Giantsblog

San Francisco wrapped up the 2008 season this afternoon with 3-1 win over the Dodgers. Tim Lincecum earned his eighteenth win of the year, giving him a final record of 18-5, with a 2.62 ERA.
Lincecum also picked up thirteen strikeouts over seven innings pitched. He gave up just four hits and two walks, allowing Los Angeles to take a 1-0 lead in the third inning for their only run scored. His record and strikeout total will likely give him a shot at the NL Cy Young award. Sergio Romo pitched a perfect eighth inning, setting up a save opportunity for Brian Wilson. Despite giving up a double and single in the ninth inning, Wilson was able to get out of trouble and earn his forty-first save of the year.
The Giants bats were pretty quiet through most of the game, but came up with three late runs to lead San Francisco to a comeback win. Pablo Sandoval hit a game-tying, pinch-hit single in the seventh inning that scored Emmanuel Burriss. Nate Schierholtz was two-for-four on the day with a double and single, his single in the seventh inning scored Dave Roberts to put the Giants ahead 2-1. Rich Aurilia scored the third San Francisco run in the eighth inning, giving the Giants some insurance after scoring on one of Randy Winn’s two singles of the game.
Overall, the Giants finished the year with a 72-90 record, good enough to finish fourth in the NL West. Some of the surprises this year included Sandoval’s stellar play after being called up to the Big League, Bengie Molina having a great year, and Lincecum’s Cy Young caliber pitching.

The Giants have had a rough week to close out the season, going 4-1 so far. After losing last night 2-1, Tim Lincecum will wrap up the season this afternoon at 1:05 p.m. to try to strengthen his case for a Cy Young bid.
Matt Cain put in a solid effort in attempting to help the Giants break out of this latest slump, but the offense would not produce for him. He allowed just two runs over seven innings pitched, one of them coming on a solo shot by Blake DeWitt in the third inning to give the Dodgers a 1-0 lead. He allowed another run to score in his final inning, ending his day with eight hits, four walks, and six strikeouts. Billy Sadler pitched a scoreless eighth inning to maintain the one-run deficit. And then Keiichi Yabu, Alex Hinshaw, and Tyler Walker combined to hold the Dodgers off in the ninth inning in hopes of an offense rally in the final frame.
Giants hitters had a miserable day at the plate, picking up just four hits, not walking once, it is amazing they were able to score just one run. Their lone run came in the fourth inning on a Randy Winn homer to tie the game 1-1, but that would not hold up. The remaining three hits were all singles by Eugenio Velez, Nate Schierholtz, and Omar Vizquel. Velez tried to stretch his single into a double, but was thrown out at second base by Los Angeles centerfielder Matt Kemp. Schierholtz and Vizquel aslo spoiled their singles by getting caught trying to steal second base. A perfect ninth inning pitched by Dodgers closer Takashi Saito closed the book on the Giants.

The Giants have gotten off on the wrong foot on this final homestand, getting pounded by Colorado. Jonathan Sanchez did not do much better than Tim Lincecum the other night against the Rockies, losing last night 15-6.
Sanchez had a tough outing, getting knocked around for seven runs on seven hits and a walk in just three and a third innings. One of the runs allowed by him came on a solo shot by Clint Barmes in the second inning. Osiris Matos had to finish the fourth inning, but not before giving up another run on two hits, putting the Giants down 8-2. Kevin Correia had two bad innings, also giving up seven runs on seven hits, six of them came in the fifth inning, he gave up two homeruns, a three run shot by Garrett Atkins and solo homer in the sixth to Jeff Baker. After the sixth inning, Billy Sadler, Tyler Walker, and Geno Espineli pitched scoreless frames.
Despite being outhit just 18-15, the Giants offense could only come up with six runs. Eugenio Velez, Nate Schierholtz, and John Bowker were the only hitters in the lineup that really stood out. Velez went three-for-five, scoring two runs and driving one in with two doubles and a single. Schierholtz also went three-for-five, but all three of his hits were doubles, one of which was able to bring in a run. Bowker fell just a triple short of the cycle, but scored all three times he reached base, a leadoff homer in the sixth inning may have been the Giants offensive highlight of the day.
Barry Zito will try to break the latest pitching slump tonight at 7:15 p.m. and help the Giants get a win out of this series. Zito started the season off slow, but picked it up in the second half, he defeated Colorado earlier this month. Jorge De La Rosa will go for the Rockies.

Tim Lincecum will get one last chance to prove himself Cy Young worthy, but last night’s performance might have hurt his chances. The Giants dropped the first game of their final homestand of the year 9-4, but the offense made the most of their few opportunities.
Colorado wasted little time getting to Lincecum, and forced him out of the game in the fifth inning. He lasted just four and a third innings, while giving up six runs on six hits (one being a solo homer) and a five walks. However, he did strikeout nine batters, giving him two hundred fifty-two on the season, setting a new franchise record. Lincecum had a temporary lead after the second inning, but lost it by the fourth. Keiichi Yabu was needed to get the Giants out of the fifth inning, but was unable to stop the bleeding, and allowed two more runs on two hits and walks. Pat Misch did a good job maintaining a five-run deficit through two innings of relief work, in which he allowed just one hit. Osiris Matos pitched the eighth inning and gave up a solo shot by Rockies third baseman Ian Stewart to extend Colorado’s lead to six. Geno Espineli pitched a perfect ninth inning with a strikeout, but by then the damage was near irreversible.
The good news was that the San Francisco offense was able to take advantage of most of their scoring chances, putting up four runs on just six hits and seven walks. Aaron Rowand was the only Giant with a two-for-four day, picking up an RBI with a single and double, and scoring a run himself, but he also did ground into a doubleplay. Omar Vizquel helped the Giants score a run in their three-run second inning with a sacrifice fly before being replaced by Ivan Ochoa. Nate Schierholtz also drove in a run with the only other extra-base hit of the game, a double, but it was his only hit in five at-bats.
Jonathan Sanchez looked nearly as bad as Lincecum in his last start, but will look to bounce back from that tonight at 7:15 p.m. Livan Hernandez has been inconsistent all year, but has started several pitcher’s duels, he will get the start for the Rockies.

A pitcher’s duel became a battle of the bullpens in Sunday afternoon’s series finale at Los Angeles. The Giants prevailed, scoring a the lone run in the eleventh inning, and hanging on to win 1-0.
Matt Cain pitched six scoreless innings, but could have gone longer if his pitch count was not as high. He limited Dodgers hitters to just five hits and four walks while striking out four. Alex Hinshaw pitched a perfect seventh inning in relief, before turning the game over to Sergio Romo. Romo was also perfect, but over three innings of work; he struck out three batters. After taking a 1-0 in the eleventh inning, Brian Wilson struck out two batters in the Dodgers half of the inning to record five perfect innings of relief by the bullpen.
The offense picked up nine hits and four walks, but had little to show for it. Eugenio Velez was three-for-four with a walk, two singles, and a double. Aaron Rowand was the only other Giant with a multi-hit day, going two-for-four with singles. Brad Hennessey came on to pinch run in the eleventh inning for Pablo Sandoval, and would come around to score the go-ahead run on a Rich Aurilia single.
San Francisco has the day off today, but will host Colorado for three games starting tomorrow at 7:15 p.m. Ubaldo Jimenez will try to beat Tim Lincecum, who has pitched two complete games in a row.

Barry Zito led the Giants to victory last night, putting an end to their four-game skid. San Francisco went on to defeat the Dodgers 7-1, with the help of a four-run sixth inning.
Zito looked like the Zito of the past last night, allowing just one run through seven and two-thirds innings. The one run he gave up came in the eighth inning, a solo shot by Pablo Ozuna to break up the shutout bid. Zito’s effort was more than enough to get San Francisco a much needed win. Keiichi Yabu finished off the eighth inning, retiring the one batter he faced on a flyout. Alex Hinshaw and Tyler Walker combined to pitch a scoreless ninth to seal the deal.
The Giants offense wasted no time trying to score off Greg Maddux, and got two quick runs in the first inning before adding a third in the second. San Francisco put the game away in the sixth inning with a four-run frame, highlighted by a two-run Bengie Molina homer. Molina picked up two more RBI’s and was three-for-four with two singles. Pablo Sandoval continued to come through with some big hits, going two-for-four with two doubles that drove in two runs; he also scored two himself. Dave Roberts also picked up a walk and two hits on the day, singles, on of which helped add onto the Giants lead.
Brad Hennessey will look to build off success from his last start tonight at 7:10 p.m. Hiroki Kuroda will go for the Dodgers in the second game of the weekend series.

The 1-0 lead did not look like it would hold, even with Tim Lincecum on the mound, and it did not. In the end, the Giants and D-backs traded runs, but Arizona prevailed, winning 3-2 to sweep the four-game series.
Lincecum was dominant, and came within a strike of bailing himself out of a sixth inning jam, but a two-run triple by Justin Upton gave the D-backs a 2-1 advantage. Even after trying the game in the eighth inning, Lincecum ended up giving Arizona the one-run lead again. He finished the day pitching all eight innings for San Francisco while giving up seven hits and striking out a sub-par six batters.
The Giants took an early 1-0 lead in the first inning when Pablo Sandoval hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Randy Winn. But that lone run was not nearly enough run support. San Francisco got their other run late on a game-tying homer by Bengie Molina off reliever Juan Cruz in the eighth inning. Molina also had a single earlier in the game, giving him a two-for-four day. Unfortunately the D-backs struck back instantly in their half of the inning, and secured a 3-2 victory. Second baseman Ivan Ochoa was the only other Giant with a multi-hit day, going two-for-four with singles. San Francisco out hit Arizona 9-7, but the D-backs were able to come through in the clutch.
Tomorrow the Giants will head to Los Angeles to try to spoil the Dodgers chances of winning the division. Barry Zito will face Greg Maddux in the first game of the series at 7:40 p.m. as San Francisco will be looking to end a four-game losing streak.

Despite taking a 3-0 lead in the first inning, the Giants were done in by a five-run second inning, that resulted in a 7-6 loss to Arizona. With last night’s loss, San Francisco was mathematically eliminated from any postseason chances.
Jonathan Sanchez recieved an early three-run lead to work with, but gave it back just as quickly. He lasted longer than he should have, giving up six runs on six hits, and three walks in just three and two-thirds innings. The five-run second inning frame he served up was highlighted by a two-run, two-out homer by Justin Upton that put Arizon up 6-3. Kevin Correia finished off the fourth inning, and went a total of two, but also struggled. He struck out two batters while allowing four hits, one of which was a solo homer in the sixth inning to David Eckstein. Geno Espineli ended the sixth inning with a strikeout. Billy Sadler pitched through a hitless seventh inning and into the eighth, but allowed three walks in just an inning and two-thirds. Pat Misch got the final out in the eighth inning on a groundout.
San Francisco took advantage of a fielding error, and got on the board first with three quick runs in the first inning. Their bats would remain pretty quiet until sparking a three-run rally in the ninth inning, but it was still a little too late. The first two Giants batters of the ninth inning reached on walks, and then Omar Vizquel tripled to bring the tying run to the plate. Pinch-hitter Rich Aurilia grounded out, but was able to score Vizquel from third to cut the deficit to one run. Pablo Sandoval had the other Giants extra-base hit as he went two-for-four, a double in the first inning that drove in the first run of the game. Sandoval also scored a run himself that inning, scoring from second base on Bengie Molina’s lone hit, a RBI single. Vizquel was the only other Giant with a multi-hit day, picking up an unproductive single in the middle of the game. The Giants ninth inning rally fell just short of a run.
The Giants will play the role of spoilers for the remainder of the season, starting tonight as they attempt to salvage a win from the Arizona series. The good news is that Tim Lincecum will be on the mound tonight at 6:40 p.m., but will be facing Randy Johnson.

For the second straight night, the offense had trouble putting up any earned runs against the D-backs, managing just four hits in tonight’s 2-0 loss. Two solo homers by Chris Snyder and Stephen Drew ultimately defeated the Giants.
Like Brad Hennessey last night, Matt Cain made just two mistakes that directly resulted in tonight’s loss. He went seven innings, allowing seven hits, struck out seven batters, and gave up just those two runs on homers. Cain’s control was pretty solid, as he did not walk one hitter. Jack Taschner pitched a perfect eighth inning with a strike out.
Giants hitting tonight was pretty pathetic, but Dan Haren was on top of his game, limiting San Francisco to just four hits throughout the game. All four hits were singles, and Pablo Sandoval picked up two of them, but he also grounded into a double play. Randy Winn also had a hit, but struck out twice too. Giants hitters struck out twelve times in the loss; Travis Ishikawa was a strikeout victim three times! Rookie Conor Gillaspie picked up his first Major League hit while pinch-hitting for Ivan Ochoa in the eighth inning to get San Francisco’s fourth hit. Dave Roberts and Eugenio Velez recieved the only Giants walks, Velez made the most of his opportunity by proceeding to steal second base, but he was eventually stranded in scoring position.
Jonathan Sanchez will be trying to earn his tenth win of the year tomorrow in the third game of the four-game series. Last year’s Cy Young winner Brandon Webb is once again a candidate to win it back-to-back seasons, he will start for Arizona at 6:40 p.m.

Brad Hennessey was involved in a strange pitcher’s duel that saw his ERA fall to 8.04, but ultimately resulted in a 3-1 loss. Mistake pitches by Henneseey that turned into homeruns and untimely hitting from the Giants batters contributed to the defeat.
Hennessey went the distance in last night’s loss, giving the bullpen a rest, and doing a good job for the most part. He scattered eight hits over eight innings, but the D-backs made him pay for two of them, a game-tying solo shot by Justin Upton in the fourth inning, and a go-ahead two-run homer by Adam Dunn in the eighth inning. Hennessey had good control and did not walk any hitters, and managed to strikeout two. He pitched well enough to deserve a win, but the offense did not produce for him.
San Francisco was lucky to get just one run, it came unearned in the third inning when D-backs centerfielder Chris Young dropped Bengie Molina’s fly ball, allowing Rich Aurilia to score. Aurilia was two-for-four in the game with singles. All together, the Giants left nine men on base, and did not walk once against the Arizona pitchers. Randy Winn had the only Giants extra-base hit, which was also his only hit in five at-bats, a double.
The Giants will look for some revenge tonight at 6:40 p.m. when Matt Cain will be trying to bounce back from his shortest start of the year. Dan Haren will take the mound for Arizona, but has been struggling lately.