• We know that the team has been struggling at the dish lately, but sac bunting with your #2 hitter in the first inning is embarrassing.
• If you’ve never paid attention to Pablo Sandoval’s approach to his at-bat, do yourself a favor and watch him. He writes something in the dirt with his bat on the perimeter of the batting circle as he approaches, then jumps out toward the pitcher with some more choreography. We love that he does most of his work outside of the batter’s box.
• When Chris Duncan struck out with the bases loaded in the third, fans lustily booed him. Sorry, fans, but booing your own for giving an honest effort but failing is poor form. Stay home next time, or save your boos for lack of hustle — or Manny Ramirez.
• Not sure why Bochy allowed Romo to pitch to Pujols in the eighth. He was playing with fire and could’ve easily lost the game then.
• Yadier Molina reached on a fielder’s choice in the eighth, and what a poor choice it was by erstwhile Cardinal shortstop Edgar Renteria. With runners on first and second, two outs, Molina grounded slowly to Renteria. Tyler Greene, one of the Cardinals’ fastest players, had just entered the game to pinch run at first. Molina, one of the team’s slowest, was batting. With two outs and no one holding him on, Greene easily made it to second, which is where Renteria threw. The former Gold Glover needs to remember all these details. Which raises the question: At what point does a fielding decision become so egregious that it ceases to be a "fielder’s choice" and become an error?
• Speaking of former Gold Glovers acting foolishly, Albert Pujols has made a bad habit of fielding throws in foul territory; he’s going to get himself hurt and/or fail to make a play because the ball hits a runner. Yes, Pujols makes some exciting plays, but he also makes some plays exciting.
• Tony La Russa got "p0wned," as the kids say, by Bruce Bochy in the ninth. With the game tied, Wainwright was due to lead off against righty Sergio Romo. Rather than let him bat or at least pinch hit with righty Jarrett Hoffpauir, TLR summoned lefty Rick Ankiel. Sure enough, Bochy countered with southpaw Jeremy Affeldt, who promptly said "gg" to Ankiel on three pitches. TLR gave away an out for free in a crucial situation (and burned a hitter in the process).
• But then we’re not sure why Bochy didn’t leave in Affeldt, who was carving up Cardinal batters, to pitch to Rasmus in the 10th. It probably cost him the game.
• TLR deserves credit, though, for bringing in Franklin in the tie game (read: non-save situation).
• As dominant as Tim Lincecum was Monday night, Adam Wainwright outpitched him with tonight’s performance. Lincecum had a Fielding-Independent Game Score (FIGS) of 76; Wainwright, with 36 batters faced and 12 strikeouts, threw an 80.
• When a pitcher pitches nine innings with 12 Ks, can we please stop wasting time and space by noting how he didn’t get a decision? Just don’t mention it; it’s absolutely stupid.
• No, Bernie, Ryan Franklin should not be an All-Star. It’s a quaint idea, but he’s not even among the top 10 best relief pitchers (let alone starters) in the league. Heck, the Giants’ Wilson and Affeldt are having better seasons.
• It was a momentous night for sportswriters: P-D scribes Rick Hummel and Joe Strauss gave in to the peer pressure and officially began their Twitter careers.

This entry was posted by Pip on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 at 12:41 am and is filed under analysis. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.