Giants 4, Toronto 3. That’s how Mike Krukow described Matt Morris’s work tonight. “I’m telling ya, that was a big-time man-start right there.”
I saw it live. Matty Mo didn’t deserve to give up the three-spot in the first inning. I haven’t seen the video replays, but from the bleachers, both Rios’s and Hill’s double looked catchable by anyone but a decrepit Bonds. Morris made incredible pitches the rest of the way; Frank Thomas’s at-bat was one of the best battles I’ve seen in a while. Roberts injected much-needed life into both the team and the crowd with two stolen bases, and his catch in the ninth, considering the Giants’ desperate need for a win, was one of the best I’ve ever seen at Mays Field.
Co-PLODAG: Morris and Roberts.
SMALL PRINT UPDATE: The Giants brought up Nate Schierholtz and sent Dan Ortmeier to Fresno before the game. Schierholtz is a much more promising prospect and has been tearing up triple-A. (Stats here.) Before he came up, Ortmeier was doing OK in the minors, not great. He wasn’t embarrassing himself with the big club, and he has excellent speed and a solid glove. So what gives?
This: Ortmeier is a switch-hitter but stronger from the right side. The rest of this week, the Giants face only RH starters, and Bonds is expected to sit Wednesday against Toronto and DH all weekend in Boston. Unless he’s totally overmatched, the lefty-swinging Schierholtz promises a bit more pop in the outfield than Ortmeier. If the Giants need a RH bat, Frandsen or Feliz can play the outfield.
Why not cut Sweeney and keep both Ortmeier and Schierholtz? Perhaps later in the year, but Sweeney could still be a modestly valuable trading chip. Both Ortmeier and Schierholtz have plenty of options, so sending them back and forth to Fresno if need be won’t be a problem.
