The San Francisco Giants used stellar back-to-back pitching performances to rally from a bullpen meltdown and win game #300 for Randy Johnson’s career and the three game series from the Washington Nationals. 

The middle game, delayed by a day due to rain, featured Johnson (5-4), the six foot ten veteran, with all baseball eyes upon him, tossing six dominant innings, surrendering a scant two hits and one run (unearned) in a winning effort, 5-1.  The Giants used a two run, second inning rally off Nationals starter Jordan Zimmerman (2-3) to provide Johnson all the necessary offense.  In the second, Travis Ishikawa followed a one-out single by Fred Lewis with a double to right field, setting the stage for an RBI groundout by Juan Uribe and an RBI single by Emmanuel Burriss, making the score 2-0.   Johnson did the rest, cruising through the sixth, when he was roughed up by an RBI double by Nick Johnson, cutting the lead in half, 2-1.  The only real threat from that point on was when the Nationals loaded the bases against Giant closer Brian Wilson in the eighth with slugger Adam Dunn coming up to bat.  Wilson responded by striking out Dunn looking on a full count pitch, ending the threat.  After the Giants tacked on three more runs in their half of the ninth, Wilson struck out the side for his thirteenth save of the season.  Johnson’s win is even more poignant when taking into account that he originally came up through the Montreal Expos organization. 

In the second game of the double header, the Giants won 4-1 in a truncated game, ended after the top of the sixth.  Matt Cain (7-1) went the distance for another dominating performance.  Aaron Rowand, Pablo Sandoval, and Rich Aurilia drove in runs off Ross Detwiler (0-2) in a three run fifth.  The game was called with the Giants batting in the top of the sixth inning. 

Game one featured a quality start by Tim Lincecum going for naught as the Nationals rallied for six runs in the bottom of the tenth, turning a 5-4 deficit into a 10-5 advantage and going on to win 10-6.   Losing pitcher Bob Howry (0-3) and Merkin Valdez each gave up three runs in the set, featuring RBI doubles by Elijah Dukes and Ryan Zimmerman and an absolute implosion of the Giant middle relief corps.  Justin Miller, though not officially scored upon, was lit up in the effort, to the tune of an RBI double, walk, and sacrifice fly.  Ron Villone (3-0) tossed one and two thirds innings of perfect relief for the victory.   Aaron Rowand hit a leadoff homerun (6), in the losing effort.

Great to see a win in the series.  Also nice to see Ishikawa back at first base and performing well in such a position.  Sandoval played well.  Bullpen meltdowns, like what happened in the first game, happen.  However, an eye should be kept on Howry.  Free agent signing or not, he’s having rough outings more times than makes me comfortable.  Hopefully he can turn it around.  Still, a series win is great.  Let’s see if the Giants can continue their winning ways. 

The next Giant series will begin on Friday night as they venture to Florida to face the Marlins.  The same night, the Nationals will welcome the New York Mets to town. 

The Washington Nationals combined timely hitting with a strong outing by rookie starter Shairon Martis to turn back the San Fracisco Giants bid for a series sweep, 6-3.  Martis improved to 5-0, throwing seven innings while surrendering two hits and a run.  The Nationals scored three of their runs with two out to beat Barry Zito (1-3).   Elijah Dukes drove in three runs and Nick Johnson had four hits on the day.  Ryan Zimmerman’s hitting streak ended at 30 games. 

In the opener, Randy Johnson (3-3) struck out nine in five innings for his 298th career victory, while Randy Winn and Travis Ishikawa collected three hits apiece as the Giants bullied starter Daniel Cabrera and withstood a late ninth inning rally to beat the Nationals 11-7.  The 11 runs were the most scored by the Giants thus far this season.  Reliever Osiris Matos batted in the bottom of the eighth and collected his first major league hit, an infield single.  Ryan Zimmerman homered twice for the Nationals.  Brian Wilson pitched the final out for his eighth save of the season.

In the middle game, Pablo Sandoval lifted the bullpen with a two out, three run, walk off homerun, as the Giants prevailed 9-7.  Matt Cain pitched well, going seven innings and surrendering only four runs, three on a seventh inning home run by Nick Johnson, who finished with five RBI on the game.  He turned a 5-4 lead over to Bob Howry and the San Francisco bullpen, which promptly gave it and three runs up in the eighth inning, creating a 7-5 deficit.  Benjie Molina hit a solo home run in the eighth, his eighth on the season.   Losing pitcher Joe Beimel (0-2) came on for the save in the bottom of the ninth.  After retiring pinch hitters Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia, Emmanuel Burriss singled and advanced to second on Beimel’s throwing error.  Edgar Renteria followed with a walk, setting the stage for Sandoval’s blast.  Brandon Medders (2-1) pitched the last two outs of the ninth for the victory. 

My impressions of this series are several fold.  Yes, it’s great to win another series.  It would have been even better to get a sweep, but such is life.  Zito looked good again, but not great.  Cain pitched good up until the three run blast.  The bullpen, however, has to hold that thing.  It is good that Sergio Romo should be back soon.  It appears as if Ishikawa’s starting to hit.  That’s excellent news.  However, it is against the Nationals.  Let’s see if he can keep up this pace.  Johnson keeps running out of gas around the fifth inning.  That’s somewhat disheartening.  We’ll see if this is a trend that he might remedy.   The bullpen (sans Wilson, who creates his own drama but tends to fix it, too) has been developing a habit of turning ’safe’ leads into nail-biters and small leads into deficits.  This needs to be turned around.  Sandoval’s a good hitter.  He’s a really good hitter. 

The Giants will next play host to the New York Mets for four games.  The Nationals will go home and host the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday in the first game of a three game set. 

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. 

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.

Jonathan Sanchez dominated into the seventh inning, Andres Torres homered, and Brian Wilson recorded his first save as the San Francisco Giants beat Dan Haren and the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-0, putting an end to a six game losing streak. 

Sanchez last 6 2/3 shutout innings, surrendering two hits and four walks while striking out four as he notched his first victory of the season.  Catcher Benjie Molina’s run scoring single in the fourth proved to be the only run necessary.  Jeremy Affeldt, Bob Howry, and Brian Wilson slammed the door, combing for 2 1/3 innings of shutout relief with Wilson pitching the final 1 1/3 for the save. 

Haren, the evening’s Matt Cain, picked up the tough loss, surrendering five hits and one walk in six innings, falling to 0-3 while his ERA dropped to 1.89 for the season.   The teams will meet again on Saturday afternoon as Tim Lincecum faces lefty Doug Davis. 

The San Francisco Giants made their final roster moves, with some surprises, heading in to Tuesday’s opener against the Milwaukee Brewers. 

In trimming back to the final 25, the team decided to go with a 12 man pitching staff, designating Luis Perdomo for assignment while purchasing the contract of Brandon Medders from AAA Fresno.  As Perdomo is a Rule 5 pickup, they will have to offer him back to the St. Louis Cardinals since he’s not remaining on the 25 man roster.  More on that as it develops. 

In other moves, the Giants optioned catcher Steve Holm to Fresno, leaving them with just one full time catcher in Benjie Molina.  Third baseman Pablo Sandoval will moonlight as a backup backstop until later in the season (probably right after the first month, which is laden with off days, and at which time the Giants will have a little better idea of the type of team that they are fielding), when Holm is expected to be recalled.  Relief pitcher Justin Miller was reassigned to minor league camp.  Expect him back some time this season.  Also, the contracts of Juan Uribe and Rich Aurilia were purchased from Fresno.  Both veterans will start the season on the Giants roster.  Finally, pitcher Noah Lowry and reliever Sergio Romo will both open the season on the 15 day disabled list. 

The 2009 San Francisco Giants opening day roster is as follows:

Starting Rotation: Matt Cain, Jonathan Sanchez, Randy Johnson, Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito.

Bullpen: Alex Hinshaw, Bob Howry,  Joseph Martinez, Brandon Medders,  Merkin Valdez, Brian Wilson, Jeremy Affeldt,

Starters:

C: Benjie Molina.

1B:  Travis Ishikawa

2B:  Emmanuel Burriss

SS:  Edgar Renteria

3B:  Pablo Sandoval

RF:  Randy Winn

CF:  Aaron Rowand

LF:  Fred Lewis

Bench: Rich Aurilia (IF), Juan Uribe (IF), Eugenio Velez (UT), Nate Schierholtz (OF), Andres Torres (OF)

The San Francisco Giants have signed free agent relief pitcher Bob Howry to a one year contract. The contract has a base value of $2.75 million but he can earn up to $4.25 million with incentives. Howry is an inning eater who has made over 75 appearances three of the last four years.

A little bit of a trade rumor that is swirling around this afternoon about the Giants as well. Jorge Cantu from the Florida Marlins would be coming to the Giants in return the Giants would be sending Jonathan Sanchez to the Marlins. I don’t like this trade at all for the Giants as Cantu really isn’t worth giving up Sanchez for in my opinion.

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