MILWAUKEE – The Giants are happy to be heading home after one of the most rugged road trips in recent memory. Four games in three days is never easy. Four games in three days at Coors Field is downright medieval.
Oh, and throw in seven hours of rain delays. Then, just for kicks, let’s set up a night flight, a skipped time zone and a day game on Monday in Milwaukee. And then another quick turnaround from Tuesday night to Wednesday noon. It’s amazing that the Giants went 5-2 on the trip. Buy stock in Red Bull, kids.
The players are beat. The coaches are beat. The beat writers are beat. The clubhouse staff has it worst of all. One member of the Giants traveling party told me that he slept a total of nine hours in six days. I do not believe he was exaggerating.
So the Giants are very happy to be heading home.
Except…
In the hours before their 3-1 victory on Wednesday, Manager Bruce Bochy touched base with Angel Pagan about hitting down in the order for the first time all season. Then he gave fair warning to Joe Panik that he might do the same with him.
The Giants have scored 127 runs in 25 road games – an average of 5.08 runs, which ranks just behind Washington for the most among National League clubs.
They’ve scored 71 runs in 23 home games – an average of 3.09 runs, which ranks dead last in the NL.
This is not a new problem. Bochy is reaching into the not-too-distant past as he tries to find an inspired solution.
In 2012, the Giants went 48-33 at home despite hitting an incredibly meager 31 home runs at AT&T Park. They were able to reel off so many punchless victories because Pagan was at his most dynamic in the leadoff spot and the No.2 batter, a guy by the name of Melky Cabrera, was leading the NL in hits and runs on the day in August when he got suspended for a positive PED test.
The Giants flew around the bases that season, hit gobs of doubles and triples and found ways to create big innings despite an almost total lack of home runs.
It’s not as if this current club is incapable of clearing the arcade. They have 12 homers in 23 home games thus far. But Bochy wants to recreate that speed-based attack at the top, and although Panik has done little to warrant a demotion from the No.2 spot – making contact, hitting for average, moving runners -- you get the sense that Bochy is ready to start playing for bigger innings.
So what happens on Wednesday? Panik hits a two-run home run, of course.
“I guess tomorrow I’ll have to hit another one to stay up there,” said a smiling Panik, adding that he would look forward to RBI opportunities if he does move to sixth or seventh.
On the previous road trip to Houston and Cincinnati, Bochy played a hot Gregor Blanco over Nori Aoki. Blanco hasn’t exactly cooled off. But Aoki is coming off a series in his former home park in which he collected nine hits, including a home run.
“I’ve noticed this, even from the other side: he’ll get in these good streaks and reel off hits,” Bochy said of Aoki. “He’s driving the ball, too. They’re not all infield hits or soft serve hits.”
With Aoki reasserting himself at leadoff, Pagan potentially moving up to the No.2 spot and Hunter Pence hitting third, the Giants would have three plus-plus baserunners ahead of Buster Posey. It might be the nearest thing we’ve seen to the 2012 top of the order.
The interesting part, I think, is that Bochy is trying to be proactive with a club that is already 19-7 in May and has a chance to put together its winningest month since 1954.
The Giants have four games left in May, all at home against the Atlanta Braves. If they manage a split, they would record their first 21-win month since September, 1965.
If you allow yourself to think even greedier, three out of four would give the Giants their most victories in a month since the 1954 New York Giants romped to a 24-4 June on their way to winning their last pennant at the Polo Grounds.
Regardless, it's been a good month. Last year, the Giants were 20-9 in May. So over the past two seasons, they're 39-16 under the sign of the Gemini (roughly).
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In case you missed the news earlier today, right-hander Erik Cordier cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Sacramento. Because he has been outrighted previously, he has three days to decide whether to accept the assignment. He’d become a free agent if he refuses.
The Brewers really need pitching (although they are lacking more in the rotation than the bullpen) and Cordier is from Green Bay. If there’s a place for him on the Brewers roster, it would be an automatic choice to turn down the assignment and come home. The Giants would love to retain him. We'll see.
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After Tuesday night’s stare-down, Carlos Gomez said that Madison Bumgarner “is not my dad.”
He was right. Sergio Romo is.
Gomez was 0 for 8 with seven strikeouts in his career against Romo when he faced him in the eighth inning. The bases were empty. It was a one-run game. Gomez tried to bunt. He fouled it off. He tried to bunt again. He fouled it off.
He bunted with two strikes. The ball deadened nicely – and spun foul.
Gomez is now 0 for 9 with eight strikeouts against Romo.
“It is my ninth year in the league. There’s no question I’m not comfortable batting Romo,” Gomez said. “I want to put myself in a situation where I can be productive. Every swing I have on Romo is a swing and a miss.”
Incredible but true: Gomez has struck out against Romo more times than any other batter – and he only has nine at-bats against him.
Romo chuckled softly and recalled that Gomez tried to bunt against him one other time, as well.
“But yeah, a little surprising,” Romo said. “I don’t think he’s conceding the at-bat because he’s a good bunter and he can run, too. But he’s dangerous in many ways. So, in a sense right there … thank you. I just know I got an out in an awkward, different way.”
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Most of the game story is about Ryan Vogelsong’s May renaissance. I wasn’t able to wedge in this quote from his catcher, Buster Posey:
“The main thing that stands out for me is as much as he struggled in April, to bounce back the way he has is a good indication of what his character is like. It’s not only on the field. It’s the work in between starts. If you’ll notice, he’s always in the dugout watching games, watching what hitters are doing.”
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Time for my annual visit to Kopp's Frozen Custard. The Flavor Forecast tells me that it's Kona coffee custard with coconut and macadamia nut chunks. That's a pretty good reward, I think, after a challenging trip.
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Book signing alert! I'll be at Red Rock Coffee in Mountain View on Saturday from 12-2 p.m. with copies of "Giant Splash" and "A Band of MiSFits" for sale. Then on Sunday, I'll join Brian Murphy and Brad Mangin (co-creators of "Championship Blood") for a double feature on the steps of MoMo's across the street from AT&T Park from 10:30 to 12:30.
These are the last two book sales/signings that I'll be able to do before Father's Day so if you're looking for a gift for Dad, I hope you'll be able to stop by.
More details here.
The post Extra Baggs: Bruce Bochy has home scoring woes on his mind; Giants have a shot at a historically good month; Sergio Romo's ownage on Carlos Gomez, etc. appeared first on Giants Extra.