Apr 13 2009
Tim Flannery of the Giants
Tim Flannery (Right) could cause headaches for Bruce Bochy (Left)
San Francisco lost yesterday to Oakland, 2-1 in extra innings. One of the key plays in the loss was a huge missed opportunity on the part of third base coach Tim Flannery. While generally I’ll hold off criticizing coaching moves until the regular season, this lack of aggression could be a sign of a tendency that could hurt the Giants.
The blunder took place in the bottom of the third inning. Trailing 1-0 the Giants loaded the bases with a Manny Burriss single and walks to Randy Winn and Edgar Renteria. With one out Fred Lewis hit a medium speed base hit through the right toward Travis Buck, Burriss scored easily and the speedy Winn… STOPPED AT THIRD? Buck’s throw was off-line and well short of the plate. Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval would pop up and ground out to end the inning and the Giants would go on to lose by one.
The reasons to send Winn were overwhelming - (1) he’s a fast runner, (2) there was just one out and if he was thrown out there would still be runners in scoring position, in fact at second and third, (3) Travis Buck is not known for his arm, (4) the Giants offense isn’t exactly a powerhouse and the run could (and did) prove to be the difference in the game.
Hopefully it was a simple spring training mistake by an experienced coach and not a sign of future decisions.
Other notes from the game.
The staff looked great starting with Randy Johnson and along with Joe Martinez and Brian Wilson - who was consistently in the 96-99 range. Luis Perdomo was terrible but he likely won’t be relied on for important innings this year.
Sean Gallagher’s velocity was down in the 89-90 range, after reaching the mid 90’s last season it looks like he isn’t necessarily ready.
Edgar Renteria’s range is still just as bad as last year.
Dana Eveland looked great.
