Friar Watch

I was at the game so my observations aren’t as detailed for this game.

I missed the first two innings thanks to a freight train (if you decide to park at the convention center make sure you get there early) so I didn’t see that debacle but I thought the game was lost in the 5th inning. Lead off single to the pitcher (yeah it was a groundball but it was a clean single) followed by a walk to Roberts, a Vizquel bunt and a Rich Aurilia RBI single. It looked to me like Hensley was laboring (blister trouble again?) and with Bonds up I was sure Black would take him out.

You could argue that Hensley was still effective, the singles were on ground balls that just weren’t hit at anyone, but at that point something needed to be done to stop the bleeding. I’d rather see a fresh pitcher to face Bonds, preferably Cla Meredith. This is the kind of high leverage middle inning situation that Cla excelled in last year and he’s proven he can handle Bonds. Black stayed with Hensley, possibly trying to get 5 innings out of him, and Bonds ripped a hard grounder to centerfield to drive in another run.

Finally, Black walks to the mound and signals for the righthander. But it’s Thompson who comes out, not Meredith. Meredith wasn’t even warming up. Thompson gave up a run on a sac fly and then retired the side. 6-0 at that point and it seemed like the Giants would cruise.

The Padres fought back against Morris and the Giant bullpen but fell one run short. Same old story: a mediocre starter shuts them down but they can score on the bullpen.

Kevin Cameron and Heath Bell finished out the game. Once again I was very impressed by Cameron. He got himself into a jam with a hit and a walk but induced a double play to get out of it without allowing a run. 2 IP, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K. Bell looked a little wild but was effective.