Starting catcher and block of wood on the basepaths Bengie Molina, after testing free agent waters over the offseason, re-signed to a one year deal with the San Francisco Giants, reportedly at $4.5 million. 

Okay, on one hand, he’s a okay hitter.  That will help the lineup and benefit the team.  On the other hand, this signing means that future star Buster Posey will likely start the season in AAA.  Posey lit up the minors last season and might be ready for the jump to the majors.  However, he gets another season of minor league ball.  Perhaps he’ll benefit from a year of AAA ball in Fresno, being managed by former major league catcher Steve Decker.  I think they might have been able to get Molina for less than $4.5 million, too.  But, what’s done is done and such.  Eli Whiteside gets another season of backing up Molina.  I really would have liked to see Posey over the season, but they’re taking their time with him.   That’s alright.  Molina should NOT be in the same position in the lineup this season.  He needs to bat 6 or 7 in order to avoid clogging the basepaths.   All in all, not a horrible move, provided that they (and he) keep it in the proper perspective.  He’s just back for one more season (if that much). 

Through dominant pitching performances, the San Francisco Giants won two of three games at home against the visiting Florida Marlins.  Unfortunately, a third dominant performance equated to a 7-0 loss in the third game which meant the first defeat in the young career of starting pitcher Ryan Sadowski. 

Sadowski carried a 2-0 record into the afternoon affair, a number made even more robust with his ERA of 0.00.  To the youngster’s chagrin, the Marlins would have a top notch pitcher of their own on the mound in the person of Chris Volstad.  Volstad (6-8), a second year pitcher, tossed a five hit complete game shutout, his first in the major leagues.  He was backed by RBI from Emilio Bonifacio, Jorge Cantu, John Baker, and Dan Uggla (who collected three on his 16th homerun in the ninth inning).  Loser Sadowski (2-1) continued his unscored upon career into the fourth inning when, with two out and two on, Baker stroked a single, scoring Cantu from third base.  Overall, the rookie pitched five plus innings, walking four and surrendering five hits and three runs, two earned.  His ERA currently stands at a not unimpressive 1.00. 

In the series opener, Matt Cain, fresh off receiving his first all-star game nomination, continued his 2009 charge by notching his tenth victory of the season, leading the Giants over the Marlins, 5-4.  The right hander (10-2) lowered his ERA to 2.42 by pitching 6 2/3 innings, allowing two runs (one earned) on five hits, striking out five while walking two.  Nate Schierholtz had a sacrifice fly and Pablo Sandoval crushed his team leading thirteenth homerun of the season, a fifth inning grand slam, off losing pitcher Sean West (3-3).  Brian Wilson played the role of Kid Cardiac, tossing a shaky ninth inning for his 22nd save, surrendering two runs on three hits and a walk before retiring Emilio Bonifacio on a ground ball back to the pitcher for the final out. 

Barry Zito tossed into the ninth in an impressively dominant outing in the middle game, allowing four hits and a walk while striking out six as the Giants took the game, 3-0.  Zito (5-8) outdueled Josh Johnson (7-2) as Juan Uribe hit his third homerun of the season and Bengie Molina lofted a sacrifice fly to break a scoreless tie in the fourth.  Sergio Romo pitched the final two outs of the ninth (both strikeouts) for his first save.  The team decided that Wilson needed a rest after his 37 pitch outing the night before. 

What can be said?  The Giants won the series.  However, for the second series in a row, they fall in game three.  It’s great that they’re winning the home sets, but a sweep screams dominance.  Perhaps they’ll achieve this in the next series when they draw the Padres for four.  Who knows?  Pablo’s hot (VOTE PABLO!!!  VOTE PABLO!!!).  He’s starting to carry this offense.  That’s nice.  Also, Travis Ishikawa has quietly put together a seven game hitting streak.  I wonder if anybody knows.  I wonder if he knows.  Hmmm.  Schierholtz has gone cold.  (VOTE PABLO!!!)  Perhaps he could do with a night off.   Sadowski looked human today.  Nobody expected him to be perfect, however he needs to be hitting the plate to be effective.  Four walks killed him.  However, the goose egg the offense put on the board also wasn’t helpful. 

The Giants will next host the Padres for four games over the weekend.  The Marlins go south to play four against the Diamondbacks. 

VOTE PABLO!!!!!

Randy Johnson took one step closer to history as the San Francisco Giants completed a three game sweep of the Atlanta Braves with a 6-3 victory, Wednesday night.  The towering lefty hurled six innings, giving up only three hits and a run while striking out five and walking none as he evened his record (4-4) on the season.  Brian Wilson pitched the ninth for his tenth save.  Aaron Rowand continued his hitting renaissance since moving to the leadoff spot, doubling twice, scoring twice, and driving in a run.  Emmanuel Burriss contributed three hits as the Giants made a loser of Kenshin Kawakami (3-6).  Chipper Jones struck out four times in the loss. 

In the opener, rookie first baseman Travis Ishikawa had four hits, including his first homerun of the season, driving in three and scoring three times as the Giants prevailed 8-2.   Burriss broke a scoreless tie with an RBI single in the fifth inning and, three batters later, Edgar Renteria stroked a two run double as the Giants battered losing pitcher Javier Vasquez (4-4) for five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings.  Ishikawa’s blast came off reliever Buddy Carlyle with two on in the eighth.  Jonathan Sanchez picked up the victory (2-4), striking out six while only allowing two runs in five plus innings.  Braves catcher Brian McCann had three hits and an RBI in a losing effort. 

In the middle matchup, the Giants rode a four run second inning and a dominant effort by ace Tim Lincecum to a 4-0 victory.  Lincecum (4-1) pitched eight innings, surrendering only five hits and two walks while striking out eight.  The Giants were paced in the second by two out, two run hits by Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria.   After Lincecum followed a single by Travis Ishikawa and a double by Emmanuel Burriss with a five pitch walk to load the bases, Rowand doubled off the fence in left field, bringing home two.  Renteria then followed with a single to plate two more.   Brave hurler Kris Medlen (0-2) pitched into the sixth and, with the exception of the second inning, was relatively solid in his performance. 

First impression is that this was an awesome series.  A series win is nice.  A sweep is even better (ask the Padres).  This was a good set of games.  The Giants are continuing the timely hitting trend that they started in Seattle.  That’s nice to see.  Also, great to see both Burriss and Ishikawa start to swing the stick solidly.  Rowand is also excelling nicely in the leadoff spot.  Several spots for concern.  First, Bengie Molina’s cold with the stick.  He might be a bit tired, however.  He’s been catching a lot and, for now, with Eli Whiteside the only other catcher playing, he’ll get a little more duty.   The staff is doing well.  So, it’s not effecting his game calling much.  However, Molina hits cleanup.   Therefore, Molina not hitting is problematic.  Right now Pablo Sandoval is banged up a bit (he didn’t play in the Braves series but might be back on Friday) and Randy Winn’s been hitting third.  I think that Molina is a little better with Panda in the three slot.  Also, Sandoval can spell him behind the plate.  On the up side, the team’s not feeling this lack of offense horribly, as yet.  However, perhaps a lineup shuffle might be in order.  Again, great pitching and timely hitting in this series. 

Something to note:  Giant reliever Sergio Romo should be available for Friday night’s game.  He has yet to pitch this season due to injury.   His presence should more than help the Giants pen. 

The Giants next play Friday night as they host the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Braves will venture to Phoenix to take on the Arizona Diamondbacks Thursday night. 

Pinch hitter Rich Aurilia singled home catcher Steve Holm in the bottom of the tenth, giving the Giants a 1-0 extra innings victory over the Colorado Rockies.  The win showcased another outstanding effort by starter Barry Zito who, in spite of another no-decision, turned in his third consecutive quality appearance, throwing seven shutout innings while surrendering only two hits.  With the outcome, the Giants won their fifth consecutive series, taking two of three at home against the division rivals. 

In the opener, Randy Johnson struck out nine in seven shutout innings, stingily allowing only four hits and walking none as the Giants rode and RBI double by Travis Ishikawa and sacrifice flies by Randy Winn and Bengie Molina to a 3-2 victory.  Brian Wilson tallied his sixth save of the season, closing out the Rockies in the ninth after quelling an eighth inning uprising against Bob Howry and Jeremy Affeldt with a bases loaded strikeout of Ryan Spilborghs.  

In the middle game, Spilborghs got a measure of revenge, homering twice off Matt Cain, as the Rockies topped the tally, 5-1.  Starter Jason Marquis threw a complete game five-hitter, surrendering only a ninth inning homerun to Pablo Sandoval.  Brad Hawpe also homered to back Marquis. 

I was impressed by the Giants starting pitching (again) this series.  Zito and Johnson were dominant.  For Zito, he did it with Steve Holm behind the dish, showing that perhaps his recent success was more than just Sandoval catching.  Hopefully he can continue it with Molina as his backstop.  Also, though it was the first time in five starts this season that Cain wasn’t dominant, aside from the homers, he only allowed four other hits and four walks.  An off day, but for a three, such an off day is acceptable every now and again.  Finally, it’s nice to see Fred Lewis and Ishikawa making some solid contact.  Ditto Nate Schierholtz.  On an injury note, Winn sat out the final game of the series with a sore side.   We’ll watch that one and keep you posted. 

The Giants will next travel to Chicago for a two game set against the Cubs.   The Rockies will go down the shore to San Diego for a two game series against the Padres. 

The San Francisco Giants scored three runs in the top of the ninth inning but they were unable to score the tying run and lost to the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 7-6. I’ll give the Giants credit for coming back after Brandon Webb left the game, they were just put in to big of a hole early in the game by the pitching staff.

Starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez gave up six hit and six runs in only 3 2/3 innings. Three walks and one home run really hurt Sanchez in the game. Kevin Correia also gave up a home run and one run in two innings of relief.

Omar Vizquel led the Giants at the plate with two rbi in the game and then was followed by for other players with one rbi each. Rich Aurilia, John Bowker, Bengie Molina, and Pablo Sandoval all chipped in with one rbi each.

The Giants and D-backs will play one more game in the series on Thursday night. Tim Lincecum will be taking mound so try to catch the game on tv or out in Phoenix if you can.

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It was an up and down ballgame for the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday afternoon as they blew the lead in the top of the ninth, but then came back to score two runs in the bottom of the inning and beat the Arizona Diamondbacks by the score of 4-3.

The Giants were able to score two runs in the bottom of the inning on a two run triple by Eugenio Velez. The young guy came up huge for the Giants as he had all four rbi. Earlier in the game he had a two run double that scored Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina for the first two Giants runs. Great performance by Velez!

Brian Wilson was the reliever that gave up two hits and two walks in the top of the ninth as he blew the save. Just a bad outing for Wilson who didn’t have good control of the ball at all. Starting pitcher Brad Hennessey tossed the first six innings of the game and only allowed four hits and one run. It’s too bad the bullpen blew the win and he had to get a no decision. Alex Hinshaw picked up the win as he recorded the final out after Wilson was removed in the top of the ninth inning.

Great series for the Giants as they swept the Diamondbacks in the three game series. The Giants will now play the San Diego Padres in a four game series starting on Thursday night.

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Tim Lincecum led the San Francisco Giants to a 6-2 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night. The Giants “ace” tossed 8 1/3 innings and only allowed two runs to score. Lincecum is now 16-3 on the season and should be getting a lot of mention about the Cy Young award if you ask me.

The two runs that the Diamondbacks scored in the game came on a fielders choice and then Alex Hinshaw made an error. Atleast the Giants didn’t let things snowball in the final inning and limited the damage to only those two runs.

The Giants offense was awesome right from the beginning as they chased Diamondbacks starting pitcher Yusmeiro Petit out of the game after only 2 2/3 innings. The Giants were able to score five runs off of Petit in the third inning and they never looked back. Bengie Molina had the big hit in the third when he connected on a three run home run. Dave Roberts walked in the inning to force in another run. The inning actually got started with a rbi single from Pablo Sandoval who now has 14 rbi’s on the season.

The sixth and final run for the Giants came in the seventh inning when Rich Aurilia singled in Molina.

Great win for the Giants and they hope to make it two in a row of the Diamondbacks on Tuesday night. Giants Blog

Giants starting pitcher Tim Lincecum picked up his 15th win of the season on Wednesday night when the Giants beat the Rockies 4-1. Lincecum was awesome as he pitched 7 2/3 innings and only gave up five hits and one run while striking out ten rockies. Tim improved to 15-3 on the season with the victory.

Things didn’t look too hot for the Giants as they were down 1-0 heading in to the bottom of the seventh inning against Livan Hernandez. Hernandez however left a couple of balls up and the Giants made him pay dearly. Bengie Molina and Pablo Sandoval both hit home runs off of Hernandez to put the Giants up 2-0. They would also tack on a couple of insurance runs in the eighth inning to extend the lead to 4-1.

Brian Wilson pitched 1 1/3 innings and gave up one hit but did manage to get his 36th save of the season and secure the Giants win.

Giants Baseball Blog

The San Francisco Giants struggled a the plate against Jeff Francis as they lost to the Colorado Rockies 4-2 on Monday night. The Giants scored two runs in the first inning but were then held scoreless the rest of the game as the dropped to 58-73 on the year.

Matt Cain pitched seven inning and gave up six hits and three runs. Without any run support, Cain took the loss and is now 8-10. He did walk four batters and gave up one home run but I think he pitched good enough to get the win had there been any offense. Alex Hinshaw gave up a big run in the eighth inning on a sac fly that put the Rockies up two and created an even bigger hole for the Giants offense.

The two runs that Giants did get came in the first inning on a Fred Lewis triple that plated Randy Winn and then Lewis scored on a Bengie Molina rbi sac fly. After the first inning, Jeff Francis settled down and the Giants were unable to score any more runs.

Giants Baseball Blog

The ninth inning was a drama filled one last night as the Florida Marlins scored three runs to tie the game and then the Giants scored the winning run on a Bengie Molina sac fly in the bottom of the ninth inning. It would have been a terrible way to end the game had the Marlins came all the way back after struggling most of the game at the plate against the Giants pitchers.

Molina however was there to save the day with his rbi sac fly to center that scored Dave Roberts for the winning run. Molina also had a rbi single in the seventh inning for the Giants as he finished with two rbi. Randy Winn hit a solo home run to finish with one rbi. Rich Aurilia, Emmanuel Burriss, and Fred Lewis all finished with one rbi as well.

Giants starting pitcher Matt Cain pitched 7 2/3 innings and gave up five hits and two runs. Both runs came from a home run ball that he gave up to Jeremy Hermida in the fourth inning. Brian Wilson blew the save in the ninth inning when he gave up a three run home run but then got the win as the Giants scored in the bottom of the inning.

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