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Sunday, April 13, 2008

MLB.com: Lincecum, Bowker star in Giants’ win

John Bowker continued his outstanding start and Tim Lincecum pitched six strong innings as the San Francisco Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 7-4, on Sunday to split their four-game series.

Bowker became the first San Francisco Giant to homer in his first two games, slamming a two-run shot during a five-run rally in the fourth inning against Joel Pineiro, who was making his season debut.

Bowker drove in four runs on the day, adding a single and sacrifice fly as the Giants won their fourth in six games.
...
Lincecum (2-0) became only the second Giants starter to earn a victory, joining Kevin Correia. He allowed two runs on six hits over six innings, walking one and striking out 11, one off his career high and the third time he’s struck out 10 or more in a game.

I still don’t know who these position players are….

NTNgod Posted: April 13, 2008 at 11:57 PM | 19 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: cardinals, giants

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1. Alex meets the threshold for granular review Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:02 AM (#2742478)

My team had the crap beaten out of them but I still wish I had gotten to watch so I could've seen Lincecum. 11 Ks in 6 innings? Wow.

2. Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:08 AM (#2742485)

The Giants are 5-8 after two weeks.
Not good, but not awful.

3. ...and Toronto selects: Troy Tulowitzki Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:35 AM (#2742524)

Better than the Tigers, who are 2-10.

4. Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:36 AM (#2742533)

Better than the Tigers, who are 2-10.
When was the last time a team starting so poorly rallied to reach the postseason?

5. EddieA Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:39 AM (#2742541)

How bad were the Marlins in 2003?

6. Earvin 'Gold Stars' Johnson Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:40 AM (#2742544)

After 12 games, 6-6.

7. Justin 'The Cespedobear' T Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:43 AM (#2742555)

Gotta say I'm surprised Bowker made it to the show, even if his prospects for a long career are still dim. He sucked it up pretty good for San Jose in 2005 (733 OPS in the Cal League, although San Jose isn't a hitter's haven like the rest of the league), where I probably saw him play a dozen times. He struck me as the opposite of Jeremy Brown. He looked snazzy in his uniform, but that was about it.

8. Ryan Wilkins Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:44 AM (#2742562)

When was the last time a team starting so poorly rallied to reach the postseason?

Last year, the Phillies started 3-10.

9. Crispix Attacks Posted: April 14, 2008 at 12:46 AM (#2742565)

A new generation of Killer B's! Bowker, Bocock, and...Brad Hennessy!

10. North Side Chicago Expatriate Giants Fan Posted: April 14, 2008 at 01:16 AM (#2742673)

Gotta say I'm surprised Bowker made it to the show, even if his prospects for a long career are still dim. He sucked it up pretty good for San Jose in 2005 (733 OPS in the Cal League, although San Jose isn't a hitter's haven like the rest of the league), where I probably saw him play a dozen times. He struck me as the opposite of Jeremy Brown. He looked snazzy in his uniform, but that was about it.

He didn't look like much, and he did repeat at San Jose, but maybe the light bulb went on at Double-A Connecticut last year. Yes, we Giants fans may be overly excited given the state of the rest of our hitting "prospects" since, well, Will Clark.

Bowker, though, hit .307/.363/.523 at Connecticut, where hitting goes to die. He had a 41/103 BB/K ratio, which doesn't bode well for the future, but that is a great line for that park. His road split was .345/.397/.629, which makes him look like a real prospect. Also, he is still 24, and that's good for the Giants.

11. wcw Posted: April 14, 2008 at 01:39 AM (#2742738)

What Northside said. I remain skeptical that the current Giants brain trust can develop any hitter, especially a marginal 3rd-rounder. On the other hand, Bowker simply punished the Eastern League on the road last year. That 1027 road OPS doesn't have many competitors in the Eastern League in 2007. It was among the few rays of hope on the farm last year.

And even so, I'm surprised.

As for Lincecum, he's looked nice this year. He still throws too many pitches, he leaves fastballs up with men on base, he misses too often with breaking balls.. but now that he's putting the ball in the strike zone, he's just so freaking entertaining it doesn't matter.

12. Long John McCaine Mutiny on the Bounty (scott) Posted: April 14, 2008 at 01:59 AM (#2742806)

aww, i wanna see the giants be the worst offense ever :(

13. Robert S. Posted: April 14, 2008 at 02:14 AM (#2742871)

I vote the Giants score zero runs in their next three games.

14. Rich Rifkin I Posted: April 14, 2008 at 02:26 AM (#2742912)

The Giants 5 wins so far show me how damn hard it is to do what the Tigers did in 2003.

15. The importance of being Ernest Riles Posted: April 14, 2008 at 02:26 AM (#2742913)

When was the last time a team starting so poorly rallied to reach the postseason?

The '01 A's started 8-18, iirc, and they won 100+

EDIT: In fact, they started 2-10. http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/OAK/OAK200104150.shtml

16. AJM Posted: April 14, 2008 at 03:53 AM (#2743170)

I think there is a misprint in the article, it says the Giants scored 7 runs.

17. greenback

Posted: April 14, 2008 at 03:57 AM (#2743183)

Not to rub it in the face of a Mets fan, but Joel Piñeiro was just back from the DL, and he's generally sucked the last couple of years even when he has been healthy. The starter the day before was Todd Wellemeyer.

18. Justin 'The Cespedobear' T Posted: April 14, 2008 at 04:55 AM (#2743257)

Bowker certainly had a great season in AA. I was just surprised that he was capable of that as well as making the majors back in 2005, when he was not good. He wasn't even the pretties guy in a Giants uniform that year. The honor goes to Travis Ishikawa, who wore two batting gloves, but had a third placed just right in his right back pocket to look extra dapper. Barf.

19. Brian

Posted: April 14, 2008 at 05:26 PM (#2743598)

Lincecum looked great and was pumping strikes like crazy, 78 strikes and 32 balls. It looked to me like he needs to work down in the strike zone more. His swing-and-miss percentage was far greater down low than up in the zone. When he was up the hitters were constantly fouling balls off to the opposite side, prolonging at-bats, upping his pitch count and shortening his innings. Just a great pitcher to watch.

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MLB.com: Lincecum, Bowker star in Giants’ win

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