Do you notice any themes emerging early in the season? Here’s one: Keep the game close and then let the bullpen take care of things. It happened again Monday night (recap | box score).
San Francisco’s Matt Cain took a no-hitter into the seventh. That inning, Khalil Greene smashed a double down the left field line. After falling behind in the count, 0-2, Russell Branyan drew a walk. Jose Cruz Jr. followed with a sacrifice. Geoff Blum, batting for Chris Young, then lofted a fly ball into foul territory along the right field line that Randy Winn caught, allowing Greene to score the game’s only run.
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Young, meanwhile, held the Giants in check for 7 innings before yielding to a still-perfect bullpen. As Rich Campbell notes at San Diego Spotlight, Young could have been more efficient. That said, he couldn’t have been much more effective. (The Padres apparently saw something they liked — word is they’ll announce a 4-year extension with the right-hander today.)
In the eighth, with a lead, Cla Meredith set the Giants down in order. The highlight of the inning came on a ridiculous sequence to Barry Bonds that ended in The Man Who Would Be King chasing a sinker in the dirt.
When Bonds came to bat, I remembered the last time the two battled: Last Wednesday, in relief of Young at PhoneCo, Meredith fanned Bonds in the seventh inning of a 3-3 tie. Then I thought back to last year, when Meredith made Albert Pujols look terrible. And I remembered what Pujols did to Meredith the next time they faced each other.
Did I have concerns Monday night when Bonds came to bat? Look, I have concerns any time Bonds comes to bat representing the tying run. Let’s just say that knowing what had happened in their previous matchup and knowing the type of hitter Bonds is didn’t allay those concerns in the least. Whatever help Bonds may have had along the way, the guy can flat hit and that means making adjustments. So when you ask me if I have concerns about Bonds, you might as well be asking me about my opinion of Dave Kingman’s performance.
Silly me. Meredith proceeds to attack Bonds like few pitchers will, and sends him back to the dugout on three pitches. Say what you will about Bonds, that just doesn’t happen. Incidentally, did you happen to catch what Meredith said the other day? Dig this:
What I try to do is try to minimize the damage against left-handers. I know I’m not as good against left-handers, so I’m going to have to pitch them a little harder and a little different.
Uh, yeah. Keep doing what you’re doing.
Trevor Hoffman nailed down the save in the ninth. After a two-out double to center off the bat of Bengie Molina, Hoffman got Pedro “Don’t Call Me Vinny” Feliz to chase a pitch in the dirt (shock!) to end the game.
Sweet. Let’s keep it going on Tuesday…