Giants Rewarded For Good Decisions

by
October 28, 2010

In the seventh inning, Bruce Bochy put Nate Schierholtz in the game for defensive purposes in order to give his team the best possible chance to win. Two batters later, Schierholtz rewarded him with a great running catch in the gap to save an extra base hit in a one run game.

Ron Washington used four relievers in the eighth inning, none of whom were Neftali Feliz or Alexi Ogando, probably his two best bullpen options. He couldn’t use Ogando after having him pitch two innings in a blowout yesterday, and he didn’t use Feliz because he was saving him for a situation that would never exist. The Giants put up seven runs and the game turned into a blowout.

Life doesn’t always reward people fairly for their decisions. Tonight, it did. Bochy put his best players on the field, Washington did not. The Giants deserved to win that game more than Texas did. The result matched the process.





 

Dave is the Managing Editor of FanGraphs.

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Andrew Kneeland
13 years ago

What about Bochy letting Cain hit in the 7th with a runner on second, then pitch to two batters in the 8th? At that point in the game, any added chance at plating that 3rd run would have been significant.

Unless, of course, Bochy foresaw Washington’s bullpen implosion.

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johng
13 years ago
Reply to  Andrew Kneeland

I think Cain was the best option for the 8th. The SF bullpen didn’t really shut anyone down yesterday, and Cain was lights out.

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this guy
13 years ago
Reply to  johng

Yep. You ride your hot hand. Run prevention was much more important than run creation at that point in the game. I love call to leave Cain in the game.

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Wally
13 years ago
Reply to  johng

Because that one game sample really tells us so much.

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brendan
13 years ago
Reply to  johng

I disagree. Cain was OK last night, not lights-out. 2K! He allowed plenty of balls in play. lots of flies to the warning track. He got a bit lucky and had good D behind him.

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Deelron
13 years ago
Reply to  johng

“I disagree. Cain was OK last night, not lights-out. 2K! He allowed plenty of balls in play. lots of flies to the warning track. He got a bit lucky and had good D behind him.”

That’s pretty much a Matt Cain game in a nutshell (obviously more then 2 strikeouts normally, but it’s pretty much what he does).

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