The San Francisco Giants were able to get revenge on the Oakland Athletics. It’s nice to see the Giants playing good baseball and scoring more runs. The Giants are 13-6 since the A’s swept them in Oakland. Maybe that’s what they needed to give them a little wake up call, or was it adding two more bats to their lineup?
Things have changed for the Giants since they got swept in Oakland. Buster Posey (Giants number 1 prospect) has been called up, and taken on Major League pitching like he’s playing with kids in a backyard wiffle ball game. He’s played in 15 games for the Giants and is hitting .368 with 1 homer, 7 RBI’s and 7 runs scored. Posey is the Giants future backstop, but he’s been playing first base. He’s only started one game behind the plate so far this year. There is still plenty of time left in the season for him to get his feet wet.
Another reason the Giants have been having more success at the plate. Is the slumping Aaron Rowand has been losing some AB’s to the newly acquired Pat Burrell. Burrell was released earlier this year by the Tampa Bay Rays to make room for Hank Blalock. Burrell was only hitting .202 with 2 homers in 24 games before the Rays decided to part ways. The Bay Area native (Bellarmine College Preparatory High School in San Jose) is a man on a mission right now. He’s trying to prove to everyone that he still has some gas left in the tank.
Burrell has played in 9 games for the Giants so far, and is off to a pretty hot start. He’s hitting .375 with 1 homer, 4 RBI’s and 4 runs scored. He brings to the team that right handed power that they so desperately needed. He’s a nice piece to add to the mix, but I think the Giants still may need one more hitter before they really take off!
~King of Cali
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This is the road trip that Bruce Bochy is showing he’s in control of this Giants party bus. The San Francisco Giants are currently 3-1 on this trip. Taking 2-out-of-3 from the Pittsburgh Pirates and game one against the Cincinnati Reds.
Bochy has made some statements on this trip, and basically telling these guys if you’re not hitting then you’re not playing. The very first bold statement was dropping Pablo Sandoval in the lineup to the 8th spot. He’s also started Pat Burrell in left field and sat the slumping Aaron Rowand. The young phenom Buster Posey got his first start behind the plate this year and Bengie Molina had a nice view from the bench. Bochy is making it clear on this road trip that he’s going to go with who’s swinging the bat, and not by who’s bankroll may be a little larger.
Molina is really slumping bad right now (4-for-52 slump), but I wouldn’t say the Giants are phasing him out at this point. There is so many up’s and downs during a season. Guys are going to get hot and cold at various times. Bochy’s job is to try to get everyone enough AB’s to keep them fresh. With that said though. I would still go with the hottest hitters at all times. The Giants have a lot of guys that can move around the diamond, so it’s very easy to mix and match lineups to go with the hot bats.
I was asked on SF Giants Rumors Facebook. If I had control of the lineup what would it be? Position and order? Well Jeff Z. from Facebook. You asked and you shall receive my Giants lineup.
This would be my starting lineup for tonight.
CF Andres Torres
2B Freddy Sanchez
3B Pablo Sandoval
1B Aubrey Huff
SS Juan Uribe
C Buster Posey
LF Pat Burrell
RF Nate Schierholtz
P Matt Cain
I look forward to seeing comments with your starting lineup!
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Aaron Rowand, Bengie Molina, Bruce Bochy, Buster Posey, Cincinnati Reds, Giants, Giants Baseball, Giants Rumors, King of Cali, NL West, Pablo Sandoval, Pat Burrell, Pittsburgh Pirates, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Rumors, sfgiantsbaseball.net
Who knew all it would take is a shakeup in the starting lineup to get the San Francisco Giants back in the win column? I know a lot of writers/bloggers/media people tend to always hit the panic button a little early. I must admit I was really getting close to saying get Buster Posey up here immediately! It’s really a catch 22 if you think about it. If our offense is struggling and we have a hot hitter like Posey in Fresno. Yes, we should bring him up to help the team offensively. Now the flip side to that is do you think it’s really fair to Posey?
If Posey had to come up to be the offensive savior for the Giants. Don’t you think that would put a lot of added pressure on the rookie who’s already feeling the pressure of having to be Bengie Molina’s successor? I’m all for waiting to bring Posey up until he’s going to be assured a lot of playing time. There really is no point of bringing him up to spot start here and there. He’s better off down in Triple-A Fresno working on his catching. I mean after all, that was the reason he was starting the season in Fresno right?
Lineup Shakeup
I really liked the lineup that Bruce Bochy decided to go with in last nights game. If Andres Torres is in the lineup. He should always be at the top of the lineup. Let him find a way on base and burn rubber on the base paths. He just plays with a tremendous amount of energy that I think other guys in the lineup really feed off of. The lineup just seemed so balanced from top to bottom last night. Molina finally got to hit lower in the lineup as well as Aaron Rowand. That gives the Giants more ability to drive in runs throughout the lineup. It obviously worked last night, so let’s see if they can keep this Giants train rolling tonight!
~King of Cali
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Technorati Tags: Aaron Rowand, Andres Torres, Bengie Molina, Bruce Bochy, Buster Posey, Giants Baseball Rumors, King of Cali, NL West, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Blog, SF Giants Rumors, sfgiantsbaseball.net
The National League West showdown starts tonight! The hot San Diego Padres come marching into AT&T Park. Now they might not be marching in. It’s probably more like limping in. Although they are at the top of the NL West. Bill Center of The San Diego Union Tribune says the Padres are playing good baseball, but have key elements of their offense struggling.
He’s noted that since the start of May, five key hitters are struggling. These players are Adrian Gonzalez (3-20), Will Venable (4-21), Jerry Hairston Jr. (4-21), Tony Gwynn (2-19) and Kyle Blanks (2-15). Sounds like a perfect time to me for the Padres to make their way to San Francisco.
We aren’t exactly hitting the cover off of the ball ourselves, but we have some guys that have a nice swing going (Aaron Rowand). We just need Pablo Sandoval to find his stroke, and drive some runs in.
Barry Zito will take the hill tonight and he’s looking like he wants to start the All Star Game, or collect his Cy Young Award now. I know, we shouldn’t count our chickens before they hatch. It’s just hard not to enjoy this streak that Zito is on right now. He’s fallen from the graces and now it’s nice to see Giants fans get behind this guy. No, he will never live up to his $126 million dollar contract (not really possible for any pitcher). Even though he has started off this season with a 5-0 record and a 1.49 ERA. Do you think Zito can keep up this outstanding pitching all year?
~King of Cali
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The San Francisco Giants (18-12) are back from a two city road trip. It started in Florida and ended in New York. It was a good and disappointing trip at the same time. The Giants were able to sweep the Florida Marlins (14-17) and then lost two out of three to the New York Mets (17-14). The Giants could have easily won one or both of the games they lost to the Mets. I just don’t have any confidence in them once the game is tied in the late innings. Both times in my head I was already expecting them to lose, and both times I was right. Does that make me Nostradamus? The trip was still a successful one. You can’t be mad at a 4-2 trip to Florida and New York.
Who Was Hot & Who Was Not?
Aaron Rowand was the man on this trip. He hit .357 (AVG) with 3 homers and 11 RBI’s. He had at least 2 RBI’s a game except Saturday’s game in New York. He’s looking like a man on a mission out there. He’s playing great defense and showing he’s capable of coming up with big hits when they count!
Now the Kung Fu Panda on the other hand is in a nose dive headed straight to the ground. Pablo Sandoval is in his worse slump, so far in his big league career. He’s 3 for 37 in the month of May. That’s an .081 AVG right smack in the middle of our lineup so far during this May stretch. He was hitting .368 at the end of April and now his overall AVG has dropped to .282. Which still is the best average on the Giants.
Sandoval went 3 for 29 on this road trip (.103 AVG). His first two hits came on the first day of the road trip in Florida. I believe a hot or average Sandoval would have helped the Giants scratch out another win or two in New York. I really believe he’s going to get out of his funk in this homestand. Nothing like some home cooking (or fast food) to get you right back on track!
The Giants are now home to face the San Diego Padres (19-12) and the Houston Astros (10-21). I’m really glad the Giants have the Padres at home this time around. For whatever reason we just cant’ go down south and play well against these Padres. Does anyone have any logical reason why? Please let me know if you do, because this is a mystery to me.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Aaron Rowand, Florida Marlins, Giants 2010, Giants Baseball, Houston Astros, King of Cali, Kung Fu Panda, New York Mets, Pablo Sandoval, San Diego Padres, San Francisco Giants, SF Giants Blog, SF Giants Hot Stove, SF Giants Rumors, sfgiants, sfgiantsbaseball.net
The Giants had a great home-stand against some very “Built Ford Tough” (hope Ford send me a check for that plug) teams. It was a 6-3 record against the ST. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phillies and Colorado Rockies. The Giants had a chance to sweep each team, but dropped the finale in each series.
Now it’s back on the road for the hot Giants. It’s a mystery to see which Giants team will make the trip. Will it be the hot team coming straight from San Francisco, or the cold team that went 1-5 on the Los Angeles/San Diego road trip. It’s like night and day…
Tim Lincecum gets the start tonight against the Florida Marlins. Let’s hope he can get this road trip started off on the right foot. Timmy has been taking a lot of heat for not being able to pitch in the heat. I’m not sure how hot it will be in Florida at game time, but I’m sure it will be very humid. Timmy has been labeled as a cold weather pitcher. Let’s hope he can show he’s dominate in any type of weather.
This is a two city stop for the Giants on this road trip. They will be in Florida for 3 games, and then New York for 3 more. The Giants need to prove to themselves and their fans that they can win on the road. The Giants have proven that they can hang with anyone at AT&T Park. Let’s just hope Bruce Bochy figures out a way to jump start this offense in other places than San Francisco.
Tonight’s Giants Lineup
CF Aaron Rowand AVG .300 – Home AVG .344 – Away AVG .222
LF Mark DeRosa AVG .214 – Home AVG .160 – Away AVG .350
3B Pablo Sandoval AVG .337 – Home AVG .361 – Away AVG .294
C Bengie Molina AVG .343 – Home AVG .439 – Away AVG .192
1B Aubrey Huff AVG .271 – Home AVG .271 – Away AVG .270
SS Juan Uribe AVG .292 – Home AVG .256 – Away AVG .333
RF Nate Schierholtz AVG .345 – Home AVG .351 – Away AVG .333
2B Matt Downs AVG .375 – Home AVG .333 – Away AVG 1.000
P Tim Lincecum
~King of Cali
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Andrew Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News says John Bowker is in jeopardy of losing his roster spot. The Giants must clear space for Aaron Rowand to come off the disabled list Sunday, and with their middle infield banged up, it’s no sure thing that Matt Downs will be sent back to Triple-A Fresno.
King of Cali thoughts: Bowker is currently hitting .186 (AVG), 1 homer and 4 RBI’s. It’s nothing to write home about, but I do feel bad for him. He’s not able to get in any rhythm. Once he was named the starting right fielder. Bruce Bochy didn’t put him out there everyday to show he can hit. Which means every time he’s at the plate now. He’s trying to hard to prove he can hit.
Bowker has already proven he can hit in Triple-A Fresno. He won a batting title in the Pacific Coast League last season. Bowker and Eugenio Velez both have an option remaining. Would you send down one of these guys or send down second baseman Matt Downs?
~King of Cali
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Schulman also says the Giants are not interested in patching their outfield with free agent Jermaine Dye. Dye’s asking price and defense are the chief considerations.
Side Notes
Aubrey Huff, Pablo Sandoval and Juan Uribe have started all 13 games.
King of Cali thoughts: The last couple of games the Giants haven’t looked like they did at the start of the season. Our offense is struggling to score runs. I have heard some fans say were back to the 2009 team. Where we can’t get enough runs across to win even low scoring games.
I think Bowker should be put in the everyday lineup for now. Torres isn’t obviously hitting anyone right now, so let Bowker show everyone he can be in there no matter who’s pitching. He has the bat that we need to drive in runs. With Mark DeRosa and Aaron Rowand out. It’s a no brainer in my mind. Get Bowker out there! Do you think Bowker should sit against left-handers or in the everyday lineup?
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: 2010 SF Giants Salaries, Aaron Rowand, Andres Torres, Aubrey Huff, Free Agents, Giants Rumors, Jermaine Dye, John Bowker, Juan Uribe, King of Cali, Mark DeRosa, NL West, Pablo Sandoval, San Francisco Giants Baseball, SF Giants Baseball, SF Giants Rumors, sfgiants, sfgiantsbaseball.net
1st and 2nd InningAaron Rowand starts the game off by getting his first hit of the season. Edgar Renteria continues with his hot start by getting another hit. Pablo Sandoval hit into a double play and then Aubrey Huff flied out. The Giants got two hits in the inning but ended up with 0 runs. Matt Cain gets his first start of the season and has a very nice 1,2,3 inning. Getting the Giants back to the plate, so they can try to get on the scoreboard early. Mark DeRosa gets the Astros staring pitcher Brett Myers back in the stretch right away, by getting a lead-off single. Then John Bowker shows why he won the right field job. He hit a 2-run homer to right center field to give the Giants a 2-0 lead. That’s all the Giants would get in the 2nd inning.
Huff made a nice play on a hard smashed ball by Geoff Blum. Jon Miller said on the radio that it was a lucky play, but shows how quick Huff’s hands are. Huff might be trying to show that he doesn’t need a defensive replacement late in games. Pedro Feliz gets the Astros first hit off of Cain by hitting a 2 out double. After 2 innings it’s the Giants 2 and the Astros 0.
3rd Inning
The Giants got right back to work in the top of the 3rd. Renteria continued his hot hitting by getting another hit. Sandoval and Huff also got singles. The bases were loaded for DeRosa. He hit into a double play, scoring on the play was Renteria. The Giants had the bases loaded and could have did some real damage, but just managed to get the one run. Cain gave up a hit in the bottom of the 3rd but that’s all they were able to get. After 3 innings the score is 3-0 Giants.
4th Inning
The Giants went very quietly in the top of the 4th inning. The Astros got a runner on 2nd base to start the bottom of the 4th inning. Sandoval got a two-base-error by making a wild throw to first base. Cain got his first strike out of the year by striking out Carlos Lee in a big RBI situation. Feliz gets the Astros on the board. He gets a 2-out RBI double. That’s all the Astros would get. Cain does end up getting two strike outs in the bottom of the 4th inning. After 4 innings the score is 3-1 Giants.
5th Inning
Renteria gets another hit in the top of the 5th inning. Making him 3-for-3 in the game and reaching base in 8 of his first 11 at bats of the season. Sandoval got a double off the left field wall, and Renteria moves to 3rd on the play. Huff was not able to get a ball to the outfield. He grounded out to 2nd base, and Renteria was not able to score on the play. DeRosa wasn’t able to get the clutch hit the Giants needed either. The Giants are leaving a lot of men on base, and they are letting the Astros hang around instead of blowing this game wide open. The Astros weren’t able to get anything going against Cain in the bottom of the 5th inning. Three Astros up, and three Astros down in order.
6th and 7th Inning
Nothing ever got started for the Giants in the top of the 6th inning, and also nothing for the Astros in the bottom half either. Rowand did get a lead-off triple to start the top of the 7th. Renteria followed that up with an RBI single and knocking Myers out of the game. The Giants end up leaving 2 runners on base. Nate Schierholtz comes into the game in the bottom of the 7th as a defensive replacement for Bowker. Blum gets a lead-off single off of Cain. Feliz flies out to right field for the first out of the inning. Jeff Keppinger gets a single off of Cain. Runners now at 1st and 2nd with one out. Cain was able to get the 2nd out by striking out J.R. Towles (fifth strike out for Cain). Cory Sullivan comes in to pinch hit. Sullivan makes it a one run game by getting 2-run triple. Bruce Bochy comes out to get Cain. Bochy brings in Eugenio Velez to play left field and Jeremy Affeldt in to pitch (double switch). Michael Bourn gets an infield hit scoring Sullivan to tie the game. After 7 innings the game as tied 4-4.
8th Inning
Juan Uribe gets his first hit of the game by getting a lead-off double (off Sammy Gervacio) to start the top of the 8th. Whiteside bunted to get Uribe to 3rd, but the ball was thrown away (by Gervacio). The Giants score on the play, and are now back in front. Rowand gets an RBI single to score Whiteside. Gervacio threw a wild pitch allowing Rowand to move up to 2nd base. Gervacio gets hurt on the wild pitch and Chris Sampson comes in to replace him. He walks the hot hitting Renteria. Runners now on 1st and 2nd for Sandoval. Sandoval and Huff both hit fly balls and were not able to come through in the clutch. Affeldt comes back out for the bottom of the 8th, and has a very nice three up, and 3 down inning.
9th Inning
Travis Ishikawa comes in to pinch hit in the top of the 9th, and gets a pinch hit homer. That’s the first time Ishikawa has hit a homerun as a pinch hitter. Schierholtz follows that up with a single. Uribe hits a shot that rolls all the way to the wall. It’s a RBI double that scores Schierholtz from 1st base. Whiteside has a nice situational at bat. Hitting a ball to the right side to get Uribe to 3rd base. Velez gets a walk to set up 1st and 3rd for Rowand. Rowand gets a RBI single that was high off the left field wall. Scoring on the play is Uribe and Velez goes to 3rd. Renteria gets another hit and scoring on the play in Velez. Renteria now has a 5 hit game (5-for-5). The Giants wouldn’t score again in the 9th. It’s now 10-4 Giants going into the bottom of the 9th. Guillermo Mota comes in to pitch the 9th inning for the Giants to try to get the sweep (no save situation) for the Giants. Mota gets the Astros three up and three down to end the game.
Final
Giants – 10 Runs, 19 Hits and 1 Error
Astros - 4 Runs, 7 Hits and 1 Error
Affeldt -W
Gervacio -L
Highlights
Rowand – 4 Hits, 6 AB, 1 Run and 2 RBI’s
Renteria – 5 Hits, 5 AB, 1 Run and 2 RBI’s
Home Run
Bowker hit a 2-run homer in the 2nd inning.
Ishikawa hit a solo pinch hit homer in the 9th inning.
~King of Cali
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The 2010 season gets started with a weak grounder to the shortstop by Aaron Rowand. The first hit of the year for the Giants comes off the bat of Aubrey Huff. He lead off the 2nd inning with a single. Mark DeRosa followed that up by drawing a walk in his first Giants at bat. Bengie Molina follows up Huff’s single and DeRosa walk with an RBI single. Scoring on the play from second base was Huff. John Bowker follows up Molina’s single with a RBI single of his own off the left field wall. Juan Uribe does his job by getting a sacrifice fly to score Molina from 3rd base. The Giants scored 3 runs in the 2nd inning to give Tim Lincecum a lead to work with.
Lincecum went 7 innings strong. He didn’t allow any runs or walks. It was a very impressive start of the 2010 season for Lincecum.
The Giants said they gave Bowker the starting position in right field even though Nate Schierholtz is the superior defender. Bowker made a very nice grab in right field to end the bottom of the 2nd inning. Giants are hoping Bowker can at least be an average defender in right field.
The first homer of the season for the Giants came off of the bat of DeRosa. It was a solo shot that just cleared the right field wall. The Giants went on to win the game by a score of 5-2 over the Astros.
The two offseason bats the Giants acquired (Huff, DeRosa) this offseason went a combined 2 for 7 at the plate, scoring 3 runs and getting 1 RBI.
The Giants and Astros are back at it tonight in Houston at Minute Maid Park. It’s a 5:05 Pacific start time, so kick off your shoes after a long day of work. Barry Zito is on the mound tonight against Wandy Rodriguez. Let’s hope Zito can have a quality start and give us a chance to win.
~King of Cali
Technorati Tags: Aaron Rowand, Aubrey Huff, Barry Zito, Bengie Molina, Free Agents, John Bowker, Juan Uribe, King of Cali, Mark DeRosa, MLB Hot Stove, Nate Schierholtz, NL West, Opening Day 2010, San Francisco Giants Baseball, SF Giants Blog, SF Giants Rumors, sfgiantsbaseball.net, Tim Lincecum, Wandy Rodriguez
