Randy Johnson and Tim Lincecum continued their dominant stretches as the Giants rallied from an early loss to take two of three from the Athletics in Oakland.
In the opener, the Athletics rallied from a solo homerun by Travis Ishikawa (4) to take the game 5-1. Former Giant Rajai Davis tripled and scored twice, Orlando Cabrera doubled twice, and rookie Trevor Cahill (5-5) pitched seven quality innings as the Athletics sent Jonathan Sanchez (2-8) to his fourth consecutive loss. Cahill was stingy, only allowing four hits and one run while striking out four. Brad Ziegler pitched two innings for the save, his sixth on the season.
In the middle game, Tim Lincecum (7-2) shone, pitching a complete game, striking out twelve, and only surrendering a solo homerun to Jason Giambi (10) as the Giants prevailed 4-1. The Giants got to Vin Mazarro (2-2) early, scoring twice in the first and second innings on RBI doubles by Pablo Sandoval and Edgar Renteria and sacrifice flies by Benjie Molina and rookie Matt Downs. Lincecum was helped out of two late jams by double plays as he completed his second game of the season, both against Oakland.
In the rubber match, Randy Johnson (7-5) threw seven dominant innings and Nate Schierholtz smacked a two run homerun as the Giants feasted off Gio Gonzalez (0-1) for ten hits and six runs over 3 2/3 innings en route to a 6-3 victory. Aaron Rowand added an RBI double. Brian Wilson pitched the final out for his 20th save of the season.
Nice to see the Giants pitching step up to the plate for them. You knew that Lincecum was going to be mad after his loss to the Angels. He let nobody down this series. Johnson looked good, too. The kids are getting some looks. Schierholtz smacked the ball around and Ishikawa kept up his torrid stretch. Per Sandoval, he is bashing. This guy is definitely an incredible all round hitter. My only complaint is Sanchez. He just looks lost out there. One thing goes wrong, such as not getting a strike called, and he seems to flip out and walk the world. Perhaps he could use some time in Fresno, getting his psyche in order. If he goes down, Kevin Pucetas is ready. If not Pucetas, there’s a handful of others who could be up to the task. Just something to keep in mind. If they got dominant starts, consistently, out of all five pitchers, this team could really be rolling. As of right now, it’s four good starts (even from Zito) and then a consistent hiccup. That’s not good.
Good news for San Francisco. After the series, they now stand at 39-32 on the season. That’s good enough for: 1) the second best record in the National League and 2) the current wild card lead. They also now stand seven games behind the Dodgers for the National League West lead. Nice stuff. Whoda thunk this could have happened before the season?
The Giants, finished with interleague play for the season, will next travel to Milwaukee to play the Brewers on Friday. The Athletics will host the Colorado Rockies Friday night.
