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Giants Look to Build off 5-2 Trip

The Giants couldn't quite pull out the win behind Madison Bumgarner Thursday in St. Louis, but they'll still have a nice flight back home after a taking 5 of 7 on this two city road trip.

In what very well could have been a glimpse into October, the Giants and St. Louis Cardinals played each other terrifically in St. Louis this week, splitting their four game series and emerging with identical 61-51 records. We talked a lot about games 1 and 2 in our last post when it looked like the Giants offense was ready to catch fire, but they didn't do a whole lot in games 3 and 4. They took game three behind another valiant effort from Ryan Vogelsong, who's in some kind of groove right now and is making a strong case for NL Cy Young, despite his lower win total. Vogey mowed down the Cards' potent without much trouble and the Giants bullpen did a nice job preserving the victory. What was key, and what had been key for them all road trip, is they again jumped out to a first inning lead on a Buster Posey 3-run jack. Coincidentally, they didn't get that first-inning run Thursday for Bumgarner, and never got much of anything going. The Giants offense struck first in every win on this trip and had trouble scoring runs when they didn't. They win when they have a balanced attack going like they had in Denver and they need to get back to that!

Luckily for San Francisco, they'll have a reinforcement back home waiting to join them towards the middle of the home stand. Pablo Sandoval is scheduled to start his rehab Friday night in San Jose, and the Giants don't plan on him being there longer than the weekend. They've set a target return date for Sandoval between Sunday and Tuesday, so we're getting close to seeing how this lineup looks with all the key cogs out there. The Giants haven't had the opportunity to put Sandoval and Hunter Pence on the same lineup card since the big trade before the deadline and the Panda's return should have a ripple effect on the whole Giant lineup. Pablo will most likely be moved into the 6th slot behind Pence, at least to begin with, and that will give Pence protection he hasn't seen since coming over from the Phillies. For the most part, it's been Brandon Belt getting slotted into the 6-hole, and even though he had a decent roadie, the Giants are looking for something more consistent in the middle of the order. The Giants still have to decide what move they'll make in order to open a spot for Pablo, but my guess is they drop back to a 12-man pitching staff.

Comments

Dmitri said…
They should hit Pablo 5th and Pence 6th vs. right hand pitchers. He was hitting well there and that would allow them to keep the left hander-right hander mix going again.
12:45 PM
Renee Stocklen said…
The Giants have to have the best fans in the game. Went downtown for the Cain statue thing and there were hundreds of people down there. Best fans in the World! GO GIANTS!!!!!!!
4:01 PM
Unknown said…
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5:06 PM
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