The Giants Baseball Blog

After a rough Memorial Day weekend in Milwaukee, in which the Giants really struggled, losing 2 of 3 and looking really bad in the process, their bats actually showed some signs of life Monday in St. Louis. First off, as has been the trend all year long, they got a terrific start out of Madison Bumgarner, who even was a threat at the plate, hitting his 2nd double of the season and scoring 2 runs to raise his batting average to .211! He's swinging it better then some of their everyday players, and is probably the best pitcher in baseball with 6 losses, so he probably felt like he had to get it done himself! But on this day, they got all the runs they would need on just one swing of the bat by Andres Torres, who hit a high, deep fly ball that looked like a deep fly out, but carried over the wall for a fourth-inning grand-slam. Before Torres did that though, the Giants already gave MadBum the lead, thanks to a Cody Ross solo homer, and RBI singles by Miguel Tejada and Brandon Crawfor...

After a huge comeback win Friday night, a game in which the offense finally stepped up for their ace when he needed them too, the Giants offense went right back into hibernation on both Saturday and Sunday afternoon. The hero of Friday night's game, Brandon Crawford, surprisingly, wasn't even in Saturday's lineup after going 1-3 with a walk and the game winning grand-slam. Not to mention the outstanding range and incredible arm we've all been told about, and finally got to witness in action. The starting pitcher, Timmy Lincecum, was probably his best friend after the game, as not only did Crawford's blast give Lincecum the W, his defense saved at least 3-4 extra hits for the Brewers, balls Tejada or Fontenot don't turn into outs. Lincecum himself didn't have his best stuff, as he gave up a few more hits than he's accustomed to and hung a ball to Rickie Weeks that Weeks absolutely crushed for a 2-run homer in the 3rd inning. That put the Giants behind ...

Well, one of the Giants worst nightmares came to fruition last night, and if you saw the play that snapped Posey's shin bone, I think every Giants fan in America felt that one a little bit! There just isn't much to say but when Scott Cousins collided with Buster, it was a "WOW, the Giants' best player's leg just practically snapped!", reaction from me. Then the severity of the injury started to sink in as he lie there (you know it's bad when the opposing player sticks around). I mean, look at it, I didn't want to post the picture at first, but this is the last of Posey we'll likely see in 2011, going out like a champ and putting his body on the line in effort to save the game for his team . It was a clean play by baseball standards though, and Cousins feels horrible about it, tearing up in an interview. It seemed too surreal to be happening, such a weird baseball injury and it happens to the last guy in the world it can, if your a Giants fan. He wa...

Well, I've wanted a day off for a few days now, but this Giants team just will refuse to partake in extremely exciting ballgames, forcing me to halt my scheduled Sunday to get in a quick post about the Giants sweep. First off, Jonathan Sanchez dealt, and had it today, and my first beef is with Bochy for taking him out in the eight inning, especially the way the A's were struggling against him. Then, why Bochy brought in Jeremy Affeldt in a 1-run gam e when he's admitted to not having confidence right now, is beyond me? I'm so over the lefty vs. lefty jive, just let a good pitcher like Ramon Ramirez or Guillermo Mota throw if you insisted on removing Sanchez. Jonathan was only at 100 pitches, so I would have let him at least start the 7 th , then he gets in trouble, go to your good arms you trust in close games, not a guy who doesn't even believe in himself right now? I put this one on Boch , and I don't normally like to use the manager for the scapego...

I'm going to keep this one short (I know I always say that and write 1,000 words) but I'm going to enjoy this victory. Lincecum pitched his tail off and I'm glad Bochy showed the stones to keep him out there after that 9 th inning hit. He made the right move with Sanchez last night removing him in that situation and made the right move tonight by keeping in Timmy. That's just plain knowing your players and good managing. Besides Lincecum's dominant shutout, in which he went the distance, striking out 4, and allowing just 3 base hits and no walks. He wasn't crazy high with the strikeouts Saturday, cause the A's know Timmy, they see him in Spring Traning a lot and in interleague and they'll hit him, so that just goes to show you how dominant he was, and how on point he was with his stuff. To shut down an offense that knows him as well as anyone like that was something, I don't care who was out there hitting. I know the A's are like the AL...

Madison Bumgarner is the youngster of the Giants staff, at just 21 years of age, and tonight he goes up against a tough opponent in Chad Billinglsey , a guy notoriously tough on San Francisco hitters. Bumgarner takes the hill tonight, desperate to get into the winning column for the first time all year, but, more than likely, it's going to be the Giants' hitters that decide his fate. Sometimes I worry a bit about Bumgarner when I look up and see that he's sitting at 0-6 with a 4.25 era for the season entering Thursday. This kid deserves a W more than anyone in the league with the way he's been throwing, and the Giants have to give him one to ease his mind. His season is reminding me of the year Matt Cain had in the 2008 season when absolutely nothing went his way and he finished the year at 7-16 despite having a 3.65 era and a .234 BAA. The Giants just didn't score for him, and when they did, the bullpe n couldn't hold opposing teams down, but all Cain did w...

It started off with one of Tim Lincecum's wildest starts of his big league career, and little help from the bullpen, in an ugly 7-4 loss, dropping his record to 3-4. Game 2 started out well, but finished up in very much the same fashion, as the Giants dropped both games of the 2-game set to Colorado, and their possession of first place in the NL West. You could tell early on in Monday night's game that it was going to be an interesting one. Tim Lincecum was all over the place early, walking guys, and getting tattooed like Lincecum rarely does when he did come into the zone, just because he was always behind in the count. He walked 6 guys and threw a ball into center field when trying to turn a double play. He allowed 9 hits (2 HR, albeit 1 one was F9 anywhere else) while not even making it out of the 6th inning. It was an outing you'll rarely see the 27 year-old right hander make, and It'll occupy his mind until he laces them up next this week in LA. And it was finally ...

Well folks, it took a little longer than expected, but the Giants are right back where they belong, atop the NL West. Only problem is, they're currently sharing the position with the Rockies (technically speaking, the Rooks have a 10th of a percentage point of a lead) but an essential tie, but will move a few percentage points ahead themselves with a win tonight! The Giants offense is still ridiculously in-efficient, yet they're getting tremendous starting pitching, and continue to get this big hits late in close ballgames. In the last two games, it's been Mr. Cody Ross, as the man they call "The Boss" around these parts of the Bay Area, has completely come alive after missing much of the spring and the first portion of the season. Ross drove in the game winning run in a 1-0 win Tuesday night vs. the D-Backs, in a game in which Tim Lincecum was brilliant yet again, but suffered from the Giants disiase I'm dubbing the "Matt Cain Run Support Syndrome" ...

It's Mother's Day and the Giants gave the best gift they could to all of you moms out there, their 5th victory in 6 games. Even on the holiday, I just had to get something up after the huge win Sunday that completed the 3-game sweep of the Rockies and moved the team to within a game of first place. First, I wanted to touch on Ryan Vogelsong a bit, who I'm now dubbing "The V" by the way, and his brilliant start vs. a powerhouse of a ball-club. Giants fans were a little on the fence with Vogelsong after his rough outing in New York, but I think today's game was a so called "game changer" for the 33 year-old. Let's face it, he's no spring chicken, and doesn't have the upside the other 4 starters do, but still, he's giving better quality outings than his injured predecessor Barry Zito was (just click on his link and look at the hideousness he was bringing to the mound), and I root for Zito. Now "The V" just made his 5th outin...

Happy 80th Willie Mays! Best living ballplayer today and hopefully it will stay that way for many years to come. Not only a the greatest ballplayer of all-time, he's great to the Giants organization (look at all the time he spends with young players and at the park, even as his mobility has declined), and to the community of San Francisco, and the world needs more people like Willie. OK, that was my Mays bit for the day, have to shout out the greatest that ever played. However, the point of our post here is a new little internet radio/TV show deal I just signed with UnifySports.tv, and wanted to give a sample to my great readers of the videos that will be offered on our site as well as our normal posting. We will have all new videos posted at the bottom of the site if you haven't already noticed (eventually, we will re-arrange our site and videos will be in the sidebar towards the top, though that won't be until after the season). Today, we just wanted to give people an ide...

I was recently approached by Ian Bozsnyak, author at Amaziation (www.amazination.blogspot.com), with some questions about the upcoming Mets-Giants series. (Keep in mind, this was done on Monday, before the series and the Jose Reyes rumors became so rampid) _______________________________ Q1) Last Season Brian Wilson adopted the phrase "Fear the Beard" and Wilson also adopted the term to some, "the best closer in all of Baseball." Wilson went on the DL during Spring Training this season with an oblique injury. Since returning though converting 8 out of his 9 save opportunities, he has an ERA that through 11 games, stands at 6.97. Wilson has also walked 9 batters in 10.1 innings. Trevor to you what is the major problem with Brian Wilson, and is he beginning to become a concern for not only the fans but Bruce Bochy and his staff as well? TC: The problem with Wilson, if you want to call it a problem, was that he just didn't throw much in the spring and it took him...

Well, with the Giants hitting the wall at the end of April, and pretty much every writer and their mother knocking them on the internet and radio waves, I figured I'd go a different route. I thought it would be a perfect opportunity for our April Minor League Report. Now, again, forgive me for the shortness in the post, I've been battling some bad ligament issue in my right hand rendering it pretty much useless on the keyboard. Anyhow, like has been the case recent years, the San Jose Giants are the cream of the crop as far as the Giants minor league teams go. They lead all in the organization with a 16-8 record and like they seem to have done every year since 2008 with Pablo Sandoval (Posey in '09, Belt in '10) and they're hoping that 2011 will be no different. They have a few candidates down there doing well for themselves so far, but nobody really jumping off the page. Chris Dominguez leads the team with 6 homers, 18 RBI and a .286 avg., but is still striking ou...