Matt Cain snapped a personal dry stretch against the Dodgers and the San Francisco Giants placed more distance between themselves and third place in the National League West division with a 2-0 victory over Los Angeles Sunday night, securing a three game weekend sweep over their rivals.

Cain (9-8), 0-8 career against the Dodgers, tossed 7 2/3 innings of shutout ball, striking out seven while only surrendering four hits.  Edgar Renteria supplied the only offense on the day for the Giants with a two run, two out sixth inning triple off Clayton Kershaw (10-6).  Brian Wilson struck out two in the ninth for his 31st save. 

In the opener, Tim Lincecum (11-4) dominated over seven innings, striking out nine in a 6-5 victory.  Lincecum surrendered two runs and left with a 5-2 lead.  Aubrey Huff blasted his 20th homerun in the seventh off reliever Jeff Weaver, giving him three RBI on the day.  Juan Uribe earlier homered (15) off Carlos Monasterios (3-3).  The Huff homer proved valuable as the Dodgers rallied against the cobbled together Giant closing corps, thrust into action due to back spasms for Brian Wilson.  Los Angeles scored three times in the frame off of a combination of Sergio Romo, Denny Bautista, starter Jonathan Sanchez, and Chris Ray, the latter of which recorded the final out for his second save of the season. 

In the middle game, Pat Burrell launched a two run homerun (8) off closer Jonathan Broxton (3-4) in the eighth inning to give the Giants a 2-1 victory.  Broxton entered with a runner on and a 1-0 lead.  The Dodgers wasted a stellar outing by Chad Billingsley, who went six-and-two-third shutout, two hit innings for the no decision.  Matching his dominance in no decision land was Barry Zito, who went seven, giving up one run on three hits.  Guillermo Mota (1-3) recorded the final four outs for the victory. 

Well, well, well.  What a series.  Great outcome.  Awesome pitching by the Giants staff.  Yes, the boys in blue are a lesser offense, but wins are wins and they’re still getting paid major league salaries.   I saw newcomer Javier Lopez in the Sunday game and he looked incredible.  Great pick up to face lefties.  I have no idea why Bautista is still on this team.  He was awful when he pitched.  Luckily, he didn’t hurt the team too badly.  Anywho, all in all, a great series.   Excellent two out hitting by both Burrell and Renteria.  I am still curious why Travis Ishikawa hasn’t been starting but then, if the Giants win, why worry about it, for now.  Any suggestions would be appreciated from this perspective.

The Giants have an off day tomorrow before two games in Colorado, followed by four in Atlanta.  It just doesn’t get any easier for these guys.  The Dodgers will next play the San Diego Padres at home tomorrow night.  Go Giants!!!

The San Francisco Giants had a perfect set up, starting the top of their rotation for a home weekend series against the Oakland Athletics.  The results were equally perfect as the Giants beat the A’s in three straight, exacting revenge on an Oakland team that swept them not two weeks earlier. 

In the opener, Tim Lincecum (6-2), who of late had appeared human, regained his usual dominance.  The two time Cy Young winning phenom went eight innings, surrendering two runs and striking out seven while walking only one as the San Francisco won 6-2.  Pat Burrell hit his first homerun for the Giants (3) and Bengie Molina added a blast (3) for good measure off loser Gio Gonzalez (6-4).  After Jeremy Affeldt had trouble to start the ninth, Brian Wilson came in to put out the fire, recording the final out via strikeout for his 16th save.

In the middle game, Barry Zito (7-2) finally beat his old team, winning by a margin of 5-4.  The Giants staked Zito to a 5-1 lead behind two RBI by Juan Uribe and a homerun off the bat of Pablo Sandoval (5), all off loser Ben Sheets (2-6).   Zito struck out six in seven innings,  giving up two runs.   The Athletics made it close, rallying against Guillermo Mota in the seventh, but never got closer than one run.  Brian Wilson entered in the eighth, picking up the final five outs for his 17th save.   Matt Carson hit his first homerun of the season off Zito in a losing effort.

In the finale, Matt Cain (6-4) continued his dominance of anybody holding a bat, winning his fourth straight start, 6-2.  Cain pitched seven dominant innings, scattering eight hits and striking out four.  The Giants backed him with power as Aubrey Huff (9,10) and Juan Uribe (10) each homered to back the right-hander.  Guillermo Mota had another shaky outing but newcomer Santiago Casilla pitched the last 1 2/3 innings for his second save.  Vin Mazzaro (2-1) picked up his first loss of the season for the A’s.  Kevin Kouzmanoff had hits in each game to extend his career best hitting streak to 14 games.   

Wow.  What a difference a few games makes.  The orange and black played awesome this weekend.   The pitching was on and dominating.  We like to see that.  Cain is in a groove.  Here’s hoping he continues what he’s doing.  Ditto Brian Wilson.  Not sure what to make of Guillermo Mota’s latest struggles.  Perhaps his early success was not representative of what we were getting.  Where’s Sergio Romo in the eighth?  Jeremy Affeldt was okay, but it’s pretty obvious that the team doesn’t have total faith in him, as yet.  But, the big story is undoubtably that Lincecum’s back.  Only one walk through eight is nice.  This is more expected than what we’ve been seeing lately.   Nice to see Panda slamming the ball again.  Ditto Huff.  He’s truly been a nice surprise, as has Pat Burrell.  Aaron Rowand’s starts seem to be dwindling.  I think that’s only a good thing for the offense.   Perhaps a DFA in the future?  2 1/2 years is a lot of patience to save face for a bad signing.  It only a few weeks (games?) to tell Travis Ishikawa, Nate Schierholtz, and John Bowker that they weren’t up to par.  I wonder what is taking them so long for Rowand.  Hmmmm.

The Giants will next play host to the team with the worst record in the majors, the Baltimore Orioles, on Monday night.  Here’s hoping that they don’t let up the intensity.  The Oakland Athletics will travel to Chicago to play the Cubs on Tuesday evening.  On a roster note, Todd Wellemeyer went on the 15-day disable list after his last start.  His roster and rotation spot will be filled by second year player Joseph Martinez, who will make his first major league appearance of the season on Tuesday evening.   He’s been pitching alright in AAA Fresno.  Here’s hoping his return to the majors will pay dividends.

The Giant bats came alive in a noteworthy four game set against the Cincinnati Reds.  Unfortunately, the pitching didn’t follow suit to a T and the teams ended up splitting the series. 

In the opener, the bullpen lifted up starter Barry Zito, pitching 3 1/3 shutout innings as the Giants won, 6-5.  Zito couldn’t hold an early 4-1 lead, falling behind 5-4 in the sixth after Miguel Cairo hit a pinch-hit two-run single.  Juan Uribe gave San Francisco the lead in the seventh, hitting his second two run single of the day and setting the final tally.  Sergio Romo (2-3) pitched 2/3 perfect innings for the win.  Brian Wilson tossed a perfect ninth for his 15th save.  Danny Herrera (0-3) picked up the loss for the Reds.

The second game can be summed up in  two words:  Matt Cain.  The right hander (5-4) tossed his second complete game shutout in three starts as the Giants prevailed, 3-0.   In the victory, Cain scattered seven hits and struck out five.  Juan Uribe homered (9) off Sam Lecure (1-2) for the only necessary offense on the day.  The Giants added two runs in the top of the eighth on run scoring singles by Bengie Molina and Cain (more on Molina later).  Brandon Phillips had three hits in a losing effort for the Reds.

In the third game, Aaron Harang (5-5) overcame the first career homerun by Buster Posey (1) in the second inning and pitched seven strong innings, striking out three, as the Reds won 6-3.   Cincinnati plated runs in five separate innings and Orlando Cabrera had four hits, scoring three runs.  Jonathan Sanchez (4-5) was uncharacteristically hittable, lasting only five innings and picking up the loss. 

In the closer, the Giants bats staked Todd Wellemeyer to an early 4-0 lead behind homeruns by Aaron Rowand (6) and Aubrey Huff (8) before losing, 7-6.   However, following the starter leaving due to a hamstring injury from running out a third inning grounder, the bullpen, behind Denny Bautista, coughed up the lead almost immediately.  The Giants rallied, leading by two entering the eighth.  However, again the Reds struck, scoring three runs off Guillermo Mota (0-2) in the bottom of the eighth on a two run triple by Brandon Phillips and run scoring single by Joey Votto to set the final score.  Francisco Cordero pitched the ninth for his 17th save.  Arthur Rhodes (2-1) picked up the win. 

Okay, a road split is always nice.  However, I’d have rather enjoyed a 3-1 series edge.  But, such is life.  Also, great job by Buster Posey.  The first homerun is always the toughest.  Let’s see some more.  Bengie Molina had an RBI single and a few hits.  However, I’d like him to be playing somewhere else.  No reason to keep him on the team when he can’t hit, run, or play defense.  Ditto Rowand.  I know he homered today.  However, one hit does not make a year (or three) of relative ineptitude productive.   I’d like to see Burrell, Schierholtz, and Torres in the outfield with Huff at first and Posey behind the plate.  Also, it appears that Wellemeyer might be headed to the DL.  What better time to bring up Madison Bumgarner?  He’s smoking AAA right now.  Take note of Posey.  We can have that same thing in the starting rotation.  Think about it.  Also, when Wellemeyer is, umm…well, he can be a long reliever, taking Bautista’s spot in the bullpen.  Just some thoughts. 

Both teams will next play on Friday evening with the Giants hosting Oakland and the Reds hosting the Kansas City Royals.

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.

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.

The San Francisco Giants rode three straight strong starts to two victories against the offensive juggernaut of the St. Louis Cardinals. 

In the opener, Tim Lincecum (4-0) baffled Cardinal hitters for seven innings, striking out eight and scattering six hits, leading the Giants to a 4-1 victory and halting a four game slide.  Lincecum, who didn’t have his A game stuff, worked around trouble all night as the Giants played small ball, taking advantage of Cardinal mistakes, staking the ace to a 4-0 lead over losing pitcher, Jaime Garcia (1-1).  Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his third save. 

In the middle game, Barry Zito (3-0) tossed eight shutout innings, striking out ten, and outdueling Adam Wainwright (3-1), 2-0.  The two pitchers matched zeroes for 7 1/2 innings until Nate Schierholtz led off the bottom of the eighth with a double and scored on a pinch single by Andres Torres.  The Giants tacked on one more run, via Aubrey Huff’s sacrifice fly, for the final tally.   Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his fourth save of the season.

In the closer, Albert Pujols blasted a first inning homerun (7) off Matt Cain (0-1), leading the Cardinals to a 2-0 victory.  Brad Penny (3-0)dominated in his return to San Francisco, scattering eight hits over 7 2/3 shutout innings.  Ryan Franklin pitched the ninth for his sixth save of the season.   Pablo Sandoval collected three hits in a losing effort.

Okay.  A series win is nice.   The pitching was great.  Even Cain pitched well in a losing effort.  Brian Wilson was nails (as usual).  However, the hitting was atrocious.  Only two real bright spots.  Those would be Panda and Schierholtz.  Each was great all series.  However, they need to be moved closer in the lineup.  Perhaps Nate up to five and Sandoval in cleanup.  Just a thought.  This is the second straight series where the bats were flacid (and you could make an argument that it has been for three straight series).  You can’t win without offense.  The team is setting the table, but nobody’s driving them in.  That’s the way it was in San Diego and that’s the way this series was.  Sloppy.  Andres Torres is starting to come around.  I liked the start for Travis Ishikawa (though I wasn’t too wild about the results).  Bottom line, they need to move the hot hitters closer in the lineup.  I’m really excited to see what Schierholtz can do for the team if moved up. 

The Giants will next host the Philadelphia Phillies on Monday evening.  The Cardinals will go home and host the Atlanta Braves on that same night.

A late homerun by Manny Ramirez sunk the San Francisco Giants, 2-1, and kept them from gleaning the fruits of victory from back to back excellent starts Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito against the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

Staked to a 1-0 lead via a solo shot by Juan Uribe (2), Zito spun 7 1/3 shutout innings and exited, ahead 1-0, following a one out walk to Garret Anderson.  Sergio Romo (0-1) came on to face pinch hitter Manny Ramirez who launched a two run homerun (2) for the final tally, 2-1.  Clayton Kershaw tossed seven excellent innings for a no decision.  Ramon Troncoso (1-0) pitched 1/3 of a inning and backed into the victory for Los Angeles.  Jonathan Broxton pitched the ninth for his first save of the season.

In the opener, the Dodgers jumped all over Todd Wellemeyer (0-2) early, scoring seven runs in the first two innings, winning 10-8 after the Giants scored five meaningless runs in the ninth.  Adam Ethier blasted two homeruns (2,3) including a grand slam to back Vicente Padilla (1-1), who went seven solid innings, striking out seven Giants.   He also hit Aaron Rowand in the helmet with a pitch in the fifth inning.  Rowand exited and was taken for examinations which revealed several fractures around his nose.  He was placed on the 15-day disabled list.  Matt Downs was recalled from AAA Fresno to take his roster spot.

In the middle game, Tim Lincecum (3-0) shone for the third straight game, pitching six shutout innings, striking out seven, as the Giants won 9-0.   Giant hitters tore apart knuckleballer Charlie Haeger (0-1) to the tune of seven runs on seven hits and five walks in three innings.  With the bat, Lincecum went 3-4 with three RBI, to support his own cause.  Juan Uribe, Bengie Molina, Eugenio Velez, and Edgar Renteria all drove in a run to back Lincecum.

To be honest, this is the best I’ve felt after losing a series in quite a while.  Pitching was above average.  Hitting was adequate to good.  Per the games lost, the second could have gone either way.  Of course, there’s the argument, why wasn’t closer Brian Wilson brought on?  Why was Manny pitched to?  While both are legitimate, Romo is a quality pitcher and worthy of being trusted in the eighth in such a situation.   Per the first game, yes the bats weren’t there for a slugfest.  However, my only complaint is Wellemeyer (though he did alright after the early stumbling).   I’m starting to doubt he’s up to the task to be the team’s number five starter.   I think he did well enough in spring training to be here now.  However, I say that if he doesn’t start producing in the next game or two, he should get a few reps in the bullpen and they should look to the minor leagues for a replacement (probably Kevin Pucetas).  After all is said and done, the Giants went toe to toe with the Dodgers and came out of it looking pretty good (if even with less victories than losses). 

The Giants will next travel to San Diego to play the Padres.  The Dodgers will travel to Cincinnati to play the Reds on Tuesday night.

The San Francisco Giants dealt outfielder Fred Lewis to the Toronto Blue Jays in exchange for either a player to be named later or cash considerations.

Okay, this move was needed and I hope he does better for Toronto than he did for the Giants.  I was always a fan and think he could be a star, but he needed a change of scenery.  That said, I think I’d like to see some more wheelin’ and dealin’ here.  If the Giants end up getting cash, that will be the third player they’ve dealt since the end of last season (Kevin Frandsen and Merkin Valdez being the first two) for cash.  That’s silly.  That’s lazy scouting.  Is there nobody languishing in the minors that would be given in return?  I look at Darren Ford, who the Giants got as practically a throw-in for Ray Durham.  Also, Vinnie Chulk was servicable several years ago.  The list goes on.  It’s not that tough to pry somebody loose from another team.  However, perhaps the front office is in need of help paying for the Zito deal.   It’s a thought.  Dunno.

Good luck in Toronto, Fred!!

The San Francisco Giants blasted three homeruns and Jonathan Sanchez dominated as the NL West leaders beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, Wednesday afternoon, by a tally of 6-0. 

The hit parade began in the second as Aubrey Huff hit his first homerun as a Giant;  a solo inside the park number that caromed off the wall in triples alley off loser Charlie Morton (0-2).  Eli Whiteside followed four batter later with a three run blast, giving winning pitcher Jonathan Sanchez (1-0) all the runs he would need on this day.  Sanchez was masterful, tossing eight shutout innings while giving up only three hits and three walks and tying his career high with eleven strikeouts.  Aaron Rowand closed the scoring with his first homerun, a two run shot in the fifth.

In the opener, Barry Zito (2-0) won his second consecutive strong start, pitching into the seventh, while Bengie Molina went 4-4, driving in four and hitting his first homerun of the season as the Giants prevailed, 9-3.  The team hit early and often off losing pitcher Brian Burres (0-1), chasing him after four innings.  Mark DeRosa drove in two and Pablo Sandoval went 3-4 on the day as San Francisco rapped out twelve hits.  Aubrey Huff scored three runs in the effort. 

In the middle game, Matt Cain played well, pitching six innings of five hit ball.  After he left, the Giants rallied to tie the score at three, giving Cain a no-decision on the day.  However, the bullpen couldn’t hold the Pirates down as loser Jeremy Affeldt (2-1) gave up an unearned run as Garret Jones singled in Andrew McCutchen in the eighth.  The Pirates tacked on two in the ninth off Brandon Medders and closer Octavio Dotel withstood a two run homerun by Eugenio Velez (1) in the ninth to collect the save (2) as the Pirates won, 6-5.  Evan Meek (1-0) bounced back from a blown save to pitch two shutout innings for the win and Andy Laroche (1) and Akinori Iwamura (2) lifted homeruns in the winning effort. 

Well, all in all, a good series.  The pitching is still clicking and Huff is contributing.  That’s all good.  They gave Brian Wilson an inning of work today.  Again, good idea.  No need to get him rusty.  It seems like this team can beat you with whoever they send to the hill.  Sanchez’s outing today echoes that.  When they win, it’s a no-doubter.  When they lose, it’s up in the air.  That’s how they’ll keep the momentum as they head into division play this weekend.  Keep it up, guys. 

The Giants get an off day and then will travel to Los Angeles to play the Dodgers on Friday.  This should be a true test to how ‘for real’ the team is.  The Pirates go home and host the Cincinnati Reds  on Friday.  GO GIANTS!!!!