SAN FRANCISCO -- Originally, last night's game story was going to be half about Jeff Samardzija basically sitting at 95 mph for 100 pitches and half about Brandon Crawford's glove handling the rest. Crawford made an incredible play to get the first out of the ninth, but it was washed away by what happened next. The play is still noteworthy, though, because it showed off another glaring late-game weakness for the Giants.
They have blown seven saves this month, and two of the first six included bloops to left field or left-center that dropped for key hits. Only Crawford's range prevented another one. The go-ahead run last night scored on a fly ball to center that was probably deep enough to score the run against just about any center fielder, but there was absolutely no shot when Denard Span's throw bounced back to second base.
Bochy indicated today that he has shuffled his ninth-inning bullpen depth chart. Could he also change it up defensively? Maybe go with Gregor Blanco in left and Gorkys Hernandez in center field if the team is trying to protect a one-run lead?
"The game will determine it," he said. "I don't want to take out guys in the flow of the game. I don't like to do that often. Blanco is a guy who can help give the outfielders a break (and) Hernandez can. But I just think it's important to go with our guys. That's what we're doing right now."
So, you'll see Pagan and Span out there in the ninth far more often than not. As for the mound, Bochy is leaning toward Hunter Strickland and Derek Law for those save opportunities. Law was pulled last night because he was making just his second appearance since coming off the DL, but Bochy talked to him today and Law said he's ready for back-to-back work.
"I'm not saying Law is the closer, but him and Strickland will be more in the mix," Bochy said.
San Francisco Giants
--- Buster Posey is not in the mix early on today. This was a long-planned day off, and it should freshen Posey up ahead of the Dodgers series. The matchups are official, by the way: Madison Bumgarner vs. Clayton Kershaw; Johnny Cueto vs. Rich Hill; Matt Moore vs. Kenta Maeda. That's a hell of a series regardless of what the standings look like tonight.
--- A couple more things from the 28th blown save of the season. First, there will be an increased emphasis on holding runners. Casilla wasn't good about it last night, and it cost him a crucial stolen base. "That's huge," Bochy said. "He's better at holding runners than what he did last night. He was a little slow to home plate."
Also, Sergio Romo apparently just got caught up in the moment when he started laughing on the mound. That's all been cleared up internally.
