On getaway day in Philadelphia, a troop of bungling clowns replaced the Giants fielders as five of the six runs scored by the Phillies were unearned, including the game-winning run in the bottom of the ninth.
The scoring for the Phillies began with a throwing error by Emmanuel Burriss which pulled Rich Aurilla off the first base bag. Aurilla's swipe tag of Shane Victorino was clearly true on the television replays but the umpire at first ruled him safe. Pat Burrell eventually doubled home Victorino and another runner later in the inning to make it 2-0.
The Giants tied things up during their half of the inning on a Jose Castillo RBI-single and an Aurilla RBI-double.
In the 5th inning, Castillo threw the ball into right field on a routine grounder which allowed the runners to move up. A wild pitch and sac fly later, the score was 4-2.
Again, the Giants showed their tenacity and came right back to tie the game at 4-4 on Aurilla's two-run homer.
In the top of the eight, Castillo made up for his error by tripling home Aaron Rowand. Rowand did a belly flop at home plate to avoid Carlos Ruiz's swipe tag. Rowand looked hurt on the play, most likely aggravating his already cracked ribs.
In the bottom of the eighth with Vinnie Chulk on the mound, he lost concentration and grooved a hanging slider over the plate to Ruiz who hammered it out of the sandbox known as Citizens Bank Park.
In the bottom of the ninth, Keiichi Yabu got Chase Utley on a routine pop up and the batter before him on a line out. He walked Ryan Howard and Pat Burrell to get at Geoff Jenkins. Yabu did his job as Jenkins hit a routine grounder to 2nd, but Eugenio Velez, who is not known for his glove, let the ball roll under his glove. Hustling on contact, Howard scored easily as Randy Winn's throw was too late.
The errors marred an otherwise good pitching performance by Tim Lincecum against a team he had trouble with in the past. The four runs scored against Lincecum were unearned which lowered his ERA to 1.49 but gave him a no decision.
The Giants' rookies were flailing at Cole Hamels changeup all day long. The only player with ownage on Hamels was Aurilla who hit two doubles and a homerun on the day. The multiple extra base hit game was the first for Aurilla in his career.
The Giants are putting themselves in a position to win for most games. These defensive errors, although unfortunate, is a somewhat expected occurance for a young team. As the team grows, we may see less errors and more wins later in the year.
Post new comment