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San Francisco Giants vanquished by Pirates, losing 5-2 Sunday

By Toni Cecchetti |

Aug 23, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy (left) removes starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong (32) from the game against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the fourth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Giants game on Sunday was nothing to write home about. I’ve had a very tough time coming up with something nice to say about Sunday’s game. And you know what my grandma always said‒”if you don’t have anything nice to say…”

Well, I am going to say something, anyway. Grandma will just have to forgive me.

I’ll say this to start‒it was no pitching duel.

It got real ugly, real fast. Ryan Vogelsong was on the mound for the Giants, and although this year has not been his best ever, I can’t remember the last time he had this much trouble with his command. Truthfully, I think Vogey’s been looking pretty good lately. Sunday’s game‒pardon the expression‒came from “out of left field.”*

The nicest thing I can say about Vogelsong’s outing Sunday is he had a great at bat in the second inning. He drew a walk.

Vogelsong was only on the mound for three and ⅓ innings before manager Bruce Bochy went out and asked for the ball. Vogelsong allowed three runs on seven hits and four walks. He struck out two.

But the first inning was the worst. Vogey allowed three singles and issued two free passes just in the first inning alone. All three runs the Pirates scored off Vogey were in the first inning. He saw eight of the nine Pirates in the lineup before getting the third out in the first inning.

The Pirates scored two more runs in the game‒solo home runs‒one off Jeremy Affeldt and one off Josh Osich.

The offense wasn’t looking so great either. The Giants were able to score two runs. One in the fifth‒Matt Duffy singled, advanced to third on a throwing error that allowed Buster Posey to reach and scored on a missed catch error that put Marlon Byrd on first base.

In the sixth, Gregor Blanco reached on a fielding error that allowed him to advance to second, he moved to third on Juan Perez’s base hit and scored on Nori Aoki’s single. The final score was: Giants 2, Pirates 5

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The worst part, though, were the many missed opportunities. The Giants left runners stranded each and every inning, from the first through the seventh. Especially the second inning. The Pirates pitcher was handing out free passes‒like a fitness center trying to recruit new members‒Andrew Susac led off the inning with a walk, Blanco drew a walk, and I already mentioned Vogelsong’s walk. With Vogey at the plate, Kelby (who singled to get on board) and Gregor recieved a gift of another free 90 feet (Gregor to second, Kelby to third) on a passed ball when the Pirates catcher let a pitch get by him. But the inning ended with the bases loaded.

The other thing that is driving me crazy‒since I’m on a roll, I’ll just get it all off my chest‒they seem to be hitting into double plays a lot. Is it just me? I wondered how we compare with other teams in hitting into double plays. We come in second with 109 on the season. Leading the pack are the Detroit Tigers with 119. Right behind us are the Kansas City Royals with 107. That’s not the prize we want to win.

I figured in for a penny, in for a pound and looked up how we’ve done historically. In 2014 we ranked 21st with 113, 2013 we were 8th with 131, 2012 we were 15th with 114, in 2011 we were 13th with 117. And 2010, the first year San Francisco Giants took home the big prize? We were number 2, with 158. The biggest offender in 2010 was the Kung Fu Panda himself–Pablo Sandoval. Maybe that’s why they had him warming the bench for the Fall Classic.

Ok! Enough already. I could probably go through stats all night and come up with some obscure stat for the number of times the Giants hit into a double play on the third Sunday after the moon was in the seventh house and Jupiter aligned with Mars.

The problem is, I’ve engaged in negativity‒and I’ve aimed it at the Giants, and that is a big NO–NO. But I had to get it off my chest, and now that I’ve said my piece what do you say we keep it just ‘tween us? I don’t want others to think that I would allow anyone, anywhere to badmouth the Giants. Not even for one minute. Not even me.

Don’t even think about trying.

#WeAreGiant

*I wondered where this expression came from, so I looked up “out of left field” here’s how it is defined in the Urban Dictionary: “out of left field comes from when Wrigley Field was first built. In left field there was an insane asylum so when something crazy or unforeseen happened it was termed, “out of left field”.”

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