Were are the bats?

What a depressing night.

Giants lost to the Dodgers 4-0. For the second consecutive night the Giant fail to get on the scoreboard. Giants pitcher Jonathan Sanchez, also struggled to locate pitches. He had thrown pitched 27 in the first inning alone and was chased out of the game by the start of the fifth inning. Matos, Espineli, and Romo pitches the rest of the game. This is his second poor outing in a row.

The Giants bats were completely none existent. Chad Billingsley, Dodgers, pitched the entire game. Giants had only five hits, and were never threatening to score. Two of those hits came in the ninth inning. He also struck out eight.

The most positive was the Giants did not commit any fielding errors.

It was just pain ugly.

Were is the youth...the starting lineup as follows:

Roberts, LF / Castillo, 2B / Winn, RF / Molina, C / Rowand, CF / Bowker, 1B / Aurilia, 3B / Vizquel, SS

photo credit: chris tuite's photos http://www.flickr.com/photos/christuite/2370393580/

Old story…same results for Cain!

It was the Giants & Dodgers. The two teams have a long storied history of playing against each other. Giants had won the night before. Down the road, the Angels just announced they had acquired the slugging first baseman Mark Teixeira from Atlanta for their first baseman Casey Kotchman and pitching prospect Stephen Marek. A 5.4 earthquake rocked the southland just hours before the game. These were sign strange things were to come.

The game proved to be a pitching dual until the 6th inning between Matt Cain and Jason Johnson. The Dodgers would break the game open by scoring two runs. One would not come without controversy.

With James Loney at first base, Casey Blake hit Cain’s 2-2 pitch down the left-field line. Fred Lewis bobbled the grounder deep in left field. The ball deflected out of his glove and bounced atop of leftfield wall/padding along the base line. Lewis recovered the ball (without fan interference) and fired it to shortstop Omar Vizquel, who relayed it home. Bengie Molina tagged out Loney, at home.

The umpires huddled together, joined by Bruce Bochy and the entire Giant infield. After they convened it was ruled that Lewis had deflected the ball out of play. This awarded the runners two bases after the infraction. So Loney was waved home while Blake went to third. The inning continued instead of a third out. Still replay is a bad idea for baseball.

The call, good or bad, Cain followed his outstanding four-hit shutout against Washington last Thursday with another stellar performance. The most frustrating thing is to watch Cain continue get rack up losses while he continues to perform well. For the last year and a half, Cain has remained within the two or three pitchers with the worst run support. Cain continues to overachieve and never complains about the lack of run support. He just digs in deeper. This shows what exemplary person he is.

Alex Hinshaw provided yet another solid eighth inning.

Tonight is the rubber match…. Giants, Jonathan Sanchez (8 – 6) 4.46 vs.
Dodgers, Chad Billingsley (10 – 9) 3.26

Let’s go Giants. Beat LA!

Photo Credit: by artolog - http://www.flickr.com/photos/artolog/2492621852/

Giants / Dodgers...Giant win!

There are few things better in west coast baseball than a Giants and Dodger game. Last nights game did not disappoint.

Giants bats came alive for 7-0 lead, early. Then there were a few Giants fielding errors to allow Dodgers to get back into the game. The errors allowed the Dodgers to get six unanswered runs. Former Giants Mark Sweeney even got into the act with a two-run pinch-double making it 7-6. Sergio Romo, Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner and Brian Wilson then shut it down to retain the lead. Wilson was great.

As with all Giants / Dodgers games, emotions were high. They hit a boiling with a strike call newly acquired Dodger third baseman Casey Blake did not agree with. He argued the call and was then ejected. Manager Joe Torre, to protect his player, continued the argument until he also was also tossed. Dodger fans will say it was unfair...replay showed the call was correct.

Regardless...Giants won 7-6.

Tonight shall be another great game with Giants, Matt Cain (6-8, 3.82) and Dodgers countering with Jason Johnson (0-0, 2.57). Along with a great pitching matchup Dodger Stadium was shaken by the 5.4-magnitude earthquake this afternoon. Only in California!!!

Let’s play ball.

Zito struggles again!

Barry Zito
Originally uploaded by Scott Ableman

Game is still in progress. Giants losing 6-0 in the 6th inning.

Barry Zitos struggles seem to continue the second time through the opposing teams line up. Looking at the game by pitching number from the third inning on.

3 innings
Barry Zito - 48 pitches / 27 strikes - 21 balls through
Randy Johnson - 47 pitches / 31 strikes - 16 ball

4 inning
Barry Zito - 90 pitches / 49 strikes - 41 balls
Randy Johnson - 58 pitches / 39 strikes - 19 balls
Note: Zito walked 4 (1 intentional) and walked in 1 run...gave up 4 runs total.

5 inning
Barry Zito - 103 pitches / 56 strikes - 47 balls
Randy Johnson - 73 pitches / 49 strikes - 23 balls
Note: Zito gives up 2 run - home run - Zito pitch hit for in the 5th, taxing the pen for the second time in three days.

Giants lineup:
Lewis (LF), Burriss (2B), Winn (RF), Molina (C), Rowand (CF), Aurillia (1B), Castillo (3B), Ochoa (SS)

How much to go young?

According to Jayson Stark the Mets' have expressed an interest in Randy Winn. The primary hurtle is that Winn is under contract for over $8MM next year. Any deal is based on how much off that contact would the Giants be willing to pick up.

The other New York team have been reported to be scouting Bengie Molina since Jorge Posada's shoulder injury is a major concern as the look to the stretch run. Like Winn, Molina is signed through next season. Plus the Giants are not thrilled with either teams farm systems, especially now that it was cherry picked by Pittsburgh in the Xavier Nady and Damaso Marte trade on Friday. When mentioning the Yankees, how fun is it to think about Barry Bonds in the Bronx; however unlikely.

The Marlins and Cardinals are reportedly interested in Jack Taschner. While Tampa Bay is a potential contender for Tyler Walker.

Tim Lincecum...career high 13 K’s / season 156 K’s

Photo by given2fly http://www.flickr.com/photos/23415943@N00/


Tim Lincecum shines as Giants loose 5-3.

Lincecum, what can you say that has not already been said...13 K’s for a career with 111 pitches and no walks. He also leads the league with 156 K for the season. Can you say Cy Young?

The trade deadline is looming. Giants are willing to make a deal for the right price. Bengie Molina certainly raised his value in todays game with his two incredible defensive plays at home plate for outs. Talking about increasing trade value it was good to see that Omar was making contact again with the bat.

The growing pains of youth. Bowker made one great defensive play saving a run, to Molina but also made three big mistakes...one cost a run in the fifth. He picked his foot off the bag to early from a bare handed catch and through from Vazquel. In his defense the call could have gone either way. The other was an error that was picked up by Lincecum striking out the side, leaving the runner at second in the sixth. The last one was a miscue in the eight that hurt the most, as Arizona took Walker to town. Walker lasted only 1/3 of the inning and was hit upon for 3 runs in 18 pitches. He also gets the loss.

To add insult to injury...Dodgers are winning 6-0.

Off night for Sanchez

Jonathan Sanchez
Originally uploaded by liberaldem537

Ooohhh brother! Jonathan Sanchez had one of those nights he would rather forget. Even he would likely say it was ugly. In 2 2/3 innings he through 81 pitches. Not only has this going to cause the Giants to be down 6-0, but adds additional strain on the bull pen, especially since long relief has been an issue for the Giants. To compare, the Diamondbacks', Dan Harden has through 38 in 3 innings.

Jonathan Sanchez will shrug this one off. He was struggling with all his pitches. Pitching is mental, so he will bounce back in his next start.

Please let this game end. There is always tomorrow.

Cain... complete-game shutout

Matt Cain on the mound
Originally uploaded by Lizzy Ramone

Great win for the Giants, alternate lineup, and most importantly Matt Cain.

Once again...Cain got no run support, but had everything working today. I am pleased he was on the winning side, for a change. For the last year and a half he has remained within the two or three pitchers with the worst run support. This would be enough for many to start pointing fingers, but that is not his style. He just seems to take more on his shoulders and works harder. Cain's complete-game shutout, today, reflects his determination to excel and win.

Lets hope he gets a lot more wins.

Trade Deadline Approaches...Randy Winn

As the trade deadline approaches there is plenty of speculation that Randy Winn could be the next one dealt.

Winn a graduated from San Ramon Valley High School (Danville, CA) is definitely a Bay Area favorite. He has always presented himself as a team leader. Both veteran and young players alike seem to gravitate towards his personable demeanor. Additionally, he always comes ready to play. He not only covers the complex right field of AT&T Park, but also provides options by playing all three outfield positions. If he is indeed dealt, there is on question his career .345 OBP, .423. SLG and .286 AVG would be missed. Especially on this present team that has had difficulty scoring runs, consistently.

However, if the Giants are serious about getting younger, it is important that they continue to bring up young player like Nate Schierholtz, in order to see how they perform at the next level.

If Winn departs it could potentially free up over $8MM for the 2009 season.

Even if Winn remains, and the Giants continue to fall in the standing, it may provide Management with additional reasons to bring up other minor league player and test there skills.

I for one would be sorry to see him go.

Ray: Thank you for the memories

The Ray Durham trade was completed once his new team swept the Giants. As a fan, I want to thank him for the memories and wish him the best of luck in Milwaukee.

Ray Durham, when not hampered by leg injuries, from his aggressive play, had been a productive player for the Giants. His .293 batting average and .385 on-base percentage will certainly be missed. On the other-hand this reflects the teams commitment to getting younger and being off the hook for at least a portion of his salary.

Pitching....pitching.....pitching! At least for now, Jack Taschner who had originally been rumored to be part of the Milwaukee deal is staying put...for now. There could be other trades as Giants become sellers and looking for youth.

Giants received lefty pitcher Steve Hammond and center fielder Darren Ford. Since neither of these players are likely to be seen this year, only time will tell what kind of trade it was.

Durham Rumors Continue

As the trade deadline approaches, rumors of teams looking to buy and sell continues swirling. So do rumors of Durham to Milwaukee.

Rumors have The Giants sweetening the deal with Milwaukee. Giants are considering trading both second baseman Ray Durham and possibly left-handed reliever Jack Taschner for two minor league players. According to the The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel the two player named were outfielder Darren Ford (outfielder) and Steve Hammond (left-hander).

Rumor: Durham trade

The Giants continue there effort to get younger. Rumors had the Giants trading Ray Durham to the Milwaukee Brewers for Rickie Weeks. This appears to be false.

Active Giant's Roster 7/18/2008

Under Construction

Well this is a practice post! This is going to be a blog about my favorite sport's team, The SF Giants and their affiliate minor league teams. No Dodger Fans Allowed! No just kidding. Please return soon.