Once again, Madison Bumgarner and Clayton Kershaw engaged in a pitching duel. Monday night Bumgarner pitched better, throwing a one-hitter through seven innings, walking none and striking out 10 as he held the Dodgers scoreless. That gave him a very small lead in Tom Tango Cy Young Tracker points. Kershaw lasted six innings, giving up one unearned run, walking one and striking out seven. Both pitched well enough to win, but neither received a decision.
The game would come down to the bottom of the ninth, with the Giants new closers in place:
Giants manager Bruce Bochy has removed struggling Santiago Casilla as the team’s closer, saying that Hunter Strickland and Derek Law will be in line for save opportunities as San Francisco enters a crucial series against the rival Dodgers.
Bochy announced his bullpen shakeup one day after Casilla recorded his ninth blown save of the season — tied for most in the majors — in Saturday’s 3-2 loss to the Cardinals.
Law came in to get the last out of the eighth inning with a runner on first. He then started the ninth, and gave up a single. Rather than go straight to Strickland, Javier Lopez came in to pitch to lefty Corey Seager, who also singled. On comes Strickland. He allows a single to Justin Turner and a double to Adrian Gonzalez, and the Dodgers win 2-1.
I’m somewhat surprised Bochy would go to closer by committee so late in the season. In this day and age, pitchers like their roles defined. Bochy should have designated Strickland as the closer, and Law as the setup man. The era of the “fireman”, the pitcher who comes in only in a dire situation is over, unfortunately. The Giants need to decide on a closer, then have him start the ninth in close games. I’m not a fan of this, but it seems to be the way pitchers work best now.
The Dodgers reduce their magic number to seven, with five games left against the Giants.
I was at a coaching conference on Monday, and one of the speakers was the Dutch national coach, talking about the attacking play of the Dutch men’s national team. These men are probably the most skilful and athletic hockey players in the world, capable of eliminating on both sides of their bodies, 3D skills, etc. – incredibly creative attacking players.
However, he said that the coaching staff had found that even these highly talented creative attacking players only felt comfortable expressing their creative talent within a closely defined playing role – either their position on the pitch or the tactical objectives of the competition. This role had to be defined by an external body (in this case, the coaching staff).
Perhaps there is a human psychological trait that significantly links performance to ‘comfort’ (an amalgamation of confidence, understanding, etc.). Pitchers who have a clearly defined role perhaps also experience this.
Alex Hayes » Thanks, Alex, that’s very interesting.