Stellar pitching, combined with clutch hitting, helped the Giants to sweep a three game set with the Oakland Athletics. Complete games by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain bookended Randy Johnson’s 301st career victory.
In the opener, the Lincecum (6-1) tossed a complete game shutout, surrendering only seven hits while striking out eight as the Giants prevailed 3-0. Lincecum also singled in a run, with the bases loaded, in the fifth, driving home Juan Uribe from third base, to break a scoreless tie. Aaron Rowand followed with a two run single off losing Athletics rookie, Vin Mazzaro (2-1), supplying Lincecum with all the offense he would need for the victory. The runs were the first surrendered by Mazzaro on the season.
In the middle game, Randy Johnson (6-5) pitched seven strong innings, surrendering only four hits and two runs, en route to a 5-2 victory. Benjie Molina hit his tenth homerun of the season in the first and Juan Uribe broke a 2-2 tie with a single in the seventh. The hit was followed closely by a sacrifice fly by Emmanuel Burriss and an RBI single by Nate Schierholtz for the final score of 5-2. Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his 17th save. Josh Outman (4-1) picked up his first loss of the season for Oakland.
In the final game, Matt Cain (9-1) went the distance, throwing a four hitter. He shook off a first inning homerun by Jack Cust (11) for his seventh straight decision victory, 7-1. After Randy Winn erased the deficit with a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first, Pablo Sandoval followed, two batters later, with a two run bomb, his sixth, to give the Giants a 3-1 lead. Nate Schierholtz hit a three run, inside the park homerun, his first, off Brett Anderson (3-7) to put the game out of reach, 6-1. Andres Torres doubled and tripled for the offense. Cain struck out nine as he tossed his third complete game of the season.
What can I say? Absolutely nothing to complain about in this series. The bats were working. The pitching was doing what the pitching did. I think that Schierholtz instead of Fred Lewis in left field is a good idea. He’s being given a chance and running with it. Again, would have been nice to see Travis Ishikawa get an at bat. However, they won. Such concerns will be kept for a later date. Great job by the Giants in this weekend set. Let’s see if they can continue it in the next series.
The Giants will next play at home against the LA Angels on Monday evening. The Athletics will have an off day before traveling to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers. Let’s hope the Athletic bats come alive now for our benefit, m’kay?
