Brewers@Giants July 17/19

[Giants666]

The Giants won 4-3 last night........and Jamey Wright got the win. Alou had the big hit in this game a pinch hit double that drove in 2 runs in the 6th. AcCardo, Kline, and Benitez came in and shut the door on the Brewers.

BOX SCORE

Rewind: Brewers vs. Giants, Game #2

Nothing much has gone right for San Francisco so far in the second half of the season, but on Tuesday night, Jamey Wright and Moises Alou finally gave their teammates something to smile about.
Wright held the Brewers’ mighty offense in check for six innings and Alou smacked a two-run double that proved to be the decisive blow is the Giants 4-3 victory.

The Brewers wasted little time jumping on the Giants' starter in the top of the first. Rickie Weeks led off with a base hit to left and then stole second on a strikeout by Jeff Cirillo. The stolen base was not without controversy, however, as replays clearly showed that Ray Durham tagged Weeks before his hand touched the bag. The blown call would loom large because it allowed the inning to continue and two batters later, Prince Fielder knocked in Weeks with an RBI single to left, giving Milwaukee an early 1-0 lead.

The Giants’ bats came to life in the bottom of the second against Brewers’ starter Tomo Okha. Durham got things going with a walk and then went to third on a single to center by Pedro Feliz. Mark Sweeney would then hit into a fielder’s choice, driving in Durham to tie the score 1-1.

San Francisco jumped ahead in the bottom of the third. With one out, Omar Vizquel lined a base hit to center. After Steve Finley fouled out, Barry Bonds stepped to the plate and scorched a double to right that glanced off of Geoff Jenkins glove allowing Vizquel to put the Giants in front 2-1.

Milwaukee would come storming back in the top of the fourth. Fielder, who has been a thorn in the Giants’ side all series long, started the rally with a single to center. Following a Gabe Gross double, Bill Hall cleared the bases with an RBI single as the Brewers went back ahead 3-2.

That would be all the scoring that the Brewers would manage against Wright (6-8). The right-hander, who hadn’t won since May 22, threw six effective innings allowing two runs while fanning five.

Facing reliever Geremi Gonzalez (2-1) in the sixth, the Giants’ offense awoke once again. After Gonzalez retired Durham to lead off the inning, he surrendered back-to-back singles to Feliz and Sweeney which brought up pinch-hitter Moises Alou. Alou promptly drilled a ball over the head of center fielder Brady Clark, driving in both Feliz and Sweeney to give San Francisco a 4-3 advantage.

Wright would turn the lead over to the Giants’ beleaguered bullpen, but unlike the last few games, they would come through on this night.

Jeremy Accardo pitched a scoreless seventh inning and Steve Kline took over and kept the Brewers at bay in the eighth before handing the ball over to closer Armando Benitez in the ninth. Benitez, who has come under fire as of late, retired the side in order to pick up his 12th save of the season.

With the win, the Giants (47-47) snapped a three game losing streak and remained 3.5 games behind the first place Padres. They will look to win the series today as Matt Morris (8-7, 4.23 ERA) goes up against Doug Davis (5-6, 4.77 ERA)

SFDugout's Player of the Game: Jamey Wright pitched six solid innings to pick up his first win since May 22. Moises Alou also gets an honorable mention because of his pinch-hit two-run double proved to be the difference.

[Giants666]

Morris starts finale against Brewers

Milwaukee (46-49) at San Francisco (47-47), 12:35 p.m. PT

Before Tuesday night's game with the Brewers, Giants manager Felipe Alou credited his team's recent poor play to a lack of execution of baseball fundamentals.
He hopes his club took a step toward correcting its errors on Tuesday, and can pick up back-to-back wins when San Francisco finishes its series with Milwaukee on Wednesday afternoon at AT&T Park.

"What really kills teams is when you cannot do the small things," Alou said. "A three-run homer or a grand slam or to throw a shutout or 16 strikeouts, those are hard things to do. But to get the guy over, or score the runner from third base with less than two out, that should be a piece of cake. Not executing the small things can end up making a lot of teams look bad."

One guy who hasn't looked bad lately is Matt Morris. The right-hander started the season with a 2-7 record after his first 11 starts, but he has gone on a tear of late, winning his last five starts, and flashing a little offense along the way.

Morris is batting .308 (4-for-13) with two RBIs in his last six starts. He has said the key to his recent success on the mound is the fact that he is consistently getting ahead of hitters.

Morris has had a good week thus far, as well. After attending a Pearl Jam concert over the weekend, the pitcher, who is a big fan of the Seattle-based band, hosted the group in the Giants clubhouse following Monday night's game. Only one thing could make the week even better for him -- a win Wednesday.

The Brewers will send left-hander Doug Davis to the mound to spoil Morris' hopes. The Northern California native beat the Giants the last time he faced them, a 7-4 win on May 4 at Miller Park. In two career starts at AT&T Park, Davis is 1-1 with a 7.04 ERA. He attended City College of San Francisco.

Pitching matchup

MIL: LHP Doug Davis (5-6, 4.77 ERA)Walks continue to be a problem for Davis, whose 64 free passes are the most on the Brewers. Only one other National League pitcher has given up more walks. The lefty is 2-2 with a 3.62 ERA in five career appearances against the Giants, including a win this season in Milwaukee.

SF: RHP Matt Morris (8-7, 4.23 ERA)
The real Morris has resurfaced. The right-hander has had five straight victories, posting a 3.03 ERA in that span. In his latest outing on Friday night, Morris had his eighth quality start in his past nine games in a 5-3 win over Philadelphia.

Player to watch
Omar Vizquel is riding a four-game hitting streak, and the shortstop is batting .333 (27-for-81) against left-handed pitching this season. He has hit safely in 60 of his 90 games this season.

[love_that_reefer]

Trading a 41 yr old with two bad knees and hasd a power shortage is just not plausible. We will have to try and win with him this year which we could if Sabean went and got a couple of pieces (first baseman and a reliever).

Wright pitched a nice game last night and the Brewers got a run on a fluke play when the ball hit Hall's bat. Clutch hitting for Alou and Bonds had a RBI double. Bentiez looked sharp and acts like he wants to be out there in the 9th.

[love_that_reefer]

The two guys I wasn't worried about this series, Schidt and MOrris, have stunk it up. Schmidt got rocked and Morris is down 6-2 after three. Feliz has looked like his old self popping up on the infield with RISP.

[love_that_reefer]

Durham hit his 15th moonshot of the year making 6-4. Finley was on second at the time. Going into the top of the 6th. Also, Bonds did not start this game.

[love_that_reefer]

Red hot Ray Durham bails us out as we come from behind to win 7-6!!! Bonds had a pinch hit single to lead off the 9th. Vizquel then failed to get the bunt down and eventually got out. Finley doubles then Alou gets intentionally walked. Durham comes up with the GW single and gets Morris out of a loss.