Philadelphia (Padilla) @ San Francisco (Hernandez)
Well did I call this game last night or what? Can you hear it? The voices calling for Bowa's resignation that is! The grumbling in the locker room is getting louder also!
Well the Giants send out Livan Hernandez to pitch today who has just been solid as hell so far this year he has an ERA of 2.08 with a WHIP of 0.949 with 17 strikeouts versus only 7 walks in 39 innings pitched so far this year. He has owned the Phillies with a record of 5-1 with an ERA of 3.07 with his teams going 7-3 in those starts and he is a much better pitcher this year than he ever was before in my opinion.
The Phillies counter with a young pitcher that I really like allot but he just has no back up with that Philadelphia bullpen. He is 1-1 on the road with an ERA of 4.15 and he has struggled in his last two starts losing both against teams that have no where near the talent on offense that the Giants have. Has to be real discouraging to know even if you pitch your tail off you have to hand the game over to that bullpen.
Defensively the Giants have been rock solid especially at home where they are limiting opponents to 2 runs a game with a team batting average of .230, while the Phillies are allowing the opposing teams to bat .286 and score 6.4 runs a game.
Do we really need to discuss bullpens I think you already know how I feel about the Phillies bullpen who have been horrendous as they proved again last night. The Giants pen has been very solid at home and continued it last night not allowing a run after Schmidt left in the 3rd inning.
Well I like our chances even better with the Giants today as we get a very good pitcher that has proven he can beat Philly and a very solid bullpen against a rookie pitcher that has arguably the worst bullpen in Major League baseball backing him up.
Playing the San Francisco Giants -155
RBI...the fans here in Philly like Larry Bowa. It's the General Manager, Ed Wade, who everyone wants to resign. He is the one who brought in Rheal Cormier, Ricky Bottalico, Luis Santiago, among others. He also brought in Ricky Ledee to come off the bench while letting Brian Hunter go.
Actually, what the fans would like even more is for the cheapskates who own this team to simply go away and sell to someone who wants to win, specifically Comcast. Instead the "old money" owners are going to hold on to this team until the new stadium is built.
Back to Bowa...he can't pitch or hit for these guys. He can only play the cards he has been dealt. He has a center fielder in Glanville that is useless. He has to be the least productive center fielder in baseball. Then there is Travis Lee. Lee can field, but simply cannot hit. Burrell is young, but that excuse has to end soon. He strikes out way too often. Although the pitching staff is young, they really need a veteran to solidfy the rotation. Terry Adams is not the answer.
Bowa was manager of the year last year and I believe for good reason.
Good luck today. For the record, I had the Giants myself last night too. It's tough for me to go against my home team, but cash is cash!
Just remember Chris, it is nothing personal just my own personal opinion. Glad you to had the Giants as I am a huge fan of Notre Dame and will bet against my team in a heart beat if I think that they will lose. Nothing to do with loyalty as you have to pay the bills.
Two people can certainly disagree on something and not make it personal. It's nice to know that we can agree to disagree on a subject and be friends in the end. ![[Wink]](images/icons/wink.gif){kind=icon}
SF bailed me out after Detroit screwing me. I looked at this entire series and was going to go with SF every time. So far, I'm gonna keep going with SF, especially tonight. Love 'em. <img border="0" title="" alt="" src="images/icons/grin.gif" />