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.

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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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Barry Zito and the San Francisco Giants finished up a four game series with the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon with a 5-0 victory. The Giants took three out of four games against the Braves in the series to improve their record to 53-71 on the season.

Zito who pitched seven innings won for just the third time since the all star break and is now 7-15 on the year. Zito gave up five hits while walking two and striking out three Braves hitters. Keiichi Yabu and Sergio Romo each pitched an inning of relief to combine with Zito on the shutout.

The Giants got on the scoreboard right away as they pushed across three runs in the first inning. Rich Aurilia and Pablo Sandoval both had rbi singles while Aaron Rowand had a rbi sac fly. The Giants were then held scoreless until the sixth inning when Rowand hit a solo home run. The team got another run in the seventh inning when Dave Roberts walked with the bases loaded.

The Giants will now start up a series on Tuesday night with the Florida Marlins.

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Alex Hinshaw gave up a two run home run to Lance Berkman in the bottom of the eighth inning as the Giants lost to the Astros 7-4. The Giants had been been up 4-3 heading into the bottom of the seventh inning but Darin Erstad then tied the game with a rbi single. With the loss, the Giants were swept in the four game series down in Houston. The team just isn’t playing good baseball right now.

Kevin Correia was charged with seven hits and four runs in 6 2/3 innings as he got the no decision. Even though Hinshaw was charged with two runs, Keiichi Yabu took the loss as he allowed the first runner on base before Berkman hit the home run.

Randy Winn finished the game with two rbi’s at the plate while Fred Lewis and Pablo Sandoval both had one rbi each. Lewis had a solo home run while Sandaval’s rbi came on a sacrafice fly. This was a tough game all the way around as it was one that the Giants could have won.  Just a couple of mistakes at the plate and on the mound that really hurt them.

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That sure wasn’t the way the Giants wanted to finish up their three game series with the Dodgers.  Chad Billingsley tossed a complete game shutout to beat the Giants 4-0.  After winning the first game of the series, the Giants then lost the next to to lose the overall series.

The Giants hitters had problems with Billingsley all night long as they only had five hits in the entire game.  The hitters did not take and walks and struckout eight times.  That just isn’t going to get the job done.

Jonathan Sanchez gave up all four runs to the Dodgers in the first four innings of the game.  He allowed one run in the first inning on a rbi single to Russell Martin and then three more runs crossed the plate in the third inning.  Martin had another rbi single while Jeff Kent had a rbi double and James Loney hit a rbi sac fly.

The Giants will now play the San Diego Padres.  I will not be around to blog about that series or any others until around August 12th as I have to head out of state for a couple of week long conferences.  If there is a Giants fan out there that would like to write some game recaps and do general blogging on the site, please email me by clicking the contact us link at the top of the site.  I will be able to check my email while I’m away so we can still communicate.

Thanks – Cliff

What a disappointing showing for the Giants offense on Tuesday night as they were shut out by the Los Angeles Dodgers.  The 2-0 loss evened up the three game series and now the two teams will play the rubber match on Wednesday to se who will win the series.

Matt Cain threw the ball good for the Giants he just didnt’ get any run support.  Cain gave up eight hits but only two runs in seven innings of action.  Cain did not walk a batter and struck out eight Dodgers.  It is really too bad he had to take the loss and fall to 6-9 on the year.

Randy Winn and Rich Aurilia both had two hits to lead the Giants at the plate.  Aaron Rowand had the other hit and that was all the offense there was for the Giants.

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Matt Cain was marvelous on Thursday afternoon as he limited the Washington Nationals to only four hit and zero runs.  The win by Cain was his sixth of the season and he is now 6-8.  What made the win that much more special was the Giants took all three games against the Nationals.  The Giants are now sitting at 43-58 on the season.

The one run that the Giants got came in the bottom of the 8th inning when Dave Roberts singled and pitch runner Eugenio Velez scored.  The offense was lucky to get that one run against Tim Redding who was matching Cain all game long.  Luckily for the offense, Cain didn’t allow a run and the Giants were able to get the victory.

The Giants will now welcome in the Arizona Diamondbacks for a weekend series.  The D-backs just got done beating the Chicago Cubs in two out of three games so they are playing some good baseball this week.

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Rich Aurilia and Omar Vizquel both hit doubles in the 8th inning as the San Francisco Giants came from behind to beat the Washington Nationals 6-4.  Aurilia’s two run double put the Giants ahead by one run and then Vizquel knocked in Aurlia to put the Giants by two runs.  The Giants have now beaten the Nationals the first two games of the three game series and will be looking for the sweep on Thursday afternoon.

Giants starting pitcher Kevin Correia did not have a very good game as he gave up 12 hits and four runs in only 5 2/3 innings.  The bullpen did a great job however as they held the Nationals to those four runs the rest of the game.  Alex Hinshaw, Osiris Matos, E Espineli, and Brian Wilson all pitched out of th pen. Espineli ended up getting the win while Wilson picked up his 27th save.

To go along with Aurilia’s two rbi, Bengie Molina also had two rbi.  Both of his rbi came on two seperate doubles in the 1st and 5th innings.  Aaron Rowand also had a rbi double in the 1st inning for the Giants.  The Giants weren’t hitting the long ball but they sure hit plenty of doubles to score some runs.

Root on the Giants Thursday afternoon as they play the Nationals once more and will be trying for the three game sweep!  Giants Baseball Blog

Barry Zito has finally won his 5th game of the season as the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals by the score of 6-3 on Tuesday evening.  Zito is now 5-12 on the season with a 5.56 era.  Great win for the Giants as they have now taken the first two games in a three game series against the visiting Nationals.

Zito threw six innings while giving up seven hits and three runs.  He did walk three batters but also struckout five others.  It was a decent start for Zito as it was enough to pick up the victory.  Four different relief pitchers combined to throw the final four innings of the game and did not allow a run.  Jack Taschner and Sergio Romo combined to throw the 7th inning while Tyler Walker threw the 8th inning and Brian Wilson notched his 26th save in the 9th inning.

At the plate for the Giants, Bengie Molina hit a two run home run and a solo home run to finish the game with three rbi.  Both of Molina’s home runs came against Nationals starting pitcher Jason Bergmann.  Fred Lewis also hit a solo home run off of Bergmann in the 1st inning.  Omar Vizquel had a rbi double in the 4th inning and Aaron Rowand tacked on a rbi single in the 8th inning.  That was enough offense for the Giants as they doubled up the Nationals.

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The San Francisco Giants and Chicago Cubs were tied at 5-5 heading into the eighth inning but Giants relief pitcher Tyler Walker gave up a home run to Mike Fontenot and the Cubs went on to beat the Giants 6-5.  The Cubs have now won two of the first three games in the four game series and will go for the series win on Thursday.

Giants starting pitcher Kevin Correia pitched 6 1/3 innings as he gave up seven hits and four runs including one home run to get the no decision.  Sergio Romo and Walker both gave up a run each as both players pitched one inning.  Keiichi Yabu was finally able to slow the Cubs down in the ninth inning as he pitched a scoreless inning.

All of the Giants runs came via the home run ball as John Bowker hit a two run home run in the sixth inning off of Cubs starting pitcher Ryan Dempster.  Ray Durham then hit a big three run home run off of Carlos Marmol in the seventh inning that tied the game at 5-5.  The Giants didn’t have an answer however in the eighth or ninth innings and lost the game 6-5.

The Giants can still get a split in the series with a win against the Cubs as they plate a very late afternoon game to finish up the series.

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