{"id":60875,"date":"2023-08-21T11:00:34","date_gmt":"2023-08-21T15:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/?p=60875"},"modified":"2023-08-20T21:36:16","modified_gmt":"2023-08-21T01:36:16","slug":"the-giants-avoided-a-sweep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/21\/the-giants-avoided-a-sweep\/","title":{"rendered":"The Giants Avoided a Sweep in Atlanta"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/17\/wade-meckler-records-first-hit\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">San Francisco Giants<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0avoided a sweep in Atlanta after losing the series&#8217; first two games against the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/18\/braves-vs-giants-a-game-not-to-miss\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Atlanta Braves<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Both\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cobbal01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Alex Cobb<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/webblo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Logan Webb<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0were less effective than usual. On Friday, the offense put up no runs in support of Cobb, who allowed four. On Saturday, it appeared that they would win. But\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rogerty01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tyler Rogers<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0blew a 5-4 lead in the eighth, allowing a two-run shot to Eddie Rosario on a misplaced sinker.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Giants Avoided a Sweep in Atlanta<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Starting With Saturday&#8217;s Disaster<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tyler Rogers&#8217; Pitching<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As mentioned, Rogers allowed a crucial homer in the eighth when the Giants were about to win it. It&#8217;s commonly known that Rogers is a unique pitcher. Of course, all submariners are, but his delivery is just different. Who releases that low?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One would think he&#8217;d have to rely on soft contact all the time because he can&#8217;t throw 90 miles an hour, even on his fastball. He is one of the slowest-throwing pitchers in the league. And yet he&#8217;s figured out a way to be overpowering, and often looks as electric as any flamethrower. Although he releases lower than you could imagine, he knows how to attack the zone&#8217;s top. And the particular pitch for doing that is his slider. He uses it with his fastball\/sinker to blow hitters away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There&#8217;s another way, too, in which he&#8217;s defied expectations. Typically, submariners have extreme platoon splits, which sometimes means they aren&#8217;t particularly effective against opposite-handed batters. But Rogers has used his stuff to become incredibly good against lefties. If anything, he would be considered to have reverse platoon splits, although he can still be trusted against righties.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Tradeoff<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But in all this, it&#8217;s essential to realize that Rogers&#8217; electric stuff comes with a tradeoff. It&#8217;s not like he never gives up a home run or big hit. He likely could be more adept at preventing hard contact than some finesse pitchers are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Now don&#8217;t get me wrong. In the overall scheme of things, Rogers developed just right. The Giants wouldn&#8217;t trade his overpowering ability for anything. But on Saturday night, he made a mistake, costing the Giants.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A Much-Needed Win<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Giants found themselves in a big game heading into Sunday. The damage to their division chances is irreparable at this point. But their Wild Card chances can be saved yet. They&#8217;re just going to need to perk things up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sunday&#8217;s win was the start of that. The Giants went with a bullpen game, with\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/junisja01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jakob Junis<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0coming in first. Junis against\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/friedma01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Max Fried<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0didn&#8217;t look too promising. But the Giants got three runs on the board on a solo shot from\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/matoslu02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Luis Matos<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and a two-run shot from\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/florewi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wilmer Flores<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With a 3-2 lead in the eighth,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dovalca01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Camilo Doval<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0came in for a five-out save. But\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bailepa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Patrick Bailey<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0committed a throwing error on\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/acunaro01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ronald Acuna Jr.<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216;s steal of third base, allowing Acuna to take home and tie the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Giants loaded the bases in the top of the ninth.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pederjo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Joc Pederson<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, who&#8217;s been in a similar situation several times this year, walked to force in the critical run. Doval retired the Braves in the bottom of the inning, and the Giants took the win and avoided a sweep.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Looking Ahead<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The next challenge will be to face the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/18\/nationals-and-phillies-set-to-face-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Philadelphia Phillies<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. This is an opportunity for them to gain ground in the NL Wild Card race. They&#8217;re in the second spot but could move up to the first if all goes well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/17\/wade-meckler-records-first-hit\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">San Francisco Giants<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0avoided a sweep in Atlanta after losing the series&#8217; first two games against the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/18\/braves-vs-giants-a-game-not-to-miss\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Atlanta Braves<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. Both\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/c\/cobbal01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Alex Cobb<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/w\/webblo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Logan Webb<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0were less effective than usual. On Friday, the offense put up no runs in support of Cobb, who allowed four. On Saturday, it appeared that they would win. But\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/r\/rogerty01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tyler Rogers<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0blew a 5-4 lead in the eighth, allowing a two-run shot to Eddie Rosario on a misplaced sinker.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Giants Avoided a Sweep in Atlanta<\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Starting With Saturday&#8217;s Disaster<\/span><\/h3>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Tyler Rogers&#8217; Pitching<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As mentioned, Rogers allowed a crucial homer in the eighth when the Giants were about to win it. It&#8217;s commonly known that Rogers is a unique pitcher. Of course, all submariners are, but his delivery is just different. Who releases that low?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">One would think he&#8217;d have to rely on soft contact all the time because he can&#8217;t throw 90 miles an hour, even on his fastball. He is one of the slowest-throwing pitchers in the league. And yet he&#8217;s figured out a way to be overpowering, and often looks as electric as any flamethrower. Although he releases lower than you could imagine, he knows how to attack the zone&#8217;s top. And the particular pitch for doing that is his slider. He uses it with his fastball\/sinker to blow hitters away.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There&#8217;s another way, too, in which he&#8217;s defied expectations. Typically, submariners have extreme platoon splits, which sometimes means they aren&#8217;t particularly effective against opposite-handed batters. But Rogers has used his stuff to become incredibly good against lefties. If anything, he would be considered to have reverse platoon splits, although he can still be trusted against righties.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Tradeoff<\/span><\/h4>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">But in all this, it&#8217;s essential to realize that Rogers&#8217; electric stuff comes with a tradeoff. It&#8217;s not like he never gives up a home run or big hit. He likely could be more adept at preventing hard contact than some finesse pitchers are.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Now don&#8217;t get me wrong. In the overall scheme of things, Rogers developed just right. The Giants wouldn&#8217;t trade his overpowering ability for anything. But on Saturday night, he made a mistake, costing the Giants.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">A Much-Needed Win<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Giants found themselves in a big game heading into Sunday. The damage to their division chances is irreparable at this point. But their Wild Card chances can be saved yet. They&#8217;re just going to need to perk things up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Sunday&#8217;s win was the start of that. The Giants went with a bullpen game, with\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/j\/junisja01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Jakob Junis<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0coming in first. Junis against\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/friedma01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Max Fried<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0didn&#8217;t look too promising. But the Giants got three runs on the board on a solo shot from\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/m\/matoslu02.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Luis Matos<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0and a two-run shot from\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/f\/florewi01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Wilmer Flores<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With a 3-2 lead in the eighth,\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/d\/dovalca01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Camilo Doval<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0came in for a five-out save. But\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/bailepa01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Patrick Bailey<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u00a0committed a throwing error on\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/acunaro01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Ronald Acuna Jr.<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">&#8216;s steal of third base, allowing Acuna to take home and tie the game.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The Giants loaded the bases in the top of the ninth.\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/p\/pederjo01.shtml\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><strong><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Joc Pederson<\/span><\/strong><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">, who&#8217;s been in a similar situation several times this year, walked to force in the critical run. Doval retired the Braves in the bottom of the inning, and the Giants took the win and avoided a sweep.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Looking Ahead<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The next challenge will be to face the\u00a0<\/span><a class=\"editor-rtfLink\" href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/2023\/08\/18\/nationals-and-phillies-set-to-face-off\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\"><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Philadelphia Phillies<\/span><\/a><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">. This is an opportunity for them to gain ground in the NL Wild Card race. They&#8217;re in the second spot but could move up to the first if all goes well.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Main Photo Credits: Dale Zanine-USA TODAY Sports<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The\u00a0San Francisco Giants\u00a0avoided a sweep in Atlanta after losing the series&#8217; first two games against the\u00a0Atlanta Braves. Both\u00a0Alex Cobb\u00a0and\u00a0Logan Webb\u00a0were less effective than usual. On Friday, the offense put up no runs in support of Cobb, who allowed four. On Saturday, it appeared that they would win. But\u00a0Tyler Rogers\u00a0blew a 5-4 lead in the eighth, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4517,"featured_media":60887,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31,1071],"tags":[1121,48,661,6241,423,3037,3334,218,4620,685],"class_list":["post-60875","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-giants","category-mlb","tag-alex-cobb","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-eddie-rosario","tag-jakob-junis","tag-joc-pederson","tag-logan-webb","tag-luis-matos","tag-max-fried","tag-tyler-rogers","tag-wilmer-flores"],"modified_by":"Evan Mazza, Site Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60875","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4517"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=60875"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60875\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/60887"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60875"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60875"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/baseball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60875"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}