Slowly but surely, the Giants are getting their players back. Long-time
DL listee, J.T. Snow, was penned in the starting lineup for the last
game against the Dbacks in Arizona, and was a little slow with the bat
against Curt Schilling, but recovered with a timely base hit in the
ninth. He also provided good glove work defensively at first base,
which was where the Giants missed him the most.
Talking about returning players, Ray Durham is also expected to see
some action soon as well, as he was activated from the DL on Monday.
This is great news for the Giants, who are in need of Durham even
though the acquirement of Eric Young lessened the urgency of Durham’s
return, giving him more time to heal properly and fully.
Enough with the injury talk for now, let’s get to the good stuff. Barry
Bonds. Let me give you a minute for that to sink in. This guy has just
been amazing all around, and even though the Giants were able to muster
up a win without him in the lineup, he has shown how spectacular he is,
being able to continue playing at the caliber he does with his father’s
tragic death inserted between those games. Even the left-hander
pitchers, known as the teams’ “Bonds specialist,” are unable to retired
him now. He is just that good, and expect him to continue playing the
way he does, dedicating it to his father.
Pitching has been phenomenal. Going to relatively good hitting
ballparks at Coors Field and the BOB, the Giants had low-scoring, close
games, thanks to the brilliance of their pitching staff. Their bullpen,
led by closer Tim Worrell, has also been very solid finishing off games
for the Giants on their roadtrip, so look for them to continue that at
home. In this quick two game series, the Giants won’t be sending up
their aces, but rather a rookie and a struggling veteran.
Jose Jimenez (1-7, 5.67 ERA) vs. Kevin Correia (1-1, 2.25 ERA)
Correia was very solid in his last emergency start against the Rockies
at Coors Field, where he only gave up three runs. His emergency start
was because of Dustin Hermanson’s strained muscle, and his start this
time around is also in place of Hermanson, who was placed on the 15-day
DL. Jimenez has not had a very good season, with a bloated ERA and only
one victory. Giant players with success against him include Eric Young,
Marquis Grissom, and Snow. The Giants are batting .314 against him as a
team.
Jason Jennings (11-12, 4.98 ERA) vs. Kirk Rueter (7-5, 4.73 ERA)
Rueter has been slumping since coming off the DL, and even a little
before then. He will look to change that against a Colorado team that’s
hit him well (.309). Rueter has done well in his first innings of work
in all his outings, but there is always that one inning where he loses
everything. The Giants used to have a lucky shamrock going into games
where Rueter pitched, and they will look to recover that shamrock. He
will be going against Jennings, who has about the same ERA as Rueter.
Snow has had decent success against Jennings in a bigger number of at-
bats, while the rest of the team is batting between .260 and .330
against him with a smaller at-bat count, .300 collectively.
Sara Kwan was born in San Francisco and raised in the Bay Area. She
currently writes game recaps, other articles, and is the Giant Prophet for
SFDugout.com. Any comments or questions about the article, baseball, or the
meaning of life can be sent to Sara at kwanchino@alpha-q.net
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