The San Francisco Giants added much-needed help to their depleted bullpen, pulling the trigger on two deals as the July 31st deadline came and went. 

With injuries sidelining lefties Jeremy Affeldt and Dan Runzler, the Giants traded for relievers Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez from the Pittsburgh Pirates and Boston Red Sox, respectively. 

Lopez is a left-handed specialist, suited for pitching exclusively to tough-out southpaw hitters.  From what I understand, he’s really good at this, which is big due to the aforementioned injuries.  He cost a pretty penny too, as San Francisco sent outfielder John Bowker and starting pitcher Joe Martinez to the Pirates in return.  Both were bouncing between Fresno and the home club all season, so I can’t say that they’ll be horribly missed.  Bowker never really showed that he was capable of hitting at the major league level, despite ample opportunities.  Martinez both never performed in the majors and, to be honest, wasn’t really needed as the Giants have a full starting five.  Good move made.

Ramirez is a right handed thrower and less exciting of a pickup than Lopez.  He had a 4.46 ERA in 44 games for the Red Sox this season and is just a piece to toss into the mix.  Can’t say he’ll do well.  Can’t say he’ll crash and burn.  Just a matter of wait and see.  He was good in the two previous seasons and probably is an upgrade over either Denny Bautista or Santiago Casilla, so that’s something.  I can’t imagine being disappointed with such a low expectation level.  He also only cost the team minor league pitcher Daniel Turpen (who?).  Exactly.  This won’t seal their visit to the World Series, but it also won’t be a bummer if it flames. 

Go Orange and Black.

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 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 Giant bullpen lost another lead handed to them by Tim Lincecum, but a late homerun by Aaron Rowand, coupled with ace closing, allowed San Francisco to salvage the final game in New York, against the Mets, by a score of 6-5.

Lincecum tossed six innings, scattering seven hits and two runs while striking out eight Mets.   The Giants staked the ace to a 4-0 lead following a wild outing by Oliver Perez, who walked seven batters in 3 1/3 innings, putting together two run second and fourth innings.   The Mets rallied in the sixth, cutting the Giant lead in half with a run scoring single by Jason Bay and a sacrifice fly by David Wright.  Dan Runzler relieved in the seventh and the Mets erupted for three runs off two hits and three walks from the rookie and Sergio Romo (1-3).  However, Aaron Rowand returned the lead to the Giants with a two run blast (4) off Jenrry Mejia (0-2) in the top of the eighth inning.  Brian Wilson came on with one out in the bottom of the inning and proceeded to strike out five of the next six hitters, picking up his seventh save of the season. 

In the opener, the Mets used the long ball to get to Jonathan Sanchez early, with Ike Davis (2,3) and Rod Barajas (8,9) each homering twice, Barajas’s second being a walkoff, as New York beat the Giants 6-4.  The Mets took a 4-3 lead into the ninth where John Bowker tied the game by stroking a pinch homerun (2) off closer Francisco Rodriguez (2-0).  In the bottom of the inning, Davis coaxed a one out walk off Sergio Romo (0-3) before Barajas followed with his second homerun of the game to seal the victory for the home team.

In the second game, Henry Blanco hit a solo shot (1) in the bottom of the eleventh inning off reliever Guillermo Mota (0-1), breaking a 4 all tie and giving the Mets a 5-4 win.   Hisanori Takahashi (3-1) pitched a perfect top of the eleventh for the victory. 

Okay.  A lost series, but a winning road trip.  All in all, it’s alright.  Two games lost in the final at bat.  That hurts.  I am impressed that the team is fighting every inning.  Seems like they are taking these games personal.  Todd Wellemeyer was blasted again.  With the off day, let’s see if they can skip him for a turn.  Hopefully so.  A big series coming up tomorrow night.  The rest should do the bullpen well.   Hopefully also for a badly slumping Pablo Sandoval.  However, I have a feeling he is due for a tear.  Mark me down for this one.  What better time than against the NL West leading San Diego Padres. 

The Giants will next host the San Diego Padres on Tuesday night.  The Mets will host the Nationals Monday evening.

The San Francisco used a combination of stellar pitching and clutch hitting to beat the Houston Astros 10-4, culminating the season opening three game sweep for the Giants.

In the opener, Tim Lincecum (1-0) tossed seven shutout innings, surrendering only four hits, striking out seven and walking none as the Giants prevailed 5-2. He was bolstered by a three run second inning, featuring RBI singles by Bengie Molina and John Bowker and a sacrifice fly by Juan Uribe off losing pitcher Roy Oswalt (0-1). In the eighth, newcomer Mark DeRosa hit his first homerun of the season for the Giants, extending the lead to 5-0. The Astros rallied for two runs in the ninth before closer Brian Wilson came in and slammed the door for his first save of 2010.

In the middle game, Barry Zito (1-0) pitched six innings of shutout, three-hit ball, and combined with four other Giants relievers on a 3-0 shutout victory. San Francisco put a three spot on the board in the sixth, behind run scoring single by Aubrey Huff and Juan Uribe, sandwiching a sacrifice fly by Bengie Molina, off losing pitcher Wandy Ramirez (0-1) for their only scoring of the day. Brian Wilson pitched a perfect ninth for his second save of the season.

In the finale, the Giants bats erupted for six runs in the final two innings, breaking a 4-4 tie and crushing the Astros 10-4. John Bowker lifted a two-run homer (1) in the second as the Giants opened up an early 2-0 advantage. After increasing the lead to 3-0 following a run scoring double play ground out by Mark DeRosa, former Giant Pedro Feliz stroked a double to make it 3-1 in the fourth. Edgar Renteria pushed the lead back to 4-1 in 7th, driving in Aaron Rowand with one of his five singles on the day. All the while, Matt Cain was sharp, pitching into the seventh, surrendering only one unearned run. However, the Astros rallied behind a two out triple by Cory Sullivan, pulling to 4-3. Jeremy Affeldt (1-0) relieved and surrendered a run scoring infield single to Michael Bourn, knotting the score at 4-4. That’s when the fun began. In the top of the eighth, the Giants teed off on reliever Sammy Gervacio (0-1), scoring once on an error on a bunted ball off the bat of Eli Whiteside by Gervacio and another time on an RBI single by Aaron Rowand. In the ninth, the Giants piled on four more runs, with a leadoff homerun by pinch hitter Travis Ishikawa (1) and run scoring singles by Renteria and Rowand following an RBI double by Juan Uribe for the final tally.

Wow!!! What can I say? Awesome series by the orange and black. Great pitching by all starters (Cain should have won as that triple should have been caught). Edgar Renteria and Juan Uribe are both on fire. John Bowker is looking great. DeRosa blasted his first. Even Travis Ishikawa got into the act. Brian Wilson was nails in the first two games. Not needed today. Incredible stuff!!! Let’s see if they can keep it going. If we see more of this in 2010, we will be looking at a post-season visit.

The Giants will head home on Friday to play the Atlanta Braves. The Astros will play host to NL champ Philadelphia Phillies. Let’s keep it up!!! Go Giants!!!

Attempting to remedy a struggling offense, the San Francisco Giants acquired first baseman/outfielder Ryan Garko from the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Class A starting pitcher Scott Barnes.  Garko, 28, was batting .285 with 11 home runs and 39 RBIs in 79 games for Cleveland.

In other roster moves, the team recalled infielders Eugenio Velez and Jesus Guzman from AAA Fresno while shipping out second baseman Matt Downs and outfielder John Bowker. 

What does this mean?  First of all, I think that Travis Ishikawa might soon be traded as a result of these moves.  The only way that this doesn’t happen (and I hope it doesn’t) is if they look to Garko to play left field.  Hey, stranger things have happened.  Second, the team’s patience for John Bowker might have reached an end.  He’s done little with the bat this season.  We’ll see what the future holds for him.  Another reason for the recalls of Guzman and Velez might be to prove that they can play at the major league level.  In other words, they might be trade bait.  I can’t say that either of their departures would make me too bummed.   Also, can’t say that Barnes will be greatly missed, as yet. 

Guzman and Velez both start tonight.  More to come. 

The San Francisco Giants rode incredible pitching efforts in taking three of four home games from the San Diego Padres and finishing the homestand preceding the All-Star break with a 7-3 mark. 

Easily the jewel in the crown of the four game set was the second game, where former rotation stalwart Jonathan Sanchez, pitching in place of an injured Randy Johnson, tossed a no-hitter, facing just one batter over the minimum, as the Giants cruised to an 8-0 victory.   With his father in attendance, Sanchez (3-8) struck out eleven, walking none.  The only base runner for the Padres was Chase Headley, who reached on a fielding error by third baseman Juan Uribe in the eighth.  Pablo Sandoval backed him with a three run homerun in the fifth, his fourteenth, off Josh Banks (1-1).  Aaron Rowand also drove in three.  Sanchez’s no-hitter was the first for a Giant since John Montefusco in 1976. 

In the first game of the series, Tim Lincecum almost preceded Sanchez’s night of greatness with one of his own, taking a no-hitter, 29 inning scoreless streak, and a 6-0 lead into the seventh inning before fading, allowing three runs and giving way to the bullpen as the Giants ultimately prevailed, 8-3.   Benjie Molina (11), Travis Ishikawa (7), and Juan Uribe (3) struck homeruns in support as the Giants made a loser of Josh Greer (1-4).  Lincecum, (10-2) struck out eight and walked four in his final start before he leads the National Leaguers into action as the starting pitcher in the 2009 All-Star game on Tuesday night. 

In the third game, the Giants survived a scare as Matt Cain took a line drive off the bat of Padres starting pitcher Tim Stauffer (0-1) to the right arm in the second inning.  After tests, it was determined that the All-Star, who was subsequently named inactive (by the team) for the midsummer night’s classic, suffered from only a deep bruise and shouldn’t miss a start.  Pablo Sandoval blasted his fifteenth homerun of the season, a two run variety, off Stauffer in the fourth.  The bullpen did the rest as Justin Miller (2-1) went three and one third innings and combined with Brandon Medders, Sergio Romo, Jeremy Affeldt, and Brian Wilson to limit the Padres to one run on three hits for the rest of the game, as the Giants prevailed, 2-1, with Wilson pitching the final four outs, striking out three, for his 23rd save.

In the final game, the Padres offense erupted on Barry Zito (5-9) for nine runs over four and one third innings.  Homeruns by Kevin Kouzmanoff (12) and former Giant Eliezer Alfonzo (2) made a winner of another former Giant, Kevin Correia (6-7), who threw into the sixth, giving up three runs.  The only bright spot for the Giants was John Bowker, who picked up his first hits on the season, an RBI single and solo homerun, his first, in a losing effort. 

First of all, in the first three games, the Giants pitching ruled.  Awesome job.  I don’t care if this is the Padres, they’re still major leaguers out there.  Great efforts by Sanchez and Lincecum.  Equally to the bullpen in lifting up Cain.  Very fortunate for the Giants that it was only a bruise on his golden right arm.  Way to go for Sanchez in sacking up in place of Johnson.  If he can continue in a similar manner, it will minimize the damage from the loss of the future hall of famer.   Oh, and Sandoval’s awesome at the plate.  The league is starting to develop a healthy fear of him.  That’s only good for whoever bats behind him.  Ishikawa went 0-2 on Sunday, ending his hitting streak at ten games.  Zito was slapped around.  Hey, it’s alright.  That’s what happens with number four starters.  They have two good games and then one bad game.  Too bad he costs this much. 

On a transaction note, before the series, in order to get a better look at Bowker, the Giants optioned rookie starter Ryan Sadowski to Class A San Jose.  This also was to allow the youngster to keep his scheduled start on Monday as the Giants had no need for him in the rotation until after the break. 

The Giants are off until Friday for the All-Star break.  After that, they’ll play in Pittsburgh against the Pirates.  The Padres will host the Colorado Rockies on Thursday night.   Enjoy the All-Star game!!!

The San Francisco Giants enter spring training 2009 with roughly the same feel at first base as when they entered in 2008.  In 2008, the heir apparent for to start was Dan Ortmeier, fresh off an impressive 2007 season.   To back him up was Rich Aurilia.   After the youngster suffered through a poor spring training, riddled with defensive lapses, the seasoned veteran snapped up the position for opening day. 

2009 isn’t that much different, as yet. 

This time around, Travis Ishikawa is the man to watch.  And yes, the slugger is a rookie this season.  After a strong 2008 on the farm and a eye opening cup of coffee with the big league club, the slick fielding Ishikawa appears ready to take the job.  Mark my words as they are important.  He can ‘take’ the job, if he wants it.  It is ’his’ to lose.  If he performs adequately in spring training, he’ll be the starter on opening day.  If all goes according to plans, he’ll be pumping out homeruns from the bottom of the lineup starting in early April.   The big question is, how has Ishikawa worked on the breaking ball down and in which seemed to vex him a bit last year?  If he takes care of that one hole in his swing, he should be fine.

However, should Ishikawa stumble out of the gate, the eyes of the Giants will turn to the veteran Aurilia.  He brings a solid stick and glove to the proceedings and can do the job, though he’s certainly no long term fix. 

Another candidate would be second year man John Bowker.  Though he excited early last year, he truly slumped down the stretch and probably shouldn’t be looked at as more than a dark horse candidate for the position.  Of course, if he decides the he wants to collect singles, doubles, and triples in addition to homeruns, it could make the competition interesting.  This is all complicated with the fact that, unlike either Ishikawa or Aurilia, Bowker is a converted outfielder, a factor that might have contributed to Ortmeier’s less than stellar performance last year. 

The final candidate is newcomer journeyman Josh Phelps.  Signed to a minor league deal, for Phelps to start, it would probably require a combination of Ishikawa and Bowker flopping, Aurilia forgetting where he left his glove, and minor leaguer Scott McClain forgetting the route to the stadium.  In other words, it’s probably not happening.

One must still take into account wunderkind Pablo Sandoval.  If the Giants snap up a front line third baseman (even at this late in the game….Crede’s still available), then Sandoval will bring his sledgehammer to first and everybody else will take the bench. 

Let’s just all hope that Travis learns how to hit that down and in breaking ball, m’kay? 

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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I’m sure the Giants felt like they could not get out of New York fast enough after the three game sweep in which San Francisco dropped the last game of the series 7-3.   

 The Giants were held scoreless for 21 innings, and had been outscored 18-0 before finally scoring one run in the top of the fourth.  John Bowker doubled to left field and advanced to third on a ground out by Eliezer Alfonzo.  Bowker would score on a wild pitch by John Maine.  The Giants tacked on two more in the top of the fifth to tie the game at three.  Barry Zito had a good at bat and worked a walk and would advance to second when Maine walked Fred Lewis.  Randy Winn would drive in both runs with his 23 double of the season.  However, the Mets bullpen kept the Giants in check and they failed to score from then on.  The Giants left six guys on base, so there were some opportunities for them to score runs and failed to take advantage of the six walks allowed by Mets pitching.

Barry Zito did not figure in the decision.  In his five innings of work he allowed three runs, 2 earned, on four hits while walking six and striking out two.  Three of those six walks came in the same inning when Zito walked three Mets hitters but was able to work out of the bases loaded jam.  The Giants’ bullpen was unable to keep San Francisco in the game.  Sergio Romo came into a 3-3 game and worked just one and two thirds innings giving up three runs, two earned on three hits, Romo was charged with the loss.  Jack Taschner also allowed one run in his one third inning of work.

Ok, so here is my thing on the umps-they have done a terrible job this year.  I think it shows you that something is terribly wrong when both starting pitchers in a game throw a ton of pitches (both Zito and Maine threw over 100 pitches and neither made it past the 5^th).  Not only did both starters throw a ton of pitches, they also had ball to strike ratios that were nearly 50/50.  And while you can say that neither one of the guys had the great stuff, and certainly both of these guys have had their issues this season, if you watched the game you would have seen that much of what happened to Maine and Zito today had a lot to do with the miniscule strike zone.  It isn’t just that the strike zones are largely inconsistent or sometime just way too small, but it bas been some other things as well.  The call in Tuesday night’s game (and I forget which ump was at second base and which Giants’ runner was on), but, the runner was clearly out of the base path, not just a little out of the base path, he was on the grass and the ump was standing right there and did not bother to call it.  And how many blown calls have we seen on homeruns this year, calling homeruns on balls that clearly aren’t, and calling back homeruns that clearly are.  What are these guys doing out there?  I have watched a lot of baseball, and I have to say this is about one of the worst years of all around umpiring that we’ve seen.  I guess the umps really do want instant replay and at this rate, maybe the players association should demand it.    

The Giants continue their road trip with a visit to Wrigley Field.  Matt Cain will be on the hill for the Giants and Jason Marquis will pitch for the cubs.  Game time is scheduled for 1:20 p.m.

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