Youngster phenom Madison Bumgarner will start the middle game of the Padres series tonight, bumping an ‘injured’ Tim Lincecum, and making his major league debut.   Lincecum will be rested for two days and then re-evaluated.  No long term outage is expected. 

First of all, Timmy’s back seems to have flared up with spasms.  If this is true, I, along with the entire Giants fan base, pray it flares down.  However, more on that later.

Second, it’s awesome that Bumgarner will get a start.  I’m excited too see him pitch. 

The Giants will need to keep close tabs on Lincecum.  This guy’s the franchise.  No need to overpitch him (even if he can do it).  However, there was no warning of this injury.  Could it be a smokescreen?  Pushing the kid back to face the Dodgers?  I don’t know.  This is the pennant race.  It’s imperative that the team is clicking on all cylinders and, to be honest, the starting pitching is doing just that.  The inclusion of a rookie (no matter how good) into the mix might be a bit risky.  However, assuming that this is legit, then this is the biggest hammer the Giants can bring down in this situation.  It definitely looks better than either Ryan Sadowski, Joseph Martines, Justin Miller, or Kevin Pucetas.  The kid’s getting baptized by fire tonight.  We’ll see if he remembers his asbestos underwear. 

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. 

The San Francisco Giants apparently forgot to pack baseball bats for their three game set in San Diego, scoring only four runs in the series while losing three in a row and wasting dominant starts by Jonathan Sanchez, Barry Zito, and Tim Lincecum. 

In the opener, Zito (1-4) threw a complete game, surrendering only early solo homeruns to Scott Hairston (5) and Nick Hundley (3) in the first and second innings, respectively.  Padres starter Chris Young (3-2) was up to the task, striking out six in six innings while scattering five hits and a run in a 2-1 victory.  Heath Bell tossed the ninth for his tenth save.

In the middle game, Chad Gaudin (1-3) went six innings and again the Giants offense faltered, producing only one run in support of Jonathan Sanchez (1-4) who lost in spite of only allowing two hits in six innings.  However, both hits, a solo home run by Kevin Kouzmanoff (3) and a run scoring double by Chris Burke, produced runs, creating the difference in a second straight 2-1 San Diego victory.  Aaron Rowand, relocated into the leadoff spot, had three hits for the Giants.   Bell again pitched the ninth for his eleventh save.

In the finale, Tim Lincecum brought his A game and tore through the Padres lineup, striking out ten and surrendering only four hits and one run in seven innings.   Rowand continued his torrid hitting with a homerun (4) in support and the Giants broke through against Bell (2-0) for a run and a 2-1 lead heading into the bottom of the ninth.  However, closer Brian Wilson (2-3)couldn’t hold the fort.  After Brian Giles walked to load the bases with two out, Wilson plunked David Eckstein to tie the score, setting the stage for Giant killer Hairston, who followed with a single to left to give the Padres the win, 3-2.  It was Wilson’s third blown save of the season. 

Okay, where to begin?  First, the Giants NEED to start hitting, both overall and situational.  I see base runners all over the place and that’s where they stay.  The number of times they had a runner on third who ended up taking off his helmet and jogging back to the dugout after out number three was unacceptable.  Horrible.  I know many Giants fans are excited about the arrival of Jesus Guzman, but if we’re to expect more of what I saw last night, I am concerned.  At bat with runners on the corners and one out and he grounds into a double play.  At first base and misplays a pivot toss for a double play from Kevin Frandsen that Travis Ishikawa probably would have picked.  At least we’ll get to see his stick exclusively this weekend in Seattle.  However, I will not attack him as much as the ineptness that has Rich Aurilia still in the lineup.  Unacceptable.  Ishikawa stings the ball while Aurilia strikes out.  One of those will turn into hits, eventually.  Nice to see Nate Schierholtz get a few at bats.  He did alright.  The moving of Rowand to leadoff, while it raised my eyebrow, was a good call.   We’ll see if it continues.  The pitching was excellent with the exception of Wilson last night.  But then, he’s a closer.  He’ll be back.   If he’s not, we’re in more trouble.  Most of all, let’s hope the Giants remember to pack bats for Seattle this weekend. 

This weekend, interleague play begins as the Giants venture north to play the Mariners.  Randy Johnson will start, for the Giants, against his former club Friday night.   The Padres will play host to the Chicago Cubs. 

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. 

Tim Lincecum spent the entire evening throwing bb’s past the bemused Los Angeles Dodgers and Benjie Molina drove in four runs as the Giants won the rubber game of the teams’ three game set with a convincing 9-4 victory. 

Lincecum was practically unhittable until the eighth inning, when the Dodgers loaded the bases with none out, eventually going on to score three times along with giving the starter a ticket to the showers.  After Jeremy Affeldt induced a double play, closer Brian Wilson got the final out of the inning, then pitched the ninth, surrending one run, for his fifth save of the season.  Edgar Renteria gathered four hits on the evening while Molina tripled and homered.  The much ballyhooed matchup between Lincecum and LA’s Manny Ramirez ended with the slugger 1 for 3 with a single and walk.  Hence, the outcome of that rivalry is obviously still in the air.

The opener saw Barry Zito with his second consecutive solid outing, carrying a 3-0 shutout into the seventh.  In that set, the Dodgers rallied, highlighted by a two run Casey Blake homer to chase Zito.  Reliever Merkin Valdez couldn’t put out the fire in the inning, surrendering the lead and allowing a 4-3 deficit, after a Manny Ramirez RBI single, and leaving the reliever on the hook for the decision.  However, the Giant bats came alive in the bottom of the eighth.  After singles by Fred Lewis and Renteria, Randy Winn struck out.  Then, with runners on the corners, Rich Aurilia, inexplicably starting at cleanup, hit a dribbler up the first base line.  Dodger reliever Ronald Belisario gloved the ball and attempted to flip it to catcher Russell Martin.  The ball had air under it and Martin was unable to handle it cleanly, allowing Lewis to score with Aurilia ending up at first.  After a wild pitch, Molina grounded out to third, bringing Renteria home, and giving the Giants the lead, 5-4.  Brian Wilson struck out the side in order in the ninth for the save.

The middle game saw a dominating performance by Chad Billingsley as the Dodger ace threw 7 1/3 quality innings before being chased in the eighth with the Giants tying the score at three.  The bullpen unraveled in the top of the ninth and the Dodgers scored twice, leading to a final score of 5-3 in favor of Los Angeles.

All in all, the series gives the Giants much to grow on.  It’s their fourth straight series win.  Also, Pablo Sandoval’s officially hot.  However, he ended up leaving Wednesday’s game with a tight groin and will be day to day.  Zito’s outing featured Sandoval at catcher.  I think it evidences that these two need to be paired every fifth day.   Going back to last season, Zito pitches better when Sandoval’s behind the plate.  Something the team needs to keep in mind.

The Giants start their next series on Friday when they play host to the Colorado Rockies.  The Dodgers will host the San Diego Padres on Thursday evening. 

Pinch Hitter Benjie Molina drove in Andres Torres with a deep single to provide for the only run in a 1-0, ten inning win for the San Francisco Giants over the San Diego Padres.  The win, the third in a row and fourth in a five game home stand for the Giants, completed a sweep of the two game series with the Padres.  Much maligned starter Barry Zito threw seven dominating innings and Brian Wilson tossed two innings for the victory in relief. 

In the first game of the series, Edgar Renteria smacked a grand slam off Jake Peavy and Matt Cain turned in his third consecutive quality start as the Giants drubbed San Diego, 8-3.  

Zito’s outing is the fifth straight quality start turned in by the Giants staff.  With an off day on Thursday, the Giants will skip Jonathan Sanchez’s spot in the rotation for the series opener against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix on Friday.  Instead, ace Tim Lincecum will seek out his first win of 2009, facing Doug Davis for the second time in a week.  The two exchanged zeros for eight innings last Saturday before Arizona broke through against the Giant bullpen, prevailing 2-0 and giving Lincecum a no-decision. 

In other news, the Giants optioned left-handed reliever Alex Hinshaw to AAA Fresno and recalled catcher Steve Holm.  Hinshaw walked 5 batters in 7 appearances this year while compiling an ERA of 8.44.  In my opinion, he’ll be back soon, should he get his control back in the minors.  Holm will serve as a backup catcher to Molina.  He has yet to play a game in the major leagues this season.  For today’s game, Pablo Sandoval donned the mask behind the plate, his first such appearance this season. 

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.

The San Francisco Giants, led by a strong outing by starter Matt Cain, took the rubber match of their opening series with the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-1.  

Cain went seven innings and gave up one run on five hits, striking out five and only walking two.  He was backed by a 3-3 performance by Fred Lewis and four RBI from catcher Benjie Molina.  Aaron Rowand continued his torid start with a pair of hits.   The only down note on the day was rookie reliever Joseph Martinez being struck in the head with a line drive off the bat of Brewer centerfielder Mike Cameron. 

In the first game, the Giants survived a shaky start by Tim Lincecum by putting up a ten spot, highlighted by three home runs by Molina, Rowand, and Randy Winn and an energizing, bases clearing triple by rookie Travis Ishikawa.  Despite Lincecum, the defending Cy Young winner, only lasting three innings, the Giants prevailed 10-6. 

In game two, newcomer Randy Johnson dominated, but fell victim to two untimely homeruns, the second a three run variety off the bat of Brewer counterpart Yovani Gallardo, that gave Milwaukee a lead that they never relinqueshed in beating the Orange and Black, 4-2.  Johnson looked great in five innings, only giving up four hits while striking out seven.  However, Gallardo looked better, pitching into the seventh inning, allowing only two runs. 

Thoughts from the series:  The only thing that brings any concern to me is Lincecum getting hit around a little.  However, he admitted that he didn’t have great stuff.  He should be back to throwing laser guided BB’s on his next go around the rotation.  No cause for concern there yet.  It was nice to see the offense show up as they did in games one and three.  As yet, the kids are doing great.  They seem to be answering their critics rather loudly.  Very nice.  Keep it up.  Also, it was nice to see Rowand hitting well.  He started like this last season and tailed off.  Here’s to him doing this for a complete season. 

Overall, this was a great series to kick off 2009 for the Giants.  They will next host the San Diego Padres on Friday night, with Barry Zito starting against Shawn Hill.  First pitch at 9:05, central.