A Night for the Lefties

A couple of days after the Giants paid tribute to Kirk Rueter, Noah Lowry honored his southpaw mentor in his own way. Yesterday began typically with internet browsing and lunch out at Marina Sub (best sandwich in San Francisco) but ended very atypically. Who else do I see at Subs but Lowry himself, the soon-to-be star of one of the best pitching performances of the year. I wished him good luck and blindly insist that my words of encouragement contributed to his performance in some way or other.

Like many other fans at the game, we knew he pitched very, very well, but this well? (Thanks to El Lefty Malo for bringing this up).

Frankly it feels good to finally get a win off Livo, who by the way looks like he inhaled about 300 Twinkies on the flight between Washington and Phoenix. Along with the extra padding around the face and the huge gut came his 65 MPH Eephus-like pitch, at times effective but very difficult to respect as a reliable weapon. When Juan Cruz entered the game it looked like he was throwing about 110.

Of course the game also featured an absolute bomb by Barry, who, despite his struggles at the plate, still oozes confidence and garners respect from his peers. Great to see him finally get one wet, his first of the season and since Sept. 18. This feat came at the heels of Barry's expressing a desire to return to San Francisco next year, but questions about his fielding, popularity outside the Bay Area, among others, loom.

Last night's game was missing the fragile Moises Alou, who is taking a "quick break" to heal up a bothersome hamstring. Can't say we didn't expect this with Alou, but having him day-to-day for the rest of the season won't help the team establish any sort of consistency down the stretch. The lesson, as always, is stay tuned.