Giants Right Offense In Time For Philly

Well, the Giants barely escaped that Arizona series with sole possession of first place in the West, and things aren't about to get any easier.

The Philadelphia Phillies arrive in San Francisco today for a big re-match of the series in Philly in late July which the Giants took 2 games to one. It was only about a week ago, so it's still pretty fresh in every body's memory, as are the comments made by Charlie Manuel about the Giants starting pitching, Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum especially. Luckily for the Giants, they got out of their offensive skid just in time to keep hold of 1st place and inject some confidence into the lineup in time for a big 4-game weekend set with their newest rival. The Giants broke out for their biggest scoring output at home this season Wednesday, and all of their new toys contributed in big ways. Carlos Beltran went 3-5 with a triple and an RBI. Orlando Cabrera was 1-4 but had a 2-run double and drove in 3 on the afternoon hitting in the 5-hole. Cabrera has looked very strong up the middle on defense and looks focused with the bat in his hand, and I'm starting to feel a little bit better about his addition. Jeff Keppinger also continued his steadiness in a Giants uniform with a 2-hit day as well. The guys who were here before the trade also played well, as Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff, each in need of big games, each had one. Pablo Sandoval also continued his tear with another multi-hit effort driving his average up to .309.

It wasn't just about the offense on Wednesday though, the Giants got a strong start out of Ryan Vogelsong who played the role of stopper extremely well. He had some spotty control early, but ended the day going 6 innings, allowing just 1 run with 7 strikeouts and improved his record to 9-1. Tim Lincecum also pitched pretty well on Tuesday night, but unfortunately, the Giants offense didn't show up and the bullpen didn't hold up their end of the bargain that night either. Still, it was very key for this team to get going in that finale so they aren't heading into this Phillies series on a 6-game losing streak, cause Philly has been red hot since the Giants left them last week. Ryan Howard has come alive over the last week, and Chase Utley is heating up after a slow return from his injury, but the big change the Giants will be seeing in the Philly lineup for the first time is their new prize acquisition Hunter Pence. Now the Giants won't just be able to trot out a lefty to get Howard/Utley/Ibanez with Pence sandwiched in between them. Pence not only provides the Phillies with just a replacement for Jayson Werth for the first time since he left, he's an upgrade over Werth if you ask me, and he makes that lineup a whole lot better and more dynamic. This is an early August match-up with a late October feel, and it should be interesting to see where the Giants stand on Sunday.