What are you going to do Giants??
Man. What a blargh homestand. I can’t even come up with a word. Just blargh.
Could just be a dry spell. But these Giants are notorious for not hitting. Melky is struggling, Pablo’s on the DL, and newly acquired Hunter Pence is a solid player, but who knows how long it will take him to get into a nice groove? It took Carlos Beltran last year a while and Beltran is a better hitter.
And Barry Zito? Is he done? What can be done? Should the Giants should just release him and pay him off next year? They did it with Miguel Tejada and Aaron Rowand. I’m wondering if they should just do it with Zito. There’s got to be a 5th starter out there somewhere who can start the beginning of games off better than Barry. Seems like we’re always in a hole early in Zito’s games.
If only we could have known! Photoshop (any other pitcher) here.
We open in Colorado tonight to square off against the Rockies. Lo and behold we’re going to face off with our old buddy Jonathan Sanchez! This could be the cure for the Giants!
The Cure for the Giants bats! Throw us fatties Jonny!
July 18 2012: Giants 9 Braves 4 Cabrera Gets Choppy
What a wacky game, but in the end, Vogelsong’s strong pitching and the duel home runs of Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco in extra innings did the job.
It was an interesting game with Melky Cabrera clearly agitated/pumped up to showboat in front of his former team and fans. Feeling juiced, he ended up hitting a home run to tie the game at 1, but he was also shown doing the somewhat vulgar DX chops to the crotch so I don’t know how well that’s going to fly with Bochy or the rest of the Giants squad.
Examples:
Melky also wanted Jason Heyward to run from second to third on a flyball. Melky getting testy:
He’d end up dropping a ball hit off Heyward later in the game. That’s why I’m leery of this type of “showing up”; you better back up what your antics. Although, I do find it entertaining!!!
* Other than that, Santiago Casilla again gave it up in the 9th, and it’s beginning to look as if the Giants have to seriously consider looking for a new closer. Hard to find but what else are the Giants going to do?
* Brandon Crawford had a huge 3 run bomb that won the game for the Giants. It was remarkable for two reasons: one being that it was first since April, the other being he had just fouled off a ball on his right knee which took him about a couple of minutes to recover. And he had to because the Giants had no other bench players in reserve.
July 17 2012: 9-0 Giants Shutout Braves
Location, location, location.
That’s what Barry Zito implemented with his pitches all night long in Atlanta as the Giants soundly defeated the Braves in a 9-0 victory. Buster Posey contributed 5 RBIs to extend the Giants winning streak to 4 since the All Star Break.
I’ve been all about Hector Sanchez these past few posts, so it was tough to see him leave the game in the 4th inning with a sprained knee. Hopefully the MRI comes out clean. Panda becomes the backup catcher if the Giants don’t make a move.
Bring Out The Broom: What To Make of The Sweep vs the Astros
It little profits us to determine what to construe of a sweep of one of the lowliest baseball teams in the land, but as a Giants fan, we can’t help but feel confident about our will to persevere and our pitching dominance.
That is to say, Tim Lincecum pitching 8 strong innings (and deserving of a win) has you breathing a sigh of relief. But again, as Mychael Urban declared on 95.7 The Game, the Astros could be viewed as a AAAA (4A) team compared to other, strongly built MLB squads.
But let’s not take away anything from Tim. He came out and showed the brilliance of “past Timmy”. There’s no point in judging him one way or the other right now. Let’s all ride the Timmy train until the rails come off.
Hector Sanchez proved again why he might oust Buster Posey at catcher down the line. Sure, he lost the ball that Santiago Casilla sinkered in that ended up costing Timmy the W, but despite that, he played a stellar defensive game (how many times did Casilla throw balls in the dirt in that 9th inning??) as well as going 4-for-6 at the plate with the game winning RBI single. His switch hitting is invaluable and already personally catching Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito can only garner more confidence of him from the Giants brass.
The Astros came back to ATT Park at the right time (and the last time as a National League opponent). Now the Giants travel to Hotlanta where warmer clime and a hot team await the Giants in what should be viewed as a series that will yield pretty damn good baseball.
Goodbye Astros!!!!
Hector Sanchez: Big Night!
Hector Sanchez went 4-6 with two rbi’s and a walk off single to lead the Giants to a second victory over the Astros.
A passed ball by Sanchez from the arm of Santiago Casilla aided the Astros in completing a comeback in the top of the 9th to tie it.
But in the bottom of the 12th inning, Sanchez came through with his fourth hit of the game, a sharp grounder to Jose Altuve which skipped off his glove into the outfield.
Pablo Panda Sandoval scored from second, and the Giants, although rescinding a much needed W for a sharp Tim Lincecum, cruised into first place of the N.L West with a Padres victory over the Dodgers.
What an All Star Game for our Giants!
Melky goes deep, Pablo with the very first bases loaded clearing triple in All Star game hsitory, Buster scores a run and Cain throws two-shout out innings.
And the country thinks we didn’t know what we were doing voting in our players??
By the way, Melky won M.V.P. That trade is looking better and better.
MVP!!!
SF Giants Sighting: They Shop at Target Just Like Us!
WELL when I go to work, I’m happy to just say hi to local firemen or US Postal employees. But my sweet friend Rachelle came across someone a bit more famous than that!
Roaming down the aisles of Target was none other than currently injured 1B/OF Aubrey Huff!!!
Rachelle <3 Aubrey
I don’t know whom looks happier to be with whom, but if i was in Huff Daddy’s shoes, I’d be one happy camper!
Now why can’t Panda come in to my store to buy some Two Buck Chuck??
Giants Swept By Nationals
Well, I don’t know what it was. Playing on the 4th of July in D.C.? The hot climate? The throwback uni’s to the 1924 New York Giants?
Matt Cain in 1924 NY Giants Jersey
Either way, it seems like a long time since the Giants swept the Dodgers in late June. You’d think that that a starting pitching lineup of Tim Lincecum, Madison Bumgarner, and Matt Cain would walk away with at least 1 victory, but alas, whatever the Nats were drinking was just too much for the Giants.
It didn’t help that Matt Cain gave up two homers back-to-back before departing, but it does seem like the Giants might need some bullpen help at the trade deadline.
What will the Pirates have in store for the Giants? Can the Giants finish strong before the All-Star break?
Let’s Celebrate 4 Giants All-Stars on the 4th!
2012 GIANTS ALL-STAR STARTERS!
Well, it’s pretty darn cool that Giants fans came out in droves to push our boys to the premier game of the summer. Buster Posey broke the N.L. All-Star record of votes with 7,621,370!!
Here is the National League starting lineup:
| C | Buster Posey, SF |
| 1B | Joey Votto, CIN |
| 2B | Dan Uggla, ATL |
| SS | Rafael Furcal, STL |
| 3B | Pablo Sandoval, SF |
| OF | Melky Cabrera, SF |
| OF | Carlos Beltran, STL |
| OF | Matt Kemp, LAD |
Not sure if Matt Kemp is actually going to participate (besides the Home Run Derby), but it doesn’t matter. 3 Giants will start and Matt Cain will probably get an inning or two to flex his perfect-game muscles!!
Timmy Falters
After a resurrected start vs LA, Tim Lincecum fell back to earth against the Nationals today in D.C. by giving up a career high 8 runs.
The Giants lost 9-3 but again, what’s more disconcerting is the way Timmy keeps self-destructing.
Could this be the moment to start Brad Penny in place of Timmy while Timmy takes some time off to get his stuff together?
I wouldn’t put it past the Giants brass to roll with that move while Lincecum gathers himself. Hopefully.
Err…should we let Tiimy smoke some more? Or is that the problem?! 
