The Freak Is Too Freaky for the Braves; Giants Win 6-3

If you were going to make a list of the best pitchers alive, Tim Lincecum would be pretty high on the list. It's hard to feel like you have a good chance to win when you're going up against a guy like that, even if he does look like Spicoli from Fast Times at Ridgemont High. Yet, I imagine the Braves felt pretty confident going into tonight's game (at least about the pitching matchup... the weather was another story). Braves starter Kenshin Kawakami outpitched Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson last year, among others, to earn the nickname "The Dragon Slayer," and is clearly unintimidated by facing top pitchers.  

And for a while there, it looked like KK was going to slay another dragon. He breezed through the first few innings, retiring the first 11 Giants he faced. Meanwhile, the Braves got to Lincecum early, thanks to a 2-run homer from Brian McCann in the first inning that drove in Eric Hinske. Unfortunately, Lincecum mellowed out after a shaky first couple innings and started lighting up the Braves' hitters, ending up with 10 strikeouts--all swinging. He went 7 innings, giving up only 5 hits and 1 walk along with the 2 earned runs; his WPA was 0.135.

Still, KK was more than matching Lincecum (in results if not in dominance or hair length), right up until Pablo Sandoval hit a 2-out triple (fat dude can run!) in the 4th. After the triple, Aubrey Huff hit a routine grounder to short... or rather, where the shortstop would normally be playing if the Braves had not put on an extreme shift. So instead of KK being out of the inning with no damage, Huff's ball rolled harmlessly into the outfield, no Braves fielder within 20 feet of it. The bad luck single broke up Kawakami's shutout, but the Braves still had a 2-1 lead thanks to McCann's homer.

Kawakami was breezing again until 2 outs in the 6th. Again it was Sandoval who got things going, this time with a single. Kawakami then walked Huff (his only BB of the night), bringing up Mark DeRosa. DeRo laced a single to right, and it looked as if Jason Heyward had a shot to throw Sandoval out at the plate... But the kid's throw was well up the third-base line, and to make matters worse, McCann whiffed on it (perhaps he mistook it for a Lincecum fastball?). As if matters weren't worse enough, they got even worser when the ball bounced right into the sliding Kung Fu Panda, who used his bulk to good advantage, pushing the ball well into foul ground. Huff would score on the error, making it 3-2, Giants.

KK got out of the inning, but the damage was done. His final line was 6 IP, 5 H, 3 R (2 ER), 1 BB, 1 K, and a -0.164 WPA. (I should note that WPA does not make allowances for defensive miscues, so KK is penalized for the run that scored on the error even though it was not his fault. Without that error, his WPA would have been slightly positive.)

The Braves were still in the game, but Lincecum smoked them in the 7th, and they couldn't muster anything in the 8th against Jeremy Affeldt, either. Kris Medlen, in his second inning, got into trouble in the 8th, giving up a single to Aaron Rowand. This was followed one batter later by a back-breaking 2-run homer by Sandoval (yes, he pretty much was the Giants' entire offense tonight--of course, he is pretty much their entire offense on most nights). The Giants would add one more off Eric O'Flaherty to put the game more or less out of reach, 6-2.

In the ninth, Jason Heyward hit a 5-run go-ahead homer with no one on base. Unfortunately, the umpires refused to score the play correctly, calling it just a solo shot. (Fools. Do they not know who they're dealing with? J-Hey will extract his revenge at some point, mark my words.) Blessed by the umpires' ignorance, Affeldt then completed the Giants' victory by striking out Matt Diaz.

A few positives from the Braves' perspective: Heyward is now tied for 2nd in the NL in homers (behind only Pujols), and Martin Prado still leads the NL in batting average. KK pitched quite well, even if (as is becoming a trend) we didn't score enough to get him a win. And the biggest positive of all is that the game was even played, since it looked for a while like the Braves might have to play 34 straight days, with a 1-game road trip to San Fran in the middle. Even a loss, I suspect, is better than that.

Awards

MVP: Sandoval-- 3/4, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, 0.142 WPA

LVP: lots of candidates, but I'll say Melky Cabrera-- 0/4, K, -0.107 WPA

MVPILE (MVP in a losing effort): McCann-- 2/4, HR, R, 2 RBI, K, 0.189 WPA. (McCann was also the only Brave with a positive WPA)

Clutch (and un-clutch) play: DeRosa's tying single and the ensuing go-ahead throwing error, 0.374 WPA