Giantsblog

For the second night in a row, the Giants suffered a shutout, this time by a score of 4-0. Bad pitching was not the issue the last two games, but just every batter slumping at the same time.
Jonathan Sanchez did not have the pinpoint control he had been pitching with all season, and was only able to go four innings in the 4-0 loss. He allowed all four runs on five hits and four walks while getting just one strikeout. After giving the Dodgers an early lead with a run in the first inning, he allowed them to add three more in the third inning, before leaving the game after four innings. The bullpen did a good job keeping it a four-run deficit throughout the game. Osiris Matos struggled in the fifth inning, giving up two hits, but managed to keep the Dodgers from adding any more runs. Geno Espineli pitched through the sixth and into the seventh inning without a problem, giving up just one harmless single and a walk while striking out two batters. Sergio Romo pitched the final inning and a third of the seventh, striking out two of the four batters he faced.
Once again San Francisco did not do anything offensively. Dodgers starter Chad Billingsley limited the Giants to five hits, one that was actually more than a single. Rightfielder Randy Winn went two-for-four with two singles, the other two singles were hits by Bengie Molina and Rich Aurilia. Third baseman Jose Castillo had the only extra-base hit, a double, but San Francisco was unable to cash in on the hit. Giants hitters struckout eight times against Billingsley, who pitched the complete game for Los Angeles.
The Giants have a good shot at breaking the scoreless streak on Friday with today’s day of rest. Tim Lincecum will start the first game of the series at 7:10 p.m in San Diego. Already having a great season, he’ll have the advantage of pitching in one of the most pitcher-friendy parks (Petco) in the league. Josh Banks will start for the Padres.

The second back-to-back quality start by Matt Cain was wasted when the offense failed to produce anything for him. After being shutout 2-0 last night, the Giants will not sweep or be swept again and instead will either win or lose the series at Los Angeles.
Cain did everything right to deserve a win, but the offense just did not give him any runs. He spread out eight hits over seven innings of work while striking out eight batters. He allowed two runs, one was earned because of a strange play that was ruled an error. The second run was scored after the umpires called back a tag at the plate, and rewarded Dodgers third baseman Casey Blake a ground-rule double which was apparently justified after Fred Lewis committed an error by deflecting a grounder out of bounds. That was just one of those horrible calls that allows a fan to say they saw something new at the ballpark. It did not make much of a difference though as the Giants failed to do anything offensively. Alex Hinshaw pitched the eighth inning, striking out two hitters and allowing a harmless hit.
San Francisco only managed to get five hits, it was the second game in a row that they hit nothing more than singles. Rich Aurilia leadoff the fifth inning with hit, but the Giants were not able to take advantage of the situation and left him on base. Aurilia was two-for-three, and Randy Winn also had two hits. Aaron Rowand had the other Giants hit. Omar Vizquel looked like he had broken out of his slump, but then grounded into two double plays.
Up and coming pitcher Jonathan Sanchez will try to win the series tonight for San Francisco, but Chad Billingsley will be looking to get it for L.A. First pitch is set for 7:10 p.m. The Giants will have Thursday off before heading down to San Diego for the weekend.

After taking what looked like a safe 7-0 lead, the Giants almost let Los Angeles get back in the game. The bullpen came up big for San Francisco and managed to hold the Dodgers off for a 7-6 win.
Kevin Correia did a good job through four innings, but then got a little too comfortable and let the Dodgers score a slew of quick runs. He cruised through the first four innings, but once the Giants gave him seven runs to work with he eased up on his opponent. Los Angeles jumped on him for five runs in the fifth inning, and added another in the sixth, which forced him to leave the game. He ended the day giving up six runs (four earned, thanks to a Jose Castillo fielding error, and a rare Bengie Molina throwing error, just his fifth of the season) in five and a third innings. It looked as if the sixth inning was going to be a wild one too after Alex Hinshaw relieved Correia and walked the first and only batter he ended up facing, but Sergio Romo handled the situation and bailed both of them out. Tyler Walker, Jack Taschner earned holds, each pitching perfect innings to setup Brian Wilson to pitch the ninth inning with a one-run lead. Wilson earned his twenty-eighth save of the season with a perfect inning of his own that included two strikeouts.
The Giants most of their runs on two-out hits, five of them came in the fourth inning after they scored their first two runs in the third. What is even more surprising is that all nine Giants hits were singles. Correia even helped himself out with a bases-loaded single to drive in two runs; a mental mistake by Dodgers starter Hiroki Kuroda setup the situation. Fred Lewis’ only hit of the game scored two runs. Castillo was the only Giant with two hits in the game, both singles scored a run.
After throwing a complete game shutout in his last outing, Matt Cain will look to build off that tonight at 7:10 p.m. in the second game of the series. Veteran Jason Johnson will pitch for the Dodgers.

The Giants have started the second half of the season with three sweeps, unfortunately for them only one of them has gone their way. A 7-2 loss in the finale of the series against the D-backs this afternoon completed the sweep.
Barry Zito handled Arizona well for three innings, but got hit around for four runs in the fourth, allowing the D-backs to take a comfortable lead with Randy Johnson on the mound. Zito would also give up a two-run shot to Mark Reynolds in the fifth inning to end his day with six earned runs on six hits and five walks. Osiris Matos relieved Zito and pitched a scoreless sixth inning while allowing two hitters to reach base and threaten. Conor Jackson would add another Arizona run in the seventh inning on a solo shot off Sergio Romo to put San Francisco in a 7-0 hole. Geno Espineli allowed a hit in the eighth inning, but was able to strand the runner. Alex Hinshaw pitched a hitless ninth inning, but struggled with his control, walking two batters.
Despite combining for nine hits off Johnson in seven innings, the Giants were still shutout by him, but struck out just two times. Leadoff leftfielder Fred Lewis had a big day, going four-for-five with two stolen bases, but did not produce any runs. Lewis had two doubles and two singles. The Giants managed to add two meaningless runs in the eighth and ninth innings coming on hits by John Bowker and Aaron Rowand.
Tomorrow the Giants will head to southern California for series’ against the Dodgers and Padres. They need to come away with some wins during this roadtrip, especially after being swept by Arizona and facing more opponents from their own division. Kevin Correia will pitch against Hiroki Kuroda at 7:10 p.m.

With a sweep of Arizona this weekend, the Giants could pull within four games of the division lead, but winning the series first is all they should be focusing on. Going into the series, San Francisco find themselves seven games back of the division leading D-backs, six of the Dodgers, and one of the Rockies. The major reason why Arizona is leading the division is their ability to defeat divison opponents, going 22-12 against the National League West rivals this season. The Giants are 16-15, but could be worse.
This weekend’s series offers several interesting pitching match-ups, starting tonight with up and coming pitchers Jonathan Sanchez and Dan Haren facing each other in the opening game at 7:15 p.m. Saturday’s game will feature last year’s NL Cy Young winner Brandon Webb pitching against a candidate for this year’s Cy Young award in Tim Lincecum at 6:05 p.m. Sunday’s finale will be an old school lefty-lefty battle between two veterans, Barry Zito and Randy Johnson at 1:05 p.m.
This important series will be equally as important as the next one when the Giants travel to Los Angeles to take on their long time rivals in a three game series starting on Monday.

Matt Cain seemed locked in from the first inning, and pitched a complete game 1-0 shutout to get the Giants a sweep. Cain allowed the Nationals just four hits in the game, and worked his way out of a tense situation in the ninth inning to end any threat of a Washington comeback.
Cain did an awesome job and kept the fans on the edge of their seats as he almost single-handedly beat Washington. He did not allow a hit until the fourth inning, and then took a two-hitter into the ninth. After striking out the leadoff man in the ninth inning, Cain allowed the following two hitters to reach base, putting the tying run and go-ahead run on second and third base. He then got Nationals third baseman Ryan Zimmerman to fly out to rightfield, but a strong throw in by Randy Winn kept the tying run at third. Winn would also catch the final out of the game off Austin Kearn’s bat a few seconds later to finalize the victory. Cain finished the day with four strikeouts and lowered his ERA to 3.82.
There was really not much offense from either team, Cain pretty much dominated the Washington hitters for the majority of the game, and San Francisco scored the solo run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning. Steve Holm started the inning with a single, and was lifted for pinchrunner Eugenio Velez who advanced to second on Cain’s bunt. Velez would come around to score on a Winn single up the middle to give San Francisco all the offense they would need to earn the win.
Tomorrow the Giants will host Arizona in a weekend series. Jonathan Sanchez and Dan Haren will start the game for their respective teams at 7:15 p.m. After sweeping the Nationals, the Giants have all the momentum they need to defeat an important division rival.

After being swept to start the second half of the season, the Giants are now in position to sweep themselves. An eighth inning rally led San Francisco to a 6-4 win over the Nationals in the second game of the series.
Kevin Correia got knocked around a bit, but worked his way out of trouble through the first four innings. He lasted just five and two-thirds innings while giving up four runs (three earned) on twelve hits. A two-run homerun by Jesus Flores which gave Washington the lead in the sixth inning ended Correia’s outing. Alex Hinshaw relieved him to end the inning, retiring the one batter he was brougt in to face. Osiris Matos took the Giants into the eighth inning without allowing the Nationals to threaten, but then needed help from Geno Espineli to end the inning. After rallying back to take the lead in the bottom of the eighth inning, Espineli was in position to earn his first Major League win, and Brian Wilson secured it in the ninth inning after earning his twenty-seventh save.
The Giants took an early 2-0 lead in the first inning when Bengie Molina doubled in Fred Lewis and Randy Winn. Molina would have a three-for-four day when he would add another double and single later in the game. Omar Vizquel’s bat has finally come alive as he also went three-for-four with an RBI double in the eighth inning to give the Giants their sixth run of the game. Rich Aurilia highlighted the eighth inning comeback with a two-run double that scored pinchrunner Emmanuel Burriss and John Bowker, giving the Giants a 5-4 lead. It was a good collective effort by the Giants hitters with everyone chipping in to earn the win.
Matt Cain will look to complete the sweep this afternoon at 12:45 p.m. Tim Redding will pitch for Washington, but both starters have struggled in their last starts. A tough weekend series against the D-backs awaits the Giants.

The second half of the season is just underway and while the Giants are kind of out of it, that doesn’t stop a baseball fan like me from getting out to the ballpark.  Saturday’s game looks most appealing but even with the Giants woes, the really nice seats are hard to come by.  I checked the Giants box office and wasn’t impressed with the selection at all.  I checked out a few baseball ticket brokers though and found some second row seats that should put me right there as far as the action.

Bengie Molina’s bat and Barry Zito’s quality start helped the Giants put an end to their losing streak. A 6-3 win over the Nationals gave San Francisco their first win of the second half.
Zito came up big for the Giants, getting them their first win of the second half. He got off on the right foot and needs to salvage his record in this part of the season. Zito scattered seven hits over six innings of work while giving up just three runs. He is still having trouble with his control, walking three hitters, but striking out five more. Jack Taschner, Sergio Romo worked a scoreless seventh inning, and Tyler Walker setup Brian Wilson for the save after allowing just one runner on base in the eighth inning. Wilson earned his twenty-sixth save of the season after walking a hitter in the final frame.
Homeruns from Molina and Fred Lewis in the first inning gave Zito a quick three-run lead to work with. Molina also added another homer in the fourth inning to give San Francisco a 5-2 lead. Aaron Rowand was one-for-four with a single that brought in a run. Omar Vizquel has been slumping this year since coming back from surgery, but also drove in a run with a double, he was one-for-three.
Tonight Kevin Correia will attempt to start a win streak for the Giants, but Nationals starting pitcher Collin Balester will try to stop them. Game time is set for 7:15 p.m tonight. The Giants will begin benching Vizquel after his failure to perform at the plate. It is a real shame that it looks like his career might finally be over, but there is still no one else that I would rather have playing shortstop in the bottom of the ninth with the tying and winning runs on second and third base.

Needing to start the second half of the season with some wins to remain in the running for the division title, the Giants instead came home to be swept by Milwaukee. The All-Star break looked like it could be a turning point for the Giants, but their struggles in July continued with Sunday afternoon’s 7-4 loss to the Brewers.
After missing the All-Star game with the flu, Tim Lincecum started the game for San Francisco, but recieved little run support. He tried to pitch through the seventh inning, but was knocked out after allowing three hitters to reach base. He gave up two runs in the second inning, and then gave up a three-run shot to Ryan Braun to put the Giants in a 5-0 hole. However, Lincecum did strike out eight batters, but also walked four in six innings of work. Alex Hinshaw came in after the Braun homer and retired three straight batters to end the inning. Geno Espineli made his Major League debut in the eighth, and pitched a perfect frame with a strikeout. After scoring two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning to make it a three-run game closer Brian Wilson gave the Brewers back those two runs before the Giants added two more in the bottom of the ninth, losing by a final score of 7-4.
Emmanuel Burriss filled in at the leadoff spot for Fred Lewis, who is out with a foot injury and went two-for-five with singles and scored a run. Ivan Ochoa played shortstop in place of Omar Vizquel, who struggling at the plate; Ochoa went two-for-four with two singles. Both Jose Castillo and Aaron Rowand drove in two runs with doubles in the eighth and ninth innings, but that was the extent of the Giants offense last night. Defensively the Giants committed three errors by Randy Winn, Castillo, and Eugenio Velez, but thankfully none of them resulted in unearned runs.
The Giants will have Monday off to recover from the sweep and prepare themselves for a three-game series at home against the Nationals. Barry Zito will square off with Washington’s Jason Bergmann at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday. Additionally, after the Milwaukee series concluded, San Francisco traded veteran second baseman Ray Durham to the Brewers in exchange for two prospects, Triple-A lefty pitcher Steve Hammond, and Class A center fielder Darren Ford.