In the first televised game of the San Francisco Giants 2011 Cactus League campaign, the Giants emerged victorious in their World Series rematch against the Texas Rangers by a score of 4-1.
All of the Giants runs came in the fifth inning, capped off by a two run double by Cody Ross and a two run Pat Burrell blast to right field. Giants beat writer Andrew Baggerly tweeted this about Burrell after his homer:
Burrell happy with his night. “Got a couple hits against Texas. First hits against them in two years. Too bad they don’t count.”
Too bad indeed. As for the pitching staff Jonathan Sanchez had a decent night, going four full innings and allowed two hits, one run, one walk, and five strikeouts. Jeremy Affeldt also had a nice two inning outing, allowing one hit with no runs and two strikeouts.
It was really nice to hear Mike Krukow and Duane Kiper on television again, especially when they were doing in game interviews with a lot of the Giants, including Bruce Bochy. During the broadcast Boch said that the team has a bit of a swagger to them seeing that they’re World Champions, but aren’t being arrogant about it. He explained they brought a chip on their shoulder to camp because no one thinks they can repeat, but we all know how this team does as the underdog.
PANDA WATCH: Pablo was 1-3 with a walk and a run scored, he also stole a base in the fifth inning. Love to see him run the bases and play the field now, he really has impressed me so far (hence the PANDA WATCH in every wrap up).
The Giants will head to the Peoria Sports Complex tomorrow to take on the Seattle Mariners for the second time in three days. First pitch is scheduled for 12:05 PT (1:05 MT).