s gone ice cold. He started all three games against Arizona, but went hitless in 10 at-bats while striking out six times. With playing time open because of injuries and transactions, Jones is getting the chances. He’s just not taking advantage yet.
Next: Weird Day Ends in Walk-Off Win
He’s only 23 years old and 11 games into his big league career, but Jones could use a big game or two to get things going in the right direction.