The power outage that has afflicted the Giants’ lineup over the last month is no longer restricted to just the top level. Run scoring has lately proven difficult for many of the affiliates, and the higher up the ladder you go, the worse the struggle has been. The top three clubs in the Giants’ org (Sacramento, Richmond, Eugene), scored one or no runs in a game 9 times this week, including five shutouts. Until Hayden Birdsong ran into a spot of trouble in the 3rd inning of his Double A debut on Saturday night, Richmond’s starters hadn’t allowed a run all week and yet the team had gone 1-3 (soon to be 1-4) thanks to a lineup that had had the pilot light blown out.
It’s getting to that part of the year where fatigue and overall achy-ness really start to grab hold of players and the ability to push through for five or six more weeks of achievement takes everything players have in them. Just a big hit here or there can make all the difference (as Eugene, which got a very big hit on Saturday night, found out).
It’s a Dog Days Monday, as players are really gutting it out trying to win the moment every moment….and then getting back up to try and win it again. And, indeed, the weekend ended up providing some big hits and big wins.
HITTER of the WEEKEND: P.J. Hilson (SJ), 5 for 12, 3 HR (8), 2b, 3 R, 4 RBI
PITCHER of the WEEKEND: Nick Sinacola (Eug), 5.0 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 8 K
Let’s settle in and talk some baseball, shall we? As the players like to say, “0 for 4 is better than 9 to 5,” so even if you’ve got a case of the Mondays, it’s baseball time! And that should make us all happy enough to dance a little jig!
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