Things go bad in the 13th

The Cubs were down to their last strike on successive batters in the final inning but still managed to put a four-spot on Ramon Ramirez to take the getaway game. It was a bitter pill after another brilliant start, this one from Matt Cain (Game Score 74), whose six strikeouts pushed him to 1001 for his career, only the fifth SF Giant to get a K of Ks. Can you name the other four? That's an easy one--who are the four best pitchers in the San Francisco club's history? That's right: Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Jason Schmidt, and Tim Lincecum. Matt Cain was drafted in 2002 and pitched in the Arizona League with the Rookie Giants. That season ran from June 22nd to August 30th, so you have to figure he made his professional debut just about nine years ago (he signed on June 26th). When he made his big-league debut on August 29th in 2005, he was the youngest player in the majors, only 20 years old. Now he is the longest-serving Giant. What lucky fans we are to watch him pitch!

I hate wasted starts. Tim and Matt threw 14 innings and gave up one run but the Giants lost both games. That's a lack of offense, of course, despite the blown saves. But I don't really want to talk about the lousy offense. It is what it is and it will only get better if guys like Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres find their 2010 magic. Two walks, a hit, and two stellar and nearly-identical great plays at second by Emmanuel Burriss created some excitement. A shoulda-coulda homer by Pablo Sandoval was the other excitement. The Giants got seven walks but also went hitless for 10 innings. There I go again with the lousy offense stuff. Hey, how about that Matt Cain?

--M.C.

Real Tim

Reality has returned. It hurts today, but it is what we are.

Today's version was yet another thrilling pitcher's duel, albeit a heart-breaking loss, 2-1 to the Cubbies. Tim Lincecum and Ryan Dempster matched zeroes for six quick innings. The Freak had nasty stuff (game score 70) but some trouble spotting his fastball, so his pitch count soared. Meanwhile, Dempster was getting a taste of that special offense thing we do...you know, when we all try to make the easiest, quickest outs imaginable. I swear there was an inning ( or three)that the crafty vet threw two pitches to get three outs. I didn't think that was possible, but with an offense like ours, the impossible happens regularly. Anyway, Tim's numbers are once again sweet:

7 innings 5 hits one run two walks nine strikeouts

His best moment came in the fifth when that ass-hole Blake DeWitt doubled to lead off and went to third on a wild pitch. In classic Lincecum fashion, Tim broke down Alfonso Soriano on a swing he learned from Pedro Feliz, he froze Reed Johnson with heat on the paint, and (after an intentional walk) blew away Dempster. Tim's worst moments were any time DeWitt came to the plate. The scrawny dweeb owns Tim. Go figure.

We almost got the miracle finish again - too bad Burriss didn't just run and not think. I was surprised to see him so worried about getting back to second. Don't try to tag, try to score. Oh well, we'll get them tomorrow morning.

Sweeping to seven

Barry Zito out-pitched Ryan Vogelsong and the Giants got 30 hits and scored 19 runs to sweep the Cubs and win their seventh game in a row. It wasn't long ago I was gnashing my teeth in the midst of a five game losing streak. Now they are the hottest team in the league and have surged to a three-game lead. At 46-34, the Giants are second only to the Phillies (50-30) in the NL. In the AL, the Yankees (46-31) and the Red Sox (45-33) are the two best teams and the only ones with a better win percentage (the Sawx by only .002). That's select company--the 2010 champs, the 2009 champs, the 2008 champs, and the 2007 champs.

I was really impressed tonight with Zito's last two innings. He seemed to get command of all his pitches as he went deeper in the game. I kept saying to his HD image: "You're a major league pitcher. You can get major league hitters out!" It seemed to work. If Barry Zito is your worst pitcher, then you have a hell of a staff. Ryan Vogelsong gave up six runs (three earned) in five innings in the first game. Who knew he would get 11 runs of support? Here's Vogelsong's 12 starts by Game Score: 59, 30, 74, 64, 65. 64, 52, 76, 51, 57, 67, 39. Only two stinkers in the bunch, both wins. The Giants are 16-5 against left-handed starters.

--M.C.

Sixteen strikeout sweep

Madison Bumgarner made history last week when he gave up hits to the first eight guys he faced. Today he made a little history as well with a career-high eleven strikeouts. Seven of his final nine outs (the 6th, 7th, and 8th innings) were by strikeout. It was a great show by the young lefty. The old lefty, Jeremy Affeldt, then struck out five of the six batters he faced in his perfect two-inning save. That's 16 strikeouts for the hapless Indians today, and only four runs scored in the series. The Giants plated a whopping eight runs in the three games, let's hope they saved some of this month's allotment for the upcoming road trip.

The doubleheader in Chicago on Tuesday will feature the return of Barry Zito. Erstwhile number two man Jonathan Sanchez has been DL'd for some official medical reason but it seems more likely to be a brief mental health holiday for the mercurial southpaw. The Giants seem to use the disabled list as a way to avoid roster decisions, which is fine by me as the Zito quandary will take some time to sort out. I'd like to see him get in a couple of quality starts and put the pressure on Sanchez for a roster spot. I suppose the odd man out is Guillermo Mota if both Sanchez and Zito perform. Either one could work out of the 'pen and give the team a lot of flexibility. I'd miss Mota, actually. He endeared himself to me with those gritty long relief appearances and general willingness to take the ball in any situation and do what needs doing. He's pitched in almost 700 games in his 13 years, all in relief.

--M.C.

All Hail Balkin' Bob!

Mike Krukow always calls umpire Bob Davidson (who was at home plate today) "Balkin' Bob" and always talks about how he is more likely to call a balk than any of the other Men in Blue working the bigs. Sure enough, Mr. Davidson called a balk on Indians reliever Tony Sipp with the bases loaded and the Giants scored the only run of the game and won 1-0 over what must be a dismayed Indians squad. They come to San Francisco and get two excellent performances from their starters but lose both games, mostly because of poor play in the field and lack of execution on the basepaths. And Shin-Soo Choo has his hand broken by an errant Jonathan Sanchez pitch, to boot! No, they have to be unhappy with the results in this series. They've had to swallow a bitter pill of très bizarre Giants baseball, where one-run balk-offs are bread & butter. Yeah, I know, it wasn't a walk-off, but the way the bullpen is dealing these days it feels like one when they get a late lead. It was a little dicey in the 8th today, when Javier Lopez looked like he might blow Matt Cain's great start, but they wriggled out of it. Brian Wilson got the final three, the last one a ridiculous catch by Andres Torres who nabbed a deep fly ball while falling down on the track. He was sprinting to the fence but turning his face away from the ball as the sun was blinding him but still made the play. It is impossible not to love that guy. The Giants got a great play from Emmanuel Burriss as well, who grabbed a grounder far to his left in short right field and threw out Orlando Cabrera in the 7th to get the first out. It all started with great pitching, naturally, and Matt Cain racked up a Game Score of 74, even better than his last outing. A giddy Mike Krukow said "hey, just toss it on the pile" when the game was over. In 77 games played the Giants have 33 one-run decisions. They've won 22 of them.

--M.C.

Shades of Orange

Tonight's fabulous Orange Friday victory over the Indians showed off two things that I truly love about the defending World Champions:

#1 The Bullpen. They are clearly the factor that make this team tough to beat, even more so than our starters so far this year. Tonight it was 4.1 innings ( 13 outs needed due to another Jonathan Sanchez walk-fest!) and they ( specifically Santiago Casilla, Jeremy Affeldt, Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson ) gave up one lousy walk. THAT WAS IT...ONE WALK! And that guy was picked off by a stellar throw from Chris Stewart.

#2 Andres Torres. What's not to love about this guy? Even though this year has been tough for him, I love to watch him play. Tonight he reminded everyone of what an offensive force he can be: 3 for 4, 2 runs scored, with a homer to get us on the board in the first place. It looks like Bochy's idea of resting Andres a little was a wise one. If he can regain last year's form our run-scoring prognosis goes from grave to critical. Wish I could give a better outlook, but this is one sick puppy we are talking about.

I really feel like this post needs a good Carlos Santana joke - the dude had a major impact on the game with a clutch hit and two huge errors - however I just can't think of one, so I'll leave that chore to the heckling crowd.

Rubber Tim

Just when you think we are done (2 days ago), we bounce back in your face!

For the fifth time out of six chances, the Giants captured the rubber game, this time against the red hot Twins. Our resilient boys were led once again by Tim Lincecum delivering exactly what was needed: Timmy being Timmy. After a bad stretch, the Freak has bounced back with some classic Big Time Timmy Jim numbers:

7 innings 3 hits (one double) NO RUNS 2 walks and ..... 12 STRIKEOUTS

This commanding 109 pitch performance earned Tim a blistering 81 game score. Particularly noteworthy was Tim's unmerciful abuse of the bottom of the Twins line-up (#5-9): 0 - 16 with 12 strikeouts. Combine that with the continuing mastery of Javier Lopez and the unrelenting torture of Brian Wilson; you got yourself yet another Giants series victory. After that ridiculous first inning against Madison Bumgarner, reality set in and the Twins sure got a taste of true Giants baseball.

I don't want to make a habit of mentioning our "offense," but I must say I LOVE ME THOSE INSURANCE RUNS. Great job in the bottom of the eighth: Aubrey Huff double followed by a Cody Ross RBI single. Honorable mention to the Emmanuel Burriss slide which was incorrectly called out at home on a safety squeeze.

BTW: We now have a 15-7-3 (W-L-S) series record. Shockingly good for a team with our injuries and MIA offense, don't you think?