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Giants shutdown in Florida finale
By Morris Phillips June 8, 2009 |
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In professional sports, aging vets, utilizing experience and guts to mask their declining physical abilities, face young, ascendant stars, looking to create a foothold on a daily basis. In baseball, the dynamic reaches the extreme, as some ballplayers last longer than car companies these days. On Monday, 45-year old Randy Johnson, the aging vet, just four days removed from achieving the 300-win milestone, faced his latest challenge from two young pros, 22-year old pitcher Sean West and 27-year old journeyman outfielder Brett Carroll. And on this occasion, youth was served, as West, in just his third career start, carried a no-hit bid into the seventh, and Carroll hit his first career home run off Johnson, and flirted with the cycle in the Florida Marlins 4-0 victory over the Giants. How did Carroll, who has played in just 84 major league games in his four-year pro career, and West, who grew up idolizing Johnson, avoid feeling intimidated while facing the Big Unit, who is living in the glow of his history-making achievements? “Don’t get caught up in the aura of it all,” said Carroll. West responded to the challenge first by chopping down the Giants’ hottest hitter, leadoff man Aaron Rowand, and his 17-game hit streak. West got Rowand to fly out on an 0-2 pitch in the first, then Rowand lined out in the third, and struck out in the sixth. With West departing after the eighth inning, reliever Leo Nunez got Rowand to ground out in the ninth, ending his hit streak. Carroll, looking to establish himself now and benefit later if either Jeremy Hermida or Cody Ross are moved by the Marlins in a trade, redirected Johnson’s fastball that caught too much of the plate in the second for his three-run blast that gave the Marlins the lead. Carroll later tripled and singled, and flirted with the cycle in his final at-bat, when he grounded into a force out in the seventh. Meanwhile, the 6’8” West, who has been dynamite in each of three career starts over the last two weeks, challenged the Giants initially with his fastball, and then as the game progressed, mixed in his curve and slider with great success. The Giants, who for the first time on this road trip didn’t experience a rain delay, but were a step slow and a swing late for the entire evening. The road trip lacking geographical sense (D.C. to Miami to Phoenix) seemed to take its toll along with the rain delays, as the Giants managed just three hits on the evening. Still, even with the loss, the Giants have won four of the seven ballgames heading into Tuesday’s meeting with the Diamondbacks. Johnson, coming off his impressive outing against the Nationals, has now surrendered 11 homers in 12 starts, and the home runs seem to be a recurring theme in his five losses. And the Marlins, who have struggled thus far in 2009, must have been aware. If nothing else, they’ve proven to be a dynamic home run hitting team, leading the majors in homers for much of 2008 and smacking 56 home runs so far this year. |
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