So who the hell was that? The guy who took the ball tonight and climbed up on the bump. The guy who twirled a gem and got yanked before he's had enough. The guy who's been up and down so much over the past three seasons that his real nickname should be Yo-Yo. Was that really "Dirty" Sanchez? I'll be damned, it was. Where was this Dirty on Orange Friday against the Padres, after guaranteeing a sweep, after opening his big fat mouth like he's bloody Juan Marichal? He's not Juan Marichal. He's not even Juan Valdez. He's a tremendous pitcher with the best natural stuff of anybody on this staff, a guy who could be a legit Number One, an ace in the hole... if he could just keep his dome straight. You can see it in his eyes the moment it happens. Sometimes it starts with a foul ball. He rubs up the new one and stares off into the abyss of the crowd, wondering what they're thinking, knowing they're all watching him. He comes to and gets the sign from the catcher like he's glancing at an accident on the highway. And when it comes in, it's either way off the plate, in the dirt, or nice and juicy. Then, you have evenings like this. Evenings that make you want to scream "WTF? Where was this when we needed it?" Because he's on my fantasy team, I was having a look at Dirty's splits. In four April starts, he went 2-1 with a 1.85 ERA and a WHIP of 1.11. In May, he posted a WHIP of 1.09, but his ERA jumped to 3.58. He went 1-3 in six starts. So, what caused the ERA jump if his WHIP stayed virtually constant? In April, he didn't give up a home run. In May, gave up four. Here endeth the lesson...
BTW...
> I don't have anything interesting to say about Wednesday night. Andres Torres continued to impress for Team Hopey Changey with a leadoff bomb — his 12th! — but los Gigantes didn't muster much more beyond Pat the Bat's encore tater in his return to Philly. Funny as shit to see him get a standing O on Tuesday before his first at bat, only to be booed after putting one in the seats...
> I know I just spent some space on this blog lauding the bullpen's stalwart performance of late. Perhaps I should hold my jinxing tongue... :)
> Always great to see Matt Cain get some run support. [sarcasm] As rough as it's been for the Giants starters of late, you have to feel for guys who go out there sometimes thinking they're gonna have to throw a shutout just to have a chance to win. The tendency, I imagine, would be to take too fine an approach, to nibble, and nibbling never got anybody a Cy Young Award... or two...
> Ten bucks says Buster Posey loses another double and an RBI when the official scorer has a second look at the ball Shane Victorino misplayed in the third. Dude gets enough hits anyway, right?
> War Panda. Finally.
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