| time: | 6:05 p.m. PT |
| tv: | 4SD |
| sp: | Greg Maddux (7-7, 4.17) vs Jeff Francis (10-5, 4.07) |
Before the season I thought that Colorado’s pitching would surprise folks, and it has. I also suggested that Jeff Francis could finish in the top 10 in the NL in ERA. That probably won’t happen, but for a kid who plays half his games, he is putting up some terrific numbers. On second thought, lose the qualifier. Francis is putting up some terrific numbers, period.
Go Padres!
Well… Bard is starting (and hitting), so it looks like Maddux is starting to move away from Barrett as was said in this mornings comments.
3 straight singles, Greene, Bard and Marcus (wow)
Pads up 1-0, middle of the 2nd
2: I just got back from playing tennis with an amigo. What happened to the leadoff double by Giles?
OMG! Did Maddux really just steal second!
3 absolutely nothing haha
MB with a 3 run shot, Kouz with a solo shot
I suppose Maddux’s fine outing is all because of Bard, right?
7: Who knows… if he is more comfortable pitching to Bard i could care less if he is only giving up 2 runs
7: LOL, I was just coming here to note that a win was in the bag as soon as Bard’s name was penciled into the starting lineup. Not having Barrett in there allowed Kouz and Bradley to relax and hit home runs without fear of being punched in the face.
If Linebrink is unable to throw a single strike to the number two hitter, walking him to put the tying run at the plate and move a runner into scoring position, bringing up Holliday, Helton, and Hawpe, there is no way he should be in the game.
anyone still defending Linebrink?
Unbelievable. Thanks Scott.
That was Bard’s fault. The catcher determines every outcome.
THANKS BARD! Jeez.
AAARGH! He makes me so mad! Another non win for Maddux. Hopefully we can win the game!
Come on, at least Scott varied his approach. Instead of walking two guys and giving up the game-tying three run home run, he hit one, walked one and then gave up the game-tying three run home run.
You can only say look at his whole body of work for so long… last season and so far this season Linebrink has not been the guy he was in 04, he is only getting older and only getting worse. Stike outs are way down and home runs are wayyy up
13: No, Bard was doing all he could to prevent that. If it had been Barrett catching, Linebrink would have walked Taveras too before giving up the grand slam to Holliday.
Last year Linebrink was still a very good reliever.
Best bullpen in baseball…. not this month and not in terms of wins and losses all season
Obviously Bud didn’t read the blog today, otherwise he would have known that putting Barrett in is bound to cause us to lose the game. It wouldn’t have anything to do with sticking with the “Linebrink in the 8th” formula.
18: Not really, last season you could see all this coming. He was a decent reliever but not an “8th inning guy”
Oh, it just keeps getting better.
I’m turning off the game now so I don’t have to replace all of the electronics I own.
Who else is there to pitch the eighth at this point? The seventh was just as critical, and Bell was used there. Meredith gave up the homer when he was brought in. Who’s left? Cameron and his walks? Hampson and his ugly strikeout numbers? Brocail?
This game was so important to win -yet to go with the hot hand in Heath Bell for the 8th inning was not an option because Scotty Linebrink is the 8th inning set up man and in today’s baseball world we don’t use our guts to manage rather we do everything based on set formulas and roles.
On the bright side, Linebrink will get hung with the loss instead of the win.
25: Bell already pitched in the seventh. If Linebrink threw the seventh, then there wouldn’t have been a lead for Bell to protect in the eighth. And Meredith came in and gave up a home run too. Not a whole lot of good options all of a sudden.
The bullpen is pretty mediocre now. Who do you trust? Bell and Hoffman are pretty much it.
21: I still say Linebrink was pretty good last year but it’s getting harder to back him this year. That 16 of 17 scoreless outing stretch is a distant memory.
27: Bell can’t pitch 2 innings?
Why do Marcus and Brian love to watch game ending 3rd strikes?
28: An out’s an out.
11: No defense. 1.8 HR/9 IP is unacceptable pitching half your games at PetCo Park. He shouldn’t be pitching in high leverage situations any more.
16: Trust me, I agree with you there. And Linebrink crossed that point sometime over the last month or so. In April/May 2007 you could write off his bad performances last season as just a slump. Everyone hits a slump every now and then. He seemed to be back on track for a couple months there and then just fell apart. The homers were never really a *huge* problem when he wasn’t letting people get on base, but now that he can’t throw strikes the homeruns are really starting to hurt big time. Two iffy seasons in a row moves him past the slump theory to the “you can’t pitch” theory.
Linebrink shouldn’t be pitching the 8th inning at this point, but in most situations the 7th inning is just as crucial as the 8th.
It’s really depressing how overall the team just can’t perform lately. Peavy’s been off, Wells and Maddux are themselves, Germano’s a joker. The offense has been ridiculous of late (last night notwithstanding). And our bullpen can’t hold any leads the offense manages to get. When no element of your team is looking good, it’s hard to win games.
32: Re-reading that post, I realized that I made it sound like Wells and Maddux being “themselves” was a ridiculously bad thing. I was more just alluding to the whole slow hook story that makes me nervous during both of their starts. Maddux has been gold his last couple of starts, but CY is the only one I trust at the moment to go out there and give a solid game every time.
My biggest gripe was, and I felt it at the time, was why not put Maddux out there in the 7th? He is at 81 pitches and looked very good in the 7th. Yank him as soon as he gives up a base-runner. Maybe he would have given up a base-runner right away and all of this was moot, but I think keeping Maddux on a short leash past the 5th inning makes sense, but why rely on a bullpen that got pushed around by the Phillies?
If Maddux makes it through, you get Bell in the 8th and Hoffman in the 9th and we win.
I think Scott will probably be a good reliever, but just not the dominant one he once was. I don’t think it is fair to keep him in that role if he is not up to it. My order of reliability right now.
Also, when you see Linebrink struggling, why not use Hoffman? Use some imagination. I know the 4 to 5 out save is not Hoffman’s best, but you have to think of leverage. After Linebrink put the two guys on ahead of Holliday, given his recent antics, I say put out your best, most reliable pitcher. That is Hoffman right now. I would rather see Hoffman get out Holliday & co in the 8th and let Cameron pitch the 9th than see what just happened.
Bud is supposed to be a smart manager and to me that means using the best options you have at your disposal at the most critical times, even if it does not fit to conventional norms. He did not do that last night. I hang this one on Bud.
Trevor hasn’t gone more than an inning in a pre-September game since aught two. Bud Black, and Bochy before him, are and were smart managers for not pushing Hoffman beyond one inning.
I think a good argument could be made for using Linebrink in the 7th last night instead of the 8th. I believe the 7th inning was bottom of the order guys, and you should use your weaker setup reliever in lower leverage situations.
35: You nailed it. If 3,4,5 are batting you dont let Linebrink pitch BP fastballs to them. Let him pitch to the bottom of the order, give Bell the ball for the meat of the order.