Neifi Perez, Superstar (Giants 7, Astros 5)

I think it's safe to say that if Neifi Perez gets four hits a game, the Giants will be going places. The season's on you, Neifi. Pettitte never really looked sharp to me. He would either bounce the pitch, leave it high, or throw it right down the pipe, like on Neifi's first double. Perez still had to hit it though, and he punished Pettitte for it. That inning was tragicomic. Pettitte had to be breathing easier after getting Bonds to pop out for the second out. Whoops, three runs later he finally gets the third out.

The Giants bullpen kept it interesting. Aardsma got his first big-league win, although it wasn't exactly a thing of beauty. Felix ground another layer of enamel off my teeth with his performance. I was in the Bus Stop, had a couple of beers in me, and still ... watching Felix was like sticking a hot poker in my eye. I might have to leave my seat when he's on the mound at China Basin. There's a nice view of the bay in the upper deck. It didn't help that the Astros managed five -- yeah, five -- infield hits. Good pitching, unlucky results. A last-gasp infield single in the ninth made it real interesting, but Herges hung in there and closed it out.

Best moment: Tomko's punchout of Bagwell with the bags juiced in the second.

Comments

[Nate]

how many times this season will Neifi equal the NY Yankees in both hits and RBI's?

[Erik]

It'd be great if Neifi lit it up, if only for the first month of the season (a la Jose Cruz in '03). His swing is no thing of beauty but he was a Pettitte killer last nite. Most of what we've seen is that he seems to hate the ball (bad ball, I smash you into ground - make you bounce hard on your way straight to defender) but perhaps with more at bats that he'll be due this season, things will pick up and he'll approach .270 avg. ;-)