Quick jottings:
- When Pablo Sandoval took a walk in the 7th-inning, you could almost hear his internal monologue. It was like the Far Side cartoon with a guy holding one cymbal and muttering "Don't screw up. Don't screw up. Don't screw up." Hey, if it makes pitchers throw him strikes, I'm all for it. Great at-bat, Pablo.
- Bases loaded, 7th-inning, right-handed pitcher on the mound, there's no way Rich Aurilia should hit. Sorry, Bochy. I wouldn't mind as much if Bochy didn't hit for Travis Ishikawa against last year with the bases loaded in the fourth freaking inning. That set a precedent, I'd think.
- The defensive play of the young season: Aaron Rowand cutting off Stephen Drew's double. It saved a run, and it allowed Tim Lincecum to face Mark Reynolds in a strikeout situation.
- As soon as Lincecum gets a little more experience around the league, he'll take over the staff ace designation from Barry Zito. Remember I wrote that, and spread word of my clairvoyance when it comes to be.
- Again, I'm not a rabid pitch-count fanatic, but does anyone other than Bruce Jenkins and the people in Dr. James Andrews's will think that Lincecum should have gone out for the eighth? Did that 89-mph fastball for the second pitch of the inning make your heart skip a beat? I just don't get how the reward is worth the risk, especially in April.
- Oh, my, was the last pitch of the game not a strike. Yeesh. That might have saved Brian Wilson from throwing 20 pitches tonight.
Good win. This crazy, "don't allow runs" philosophy might catch on after all.