Andrew Baggerly tweets that Freddy Sanchez‘s shoulder injury might be career threatening. With Chase Utley out and Sanchez possibly sidelined, some team with a good second baseman and little hope at competing this season might bring in some good prospects. I still think the Rays, with their depth of middle infield talent, should try to make a deal.
Hat tip, Giants Win.
Freddy Sanchez received a one-year extension from the Giants and responds with a three-hit game, missing the cycle by a triple. He scored twice and drove in three runs as the Giants walked all over the Dodgers 10-0.
Matt Cain pitched six shutout innings, but with the score 8-0 at that point, Cain was removed with just 87 pitches thrown, saving him for another day.
With two out and a man on first, Jeff Francoeur hits a 3-2 pitch hard on a line. It looks like it’s headed to right for a single, but Freddy Sanchez makes a great leaping catch to snag it. I thought the ball was going to take Freddy’s glove off. The top and bottom of the second both end with a great catch. Still no score at the end of two innings.
Game one was supposed to be a pitching duel, but it was the hitters on both sides that dominated the game as the Giants win 11-7. It came down to doubles as the Giants knocked out six to the Rangers four. San Francisco also got a three-run home from Juan Uribe that turned out to give the Giants their winning run.
Freddy Sanchez collected four hits and three doubles, easily having the biggest night at the plate. He drove in three runs as scored twice, just missing tying the record for doubles in a World Series game.
Neither Cliff Lee nor Tim Lincecum pitched well, combining for 16 hits three walks and a hit batter in 10 1/3 innings. The Giants win a Cliff Lee start, however, which gives them a big leg up on the series. Now they can split the C.J. Wilson and Colby Lewis starts and take game four to win the series.
Update: Just to be clear, I mean splitting the four starts by Wilson and Lewis. I don’t mean they will win in game four. With the split and a game four win, the Giants win the series.
Jimmy Rollins hits a ball that eats up Freddy Sanchez. The official scorer gives Rollins a hit, but Sanchez should have stopped that ball. Lots of poor defensive plays in the game tonight.
Update: Lincecum follows by striking out Raul Ibanez. That’s seven K for Tim.
Update: Rollins steals second with Carlos Ruiz at the plate.
Update: Rollins steals third as the count goes full on Ruiz.
Update: Carlos takes an inside pitch for ball four. Ross Gload comes up to pinch hit for Roy Halladay, ending the ace’s night. Ruiz reaches for the second time tonight, raising his OBP for the series to .389.
Gload lines to Aubrey Huff at first, who makes the catch and steps on first for the double play. The Phillies still lead 3-2 at the stretch.
Freddy Sanchez’s shoulder doesn’t appear to be bad:
“I’m expecting he may be up against a shot of some form,” Sabean said. “If that happens he’d probably be out for at least for tomorrow’s game, but it’s nothing major from what I’ve been told.
“It looks like we have a chance to calm this thing down. That’s the reason we have (Mike) Fontenot. One way or the other we’ll press forward. If it ends up (with him) being out there less than 100 percent, and he wasn’t yesterday, maybe we’ll resort to that because of the bat. If not, we’ve got Fontenot in the wings.”
The Giants are also thinking of pitching Tim Lincecum on Wednesday, so he could either start Sunday on short rest or a one-game playoff on Monday.
Just when Freddy Sanchez was paying dividends for the Giants, he might be reduced to pinch hitting duties:
Second baseman Freddy Sanchez will undergo an MRI exam today on his right shoulder, which he injured while turning a double play Saturday. He confessed he is concerned.
Sanchez was iffy for Sunday’s game. He can hit but not throw. Manager Bruce Bochy put Sanchez in the lineup and said he would take the blame for any play the second baseman could not make.
This will be a very interesting week in the NL, and the injury only adds to that interest. San Francisco survived it Sunday, and even thrived as Sanchez provided a big hit. Monday’s off day can only help.
Freddy Sanchez hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Giants an early 2-0 lead over the Rockies. With Sanchez hitting well down the stretch, I wonder how Giants fans feel about the Sanchez trade now? It seemed to be universally panned in 2009, and until August of this year, it did seem like a bust.
Freddy Sanchez returns to the Giants lineup tonight after recovering from various injuries. If the good Freddy gives the Giants a high batting average and a little pop at the position. Note that Freddy’s overall production is very dependent on his batting average. The Giants second basemen as a group hold a .357 OBP. Sanchez is unlikely to raise that number, he’ll just shirt the composition from to more hits and fewer walks.
Freddy Sanchez of the Giants won’t be ready to play in the majors until the end of April as he recovers from shoulder surgery. His offense suffered after his move to the Giants, but despite the injury the Giants inked him to a two-year deal. I thought the trade was fine at the time, but the Giants decided to double down on a poor move.
We learned today the real reason the Giants kept quiet about Freddy Sanchez’s surgery. It was not at the request of Sanchez, as earlier reported:
Well, it isn’t too sexy, but here it is: The Giants made the decision to keep Sanchez’s surgery quiet because at the time, they were negotiating with Juan Uribe to bring him back as a reserve. They ended up signing Uribe to a $3 million contract, and when I spoke to his agent later on, he was proud of the fact that Uribe would be pretty much the best paid infield reserve in the big leagues.
Well, you’d better believe that news of Sanchez’s surgery would’ve impacted the Uribe negotiations. Uribe’s agent would’ve known he had more leverage and might have squeezed more money out of the club, or in the least, drawn out negotiations that would’ve prevented Giants officials from wrapping it up and concentrating on other business. So the hush-hush on Sanchez worked to the team’s advantage.