Cain Comeback

Matt Cain pitched beautifully tonight, throwing five hitless innings before finally surrendering two runs in the 7th inning. Jon Niese of the Mets also pitched a great game, holding the potent Giants lineup to only five hits and two runs. It was a crisp, well-played pitchers duel until the 8th when the Giants finally broke through against the Mets bullpen. Local boy Carlos Torres (from Aptos) gave up a two-run homer to Buster Posey and that was the difference. The home team conjured up another dramatic win, their 20th at AT&T and 40th overall.

Even when it looked like Matty might get Cained for the umpteenth time, I was less concerned about the outcome than the fact that Matt Cain looked like Matt Cain. Injuries are funny things, and we aren't used to no. 18 missing turns and spending time on the DL. But he looked strong and had good command until losing it a bit in the 7th when he gave up a double and a homer to the top of the lineup. Homeplate umpire Rob Drake liked what he saw from both pitchers: Cain had 19 called strikes versus three swinging, Niese had 15 called strikes and four swinging. Brandon Hicks excelled tonight--he had two hits and a walk and scored two and figured in all three double plays the Giants turned. Brandon Crawford drove in both of those runs with a sacrifice fly in the 5th and a two-out single in the 7th.

Tim Hudson takes on Bartolo Colon tomorrow night. After that the Giants face Zack Wheeler, Stephen Strasburg, and Doug Fister. That's some serious pitching! Should be fun.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

One win, two losses

Matt Cain looked good in Colorado this evening, spotting the fastball and snapping off some curves and whatnot. He got in three hitless innings, well 'hitless' isn't quite right, he did hit a batter, but the other guys were making outs with alacrity, but then Matty was out of the game. The official word is 'hamstring strain' and I suppose there's a glossary of baseball injury-jive that I need to download, because that don't mean much. Yet. Here at RMC, Matt Cain starts are like the fecking sunrise--regular, steady, predictable. Maybe not so much in 2013, and this bipolar 2014 so far, but Cainer is Mr. Consistency, Mr. Steady, Mr. Reliable. And the Giants are haulin' heapin' wads o' cash his way as well, and you have to figure they are counting on the Tennessee Stud to be, well, studly. He's mortal, I suppose, and kind of an old man in baseball years, with nearly 1800 innings logged on the hill over ten seasons.

But I could live with that, an injury is an injury and even Matty can get injured. But the pyrrhic potential victory turned to nightmare when Santiago Casilla injured his hamstring running to first base. It was a grand old time watching him bat--he actually worked the count to full and put a ball in play. But when he fell down on the way to first, I thought he was clowning. Bitch-slap me, bros, I did indeed think that. But then it was clear he was grimacing, not grinning, and it all got stupid pronto. Christ! Run to first! Don't run yourself on to the DL! Weird. Ugly. Bizarre. Coors Field.

So I suppose I should make a sober analysis of the situation. Sorry, no can do. Have to be sober, you see. Yusmeiro Petit came in and nailed down another nine outs, that's a good thing. The boys muscled up with some big flies--I particularly liked Brandon Crawford's moon shot. He followed that with another ridiculous play which initiated a double play with a fine barehand grab-and-throw from Brandon Hicks. Very nice.

Matt Cain walked off the field under his own power. Santiago Casilla had to be carried off. DL for the latter and not for the former, eh? We'll see.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Vogie, Panda lead the way

The Marlins leave town today and don't return to San Francisco until 2015. I imagine everyone is happy about that. The team based in Miami seems to only bring their good bats when they play at AT&T. Fortunately Ryan Vogelsong had his throw-strikes & work-the-corners thing going on this afternoon and that kept a lid on the Fish and the Giants pulled off a win. The home team struck first in the 1st with some Gregor Blanco action and made it hurt four batters later with consecutive two-out RBI singles from FNGs Brandon Hicks and Tyler Colvin. You have to love contributions from the bottom of the order. Pablo Sandoval added a solo homer in the 5th and Vogie made it seven scoreless and that was enough. Jeremy Affeldt was a little rocky in the 8th but Santiago Casilla eventually got the big outs and Sergio Romo finished up. Good start, good defense, clutch hitting, strong 'pen--we know the formula and it's beautiful when it works.

Giants get an off-day tomorrow before heading to Colorado. The Rockies have the best run-difference (+49) in the NL and are a much-improved club. It's a quick trip and the boys will be back home for an inter-league series with the Minnesota Twins on Friday.

--M.C.

Giants Pick Up a Win

The boys from San Francisco have been flashing leather all over the country lately, and the infield in particular really delivered last night. Brandon Crawford may never win the popularity contest called the Gold Glove, but we know he can pick it as well or better than anyone in the game. He couldn't handle a smash from Yasiel Puig that was ruled a hit, but otherwise he smothered the Dodgers chances with three beautiful plays to back up a surging Ryan Vogelsong. Defensive positioning (and some slick work by Brandon Hicks) robbed Adrian Gonzalez of at least two hits, probably three, and certainly kept the Dodgers off the board. I've said before that I think the Giants have an edge on defense, and much of the credit has to go to the advance scouts and Ron Wotus, and to the pitchers for sticking to the game plan and inducing hitters to hit into the shifts. Pablo Sandoval is still struggling with the bat, but he's been impressive at the hot corner, knocking down hard hit balls and gunning out runners with regularity. Brandon Belt got a the only hit with a runner in scoring position all evening for the Giants, and this after two more swinging strikeouts earlier in the game. Yeah, he's streaky, you never know what you'll get from one PA to the next! His long reach and sure hands certainly help with the shutdown defense.

It takes a village, man. The Dodgers are absolutely loaded with talent--their lineup is scary, and the parade of relievers they can bring out there slinging 95 is ridiculous. And I haven't touched on the fact that they probably have the two best starters in the game in Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke. But here in the early part of the season the Giants are 5-2 against their rivals and have held them to a mere 18 runs or 2.57 per game. That works against any club.

Madison Bumgarner gets the ball tonight against lefty Paul Maholm. Matt Cain is listed for Saturday--he matches up with Greinke. Tim Hudson and Kershaw on Sunday. The Dodgers have their two big weapons to close out the series, and then there are only three more games left on the schedule in LA (September 22-24). The other six are in SF (July 25-27 and September 12-14.)

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Same formula, same result

The Giants win another close contest against the Braves behind a strong start--this time from Ryan Vogelsong--and solo home runs. Michael Morse hit his second in two nights, this one a soaring fly ball to left-center, and both Buster Posey and Brandon Belt chipped in one apiece. The Giants had only four hits total (two by Buster) but they were the right kind of hits, and the bullpen kept the lid on to seal the victory. The Braves young pitcher, Julio Teheran, was impressive, but got burned by the long ball and lack of run support. I wonder what they call "Caining" in Atlanta.

Tim Lincecum worked hard last night, giving up six hits and three walks and needed 93 pitches to get 18 outs. Ryan Vogeslong gave up five hits and four walks in the same span, and needed 107 pitches to get the job done, and like Timmy only allowed one run. He labored, too, working a lot of long counts, but seemed to get stronger as the game went on and he picked up some big late strikeouts to shut down the Braves. The "tail end" of the Giants rotation has back-to-back quality outings and the team has taken advantage and picked up two big wins. Despite an error, Brandon Crawford once again made some very fine plays, taking away hits, none more impressive than the game-ender, a spinning, airborne scoop-and-throw on a grounder up the middle from his counterpart Andrelton Simmons.

Jean Machi threw four pitches in the 8th and got three outs, one coming on a lovely Brandon-to-Brandon-to-Brandon double play. With Sergio Romo being used both nights, and an early contest tomorrow, I imaging Bochy will shuffle the bullpen assignments a bit and go with Santiago Casilla and/or Javier Lopez in any late-and-close situations, neither of them were used tonight. Jeremy Affeldt looked good again but he was also used last night, so I expect Machi will be the first guy in relief if Madison Bumgarner can get things to the 7th inning.

Giants have a chance to sweep a first-place team in their home park. Go, team, go!

--M.C.

A Rivera Runs Through It

The San Diego Padres are 3-1 against the Giants after winning last night in San Francisco. Rene Rivera did the damage with 5 RBI including a back-breaking 3-run homer in the 5th that proved to be the difference. Madison Bumgarner was not sharp--he walked four, gave up seven hits, and threw 93 pitches in five innings. He'd thrown particularly well his last time out, but has yet to find his normal, consistent groove. Journeyman Rivera had a career night. The 30-year old catcher from Puerto Rico came up with Seattle, played in Minnesota, and now splits time with Yasmani Grandal and Nick Hundley. Yes, the Padres have three catchers. The Giants had their chances but could not make it all the way back as the Padres bullpen was very tough. Michael Morse continues to be the offensive leader (.398 wOBA, 163 wRC+), he had three hits and two batted in, and Brandon Hicks launched another homer, his .283 ISO leads the team.

Matt Cain tonight.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Vogelright!

Ryan Vogelsong had his best start (Game Score 77) of the young season, twirling seven strong and allowing only two hits. He was backed by some stellar defense as well as four extra base hits including a game-winning 3-run bomb in the 9th by Brandon Hicks. The radio guys (I didn't get to watch, too busy out back cooking up some homebrew) raved about the double play The Three Brandons turned on Nick Swisher in the 3rd, and also complimented Brandon Belt for some nifty work at first base. That's a good thing because the big lefty had himself an ugly weekend with the stick (9 K in 12 AB!). Our boy goes blind sometimes, doesn't he? But the story is the bounce back start from Vogie, who looks so bad every other time out there it makes us wonder whether he's got anything left. I like to think that this game and the one against the Dodgers on the 16th are what he will begin to deliver more consistently as the season goes on.

Cleveland's young fireballer Danny Salazar was bringing some serious heat and kept the Giants offense from getting much going other than the back-to-back two-out doubles from Panda and Brandon Crawford in the 4th to open the scoring. Vogie left leading 1-0 but Santiago Casilla, who has been lights-out so far, gave up a solo homer to another impressive youngster, catcher Yan Gomes, in the 8th to tie the game. Fortunately Buster Posey singled off hard-throwing reliever Cody Allen to open the bottom of the 9th and the Giants seized their chance to push across the winner. A bunt from Gregor Blanco moved pinch-runner Adrianza to 2nd, but Sandoval whiffed for the second out. An intentional walk to B-Craw gave Hicks the chance to be a hero and he delivered. With Marco Scutaro on the shelf, the Giants have mixed-and-matched at second base, but the third Brandon on the roster has staked a claim to regular starts. He's only batting .224, but 11 walks and 6 extra-base hits have him raking an .846 OPS.

The Indians were a Wild Card team last season and have some talent in their lineup. It was an impressive weekend for the home team, though, who racked up 14 runs and only allowed five in the three-game sweep. It is too early for scoreboard watching, but the Colorado Rockies gave the Dodgers and Hyun-jin Ryu a good thumping today to take the series and surge into a tie with LA for second place. Guess who is in first with a 15-10 record? Very tough road trip coming up--three in Atlanta, the hottest club in baseball, then three in Pittsburgh, a playoff team last year but under-performing so far, and finally four in big-budget Los Angeles, everyone's pick for this year's West title.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. I neglected to say the Giants have three at home with the Padres before the road trip. San Diego is by far the worst in scoring runs (2.6 p/g) but fifth-best in runs allowed (3.5 p/g). Bumgarner, Cain, and Hudson get the call.

No Beer in LA - they lost their opener!

Have you ever noticed how much dodger blue and doggie poo not only rhyme, but are practically synonymous? 
Ryan Vogelsong started the first game of the 2014 season against the doggers, in their very own home park, and, like most of his fellow battery-mates, pitched OK, but not superbly.  Ryan allowed 4 earned runs (3 while he was on the mound) and was replaced by David Huff before he got an out in the 5th inning.
The thing was, though, that the Giants were up 8 - 0 before the doggers scored a run.  This is the 1st inning:
Strike Out
Fly Out
Walk
Double
Single (2 runs), Morse advances on Kemp's fielding error
Single (1 run)
Double
Intentional Walk to load the bases for the pitcher's spot
Single (2 runs)
Single (1 run)
Walk
Line Out  (12 batsmen!)
I plan on reading this over and over to sustain me through long, cold winters in the future.  In the 2nd inning, Buster Posey, safe at first because of a Hanley Ramirez throwing error, scored on Brandon Hicks' double, who then scored on Joaquin Arias' single.
Giants only got 8 hits, but added 4 runners on walks.  They gave up 10 hits (7 by Vogie, 2 by Huff and 1 by Gutierrez) and 2 walks.  But oh, what a lovely grouping of hits.
Giants Offense!  Ya gotta' love it.