Nate the Great tied it and Freddy Ballgame won it!

With Tim Lincecum getting the start for the Giants against the Nationals, you would have expected this game to follow a different course than it did.

You wouldn't have expected Timmy to give up 4 earned runs in just over 5 innings.  You also wouldn't (well actually you might have expected) the Giants were going to be held to two hits through 6 innings.  If someone told you that was going to happen before the game started you probably would have said that the Giants were going to leave with a loss.

I know I thought it was going to be a tough night for the guys in orange and black.

Nate Schierholtz and Freddy Sanchez are the stars of this game.  Nate's clutch, pinch-hit, 2 out, 2 strike, game tying RBI tied the game in he bottom of the 8th.  Then, 5 innings later, Freddy Sanchez poked another 2 out single to win the game.

This team has so much heart and character.  With the amount of injuries they have had and the amount of games that they have fallen behind in early, they shouldn't even be sniffing first place.  But they know they are good.  They know how to win ugly.  This team got a taste of the promised land last season and you can tell by the way that they are playing their asses off that they are going to do their damnedest to make it back there this season.

Good.  That's what good teams do.

First place Giants keep rolling!

After taking 3 out of 4 from the Central division leading St. Louis Cardinals and regaining sole possession of first place in the NL West.  The Giants came home last night and took care of business against the Colorado Rockies.

For some reason, the Giants can't score until after their opponents do.  But as long as they keep winning I guess that it's OK.  I no longer get too upset over the other team scoring first as it seems that the Giants' offense doesn't realize that there is a baseball game going on until that happens.

The lineup that Bochy put out there last night may just be the best offense that the Giants have.  At least until Pablo Sandoval returns.  The outfield of Ross, Torres, and Schierholtz are easily the best offensive and defensive options that the Giants have in the outfield.  Oh and that guy Schierholtz only had one hit, but it came during the three run fourth inning and he eventually scored.  Just sayin...

As for the infield, Burriss definitely earned another start with his 3 hit performance and Crawford was right in the mix as well.  I hope this is the beginning of the end of Miguel Tejada's time in a Giants uniform.  I loved the guy in Oakland (hell I even have his rookie card), but as Bob Costas said during Thursday night's game on MLB network, Tejada "is a shadow of his former self."  Also, according to Carl Steward, I'm not the only one who feels Miggy might be done.

Cain didn't have his best stuff, he did walk four guys, but he made up for it by striking out 7 and holding the Rockies to just one run.  Cain has always been a good pitcher.  He has never been a dominating pitcher.  He has just always found ways to win games.  I know his last few starts has caused some concern, but he really has always had hiccups like these along the way.

Tomorrow's forecast calls for rain.  That's a bummer.  Hopefully they can squeeze the game in but we will see.

Go Giants!

Is Nate Schierholtz the Giants MVP?

Last night's game was amazing.  It had a 3 run comeback, multiple lead changes, and extra innings.  Through all of that, one guy emerged as the star.

Nate Schierholtz.

I seriously believe that this guy is the Giants' MVP so far.  At least as far as position players go.  Nobody else on this team has contributed offensively, defensively, and on the basepaths.  OK well maybe Burris or Ford run  a little better than he does, but that's about all that they do so far.

Hell, Schierholtz even leads the team in homers since Pablo went down.  Sure he's only got 3 over that time but when the team leader has 5 and he hasn't played in over a month that is huge for an offense.

Look, I know that Bochy likes to let veterans play and try to get hot.  But he also showed last season that he isn't afraid to replace an underperforming veteran with an up and comer when he replaced Rowand with Torres. The time has finally come for Boch to give Nate the starting role in right field.  Ross has played well enough to play left and of course Torres is the guy in center.  Burrell is not much more than a bench guy at this point and he may even need to be an emergency first baseman.  I know I would feel more comfortable with him there than I would with Burriss over there.

Nate has been getting the majority of starts in right but now it's time for him to be there permanently.

In other news;

Brandon Crawford has hit just enough to convince me that he is an upgrade at this point over Miguel Tejada.  I am sure that Crawford can hit .217 and play a whole lot better in the field than Tejada can.  I floated the idea on Twitter during the game and I want to get it out there here.

I think the Giants should release Tejada when Pablo Sandoval comes off the DL.

I'm pretty sure there is zero to no chance of that happening, but I can hope.  Besides, the way the Giants players are getting injured maybe Tejada will go on the DL.  It has to happen sometime in his career.


Maybe I should have read Andrew Baggerly's blog before I wrote mine.  You can read it here.

Spring Training is too long

Today, the Giants found out that Spring Training is way too long.

In addition to getting blasted by the Angels 8-0.  Cody Ross got injured, Matt Cain got lit up, and Brian Wilson had a setback in his recovery from what is being called an "oblique strain".

On second thought maybe spring training is long enough!  This way the Giants can get all of these little injury bugs over and done with.

On the Cain's outing:  He is just getting into the rhythm of things and he doesn't have the luxury of working the offseason kinks out against the minor leaguers the way the other pitchers did earlier in the spring.  The guy who hit the 3 run bomb that made Cain's line for the day look so bad?  Bobby Abreu.  You may have heard of him.  Of course we would all like to see Matty continue his scoreless inning streak from last postseason, but as far as I know nobody has ever posted a career ERA of 0.00.  Although it would be nice to see one of the Giants' starters do it!

On Brian Wilson's injury:  "People might think I'm superhuman, but ... correction. I am superhuman. But, realistically, in six days I'm not going to be 1,000 percent. I'm going to be 990. I'm just going to take it day by day."  is what Wilson told reporters after his game of catch.  I'm going to listen to him and take him at his word because as he said: "I know my body, I know what I'm capable of doing. I'm not worried about what other people are thinking. I'm going to do what the doctors tell me and control what I can control. Ideally, everyone would have liked to have me healed the night I was injured."  I hope he is powering down the Red Bulls.


On Cody Ross' injury:  I always get worried when I hear :"calf strain"  for some reason this is as troublesome as the old "oblique strain".  It sounds minor, but you get guys missing all kinds of time and their performance usually suffers after sustaining one of these injuries.  Hopefully, Ross gets shut down for the spring and is OK for opening day.  It might not help him be totally dialed in for opening day, but I would rather have him struggle for a few days rather than miss an extended period of time.


One silver lining that the Ross injury could have is that it could affect the possible trading of Nate Schierholtz.  With an injury to Ross already staring them in the face, the Giants could be reluctant to part ways with their fourth best outfielder  I don't know if it has entered their minds or not, but it's worth getting out there.


Only 7 more days!

The Belt Dilemma

Yesterday's post on the Bay Areas Sport's Guy's blog got me thinking.  

If Brandon Belt breaks camp with the big club.  Who is the most likely to be the odd man out?

As BASG points out:  It's really down to four guys.  Pat Burrell, Aaron Rowand, Nate Schierholtz, and Travis Ishikawa.

Now let's face it, my man crush on Nate aside, none of these guys is gonna be the Giants' MVP this season.  Most likely, barring injury to a starter, they would all be coming off the bench if Belt is on the team.  There is no way the Giants are going to bring him up to sit on the bench.  So first off, the Giants have to be sure he will outperform any of these guys.

Also as BASG pointed out, two of these guys would most likely be gone.

Aaron Rowand is easily the fan's favorite to be let go.  But can the Giants management admit it's mistake with him in such an expensive fashion?  The Giants already showed they are willing to put the needs of the team in front of the dollars on the contract when they sat Barry Zito during last year's World Series run.  So I don't think pride is an issue with them.  The real question is does Rowand contribute anything to this team?  (Being a gamer doesn't count because all of these guys can be considered gamers.)    I have heard talk of the Giants trying to boost his trade value this spring by having him play left field but his .207 BA this spring have caused that experiment to be a total failure.

Pat Burrell doesn't really belong on this list.  The only reason he is on here is because his $1 million salary makes more fiscal sense to eat than Rowand's millions and millions ($13.6 million according to Cot's baseball contracts).  However, it is likely that the Giants don't make the world series last season, or probably even the playoffs for that matter without some timely homers down the stretch from Pat "the Bat".  Besides, who would the Giants fall back on if Belt struggles in the show?  Aaron Rowand?

Travis Ishikawa is the most likely guy to not make the club out of this bunch whether Belt gets called up or not.  The Giants have a lot of options to play first and his .219 spring may be signalling that Ishi could benefit from a change of scenery.  I would hope the Giants could trade him rather than release him since his glove is so good and he does have some power potential (really only some like 15 or so HRs if he were to start).  But his inability to put it together up until this point and his horrid spring make a DFA his most likely option.

Last, but not least.  Nate Schierholtz.  In the past, I have made no bones about my thoughts on Nate's potential.  He is easily the best defender out of the bunch (probably second best on the team behind Torres) and he has shown flashes of competence at the plate.  This spring, he is third behind Posey and Huff with a .342 spring batting average and he had 3 hits in yesterday's win over the White Sox.  Impressive for a guy who is battling for his job.  He did have some clutch hits and plays down the stretch last season too.  plus, I think a right fielder is more valuable as a late inning defensive replacement than a first basemen.  Especially when you consider the drop in offensive production from Ross to Nate would not be as big as from Huff to Ishikawa.  

If I was a betting man, I would bet on Rowand and Ishi being gone if Belt makes the club.  But the Giants do have the option of letting Belt start the season in AAA to decide if they are going to keep Rowand around a little longer.  I don't think that will be a popular decision but if it buys time for a trade, then it may be a good option.  If it doesn't and they have to release Rowand, then it will be a mistake.  Ishi is pretty much a goner after spring training even if Belt starts the season in Fresno.

Sanchez, Sandoval, Schierholtz all Deliver to stretch the Giants lead to 2

GIANTS 4 - DBACKS 2

The Giants' final homestand of the season kicked off in winning fashion last night. That, along with the Padres loss to the Cubs stretched the Giants lead to two games for the first time since April 18th.

As has been the case with the Giants this season, a new set of Giants came through to win this game.

The tale fall of Pablo Sandoval has reached epic proportions this season. But with 2 out in the 6th inning, the Kung Fu Panda Karate chopped a two out double. Bruce Bochy continued his lack of faith in the ability of the offense to put runs on the board and pulled Jonathan Sanchez for pinch hitter Nate Schierholtz. Big Nate stroked a single to left field and the Panda rumbled home to put the Giants ahead to stay.

Jonathan Sanchez raised a big middle finger to everyone who was crying for his trade this season by becoming the first Giants lefty since Ray Sadecki in 1968!

Corey Hart, who was the guy the Giants were most likely to get for Sanchez at the trade deadline, had 28 homers at the deadline and is now sitting at 30.

Everything is going right for these Giants right now.  They are getting great pitching, just enough hitting, and the Padres continue to play themselves out of the postseason.  Now, that all could change by this weekend, but I am going to be watching, or at least checking in on gamecast from work, all the way.

Let's see how this rag-tag bunch of misfits led by a manager with a big head pulls this off!

Giants squander opportunity to extend NL West lead

BREWERS 3 - GIANTS 0

I know how you feel guys

The Giants offense went MIA last night.  Again.

They were shut out for the third time in the last 7 games.  In 2 other games they scored one and two runs respectively.  Apparently Bruce Bochy's genius only extends for one day as  Edgar Renteria went 0 -4 while the Giants defense looked old and decrepit.   I guess they were too tired from running around the bases last night.

Juan Uribe has been terrible at third lately and good old sleepyhead hasn't promised that Pablo Sandoval will play at all this weekend against the Brewers.  Now I understand the kid is struggling, but I am mystified at the sudden decision to stop supporting and playing him.  Especially at home where he has practically been a mirror image of the guy he was last season.

After the Giants made another bad pitcher look like Cy Young, Wolf's last shutout came back in 2008, Bochy said that he and the staff would get together and discuss lineup possibilities.  I just don't see a lineup combination that can make this team magically find their hitting shoes.  They have scored a grand total of 47 runs in 15 games in September.  They have scored more than 3 runs 5 times out of those 15.  The numbers were even worse before they put up a 10 spot on the Dodgers but they are scoring just slightly over 3 runs a game.

At this point in the season there is no quick fix.  Anybody can should be able to get a chance.  Whether it be Darren Ford, Ryan Rohlinger, Euginio Velez, Nate Schierholtz, or Travis Ishikawa.  I mean seriously, how many less runs could they put up?

The Giants can take heart in the fact that they knocked Joe Torre out of LA the night before.  After seeing the Giants hang 10 on his Dodgers, Torre decided to hang em up.  Don Mattingly took over as manager and Giants fans can take some comfort in knowing they must have had some small part in his decision to call it quits.  After all, he had just watched his team give up 10 runs to a team that got shut out by Randy Wolf the next night.

Timmy gets his K on!

GIANTS 6 - DBACKS 3

Tim Lincecum struck out 10 Dbacks in 6.2 innings of work last night.  Over his last 2 starts and 14 innings he has struck out 20 batters.

That is the Tim Lincecum we all know and love.

The offense scored six runs , behind 3 homers, in support of Timmy and allowed him to get his team leading 13th win.  What makes that so special is the fact that they scored all of their runs off of the impressive rookie Barry Enright who had allowed no more than 3 runs in any of his 12 starts to begin his big league career.  The Giants welcomed him to the big leagues properly tonight!

Not too much else notable went on in the game last night.  Pablo Sandoval was benched and Bochy hinted that he may be benched more on the road where he is batting an atrocious .208 compared to .336 at home.  I couldn't even begin to tell you what the problem is there.

Steve Decker joined the Giants coaching staff.  Of course they are saying that it is to help with the young kids.  Hopefully it leads to some kind of managerial change next season or the season after!

Nate Schierholtz got in the game but didn't get an AB.

Hey Remember me?

GIANTS 2 - DBACKS 0

His name is Nate Schierholtz for those of you who forgot and he has been up with the Giants since opening day. He wasn't some mid season acquisition or September call-up.  He is a guy who has been there for every one of the team's wins and losses.  He hasn't been given a whole lot of opportunity, he has only had 3 ABs in a game once since July 23, and to be fair he hasn't really taken advantage of the few opportunities he has been given.

But he took advantage of this one.

It sure didn't look like he would at first.  When he was called upon in the 7th inning to pinch run for Pat Burrell Nate was picked off and the inning was over.  At a point in the game where the team was desperate for runs they could ill afford to have a runner picked off.  But he did get picked off and, in making one of the few good decisions he has made all season,  Bochy actually left him in to play the outfield.

In the 11th inning after the Giants got runners on first and second with two outs Nate got his second AB of the game, he lined out in the 10th inning,  and delivered.  He fouled off the first pitch he saw from Dbacks reliever Aaron Heilman and then smoked the next pitch into the right-centerfield gap to score Buster Posey and Aubrey Huff.

Ballgame.

So does this mean that Nate will get more PT as the season winds down?  Doubtful.  But hopefully he will continue to make the most out of any opportunities that he happens to get from here on out.

Did you know that the Giants' pitchers are working on a 25 consecutive scoreless inning streak?  It started in the 5th inning of Saturday's game against the Dodgers and has continued through tonight's 11 inning affair.  I think it's safe to say that the starting rotation's slump is over.

Lincecum vs. Enright tonight.   Seems as though Enright has not failed to go at least 5 innings in each of his 12 starts this season or give up more than 3 runs.  Tonight would be a good time to put an end to one of those streaks.

Giants literally throw the game away

Is it possible to hate the team that you love?

I guess it is because I hate the Giants right now.  After doing all that they could to give the game away to the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, the Giants found a way to give a game to the Colorado Rockies.

Not every Giant was trying to give the game away.  Jonathan Sanchez threw 8 innings of shutout ball, I'm not counting the run in the 9th as earned even though the official scorer did, walked Dexter Fowler to lead off the 9th and was replaced by Brian Wilson.

Let's analyze this right here.  Johnny No-No had thrown 108 pitches and, after getting ahead 0-2 to Fowler, he suddenly lost his command throwing 4 wide ones.  Bochy was absolutely right in pulling Sanchez at this point and bringing in Wilson.  Sure Wilson threw 30 pitches yesterday but Wilson was good for an inning tonight.

Wilson got Carlos Gonzalez to line out to Cody Ross....At least, that's what everyone thought.  Ross played Gonzalez's liner into a triple and to make matters worse, Freddy Sanchez sent the relay throw into the Giants' dugout allowing Gonzalez to score.

Game over.

I have 2 complaints about this game.

First:

Why wasn't Nate Schierholtz manning rightfield?  The only reason, that I can see, that he is even on the roster is as a late inning defensive replacement.  Isn't that what you want in a late inning game?  Boch, in his infinite wisdom, put Travis Ishikawa in at first base as a defensive replacement, which was absolutely the right move. Why not put in Nate?  He would have thrown the ball all the way to third on the fly and we probably would be watching extra innings right now.

Second:

The Giants bats.  It doesn't matter who they throw out there, how many runs they scored against the Reds, or how many runs they scored against the D-backs yesterday.  This team has a tendency to just go in a top to bottom funk when it comes to hitting and it happens a LOT.  Especially when Sanchez is on the mound and pitching well, look at the two 1-0 losses to the Padres that he took earlier this year.  I'm not saying that they need to score 10 runs every night, I am just saying they need to score more than 1 or 2 runs a lot more.

The game recap on SFGiants.com is titled:  Chance to gain ground slips by Giants.  This is actually incorrect because the Giants have had 5 chances in a row to gain ground on the Padres and they are just 1-4 in those games.

Do these Giants really want to play in the postseason?

Following up on yesterday's post about the 2009 Giants and the 2010 team.   It looks as if the 2010 Giants are trying to keep their record identical to last year's squad.  Both teams own 72-60 records after 132 games.  good thing is the 2009 Giants won game 133!

Down on the farm:

Brandon Belt 4-6, 2B, HR, 4 RBI

See you on Wednesday Mr. Belt.  you can take that seat right next to Nate Schierholtz on the bench.

Giants win their 7th in a row! Oh. wait. They BEAT L.A.!

GIANTS 5 - DODGERS 2

Well they should have won 7 in a row.

Although a good whippin put on the Dodgers will make me feel a lot better about things.

Once again, it was the kids leading the charge.

Posey extended his hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single, he later scored on Nate The Great's 2 run HR, Madbum only gave up one earned run in 5 2/3 IP, and Pablo Sandoval chipped in with 2 hits and an RBI of his own.

About Pablo.

I know it's only 5 games, but he looks a lot sharper since the All-Star break than he has in about 2 months.  He has hit safely in each of those 5 games and is hitting .470 over that span.  he is hitting with pop, 4 doubles, and is driving in runs with 3 RBIs.

This is the hitter that the Giants need.  They need a guy who can bat 5th, drive in some runs, and keep the hitting going after Posey and Huff.  Uribe needs to just keep doing what he is doing and if Nate can sniff .280 while playing amazing defense then we have the team in place that we need from an offensive standpoint.  Then Sabean can go out and do the unsexy thing and pick up a few middle relievers because that is our most glaring weakness at this point.

A roster move to report. 

The Giants recalled Eugenio Velez and sent down Joe Martinez.  I must admit that the move was a little confusing.  But they need infield depth.  Especially with Freddy Sanchez and the .160 hitting (since June 19th) Juan Uribe are the only 2 guys who can play second.  Not everybody is happy with the move.   But maybe they are showcasing him for a possible trade?  As long as he doesn't drop any balls during Madbum's starts I will be O.K. with that.

Lincecum V. Kershaw tonight should be a pitcher's duel!

 

Link of the day;

Since I couldn't find any interesting links today I thought that I would post a pic of the day.  This pic has to be one of the most horrible ballpark giveaway ideas of all time:

 Yes that is a Manny Ramirez action figure.  I have no idea what his special power must be but I think it has something to do with being extra fertile....

Although I kinda want one so I can have my kids Pandoval Bobblehead sit on it!

Giants roll to start second half!

GIANTS 2 - METS 0

I'm glad the Giants didn't wait too long to get on track in the second half.

Going into the break there was some concern that their hot streak was mainly the product of playing two of the worse teams in the NL.  There was some concern that the second place New York Mets would roll into town and put an end to the Giants little string of success.

Instead, the Giants won for the eighth time in the last 10 games.  They moved to 3.5 games back of the first place Padres and only 1 game back of the third place Dodgers.

If you told me two weeks ago that the Giants would be only 3.5 games out of first place after the first game of the second half, I would have had trouble believing you.

Instead, the Giants have been scoring runs while being led by the shot in the arm that is Buster Posey, The pitching has improved due in no small part to the return to excellence by Tim Lincecum. Most importantly they look like a team with confidence again.

Youth led the way again last night.  From Timmy's complete game shutout, to Pablo Sandoval's double of the wall in the second, to Buster Posey's RBI groundout in the 8th to go along with having scored the games only other run up to that point.

I have to say that the young players playing more often has been refreshing to say the least.  Earlier in the season when the Giants were struggling and they were playing nothing but veterans every day this was a depressing team to watch.  Now, win or lose, we are getting a glimpse of the Giant's future.  We are seeing what guys like Posey, Bumgarner, Ishikawa, and Schierholtz can do while being given somewhat of an extended look for the first time.  The future looks bright indeed!

Link of the day:

22gigantes posed the question during the break if divorce is getting to Pablo Sandoval.  This theory holds some water with me since I have long thought that Pablo's struggles this season have looked to be more mental than mechanical.  His celebration after lining his second inning run scoring double last night would make one think that he was feeling a little more loose to start the second half.

Youth is served. Finally.

GIANTS 6 - NATIONALS 2

The Buster Posey show continued today.  Madison Bumgarner ran his scoreless innings streak to 15, and Travis Ishikawa was the only Giants with multiple hits to go along with his 3 RBIs.

The kids are starting to take this team over.

Going into the break I believe that Bruce Bochy has found his best lineup.  When Torres returns, and that should be the first game right after the break, Bochy should throw out the lineup of Torres, Sanchez, Huff, Posey, Ishikawa, Uribe, Sandoval, and Shierholtz.  If he throws that lineup out day in and day out, and resists the temptation to tinker, the offense should be OK.

The young guys have pretty much gone out and taken over this team.  Specifically Posey, Ishikawa, and Bumgarner.  They have been the biggest contributors, along with Aubrey Huff, to the Giants offense on this roadtrip.

Buster Posey has easily become the offensive leader of this team.  He carried the team on his shoulders during the roadtrip having gone 20-40 with 6 HRs and 15 RBIs.  Ishikawa has been a nice compliment to Posey while having hit in eight of his last nine games with a .429 average (12-for-28) during that stretch, which includes one homer and 11 RBIs.


Now one would think that any major league manager would go with what has been his most productive ineup of the season coming out of the break.  But this is Bruce Bochy who looks for any way to get struggling vets like Aaron Rowand, Bengie Molina (before he was traded), and Edgar Renteria.  


I do have to give him some credit for actually working Nate Schierholtz into the lineup the last two days.  nate repaid that faith by hitting a double and driving in a run in yesterday's game.


Link of the day.


Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury news reports that Giants management had a sitdown with Pablo Sandoval after yesterday's game.  Nobody has expected Pablo to struggle as much as he has this season and we are all waiting for him to turn it around.  


The key to remember with Pablo is that he is 23 years old and he is still contributing defensively.  I don't think the Giants have anybody that they could replace him with if they wanted to.  Baggarly also points out that Pablo is one good season away from millions of dollars as he is currently making just over the league minimum.

Well that was disappointing.

NATIONALS 8 - GIANTS 1

Matt Cain appeared to have things under control.  Adam Dunn had different ideas.

Cain was pitching OK until the 6th inning.  The only hiccup was the solo homerun to Adam Dunn in the 4th inning.  In the 6th inning the Nats scored 2 runs that pretty much put the game out of reach.  Then the 7th inning came along with another Dunn homer, a 4 run outburst, and Cain was done after allowing 8 runs 7 of which were earned.

Cain allowed 11 hits for the second time in his career.  The last time he allowed that many hits in a game was way back in 2006 .

With Cain, the problem has always been lapses in concentration.  It's nothing new.  Cain won't pitch again until after the break so hopefully he can work on that concentration.

Not much else to tell.  The Giants struggled against Strausburg which was too be expected.  They had him on the ropes in the first inning and worked him into throwing a lot of pitches.  Then they all of the sudden went into a slumber and made it easy for him to throw 6 innings.  The Giants also managed only 1 hit off of 3 Washington relievers.

The fact that the Giants were unable to keep the runs coming after the offensive barrage in Milwaukee was disappointing.  Again, Strausburg is a tough order but you would have liked to see them score more than one run.   Hopefully they look better the next 2 games before the break.

The biggest development of the day is the injury to Andres Torres.  He left the game in the 5th inning and everybody's favorite Giant Aaron Rowand came in and went 0 for 2.  I expect Torres to be allowed to heal until after the break giving Rowand plenty of chances to strikeout.

It would be too easy to give Nate Schierholtz a chance to show what he could do with two starts in a row.

Dan Runzler was also placed on the DL and Joe Martinez was called up to replace him.  Runzler is expected back in 6 weeks.  This leaves Jeremey Affeldt as the only lefthander in the Giants bullpen.

Link of the day:

The Giants will be monitoring Madison Bumgarner's workload.  he threw 140+ innings the last 2 years so he is maybe going to be allowed to throw 160 innings tops this season.

At least they scored 3 runs

ROCKIES 7 - GIANTS 3

About 2 weeks ago, this team was looking promising.  They were scoring runs, pitching well, and winning games.

Then they went to Toronto.

The Giants haven't won a series since they played the Orioles back on June 14-16.  Since that time they are 3 - 10 and they have now lost 3 in a row.  The offense scored 3 runs for the first time in 6 games but the pitching staff gave up 7 runs.

The result was another loss.

The only real positive from this game is that the Giants future was on display and performed well.  Buster Posey was the only Giant to get more than one hit, including his second homer, and Madison Bumgarner threw 7 decent innings.  They seemed to be the only 2 Giants who decided to show up to play.

More fallout from the Molina trade.

The PTBNL turns out to be minor league pitcher Michael Main.  He is a mid level pitcher who has had a few issues recently but throws hard and possibly projects to the bullpen.  It really makes this a good deal for the Giants.  It was actually a good deal for both teams since that Rangers had almost zero production from their catchers and the Giants lineup couldn't afford the non-production from Molina.

Molina was a good Giant.  Up until this season, he was solid offensively and really shaped and molded our excellent staff.  He will be missed.

What is wrong with the pitchers?

A lot of what is wrong with the starters can be boiled down to a slump.

I think a lot of what ails them is actually related to the offensive struggles.

You always hear baseball pitchers say that it's not necessarily pitch count that matters but how many high stress pitches a pitcher throws.  Usually high stress pitches come from situations where the game is close and every pitch the pitcher makes can lose the game so a pitcher has got to be almost perfect with each pitch.

Almost every pitch a Giants starter has thrown can classify as a high stress pitch.

The Giants staff is usually pitching with one or two runs of support and each pitch they throw has the potential to lose the game for them.  They are constantly under pressure to be perfect or lose.  The Giants haven't even scored more than 3 runs since June 25th so there hasn't been one instance where a pitcher has had a 2 or 3 run lead since at least then.

With all the stress on the staff, slumps like this are inevitable.  They are inevitable anyway, but when the offense can't score enough runs to pick up Barry Zito who battles and battles and only gives up 2 runs, it is disastrous for a team and that starter.

The bottom line is the Giants need more offense.

The only rumor on the search for more offense is that the Giants want Jonathan Sanchez and Thomas Neal for Prince Fielder.  The Giants are balking at that deal and I can understand why.  Who are they going to replace Sanchez in the rotation with?  If they can figure out the answer to that question then I am all for the deal.  right now the Giants can't afford to replace anybody in the starting rotation.   Although a little offensive firepower makes the starters all look a little better.  They also probably don't want to part with Neal.

Nate watch, Bowker watch, and prospect watch:
Nate got a start and went 1 for 4.  Hopefully with some regular playing time he can start to hit with some authority.  John Bowker went 0 for 2 for Fresno and lowered his average to a paltry .323.  Lastly Brandon Belt the San Jose Giants first baseman was promoted to AA Richmond.  Belt was batting a respectable .383 with 10 homeruns for San Jose so hopefully he can continue that success in Richmond.

Bengie Molina traded!

WOW!

The Giants traded Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers for a pack of chewing gum, reliever Chris Ray and a player to be named later.

Well OK, I'm not sure about the pack of chewing gum cut most Giants fans would have been happy if that was all that they got for him.  Instead B.S. filled a need (reliever), cleared the way for Posey to start, and was even able to get a Player to be named later out of the deal.  Maybe since he was named one of the toughest GMs to trade with the day before, Sabean needed to prove that he could get a deal done!

The Giants didn't rob the Rangers as I'm sure many Giants fans will believe he did.  Expect Molina's offensive numbers to improve slightly once he plays every day in the Bandbox that the Rangers play in.Plus, for them, he is an upgrade at catcher since all of the Rangers catchers combined have hit .212 so far this season.  Plus with guys like Nelson Cruz and Vladimir Guerrrero in their lineup the Rangers are better equipped to take on player with Bengie's limited offensive skills.

Molina was a good Giant, offensive struggles this season aside.  But the time had come for him to go.  Buster Posey has shown that he can hit at the major league level and as Bruce Bochy said the other day: "You can't get em all in there."  Hopefully this opens the door for Nate Schierholtz to play more every day.  i doubt it though since Bochy will almost assuredly jump at the chance to get Aaron Rowand back in the lineup and I have to admit that he did earn himself at least one more start after yesterday's 3 for 4 performance.

I'm not even going to comment on yesterday's 8-2 loss to the Dodgers since I have nothing positive to say.  I will say that I am a man of my word and my order for a Fire-Sabean.com t-shirt has been placed.

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.

Giants dominance of Astros ends for a game

Astros 6 - Giants 3

It's one of those things that had to happen sometime.  The Giants finally lost to the Astros after 10 consecutive wins against them.  Barry Zito also lost to the Astros for the first time this season after having gone 2-0 and having given up only 3 earned runs to them in 13 innings this season.

The loss could just be that law of averages catching up to them.  It could also point to something bigger. 

After a streak of 12 games in which they scored 3 runs or more in every game, the Giants have now endured a stretch where they scored 3 runs or less in 5 of their last 7 games.  The offense that appeared to be clicking now seems to be struggling once again.  The Giants did manage 4 extra base hits a night after they didn't have any.  They did miss a ton of scoring opportunities which seems to be the story of this team this season.

Andrew Baggerly of the San Jose Mercury news had some interesting insights to Posey and Molina.

On Posey he said that Buster's wrist has been bothering him.  Buster said that it's been something that has bothered him all season.  Bochy insisted that there was nothing to read into Posey's absence and that he would catch against Joe Martinez on Saturday. 

"Sometimes it's good to get a couple days," Bochy said. "He's just getting a little break right now."

I find that statement strange since Bochy is the same guy who kept insisting earlier this season that Pablo Sandoval didn't need a day off because he was 23 years old and should be able to handle playing every day.  Posey, who is also 23, however gets what amounts to 3 days off in a row after Monday's off day. 

Bochy knows these guys better than I do so it's tough to say what it was that led to the way that they were each handled but it does seem strange.

On Molina, Baggerley said that he was getting the same feeling of frustration from Giants management that he was getting right before Aaron Rowand's banishment to the bench. There was also some talk of an elbow injury with him, which could explain a lot of his problems throwing out baserunners this season although he did throw one out last night, I would not be surprised one bit to see Bengie spend an extended period of time on the bench.

Some good news is that Edgar Renteria is batting .333 since he has returned to the lineup.   It's only been 9 ABs but he has been hitting at a .326 clip all season besides his multiple trips to the DL.  How he fits into an already overcrowded infield is a nice problem to have.  But given that Bochy is trying to achieve a "sense of oneness." I think he will get his share of ABs.

Nate watch:
Nate popped out with runners on first and second base in the 8th inning.  At this point, Nate must stand in the on deck circle before each at-bat and think that it doesn't matter what he does because he won't start the next day.  Burrell, who wasn't supposed to start every day has and he started out OK but he is now 4 for his last 19 which works out to a whopping .235 average.  One of those 4 hits was a HR though.

Lincecum defeats Oswalt.

GIANTS 3 - ASTROS 1

Tim Lincecum only allowed one unearned run in 8 innings against the Astros.  He has defeated Roy Oswalt in all 3 matchups they have had this season.  Oswalt only allowed 2 runs over 7 innings and if there was ever a guy worthy of hard luck loser it's Oswalt.  He held the Giants to just 6 hits and all of them were singles, all 7 hits the Giants mustered tonight were singles.  His record is 5 and 9 with a 3.08 ERA.  Compare that with Lincecum's slightly better ERA and an 8-2 record.

It's finally official.  Mark DeRosa will have season ending wrist surgery.  I wonder what took so long to finally make this announcement and I almost feel like the Giants didn't really believe the injury was as severe as DeRosa was letting on.  In the story from the Mercury news there is one scary sentence:

"The Giants would like to salvage something from their investment in DeRosa, but Groeschner couldn't be certain that the veteran will be completely recovered and healthy for 2011."

Wow.  What a disaster this guy was.

Nate watch:

Nate came on in the 7th as a pinch runner for Pat Burrell.  He got a single in the 9th to drive in Juan Uribe.  Hopefully this 2 out RBI gets him a start or 2.  As Duane Kuiper said during his AB in the 9th: "Here's a guy who could benefit from a start or two."  (I'm paraphrasing)

I'll take a 5-1 homestand!

GIANTS 6 - ORIOLES 3

I mean really, how much more can you ask for?  Well I guess you could ask for 6-0 but I will take 5-1.

Lincecum had an odd outing.   He had 10ks and allowed 2 runs in 6.0 innings.  Which is pretty good, but then you see that he also walked 4 guys and gave up 8 hits.  To the Orioles of all teams.  This team is at or near the bottom of every offensive category so the fact that Timmy gave up so many hits to this team is slightly perplexing.  Is it a sign that his troubles may not be over?   Is it because he partied to hard for his birthday? 

Whatever the reason, he found a way to win.  That's what great players do.  Timmy did get hit by a line drive in the 6th inning but from all the reports I can see after the game he will be OK.  Although all of them quote Bruce Bochy as their source.   So his definition of OK may be slightly different than everyone else.

The best part of the game had to be the back to back HRs by Huff and Uribe.  These guys are quickly becoming the heart and soul of the Giants lineup.  They both have 11 HRs on the season and they keep hitting them in the same game as if they are trying to outdo each other.  Hey whatever it takes. Just keep it up! 

On another note, I thought that Aubrey Huff was over the hill but after seeing that he is actually 2 months younger than I am I think he is a young stud!  By the way Huff's homer was the 52nd splash hit in AT&T's history!  That's where young men hit their homers.  Well young men and Barry Bonds.

On the farm:

At the time of this writing Richmond and Augusta were in the middle of their games and San Jose and Fresno were going to play later.

The Giants really have a number of exciting guys in their farm system that really should give the Giants hope for the future.  They also have enough prospects to make a deal for a bona fide slugger like Paul Konerko and still be set up for the future.  More on the farm system tomorrow.

Nate Watch:

Well Bochy doesn't completely hat Nate after all.  Nate got a rare start in right.  Went 0 for 3 at the plate, but did drive in the Giants 6th run of the afternoon with a Sacrifice fly.  He didn't have too many tough chances in the outfield and had one throw to the plate that was off-target.  If the throw had been on target he probably would have got the runner but when you don't play that often you don't have the opportunity to stay sharp.