Giants sweep the Dodgers in SF for the first time since 2003!

GIANTS 2 - DODGERS 0

It was a night of firsts.

Matt Cain's first win in 9 decisions against the Dodgers, Giants first sweep of the Dodgers in SF since 203, Javier Lopez's first appearance of the season, and Edgar Renteria's first clutch hit as a Giant!

Well OK, maybe Rent has had a few clutch hits as a Giant, but this one is the biggest this season.  (this one was the biggest last season)  But it didn't make it any less surprising.  I loved Joe Morgan's comment early in Rent's at bat when he mentioned that Renteria has had a repuutation throughought his career for being a clutch hitter.  Probably one pitch before Rent drilled his triple into the left centerfield gap that Matt Kemp totally misplayed from a double into a triple.

The fact that Rent was up with 2 runners on at all made me question Joe Torre's status as a great manager.  Torre, for some reason that I still can't figure out, intentionally walked Aaron Rowand, who was hitting a robust .230 against LHP this season, so that lefty Clayton Kershaw could face Edgar Renteria, who was batting .333 Vs. lefties this season.  Edgar promptly ripped the triple into the alley and scored the only 2 runs of the game and single handedly was responsible for the offensive side of things in tonight's victory.

And they say Bochy is a bad manager!

The battle of the trade deadline acquisitions was decidedly in the Giant's favor as well.  Javier Lopez made his Giants debut and threw 2 pitches to the new Dodgers leftfielder, Scott Podsednik, who he got to ground out to end the 8th inning.

It doesn't get any easier for the Giants.  Starting Tuesday, they face the Colorado Rockies in Colorado.  They will be throwing Sanchez, Bumgarner, and Lincecum at the team that has won 4 games in a row after losing their previous 8.  Then it's off to Atlanta to face the always tough Braves and to have the 2 top NL ROY candidates face off against one another.

Link of the Day:

John Bowker is in a better place now.  It seems that after the initial shock of being traded wore off .  john Bowker realized that the Giants have done him a favor by sending him to Pittsburgh.  He wasn't going to get a chance to play everyday in San Francisco while they were in contention.  Hell, he wouldn't have even put on a Giants uniform until September at the earliest.  But in Pitt he will get a chance to play.  The Pirates aren't going anywhere and they play in a more hitter friendly park than the Giants do.  Good luck Johnny B. and hopefully Bowkermania will catch on in Pittsburgh!

Giants ready to sweep! Get 2 new relievers.

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

GIANTS 2 - DODGERS 1

Times are changing for the Giants.

Over the last 3 years the Giants Couldn't beat the Dodgers.  Hell, earlier in the season they couldn't beat the Dodgers.

All that is changing.

Last week the Giants took 2 out of 3 from the Bums and yesterday they clinched the series win with their 2nd win in a row over the Dodgers.  This team is almost a completely different team than the one that played the Dodgers earlier in the season.  That team didn't have Torres starting, Freddy Sanchez was on the DL, Buster Posey was playing in AAA, and Pat Burrell was DHing for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Burrell and Posey were the big contributers offensively.  Barry Zito and Denny Bautista, and Guillermo Mota had combined for 8 innings of one run ball.  But it was looking like one of those early season Giants games.  Where the starter would give up 1 run and the anemic Giants offense wouldn't be able to muster any runs.

Then Hong Chih Kuo hit Buster Posey.

Buster was the third batter the Dodgers hit yesterday.  The Giants reacted calmly.  Instead of getting their pitcher and manager ejected from the game they sent Pat the bat Burrell up to the plate to face Jonathan Broxton who had come in to relieve Kuo.  After a pretty good battle Burrell deposited a 3-2 pitch into the left field seats for a 2-1 lead that Mota was able to protect in the 9th.

Turnaround complete.

As for the trade deadline:

The Giants failed to acquire a bat of any kind.  Around the 7th inning of yesterday's game people were questioning that since it appeared the Giants were preparing to be shut out again.  We all know what happened but it was almost like fate slapping Brian Sabean in the face for not getting a hitter.  The Giants think they can win as constructed and they have shown over the last month that their is no reason to doubt them.

What the Giants did do was get two middle relievers.  Javier Lopez from the Pirates and Ramon Ramirez from the Red Sox. 

The Giants might overpaid a little bit for Lopez giving up both Joe Martinez and John Bowker.  Then again they might not have not have because despite stellar minor league numbers neither have been very successful at the major league level.

The Giants gave up AA pitching prospect Daniel Turpin for Ramirez.  I don't know too much about Turpin other than he was 5-5 with a 4.09 ERA this season.

The bullpen has been a concern for this team and appears to be the weakest link right now. Lopez seems to be a lefty specialist and Ramirez seems to be more of a rightly guy.  So it seems like we picked up a couple of situational guys and will be overflowing with lefties once  Runzler and Affeldt get back.

At this point it seems like the trade deadline ranks as about a C-.  The Giants filled a need with a couple of marginal guys and they may have overpaid while doing it.  As a matter of fact the only way they don't overpay for this deal is if Bowker turns into Armando Rios instead of Garrett Jones.

Do you want the bad news or good news first?

GIANTS 10 - D-BACKS 4

A lot of stuff went down in Giants land since my last post.

We'll start with the good.

The Giants crushed the Diamondbacks 10-4.  Led by Juan Uribe's grand slam and Madison Bumgarner's 4th straight win, the Giants really beat down the Dbacks like the belly-crawlers that they are.  Buster Posey extended his hitting streak to 17 games, Aubrey Huff had 3 hits, and the Giants won their 8th game out of their last 10 bringing themselves to a season high 12 games over .500!

It wasn't all good news however.

Eugenio Velez took a Pat Burrell foul ball off the head while sitting in the dugout.  Reports are that he is OK with a concussion.

Pablo Sandoval will leave the team today to return to his native Venezuela for a "personal matter".  Andrew Baggerly of the San Jose Mercury News is reporting that it is related to his pending divorce.

Jeremy Affeldt was placed on the 15 day DL with an oblique strain.  There is no telling how long he will be out.  Sometimes players come back from these right away, other times they miss the rest of the season.  Joe Martinez was called up to take his place leaving the bullpen with no lefties.

Pablo Sandoval's departure and Velez's injury will leave the Giants extremely short-handed.  Expect Velez to be put on the DL today and Ryan Rohlinger to be called up today.  Hopefully Pablo's trip to Venezuela helps him put whatever is on his mind to rest.  It can't be easy to be 23 years old, struggling on his job, booed by fans, and going through a divorce all at the same time. 

Good luck Pablo.

link of the Day:

John Bowker was 3 for 4 and scored 2 runs last night for Fresno.  He has heated up again after a mini slump.  he definitely needs another look in the bigs this season.  It's just not going to come right now.  The 2 players the Giants are short are infielders so they are calling up Rohlinger to fill the hole.  Bowker will get another chance but it may not be until September.

If the Giants rash of injuries continues.....

It's starting to get ugly

DODGERS 4 - GIANTS 2

When I started writing this blog I thought I would try to keep a positive outlook on this team.  I thought that I would not be one of the guys who was constantly second guessing Bochy, screaming for Sabean's head, or talking about how horrible the offense is.

While I still hold out hope that this season can be salvaged, it is becoming increasingly harder to keep up that hope.

Tonight's loss to the Dodgers brings the Giants' season record against the Padres and Dodgers to a whopping 2-11.  We are only 8-16 against the NL west.  They have lost 4 in a row, they are 1-4 on the current homestand, have lost 8 of their last 11, and they have dropped their last 4 series in a row.

They have scored 32 runs in their last 10 games and 19 of those runs came in 3 games!  9 of them came in one game!  That's a 3.2 run per game average over the last 10 games.  If you take away the 3 games in which they scored the 19 runs (one of which they lost), well in those 7 games they have scored a grand total of 11 runs.  Which works out to an average of 1.6 runs per game.

Earlier this season I told Eric over at Fire-Sabean.com that I wasn't ready to jump on that bandwagon yet.

But I'm getting ready to.

Before the game today, on Twitter I said that I would buy one of his Fire Sabean T-shirts if the Dodgers swept the Giants.

I didn't say this just because I wanted to buy one of his shirts.  I said it because I can't believe the way the management has handled this season.  While I understand that it is Bruce Bochy who fills out the lineup card every night, it is ultimately Brian Sabean who is responsible for the moves his manager makes.

If guys like John Bowker, Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa, Buster Posey, and Madison Bumgarner had been playing every day then things may be different.  We wouldn't have to close our eyes every time Rowand Strikes out or Molina grounds into a DP.  We would also have a guy on our team that has some legitamite power in Bowker (So do Huff and Uribe but Bowker has the potential to outperform them.)

I don't want to buy one of those shirts because it will mean that the Giants have been swept.  But I may just get one because it's starting to reflect how I feel.

RED SOX 5 - GIANTS 1

I can't help but have the feeling that this season is slipping away.  The offense is just not doing the job.  Yesterday all the Giants could manage was 5 singles off John Lester.   Make no mistake that Lester is a good pitcher but this marks yet another game when all of the Giants hits are singles.  This just doesn't get the job done unless you can pound out 16 of them.

This team can't help out their starters when they struggle like Lincecum did yesterday.  In fact, there have been too many times already this season when they couldn't help their pitchers when they have pitched well.

I know still early in the season but the offensive challenges of this team have been going on for a few years now.  given the power issue and the fact that John Bowker has hit 9 homeruns in 90 ABs in Fresno.  Now he did only hit 3 HRs in 82 ABs with a .207 average in his first stint with the Giants this season but those 82 ABs were spread out over 41 games.  His 90 ABs in Fresno have come in just 22 games.  This means that Bowker, like most guys, needs to play every day in order to do what he can do.   I think that given the Giants need for power they need to just stick Bowker out there every day for 2 weeks and see what happens.  It can't be any worse than 5 singles like they did yesterday.

One positive note from this series is that the bullpen has pitched extremely well.  They held the Sox to 2 runs in 11 2/3 innings over the weekend.  Now maybe it's because they have been getting so much work lately, but it is never a bad thing when your pen is throwing good.

Nate watch:

I can't believe it but Nate actually got a start!  I wish he did more with it than go 0 for 3.  the only way he is going to get any regular playing time is if he is able to hit well on the days he gets the rare start.  I expect him to go right back to the bench after this since the only reason Boch played him was because he was giving Burrell and Uribe days off. 

One last note.  If the Giants do miraculously give John Bowker a 2 week look I will end the Nate watch.  As a matter of fact after today it will be the Nate - Bowker watch since I can at least post some stats for Bowker!

A disappointing night

Orioles 4 - Giants 1

Not a lot went right for the Giants tonight.

They faced a pitcher making his second start of his career and were only able to muster 3 lousy hits off him.  They weren't able to get a single hit off the Oriole relievers since Arrietta left them so confounded.  The Giants performance prompted Orioles closer David Hernandez to tell the media: "No offense to the Giants, but they don't have the Yankee firepower," Hernandez said. "I think that enabled him to go out there and pretty much pitch his game. He definitely has the quality stuff to do that." when asked about Arrietta's performance. 

Spot starter Joe Martinez pitched OK.  He just happened to be pitching on the wrong night.  If he had pitched on any of the last 5 nights and had the exact same numbers, he would have received a W for his efforts.  The giants got exactly what they wanted from Martinez tonight.  They wanted a starter to pitch relatively deep into the game and to keep it close.  In fact, if it wasn't for a few bad breaks, Martinez should have walked away with a W.

The only offensive positive was the fact that Pablo Sandoval hit his 6th homerun of the season.  It appears Pablo is heating up as that was 2nd homerun in the last 4 games.  I know a lot has been made of Pablo's struggles but consider this:  Last season, through June 1, Pablo was hitting .301 with 3 HRs.  This season, he was hitting .286 with 4 homers.  He was only hittng 15 points higher coming in to June lst year than he is this year.  In June, he hit .394 with eight HRs!  Now he hasn't quite matched that production so far this June, but he's showing signs of heating up and his track record shows that he hits in the summer months.

Bruce Bochy never ceases to amaze me.  The San Jose Mercury News reports that Bochy didn't want Posey catching Martinez tonight because:  “if it’s going good, you don’t’ fix it.” Added Bochy: “You keep playing your hand if it’s a good one. We want to keep things pretty much the same, and hopefully we’ll keep scoring some runs.” 

I'm not sure how putting Molina in the lineup, after a game in which the Giants scored 10 runs for the first time in forever, can tell us that:   A. Bengie Molina is a "hot hand" or B. Molina contributed at all to the offensive outburst last night. Now Whiteside was 0 for 1 but he did score 2 of the 10 runs last night.  Although I guess Bochy has been preaching the "hot hand" all season long he's not gonna stop now.

On the farm:

Look at this kid: 

Does he strike you as someone who as a guy who is hitting a Bondsian .394 with 8 homeruns and a .509 OBP? 

No? 

Well he is.

Who is he?  Well that's Brandon Belt.  He is currently the first baseman of the San Jose Giants who just captured the California League North 1st half division title.   He was the Giants 5th round pick last season and is hitting better than even Buster Posey did in San Jose.

In more encouraging future San Francisco Giants news Madison Bumgarner won his seventh consecutive decision.  After limiting Portland to 2 runs in 6 innings.  John Bowker hit another homerun and Tyler Graham collected 2 hits to raise his average to .407.  Edgar Renteria, in his rehab assignment, went 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. 

Nate watch:

Nate rotted on the bench some more tonight.  Travis Ishikawa was going to pinch hit for Mota and then Aaron Rowand pinch hit for Ishikawa and wound up getting HBP.

4 in a row!

GIANTS 10 - ORIOLES 2

It sure has been a while since the Giants have blown someone out like this.  Now I know it's the last place Orioles and we are supposed to do this but it still feels good.  Besides, a good team beats the bad teams.  If we lost to the Orioles tonight then our status as a good team would be in serious jeopardy.  But, a convincing win, a four game winning streak, and multiple offensive successes have a way of keeping you in the conversation.  Good game all around by the Giants.

Pat Burrell is looking more and more like a steal every day.  Now, I really don;t think he's going to continue to hit .375 but he does add some power to this team which all of the sudden looks a lot more powerful than it did a few weeks ago with Huff, Burrell, and Uribe in the lineup and hitting with power.  I do expect Burrell to go into somewhat of a cold spell at some point considering he is a career .254 hitter.  But until then, let's hope it's not at a crucial time.

Andres Torres is the find of the year for the Giants.  By now everyone knows his story.  Didn't play baseball til he was 19, bounced around the minors, and has been one of the top players for the Giants this season after playing in his first full season last year at age 32.  I just can't shake the feeling that we have been down this same road with Marvin Benard.  (take a look at what the guy who sponsors his page says for a laugh) But, like with Benard, let's just ride this out as long as we can and hope the Giants don't reward this guy with some outrageous contract that will kill the team for years to come.

Jonathan Sanchez pitched well tonight.  Strikeouts were low for him (5), he only walked 1, and he made it 7 2/3 innings while only giving up 2 ERs.  He lowered his ERA to 2.78 and evened his record at 5-5 on the season

On The Farm:

Grizzlies win again on the strength of a John Bowker 3-run homer.This guy drives me crazy.  If he even hit half as well as he hits in Fresno he still would be up with the club.  I guess Sabean was right when he said the pitchers in AAA are no good.  Tyler Graham, Brock Bond, and Brett Pill kept rolling, can you believe this Graham guy is still hitting over .400? although he has ZERO HRs, each of them chipping in with hits of their own.

I still say we have enough prospects to acquire Paul Konerko and keep Madbum, Posey, Lincecum, and Cain.  However the Sox have been playing decent ball this week so maybe they are rethinking their "open for business" status.

Nate watch:

Nate came in in the 8th and lined out to the second baseman who threw the ball away while trying to double off Uribe.  After the Giants scored 10 runs I can't bitch about Nate not playing.

Almost forgot about DeRosa.  Watch this video: Dishin with DeRosa and draw your own conclusions.

Fan of the night:

photo courtesy of: fire-sabean.com

Posey, Burrell are each making some noise.

Maybe this kid is the savior?

Buster Posey had 3 more hits today against Ian Kennedy who, in case you forgot, held the Giants to 3 hits over 8 innings 11 days ago.  Two of those were doubles so he actually improved over last night in the power department.  But he only drove in 1 run and his average dropped from .750 to .667.  I guess this kid will never make it.

Obviously I'm joking.  It sure is nice to see someone actually making some things happen for the Giants.  Over the last few weeks leading up to this homestand it seemed that every player on the Giants was just kind of taking things as they came. Nobody went out there and took control of things, well except maybe Andres Torres who I keep expecting to turn into Eugenio Velez any day now.  Posey is doing that.  What a story this kid could be if he really does stick with the big club and reignites this offense.  This club has always been lacking the big hit.  Not necessarily a homerun but something as simple as a 2 out RBI of which Buster had another today.  I'm trying to not get too excited in case this kid comes back to earth but nothing he has done at any level he has played at indicates that he will.  Tomorrow is his biggest test yet against Mr. Ubaldo Jimenez who is trying to replace the Freak as the Cy Young award winner in the NL.

In other news, Pat Burrell went 2 for 5 with a HR and 2 RBI for the Fresno Grizzlies today.  This means one of two things: 1. Brian Sabean is right about the quality of pitchers in the PCL or 2. Pat the Bat is getting ready for a comeback story with his hometown team.  I find it highly unlikely that Burrell is going to lead the Giants to the playoffs by single-handedly transforming the Giants into a feared offense.  Playing at AT&T usually lowers the power numbers of anyone not named Bonds but more troubling is his career .253 average.  The last thing this team needs is another .250 hitter who will be just another easy out while the Giants are getting one hit by some middle of the rotation guy. 

Now I'm not saying that Burrell wasn't a safe gamble in case he can magically find his stroke.  I just wonder what guy with potential gets the shaft once this guy gets called up to the big club.  Mr. Schierholtz and Mr. Ishikawa I'm looking at you!  I don't believe that Bochy will let this guy come off the bench.  I believe he will start.  What proof do I have?  Look at all the ABs Aaron Rowand gets.  His career numbers are just like Pat Burrell's with less power and a better glove.  Although, to be fair, Rowand never batted .209 or .221 in a season in which he was given 400 plus ABs.

I'm also starting what I'm going to call the Nate watch.  It's where I will break down the contributions that Nate Schierholtz makes for the team whether he hits or not.  It's called the Nate watch instead of the Schierholtz watch cuz I don't want to type Schierholtz over and over!

Today Nate went 0 for 4 with a walk and a strikeout.  Not much to write home about offensively but he has been hurt and hasn't been allowed to play consistently since he has been declared healthy.  Nate was however responsible for the two most crucial plays of the game.  In the top of the 7th with the game tied 2-2 Adam Laroche drew a walk and Gerardo Parra hit a one-out single to right.  Nate got the ball in to Freddy Sanchez who gunned down Laroche at 3rd.  The next batter, Chris Snyder, singled to left which would have scored Laroche had he still been on 3rd.  In the 9th inning Kelly Johnson singled to right .  This time it was Ryan Roberts who got thrown out at third.  The next batter, Justin Upton hit a double that scored Johnson.  Which would have also scored Roberts and made the score 7-4 at that point.  Since the Giants only scored 6 runs today I would have to say that Mr. Nate was the difference in the game today. 

That's something that none of the coverage I saw of the game even gave more than a passing mention to.  The most I saw was "Almost lost in the valiant comeback were the solid defensive efforts of right fielder Nate Schierholtz (two outfield assists) and Sanchez who, in the sixth inning, threw out Arizona's Kelly Johnson after Johnson tried to stretch a ball that ricocheted off first baseman Buster Posey into a double."  Even when they did mention it Sanchez's play got more credit than Nate!

Do you really think that John Bowker, or Andres Torres, or even Pat Burrell makes those 2 plays?