A trio of strong pitching performances overcame tepid hitting as the San Francisco Giants took two out of three games at home over the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend.
In the opener, Jonathan Sanchez threw 6 2/3 shutout innings, surrendering two hits as the Giants stopped a six game skid with a 2-0 victory.
In the middle game, Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum corrected his mechanics and struck out 13 over 8 shutout innings, surrendering a mere five hits and walking none. Unfortunately, counterpart Doug Davis was equally as stingy, scattering 8 hits over 8 shutout innings, as the floor fell through for the combination of Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson in the ninth, each giving up a run, as Arizona prevailed 2-0.
In the rubber match, Randy Johnson carried a no-hitter into the seventh, striking out 7. The complete gem was foiled by a leadoff double by Augie Ojeda in that frame. However, Johnson worked around the jam and teamed with Bob Howry and Brian Wilson to complete the one-hit, 2-0 victory.
The good news from the series: 1) the starting pitching was awesome. 21 2/3 shutout innings is nothing to sneeze at. This is what was expected of the staff this year. Brian Wilson had two saves in the series. Excellent. 2) Pablo Sandoval seems to be snapping out of his slump. He went 3-4 in the final game with a triple. Maybe that can end up being contagious.
The bad news from the series: 1) the lineup was atrocious. For the series, they scored a whopping 4 runs. If the starting pitching wasn’t insanely awesome, we’re looking at a nine game skid. Travis Ishikawa had an RBI via sacrifice fly on Sunday. That was nice. However, he’s been on a horrible stretch for the last nine games. I love him as a starter, but he needs to start taking first pitches. They’re tossing him breaking balls at the ankles and he ends up down 0-1 right off the bat (this comes from scouting reports). If he took the first pitch on five straight at bats, he’d notice improved results at the plate. Almost guaranteed. 2) Brian Wilson gave more evidence that that, if it’s not a save situation, he probably shouldn’t be out there. He got beat up in those situations last season and did on Saturday. However, a job of a closer is to strand inherited runners. Perhaps he just needs a little more work in non-save situations. Dunno.
All in all, good results this weekend. Just would like to see the bats come alive. The flip-flopping of Emmanuel Burriss and Edgar Renteria in the lineup is a great idea. I think that Ishikawa should be dropped in the lineup. Leave him at seven until he learns how to hit again. Aaron Rowand’s earned moving up to six. I didn’t like seeing Fred Lewis lead off on Sunday. Hopefully this is only a one game thing. Sandoval flashed some nice leather this weekend. He’s picking up the position quite well.
Giants off on Monday. Resume play on Tuesday as they send sizzling Matt Cain against Jake Peavey and the likewise hot San Diego Padres. Let’s remember to bring some bats this time around, guys. See you there.
