The San Francisco Giants bats, aided immensely by newly recalled Buster Posey, woke to sweep the Arizona Diamondbacks in San Francisco over the weekend.

In the opener, Matt Cain (3-4) went the distance, tossing a one hitter, and Pablo Sandoval hit his first homerun (4) in over a month and drove in three as the Giants won 5-0.   Cain struck out nine and walked none in his first complete game and shutout of 2010.   He gave up only a two-out double to Mark Reynolds in the second inning, cruising the rest of the way for his second career one-hitter and first shutout since 2008.   Edwin Jackson (3-6) picked up the loss for the Diamondbacks. 

In the middle game, the Giants annihilated Arizona from all sides, trouncing the snakes, 12-1.  Buster Posey made his 2010 debut, going 3-4 with three RBI and injecting a boost into the Giants offense.  Juan Uribe blasted his seventh homerun of the year to back Jonathan Sanchez (3-4).  Sanchez, victim of poor run support all season, struck out seven in five, but left early with an elevated pitch count.   The bullpen rallied around and shutout Arizona for four innings to close the effort.   Eli Whiteside homered (3) and drove in two as losing pitcher Billy Buckner (0-3) was beaten from pillar to post and watched his ERA climb over 11.00 as the Giants collected 16 hits on the day.  Rusty Ryal (5) account for all the Arizona runs with a solo blast in the top of the third inning. 

In the closer, the Giants took 10 innings but rallied for a 6-5 victory to complete the sweep.  Andres Torres culminated a four-hit day by driving in the game-winning run in the bottom of the tenth, singling in Juan Uribe with two out against loser Carlos Rosa (0-1).  The Giants rallied off closer Chad Qualls in the ninth, behind a pinch double by Travis Ishikawa, a single by Torres, an RBI single by Fred Sanchez, and an RBI groundout by Sandoval to tie the score.  Brian Wilson (1-0) pitched a perfect tenth for the victory.  Buster Posey went 3-5, collecting two doubles and another RBI, and Aubrey Huff homered (6) to pace the Giants offense. 

Excellent series.   Two words sum this one up.  Buster Posey!!!  The kid is up and has arrived in a big way.  This injection into their offense is exactly what they needed.  Yes, one can make the argument that it’s just the Diamondbacks and that they’ve lost seven in a row.  However, his doubles were off Ian Kennedy, who shut the Giants down in his last outing against them.  That’s saying something.  Also, it looks like Pablo Sandoval is coming out of his slump.  Way to go Panda.  Let’s keep that up.  It’d be nice now if Nate Schierholtz would follow suit.  Way to go Matt Cain.  Awesome start.  Ditto Jonathan Sanchez.  Todd Wellemeyer?  You did well, but I want to see this on the road before I heap praise.  I still think that Madison Bumgarner would be a better option.  Travis Ishikawa hits two doubles in two days.  Perhaps more reps?  Probably not.  Sorry kid.  I’m on your side here.  Blame the management.  Too much of a class act to do so.  Give it some time.  On a side note, the Giants signed Pat Burrell to a minor league contract.  Am I excited?  No.  Do I want to see him playing for the parent club?  No.  Will he come up eventually?  Probably.  I guess that they don’t ask me for advice on such matters.  Oh, and be sure to check out Monday’s game against the Rockies.  Timmy ‘The Freak’ Lincecum will be hurling laser beams against Ubaldo Jiminez, he of the 9-1 record and .88 ERA.   Should be worth the price of admission, take about 1 1/2 hours, and end up 1-0.  Can’t say who’ll win.  Be sure to watch to find out.   Go Timmy!!!  Tear ‘em to shreds!!! 

The Giants will next play host to the Colorado Rockies on Monday afternoon.  The Diamondbacks will travel to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers on Monday evening.

The San Francisco Giants apparently forgot to pack bats as they appeared ill-prepared to face the Oakland Athletics, who promptly slapped the Orange and Black around with a sweep in the East Bay. 

I’m not going game by game.  The scores speak for themselves.  The Giants lost 6-1, 1-0, and 3-0.  They were beaten by Trevor Cahill (2-2), Gio Gonzalez (5-3), and reliever Michael Wuertz (1-0) (though they were thoroughly handcuffed by starter Ben Sheets).  Losses went to Barry Zito (6-2), Matt Cain (2-4), and Jonathan Sanchez (2-4). 

Pathetic.  The bats are past stale right now.  Couple this series with that sad showing against the Diamondbacks and this team is floundering.  The only (and I mean ONLY) pitcher who deserved a loss this weekend was Barry Zito.  Yes, you run into bad pitching, but this is not a stellar rotation they went up against.  It would be one thing if they were falling like this to the Yankees, Phillies, and Cardinals.  However, they handled the latter two quite easily.  This is beyond sad.  Why is Rowand out there?  He’s hitting .240-.250.  Why is Bowker in the field?  He’s stiff with the stick.  At least Pablo’s doing SOMETHING at the plate, but still isn’t his normal self.  Why isn’t Schierholtz out there?  He should be healed by now.  And why, please tell me why, do we have Matt Downs trotted out at DH while perhaps the organization’s TOP hitter is currently in AAA, murdering any pitcher who tosses him a ball?  Yeah, I mean Buster Posey.  Give the kid the call.  Put him at catcher.  Put Ishikawa somewhere.  He’s stinging the ball (when he gets to play) and he sits on the bench.  Todd Wellemeyer?  Hopefully, with the off day, they will have the good sense to sit him on Tuesday and let Lincecum pitch.  This is beyond sad.  Fix this mess. 

The Giants will next host the Washington Nationals on Tuesday.  The Athletics will travel to Baltimore to play the Orioles.

The San Francisco Giants rallied from one sweep with one of their own, culminating with a 4-3 victory over the Houston Astros, behind Barry Zito’s 6th victory of the season.

Zito (6-1) tossed seven innings, scattering six hits and one run and besting Brett Myers (2-3), who tossed a complete game in a losing effort.  Aaron Rowand (5) and Andres Torres (1) hit solo and two run homeruns, respectively, in support of Zito’s outing.  Brian Wilson worked around a pair of two out hits and striking out Kazuo Matsui with runners on the corners for his ninth save.

In the opener, Todd Wellemeyer (2-3) pitched into the eighth and the Giant bats erupted against Felipe Paulino (0-6) as San Francisco ended a three game losing streak with an 8-2 victory.  Andres Torres doubled twice and tripled and Nate Schierholtz and Pablo Sandoval each had two hits.   Hunter Pence (6) homered for the Astros. 

The middle game of the series was a pitchers duel as Tim Lincecum (5-0) finally picked up his elusive fifth victory of the year, beating Roy Oswalt (2-5) and the Astros, 2-1.  Lincecum pitched eight innings, striking out five and surrendering only one run.  Juan Uribe supplied all the offense, hitting a two run homerun (4) to give the Giants the lead for good in the fourth inning.  Brian Wilson supplied drama in the ninth as the Astros loaded the bases and Kazuo Matsui coaxed a 15 pitch at bat off the closer before flying out to left field, giving the Giants the victory and Wilson his eighth save of the season.

First things first, great series.  A victory is always nice.  A sweep is always better.  Couple this with the Dodgers sweep of the Padres and it’s a win-win all round.   Pablo isn’t fully back, but it appears as if he’s doing better.  That’s great news.   Now that we’re feeling better, let me point out how much that earlier Padres sweep hurts the team.  If they win one game in that series, they are now in first place.  Also, the Dodgers aren’t breathing down their necks as much if that’s the case.  The race is tightened due to the team’s inability to take one from the front runners at home.  This series was a gift as the Astros are pretty horrible.  They need to start playing up to this level against ALL in-division competition.   They better get started immediately as they send the bottom of the rotation against the Padres on the road starting tomorrow.   Get on this one!!  Go Giants!!!!!

The Giants next travel to San Diego to play the Padres tomorrow evening.  The Astros go to Los Angeles to take on the Dodgers tomorrow night.

The Giant bullpen lost another lead handed to them by Tim Lincecum, but a late homerun by Aaron Rowand, coupled with ace closing, allowed San Francisco to salvage the final game in New York, against the Mets, by a score of 6-5.

Lincecum tossed six innings, scattering seven hits and two runs while striking out eight Mets.   The Giants staked the ace to a 4-0 lead following a wild outing by Oliver Perez, who walked seven batters in 3 1/3 innings, putting together two run second and fourth innings.   The Mets rallied in the sixth, cutting the Giant lead in half with a run scoring single by Jason Bay and a sacrifice fly by David Wright.  Dan Runzler relieved in the seventh and the Mets erupted for three runs off two hits and three walks from the rookie and Sergio Romo (1-3).  However, Aaron Rowand returned the lead to the Giants with a two run blast (4) off Jenrry Mejia (0-2) in the top of the eighth inning.  Brian Wilson came on with one out in the bottom of the inning and proceeded to strike out five of the next six hitters, picking up his seventh save of the season. 

In the opener, the Mets used the long ball to get to Jonathan Sanchez early, with Ike Davis (2,3) and Rod Barajas (8,9) each homering twice, Barajas’s second being a walkoff, as New York beat the Giants 6-4.  The Mets took a 4-3 lead into the ninth where John Bowker tied the game by stroking a pinch homerun (2) off closer Francisco Rodriguez (2-0).  In the bottom of the inning, Davis coaxed a one out walk off Sergio Romo (0-3) before Barajas followed with his second homerun of the game to seal the victory for the home team.

In the second game, Henry Blanco hit a solo shot (1) in the bottom of the eleventh inning off reliever Guillermo Mota (0-1), breaking a 4 all tie and giving the Mets a 5-4 win.   Hisanori Takahashi (3-1) pitched a perfect top of the eleventh for the victory. 

Okay.  A lost series, but a winning road trip.  All in all, it’s alright.  Two games lost in the final at bat.  That hurts.  I am impressed that the team is fighting every inning.  Seems like they are taking these games personal.  Todd Wellemeyer was blasted again.  With the off day, let’s see if they can skip him for a turn.  Hopefully so.  A big series coming up tomorrow night.  The rest should do the bullpen well.   Hopefully also for a badly slumping Pablo Sandoval.  However, I have a feeling he is due for a tear.  Mark me down for this one.  What better time than against the NL West leading San Diego Padres. 

The Giants will next host the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.  The Mets will host the Nationals Monday evening.

The San Francisco Giants decided that Edgar Renteria’s groin injury was worthy of two weeks of rest and relaxation.  As a result, they placed the veteran shortstop on the 15 day disabled list.  To fill his roster spot, the team recalled infielder Ryan Rohlinger from AAA Fresno. 

In another move, the Giants recalled veteran reliever Denny Bautista from Fresno and optioned struggling utility player Eugenio Velez to the AAA affiliate.

What do these moves mean for us?  First, get well Edgar.  Second, get better, Eugenio.  Third, we are now lacking in players whose first names begin with the letter ‘E’.  Fourth, the addition of Bautista is interesting.  It gets the pitching staff back up to 13.  He’s an adequate reliever.  However, he’s never been consistent at the major league level.  In parts of seven seasons, he’s only played in 100 games and sports a rather unimpressive 6.26 ERA.  He has journeyman and stopgap written all over him.  Yes he pitched well in AAA.  However, he’s pitched well in the minors before and has yet to prove he belongs in the majors.  I can’t see how he can help the team in the long term.  I just pray that, should Todd Wellemeyer be pulled from the rotation, that Bruce Bochy doesn’t figure out that Bautista used to start  *shudder*  Additionally, Rohlinger is back for try number three.  He’s been good in the minors and overmatched and under-impressive in the majors.  This oozes of AAAA player.  I know that I thought the same thing of Matt Downs when he was first recalled this year and he’s done well.  Perhaps he’ll prove me wrong.  However, I don’t think so.  He has fifteen days to prove himself up to the task.   Go get ‘em kid.

Matt Cain turned in the third consecutive strong pitching performance and Nate Schierholtz continued his torrid streak with his first homerun of the season as the Giants beat the Florida Marlins 6-3, sweeping the three game series on the road.

Cain (2-1) pitched no-hit ball into the sixth and lasted into the eighth inning, surrendering two runs on four hits while striking out six Marlins en route to the victory.  Schierholtz went 3-3 to raise his average to .381 on the season and blasted a solo shot in the fifth (1) off loser Ricky Nolasco (2-2) to make the score 3-0.   Aaron Rowand had two hits and drove in two, continuing his own personal tear since returning from the disabled list earlier this week.  Brian Wilson recorded the final out for his sixth save of the season.

In the opener, the Giants bullpen squandered a dominating thirteen strikeout performance by Tim Lincecum as Sergio Romo gave up a three run eighth inning blast to Dan Uggla (6) that temporarily gave the Marlins a 6-5 lead.  However, Rowand hit his second homerun of the season off closer Leo Nunez with two outs in the ninth, sending the game into extra innings.  A two run single by Aubrey Huff in the top of the 12th followed by a bases loaded hit by pitch by Schierholtz staked the Giants to a 9-6 lead against Burke Badenhop (0-3).  Guillermo Mota pitched a perfect bottom of the twelfth for his first save of the season.  Dan Runzler (1-0) struck out the side in the bottom of the eleventh for his first major league victory.

In the middle game, Barry Zito (5-0) pitched dominating ball into the eighth and Aaron Rowand homered (3) for the second straight game as the Giants won, 3-2.   Sergio Romo redeemed himself from the previous evening, inheriting a bases loaded, no out situation in the eighth.  He responded by striking out slugger Hanley Ramirez on three pitches and then inducing a double play by Jorge Cantu to retire the side.  Brian Wilson created a situation then got out of it, surrendering one run and picking up the save (5).   Nate Robertson (2-3) pitched well, but picked up the loss.

SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEPPPPPPPPPP!!!!!  That felt good.  I was concerned at first when the bully gave up the lead for Lincecum.  However, timely hitting appears to be the name of the game on this road trip.  That’s not a bad thing.  Schierholtz, Rowand, and Huff all appear to be scalding the ball right now.  Matt Downs too.  In fact, the only person who is NOT bashing at this time is Pablo Sandoval.  He went 2-6 in the opener with a crucial double.  However, he was rather quiet in the last two games.  Not worried yet.  We’ll keep our eyes on that situation.  Great job by Romo to come back in the middle game.  Gotta take our hats off to that one.  Edgar Renteria started in the third game but it appears that he re-injured his groin as he left early tonight.  Let’s watch those developments, too.  There’s only one thing I can think of that would be great to follow a sweep.  Let’s bring our brooms up north to New York.  Go Giants!!!!

The Giants will next venture to New York City to take on the Mets on Friday evening.  The Marlins travel to the capital to take on the Nationals, also on Friday.