Some observations from tonight's game. I didn't keep a book because I didn't get in the park until the bottom of the first due to giving blood. When I got in the park, my son had struck a conversation with some folks from out of town and we spent a fair amount of time talking. So my observations won't be as detailed.
On The Mound
Fredrick Tiburcio pitched a good game. He walked a tight rope a few times but he stranded all eight base runners he allowed. There was only two hard hit balls that I recall. One went for a double and the other was a single that Brian Blasik laid out for and almost caught. His game score for the night was 72.
The bullpen did their job with Brad Propst pitching the eighth inning and fanning two and Andrew Walter pitching the ninth; striking out the side.
At The Plate
This was my first look at Carlos Correa and Rio Ruiz. They impressed me. They didn't do anything that was amazing but both did little things well. Correa's hit on the night came on a full count. He let the ball travel deep in the zone and roped it down the first base line. He also reached once on a fielders choice that would have been a double play had he not given good effort and hustled down the base line. That play scored a run, that wouldn't have scored if had had not hustled. It was also a play where I saw a little thing from Ruiz that impressed me.
He was on first and was forced out at second on the play. When he saw that Correa had beat out the throw, he clapped his hands celebrating his team scoring, popped up and hustled off the field. He was glad the team scored despite being forced out on the play. Ruiz's double was a well hit ball in the first that got the scoring started. He did take a while to leave the batters box after a called third strike.
This was a strong lineup. When the two guys tied for the fifth best average in the league are hitting fifth and sixth, you have a deep line up. Ernesto Genoves had a good night going two for three with a double and a sac fly. Each position in the line up got on base at least one time.
In The Field
Nothing spectacular happened in the field. Ruiz handled things well at third and made several tough plays. Correa didn't see much action at short. Blasik continued his solid and gritty infield play and Martinez did a nice job at first. The outfield only saw seven balls all evening.
Overall
It was a night where the little things created big results. Blasik stealing second and being able to advance to third on an errant throw by the catcher. Correa hustling down the line to prevent a double play. Genoves & Monzon producing sac flies to produce runs. Positive chatter in the dugout. This team appears to know that it is in the midst of a playoff race and each game counts.
No comments:
Post a Comment