After finishing up their home stand in forgettable fashion earlier in the week, the Giants had to get their offense going in Denver. They did exactly what they needed to!
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| Pagan back to leadoff |
Bruce Bochy hosted a team meeting before game one on Friday night, and whatever he said worked wonders for his squad in this 3-game set. San Francisco rode a couple of offensive fueled nights in games one and two to easy victories. The key though wasn't just that the bats woke up this series, it's that they woke up early on in ballgames and provided the Giants starters some breathing room. Coors Field is the most lively park in baseball and 5 run leads there are like 2 run leads in a typical yard. One of the reasons why the Giants offense had been sputtering is because of their lack of production at the top of the order. Bochy decided to throw Pagan back at the top of the lineup for this series and he responded terrifically. Angel went 7-14 in the series, reaching base 10 times all together and scoring 7 runs. That's getting it done in the leadoff spot and something the Giants sorely need to regain. Buster Posey also continued his 2nd half assault on NL Pitching and had himself another terrific series. Posey ended up with 8 knocks (two of which left the yard) and 7 RBI.
As for the Giants newcomers, both contributed heavily in the series. Hunter Pence didn't do a whole lot with the bat in games one and two, but he showed up ready to hit Sunday. He nailed two RBI-doubles, including one off the right field wall, and drove in 4 runs in the series. I think the biggest impact we're already seeing from his though is just his presence in the middle of that order and how it's allowing Cabrera and Posey to see better pitches. I'm also sold on Marco Scutaro already. He's had some adventures in the field over at third thus far, but the guy can hit and is exactly the type of patient, steady bat the Giants needed in their infield.
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| Lincecum labors, finishes strong |
It wasn't just the offense that stepped it up in Denver either. The pitching had a rough go of it in the second part of that last home stand, but the starters really pulled their weight in the offensive friendly confines of Coors Field. All three starting pitchers ended up with strong outings. They did all run into some trouble at some point in their start, especially Lincecum in game three, but they all managed to get through 6 and collect victories. Bumgarner and Vogelsong each had pretty good stuff throughout, but Timmy went through his start with less than stellar command. Lincecum had to labor through 6, walking 4 batters and allowing base runners in every inning, but he did a helluva job walking the tightrope and didn't allow the Rockies any big innings when it looked like some were brewing. He also was the recipient of some strong defense behind him. Melky Cabrera came up with what I thought was the play of the weekend when he threw out Wilmn Rosario at the plate trying to score on a fly out. That preserved the Giants two run lead got Lincecum two outs and out of an inning when it looked like it was going to interesting.
The thing I liked most about this series had to be the relentless, non-stop offensive barrage the Giants put up this weekend. Normally when they put up big numbers in a game, the majority of their damage is done in one inning. This weekend, it seemed like they were scoring every other inning, and I hope we see more of that consistency over these final two months.
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