How to Win at Baseball

If baseball games were won on style points, the SF Giants would be returning from their road trip with at least five wins.  Unfortunately, the team that scores the most runs wins the game, and on that basis, the Giants went 2-5, winning one game in St. Louis out of three, and one out of four in Pittsburgh.

The last two in Pittsburgh were those style point victories, including Sunday's 5-2 loss.  The Giants did everything better but score runs, and not coincidentally, hit homers.  The Pirates again won with power on Sunday--dingers by Cutch and Alvarez.  But they need to be careful of relying on it too much--their baserunning was sloppy on Saturday, and their defense was sloppy on Sunday.

But if revenge for the Giants' victory in last year's Wild Card game that kept them out of the postseason was the motivation, the Pirates got it.  They've won the regular season series 6-1.  That alone might ensure they won't meet again in a wild card game this season.

In Sunday's game Ryan Vogelsong had a bad start, lasting only 3.5 innings after giving up 3 runs in the first.  Again the bullpen gave up solo homers, but again the biggest problem was the Giants inability to cash in runners.  For the Giants hit pretty well on this road trip and in this game, but not when it counted most.  Duffy had 3 hits Sunday, Crawford doubled deep, and Tomlinson, Aoki, Perez and Blanco hit.  Though Crawford was robbed of RBIs by his double bouncing into the stands, Buster Posey again went 0-5, as did Byrd.  Both left men on base.

The only saving grace is that the Dodgers lost 5 in a row, and SF actually picked up a game on the roadtrip.  But even now at home they will be tested: by the Cubs, who started their current torrid winning ways by dominating the Giants in Chicago,  and then the Cards.  The Cubs are so hot that they are locking up the second wild card, while Arizona and San Diego are moving closer to the second place Giants in the division.  As Bruce Bochy said before today's game, there's only one task to concentrate on for the rest of the schedule: win games.  And you do that (let's review) by...scoring the most runs in each one.  

Are the Bucs Going All the Way?

So today, in the third game in Pittsburgh between the two teams I follow, the Pirates prevailed 3-2, showing their postseason potential.

They crushed three solo homers, two by Kang and the walk-off in the ninth by Marte, who earlier in the field had robbed a homer from Brandon Crawford.  The Giants dinked their two runs and had plenty of chances for more--twice they had a man on third with one out, and didn't cash in.  As good as Byrd looked yesterday, he looked woeful today.  Duffy, Belt and Blanco are all playing well, but when your RBI guys--Posey and Crawford in this lineup--aren't hitting, chances to win decline severely.

Mike Leake had a very good start, giving up just one hit--unfortunately it was Kang's first homer.  Cole had a bumpier time for the Pirates but he pitched out of jams most of the time.  The Giants stole bases, the Pirates got caught.  The Pirates' second-string catcher had a real tough game.  But the Pirates' difference-maker is power up and down the lineup.

So after Hunter Strictland picks off a runner at third and there are two outs, on the next pitch Kang hits a long home run.  And in the ninth, as Kontos seems very sharp and in command, and with two strikes on the batter, Marte hits a long one to end the game.

I'm finding it impossible to root against the Giants or even remain neutral--I've just listened to too many of their games.  But I had a familiar feeling when the score was tied in the eighth.  It was the feeling that the Pirates, playing with assurance, were going to find a way to win it, in the ninth or the fifteenth, whatever it took.  It's the same kind of confidence as with the 1979 champions.

The Pirates just have that feeling about them now.  This could be their year.

Meanwhile the Giants didn't lose ground, as the Dodgers lost to Houston again.  The Pirates picked up a game on St. Louis, which lost big to San Diego.

Correction: The Giants sent Chris Heston down to make room for Marlon Byrd, not Mike Leake.  They subsequently sent down outfielder Ryan Lollis to make room for Leake.  It sounds as if Pagan's return is still a week or so away, pretty close to--and perhaps past--Sept. 1, when active rosters expand from 25 to 40 when Heston and perhaps Lollis rejoin the Giants.

Byrd in the Hand

Marlon Byrd made the SF Giants front office look mighty good by launching a two-run homer in his first at-bat as a Giant, in Pittsburgh Friday.  He also doubled and singled in the game, going 3 for 5.

With that homer, Byrd instantly became the Giants' home run leader with 20 for the year.  Brian Crawford has been stuck at 19 for awhile.

Madison Bumgarner pitched 6 and a third gritty innings, giving up but two runs, which he got back with a 400 foot plus homer with one on.  He's homered in his last two starts.

The Giants offence then stalled and the Pirates chipped away in their usual relentless fashion, but the Giants' bullpen bent but did not break, and the Giants won the second game of this four game set, 6-4.

All the heroics (that included some excellent fielding by Duffy and Blanco) obscured the shocker of the day--to make required roster room in activating Mike Leake (who will start on Saturday), the Giants sent their second-best pitcher back to the minors.  Chris Heston will get some rest and some less pressured work for 10 days, until the rosters expand and he can rejoin the club.

Maybe others expected this but I sure didn't.  Still, it makes some sense, especially after a strong couple of starts by Vogelsong and a promising start by Matt Cain.  Heston is, after all, a rookie, and his shaky starts recently could indicate some bad habits that need to be corrected before they get worse, or even just a breather from big league pressure before it gets really intense in September.

Manager Bruce Bochy didn't want to give up a position player--his bench is replete with good gloves but not so many bats.  In a pitching emergency, Tim Hudson could be quickly activated.  The next decision point may be when Angel Pagan is healthy.

Marlon Byrd started in right field, which is the short side in Pittsburgh but the long side in San Francisco.  I'd look for him to start games there but be platooned with a younger fielder in the late innings of close games.  His three hits Friday came on his first three at-bats.  Aoki was in left field, and he had a three hit day as well, leading off.

Blanco has started hitting again after a slumping start to the road trip.  Buster Posey is slumping in terms of hits but he drove in the first run with a sac fly, and he's hit some very deep balls on this trip.  Brian Crawford, who got his hitting streak broken yesterday, got a hit today.

So far the series works for me, as I'd like to see it even at 2-2.  Mike Leake starts Saturday, against the Pirates ace, Gerit Cole.  Leake normally pitches well against the Bucs, but this is his first game off the DL.

The Pirates also got back their leadoff man, Josh Harrison, who started at second base.  When Mercer comes back, the Bucs hope to soon be in the enviable position of having 5 infielders who can start (and hit) for three positions.  They're going to be something in the postseason.

Speaking of postseason, one of the heroes of the 2013 postseason for the Pirates was none other than Marlon Byrd.

In today's races, the Pirates lost no ground as the Cards lost, but the Giants picked up a game when Mike Fiers of the Astros threw a no-hitter against the Dodgers.  The last LA batter was up as the Giants announcers were beginning their postgame wrap, so they did an improvised and hilarious fake play by play (Ronald Reagan-style, by picking up the pitch off the wire and making up the rest) on Fier's final strikeout.  I'm sorry but I'm absolutely spoiled for any other announcing team--they all sound like fake automatons next to these guys.

Pop

The Giants' dilemma became really obvious in the past two games.  After the bullpen gave up the one run lead to St. Louis, the best the Giants could do in the ninth for a pinch-hitter was pitcher Madison Bumgarner.  They lost 4-3.  At the end of the next game in Pittsburgh, the last two batters including pinch hitter Andrew Susak had below .250 averages.  The Giants lost 4-0.

So today the Giants acquired Marlon Byrd, a right-side hitting outfielder, who even late in career has as many homers as the Giants' current leader, Brandon Crawford, at 19.  Without Pence in the lineup, this move was inevitable, and cost the Giants another young pitching prospect.  Will it turn out to mean anything?  A very qualified maybe.

Byrd is probably a liability in the field however, and though lacking pop, the current roster of Giants outfielders have proven to be excellent fielders, robbing opponents of hits and runs.  Juan Perez got a rare start in St. Louis and took away a home run with a spectacular fence-climbing catch.

In this game Giants infielders made the great plays: Crawford and Duffy, and Tomlinson not too shabby either.

The Giants did get one of three in St. Louis, and the last game hurt.  But Matt Cain had his best start, so in that way it was a positive.  Now the Giants will have to struggle for a split in Pittsburgh to get three wins on this road trip.  It won't be easy.  However, Aoki is back (and got a hit), and Mike Leake is expected to start on Sunday.

Neil Walker had a titanic homer, Charlie Morton pitched very well for the Bucs.  The Pirates are very strong at home, and their versatility at bat and on the bases is really formidable when their starters pitch well--which they do, better than anybody in the league except St. Louis.  

Giants Victorious--and Penceless (Again)

Monday night in St. Louis, the SF Giants behind 2-1 with two outs in the ninth and a man aboard, Buster Posey hits a drive that off the bat looks like a sure home run to put the Giants ahead.  But it lands a foot or so short in the outfielder's glove, his back on the wall, to end the game.

What else could go wrong?

Well.

Earlier that inning, Hunter Pence hit a deep drive to center that looked like it might go out, but it didn't.  It was caught on the warning track.  On his way to first, Pence flinched and grabbed his side.

That's what.

Pence hurt his oblique muscle, and was taken out of the lineup for Tuesday's game. So the Giants play the team with the best record in baseball, without a single starter in the outfield, and without the starting second baseman.   Maxwell is in right, Blanco in center (though Blanco at this point may well be considered the starting center fielder) and Lollis starts his first major league game in left.   Oh, and without the previously announced starting pitcher, Mike Leake.

So what happens?

The Giants win 2-0, behind a sweaty but ultimately successful start by Ryan Vogelsong, and with a pinch hit by...that man again...Madison Bumgarner.  He singled to start the 7th and scored the second run when Belt was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.  Rookies Tomlinson and Duffy got hits, and Ryan Lollis got his first major league hit. Rookie Osich pitched a perfect relief inning. Lollis made a pretty nifty catch in left, as did Maxwell out of his usual position in right.  Blanco hit as well, but that's becoming normal.  Crawford hit safely in his 12th straight game, a personal high.  Buster Posey just missed another homer to center.

It's an object lesson never to count this team out, but... The danger signs for the near future are formidable.  After the game the word was that Pence will go on the 15-day DL...again.  Right at the wrong moment.  Even within the win, there were too many left on base, and an 0 for 10 with runners in scoring position.

The good news?  Susak is back, Leake and Aoki probably soon will be.  And these guys play hard.  Chris Heston also gutted out his start on Monday and held the Cards to 2 runs.  Posey, Crawford and Duffy have to keep on being spectacular, they need Aoki to return to early season form, Belt to stay hot, etc.

Matt Cain starts tomorrow--maybe his last chance to return to his dominant form before "decisions are made" when Leake returns.  With two good starts in a row, Vogelsong has earned his spot in the rotation.  It's been suggested that Cain accept a minor league assignment so he could work out the kinks with less pressure.  Of course, a strong scoreless seven will throw all those calculations into the wind.

As might a deal, as might be in the offing soon. Like tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Pirates won another extra-innings game, this time outslugging Arizona in 15, 9-8.  But it wasn't easy--they blew a big lead, some sloppy play, but at home they find a way.  

A Day to Savor

If the San Francisco Giants publicity department had been empowered to script Sunday's game at the home field, they couldn't have topped what actually happened.

Thousands of fans received small copies of the statue at the park of Hall of Famer Juan Marichal, the great Giants pitcher of the 1960s.  Marichal was himself on hand, doing interviews with TV and radio.    In one such interview, Marichal recalled that in his last major league win, he struck out slugger Reggie Jackson three times.

In the actual game, Madison Bumgarner was on the mound, facing the Washington Nationals.  The last time he pitched to them, in Washington, two of the first three hitters hit home runs.  In Sunday's first inning he struck out the side.

When young Joe Ross also struck out the side in the first, a real pitchers' battle seemed in the offing,  Both pitchers went 1-2-3 in the second, although it took three good plays for MadBum.  After the high-scoring game Saturday night, the Giants announcers joked how much better they sounded when they had lots of hits and runs to describe.  Not like "another 1-2-3-inning," Duane Kiper said with exaggerated slowness.  Well, it looked like it could be that kind of game.

Then to start the third, Gregor Blanco got a seeing-eye hit up the middle, which still seemed as if it was an anomaly.  But then the Giants started teeing off on Ross.  Duffy and Belt just missed homers (as Crawford would later, by inches) but Hunter Pence didn't.  His titanic shot capped a 3 run inning.

Two more runs were driven in later, both by MadBum himself, with a double and his fourth home run of the season, a no-doubt-about-it drive into the stands in left.  Meanwhile, his pitching just got stronger.  And when the dust cleared....

Bumgarner had pitched his second complete game in a row, beginning and ending this 5-1 homestand.  He fanned 14, tying his career high.  And he became the second SF Giant pitcher to pitch a shutout, strike out at least 10 and homer in the same game.  The first?  Who else?

Juan Marichal.

The only two Giant pitchers to do that were in the stadium at the same time, separated in their playing time by some 40 years.

Incidentally, after Marichal's Reggie Jackson story, Bumgarner matched him--he struck out one of baseball's top hitters this year, Bryce Harper, three times.  And added fanning the Nationals' leadoff hitter four times.  Sunday's 5-0 game completed the 4-game sweep of Washington, and one upped the Giants in the season series now completed, those 4 to the 3 game sweep the Nats inflicted in July.

This was, as announcer Jon Miller said, a day to savor.  And if you were there, a program to carefully put away to keep.

Now the Giants head out for a fateful 7 game road trip--3 games in St. Louis against the club with the most wins in baseball, and 4 games in Pittsburgh against the team with the second best record in baseball.  (Washington's only solace this weekend was that the Bucs swept the Mets, and so the Nats didn't lose any more ground in their division race.)

But let's stay with that a second--the Pirates went into New York against one of the three hottest teams in baseball, and swept them on the road, in two extra-inning games and in what was a close low-scoring game on Sunday until the 7th, when Pirates bats erupted. Alex Ramirez struck the fatal double, one of his four hits. They ended up winning 8-1.

So now my mind games begin.  Every Giants victory against St. Louis not only helps them, but may help the Pirates.  I'd be happy with a split in Pittsburgh.  But frankly a 3-4 trip would be really okay.

The Giants may be further bouyed by pitcher Mike Leake and catcher
Andrew Susak coming off the DL, and Aoki is expected to be ready when his concussion DL is up.  So Leake may be available for a start in St. Louis, Susak may be as well, but all three are likely to be active when the team is in Pittsburgh.
The news on Joe Panik is less positive--just more medical consultations about his back.

Character

It's that time of the season, when character counts.  The Pirates are showing it, battling and defeating the previously very hot Mets in two successive extra inning games, after getting out of St. Louis with one out of three.  Different guys are coming up big in the extras, always a good sign.

The SF Giants are definitely showing it.  Shorthanded, the players on the field rise to the occasion against a Washington team that seemed punch drunk on Saturday, during their third straight loss to the Giants.  At minimum, the Giants proved opportunistic hitters against the Nationals' top pitchers, winning 8-5 and 12-6 Friday and Saturday.

Buster Posey got his key hits, Brandon Belt stayed hot, and Matt Duffy--the rookie who already seems like one of these vets--continued outstanding play in the field and at the plate.

But one of Saturday's surprise heroes was Kelby Tomlinson, with the leadoff triple that started the 6 run rally in the third, and a double that drove in two.  He also looks more comfortable at second.  With his Clark Kent glasses and movie star profile, he could soon turn into a fan favorite.  He's certainly won the position until Joe Panik gets back.

The other hero Saturday was also a hero Friday: Gregor Blanco got three hits each night, and played a mean center field.  Blanco has come off the bench for stretches to help Giants pennant drives before, and a couple of the Giants announcers said that he's never looked better than right now.

Watching the hits, the Giants look sharp and smart at the plate, and relentless, no letting down with a lead on Saturday, they kept smacking those singles, doubles and triples.  Character.

These games featured hitting and outstanding bullpen pitching that made up for subpar starts by Peavy and especially Matt Cain.  Despite a booming homer on Friday, Hunter Pence remains slumped at the plate and he lost a ball in the field Saturday--if the Giants weren't shorthanded, he'd be due for a rest.

However, the Dodgers have also been winning so the Giants aren't gaining ground in the division.  The Cubs keep winning, too.  Coming off a strong game that got the Giants started on winning again, and with recent lack of success against Washington, Madison Bumgarner starts on Sunday afternoon, while Giants hitters face a rookie pitcher they've never seen before.  A hot day is forecast, and so the ball may be jumping all over the yard again.

Mid August Night's Dream

Before Thursday night's game, the San Francisco Giants were shut out twice in three games.  In the game they won between, they scored only three runs.

On Thursday, they scored three runs again, and won again, beating Washington 3-1 behind magnificent pitching, which is the only way scoring just three runs is going to get you wins.

The Giants wasted an excellent start by Chris Heston Wednesday but not an ultimately excellent start by Ryan Vogelsong Thursday night, who struck out eight in five innings.  The bullpen was even better: two terrific innings by Hunter Strickland, one very sharp inning by Sergio Romo, and a final inning with the dramatic uncertainty that's become all too prevalent with closer Casilla.  All together, Giants pitchers struck out 14, all (as Mike Krukow pointed out) by swinging strikes.

Note some of the names that get game balls: Vogelsong, who lost his spot in the starting rotation through no fault of his own; Gregor Blanco, the utility and these days starting outfielder whose first inning triple got the Giants back on track, rookie Matt Duffy and very rookie Tomlinson (also a triple), as well as Posey who is having an amazing late summer.

The Giants need heroics from players like these if they are to get through the month even or better.  Aoki was placed on the 7 day concussion DL, so that's two starting outfielders on the DL (and the only starter, Hunter Pence, is slumping.)  The linchpin of the infield and the batting lineup, Joe Panik, is out.  Meanwhile, Washington is fighting for its playoff life for the next 3 games at SF, and in the Giants near future there's a road trip to St. Louis and Pittsburgh.

Elsewhere, the Pirates got one of three in St. Louis (losing ground in the division but enough to keep them firmly at Wild Card #1), and the Cubs and Mets stay hot. The remaining schedule tends to favor the Cubs and Mets continuing to win, but the Giants schedule is pretty tough.  So the possibility of the Giants backing into a second Wild Card slot is fading fast.

So the Giants' best chance may be the division.  The Dodger bullpen that got scorched in Pittsburgh, got scorched at home on Thursday by the Reds.  Their big trade, Matt Latos, again got shelled, and was loudly booed at his new home park.  The Dodgers always seem capable of imploding, and they are on the edge of it now.

The Giants are 2.5 back, which is within striking distance if they can maintain that margin through the month.  It will take games with heroics like tonight to do so.

It will also help to have the acknowledged best manager in baseball.  Bochy reconfigured his lineup on Thursday, with Blanco leading off and Belt moved up to third, and it worked.

 But it won't be easy--starting Friday, with what was once a marquee matchup but these days has Giants fans awfully nervous--Scherzer against Cain.

MadBum Is Back

Everybody is heading for the hills, but the stern tall marshal is going to defend the town.  The Madison Bumgarner of last autumn came fully back on Tuesday when his team needed him most--a four game losing streak, a depleted bullpen.  Bumgarner took on the mighty Astros, pitched a complete game, striking out 12 and walking none, for a 3-1 victory at home.

The strikeouts included 7 in a row in the early innings, a team record.  He also took the record for the number of games with more than 10 strikeouts and no walks.

Did I mention a complete game?  Nine innings for the starting pitcher?  Pretty close to a miracle these days, and just what the Giants needed.

Brandon Belt hit two home runs, after a road trip during which he hit 5. In a very streaky year in which he didn't seem to be showing a lot of power, he's now equaled his season high of 17 homers.

 And the defense was stellar yet again, with two nice line drive grabs by Belt and Crawford to end the game.

Off-field news wasn't so good, at least in the short term: Angel Pagan went on the DL for his knee, Joe Panik will still be rehabbing when he gets off the DL, Andrew Susak is not ready either, and neither is Tim Hudson, Tim Lincecum or especially Mike Leake.  But Leake at least is showing good progress, and Aoki passed his concussion tests.  This is critical time for the Giants, with all these injuries, and before rosters get expanded.

Now what the team needs is a rebound performance by Chris Heston tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Pirates fell to the Cards in St. Louis, in one of those one run games that the home team usually wins.  The Dodgers lost one, won one.

Sunday High and Low

On the big stage of ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, in a sold-out PNC Park, the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a spectacular come from behind win.  Down 5-1, they clawed back until the 7th, when they scored 9--count 'em NINE--runs, one on a sacrifice fly, one on an infield hit, two on a single by Cutch (who'd homered to center with one on in the 5th) and a titanic 3-run homer by Jung Ho Kang, who'd been hit by pitches in his previous two at-bats.  Francisco Cervelli' s single in that 7th started the deluge by making it a 5-4 game, and he capped the victory in the 8th with a titanic home run into the upper deck in left.

The Pirates sweep of the Dodgers was about the best news the Giants got on Sunday.  They were swept in Chicago--and it was a 4 game sweep--with a biting 2-0 loss.  They had great chances all game to score runs, including in the 8th, and in the 9th they had the bases loaded with no outs.  Jake Peavy pitched pretty well, though he threw a lot of pitches, and the bullpen held the line, but this time the injury-riddled lineup (losing Aoki during the game, and perhaps for longer) couldn't push over those runs against a dominant starter and closer.

So though the Giants lost no ground to the Dodgers, thanks to the Pirates, they fell way behind in the Wild Card race.  The Cubs on the other hand have to feel great, and super-confident.  They beat the World Champions four games straight, the kind of confidence-builder that a young team needs.  They had plenty of good fortune as well, especially on Sunday when the game came down to a couple of feet shy of the center field wall for Hunter Pence's blast, and a disputed strike three on a 3-2 count to end the game.

Though the Giants come home for a day off, the games won't get any easier--they'll be playing good teams for awhile. Houston and Washington come in, then a perhaps fateful road trip to St. Louis and Pittsburgh--with the two best records in baseball--and then guess who comes to SF?  The Cubs.

 Aoki got beaned Sunday and his availability won't be known until Tuesday.  The Giants won't get Joe Panik and Mike Leake back until the series in St. Louis.  Lots of speculation, bordering on panic, about quick acquisitions before things get completely out of hand.

 Meanwhile, the Pirates have been doing a lot of winning without two key players, Jody Mercer and Harrison, and they both are off to rehab assignments early.  The Pirates have a tough road trip coming up, starting with their nemesis St. Louis and then the currently high flying New York Mets.

The Cubsaw

Not following the Chicago Cubs every day, I find it difficult to pin down why they are so hot right now.  They are a very young team and though there may be future stars on the roster, it's hard to say who they are.  Maybe it's chemistry between the manager and young players, but they've won 9 out of 10, and the Pirates as well as now the Giants (big time) have been among their victims.  The Giants just lost three straight to them, and will have their hands full to salvage the fourth game on Sunday.

What ails the Giants is easier to see.  On this current road trip, their hitting has been good to excellent, and their fielding has been excellent to spectacular.  Their bullpen has been so-so, but their starting rotation has just fallen apart.  Somebody came up with an amazing stat--that the starters have failed to get an out in the fifth inning.  Chris Heston faltered, Ryan Vogelsong pressed back into starting duty was shaky and Matt Cain was terrible on Saturday--only superior defense (especially by Brandon Crawford) and luck kept him in the game for the first two innings.

As for the bullpen, it's notable that Bochy--while holding out hope for Cain to regain his winning ways--commented that Cassia seemed to have lost his concentration.  The runs he gave up in the 8th were the difference in the game.

The crisis in the starting pitching rotation became acute when Mike Leake went on the DL after pitching but one game for the Giants since the trade.  With Hudson and Lincecum already on the DL, the starter crisis became a bullpen crisis, as there are no long relievers left, with Vogelsong a starter.

Losing to the Cubs is especially meaningful since if the Giants fail to win the division, they will likely contend with the Cubs for the second Wild Card.  Fortunately, the Dodgers have lost twice to the Pirates--the Bucs are near invincible at home--and so the division race could be a lot worse.  (On the other hand, the Giants will soon head for Pittsburgh; the Pirates swept them in San Francisco, plus the aforementioned invincibility at home.)

Things could turn around for the Giants, once everyone is healthy (if that ever happens this year), and the young Cubs could just as easily go on a 10 game losing streak.  But unquestionably they are one of the hot teams at the moment, along with the Mets and Toronto.   Getting hot at this stage could mean that the team is clicking and knows how to sustain it, or it just might be a streak.

Same with losing streaks. Washington is on one, and may be self-destructing; there was always that potential, as there still is with the Dodgers.  There's lots of baseball yet, and the Giants have a lot of good things going--especially (of all things) hitting.  (They're also wasting one of Brandon Belt's power hitting streaks, which don't usually last.) They've got the best infield in baseball with the best depth defensively.  But in ways unanticipated, the generally anticipated problem of starting pitching (which just a week ago seemed almost solved) is their Achilles tendon.

I still marvel at the way relief pitching is handled these days.  I know I grew up in a different era, but this universal practice of using a parade of relievers for one inning or even one batter, in nearly every game, just doesn't make sense to me.  The law of averages suggests that the more pitchers you use, the more likely it is that one of them isn't going to be very effective that day.  But if one is clearly dominant and having a great day, he is still replaced the next inning because, well, that's how it's done.

Don't Panik

For the second straight night in Atlanta, the San Francisco Giants scored 8 runs, but this time they won 8-3, with an 8th inning rally of four runs.  After the Giants squandered another lead, they got two straight doubles to tie it up again.  Atlanta elected to intentionally walk Posey to get to Hunter Pence.  It didn't work.  Pence hit a three-run homer.  Only so many times he's going to hit into a double play in this situation.

He did that with the bases loaded to end the last game against Texas, the first of two losses of the kind that give restless nightmares to Giants fans, if not the players.  But the worse loss was the first game in Atlanta, when the Giants bullpen gave up three leads to lose in the 12th 9-8.

I know as a Giants fan I'm supposed to hate the Dodgers most of all, and as a Pirates fan it's St. Louis these days.  But I've been a Pirates fan a long time and I learned to hate Atlanta above all.  I also won't use their racist team name.

In the second game of the series on Tuesday, Matt Duffy had another 4 hit night, including driving in the tying run in the 8th.  The Giants and associated media are promoting him for NL rookie of the year, and he's certainly the Giants' rookie of the year.  Other good news: Aoki and Adrianza are hitting, and Jake Peavy continues to pitch well--he threw a lot of pitches for six innings but had 8 strikeouts and gave up just one run. He deserved the win but the bullpen again blew the save.

But this may all be outweighed by the bad news, at least if it continues: Joe Panik is on the disabled list with back problems of mysterious origin.  Just as the Giants were getting healthy, this is a significant blow.  You don't lose a .300 hitter and a superior infielder without consequences.

The Giants had injuries all last year and backed into the playoffs--really, lucked into the playoffs--and every season is all new, so it could happen again.  But their playoff hopes may depend on Joe.  Though Panik may not be as essential as Pence and Posey have proven to be, he's probably close.  They can win without Pagan, and so far this year, they mostly had to.

The Tuesday night game hurt too because it all fell apart with two outs in the bottom of the 9th, when closer Casilla, who was shaky and has been recently, gave up a gopher ball, two strikes from victory.  The only reliever who looked sharp was Romo, but apparently the scheme trumps game reality (or maybe it was just that Romo was overworked lately) but not bringing him back for the 9th turns out to have been much of the story.

The third game in the series Wednesday was set up to be the prime pitchers' duel. Those are always 50-50 chances, just as the series is evenly split.  The Giants are the better team, but their best chance of winning the series on the road may have passed.

Now It Begins

In some ways, it is unfortunate that the Pirates are in the same division as the St. Louis Cardinals.  The Cards have the best record, the most wins, in baseball.  Nobody is even close.  The Pirates however have the second best record.  In just about any other division of either league, they would be in first place.

But if the Cards push them to keep up, it is not so unfortunate, because they have a clear path to the postseason.  If the season ended now, they would have the first Wild Card berth.

The Giants on the other hand don't have as clear a path.  They are competing for their division championship, mostly with the Dodgers.  If they don't get that, things get chancier.  Because the race for the second Wild Card spot is unclear.  Even a half game out (as they are at the moment), they might not make the postseason--they are even closer to the record of the Chicago Cubs for the second Wild Card.

In the past two or three weeks, the Giants have done what they needed to do.  Playing mostly teams who are not in contention, they dominated.  On Wednesday they broke a pitcher's duel open with a five run inning, and took their home series with the Brewers, after breaking their latest winning streak at six with Tuesday's loss to the Brewers.  So they have won 12 of their last 14 games.

But after an off-day Thursday, things change.  They're on the road, playing better teams than they have been playing, in less congenial circumstances (like a lot of hot weather.)  The rest of the season is going to be challenging.

Both the Pirates and Giants (who play each other four more games, in Pittsburgh; the Pirates swept the last series in San Francisco) play a series with their main opponent in the last week of the season, and they both do so at home.  The Cards-Pirates games probably won't be meaningful for the division title unless the Cards have a last month swoon, and the Pirates streak.  Most Giants observers expect the Dodgers series to be meaningful, and possibly determine the division.  Probably there's a greater chance of that, but of course it's not guaranteed (besides which, both teams have another series after it.)

But that's late September.  There are a lot of games to come in the dog days--the period when the Giants faltered last year--and this year, it seems less likely that they will back into the Wild Card.  Manager Bruce Bochy seems really conscious of this--he's resting players, keeping his starters to pitch counts, and sacrificing hitters on the bench for a large pitching corps.  So this is when it gets interesting, in terms of season outcome (the Giants are an interesting and fun team to watch game by game anyway.)  This is when it begins.

Weekend Update, and Giants over the former Seattle Pilots

The weekend ended with the Giants sweeping their 3 game series with Oakland and the Pirates winning 3 of 4 from the powerhouse Washington Nationals, both at home.  The Pirates victory on Sunday meant Cole remains the win leader among starters in the league, and Melancon the league leader in saves.

One Pirates tradition from my youth still seems observed--Monday off.  But the Giants had a night game with the Milwaukee Brewers, and beat them 4-2.  For the second game in a row, their victory was aided by an inexplicable base running mistake by the opposition, with Buster Posey throwing out both runners trying a really ill-advised steal in the late innings.  On Sunday Matt Duffy had a towering home run, and on Monday Brandon Crawford sent a 3-0 fastball into the deepest part of the park, where it bounced off the low wall and into the hands of an absolutely thrilled young woman in a Giants jersey, a two-run homer.

So the Giants now have two six-game win streaks separated by one loss.  This has put them suddenly 11 games above .500 and a game behind the Dodgers for the division lead.

Chris Heston pitched seven and got his 11th win, so he remains tied for club lead with Bumgarner.  He was shaky early, even after the lead (he usually is stronger with a lead) but 3 double plays got him out of serious trouble. Aoki rejoined the team, but nobody even mentioned him in the post-game wrap.  He went 0 for 3, and Bruce Bochy wisely had him batting 8th.  And at his first opportunity, Bochy got Blanco into the game, as a pinch-hitter for Heston in the bottom of the 7th.  Blanco promptly hit a double, drove in the insurance run, and stole third.  Bochy respects team chemistry and individuals in the zone (like Blanco lately).  He's an if it ain't broke don't fit it guy.  At the same time, he can't ignore past heavy contributors coming back from injury.

 Bochy says he's committed to his current starting rotation, including Hudson, who looked better if not stronger in his victory Sunday--a victory over the As that meant he'd beaten every team in the majors over his long career.  He's the 15th pitcher to do it.  That's spectacular, although I'm surprised there were that many.

Before Crawford's homer, the Giants manufactured their first run in the classic Giants way--a Duffy double, Posey ground ball to advance him to third, Pence a long fly to score him.  The Brewers compounded the caught stealing with a hissy fit, and their cleanup hitter and manager got tossed.

Years ago, probably after 2010 WS win, Margaret gave me a Giants daily calendar--one of those small square jobs that you tear off a page every day, this time with a baseball fact on each page.  I saved a bunch of them for bookmarks.  Yesterday I grabbed one from my stash and for some reason actually read it.  It happened to be about the Milwaukee Brewers, and it was something I didn't remember.  The Brewers originally were the American League team, the Seattle Pilots, in 1969.  Even after they moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers, they remained in the American League, until switching in 1997.

I wasn't paying much attention to baseball in 1969, and hardly ever paid much attention to the American League, so I don't even remember the Seattle Pilots.  They lasted one season there, and after protracted legal and other shenanigans, a judge declared the team bankrupt, and Bud Selig took them to Milwaukee, which had lost its Braves to Atlanta.  I should have remembered the Pilots, though, because Jim Bouton's famous Ball Four was about his season with them.

Wins and Bochy, Patron Saint of Writers

They seem to save it for the best teams.  The Pirates, comfortably back home, beat the Washington Nationals twice, with more power than pitching this time, including a monster home run into the river by Pedro Alvarez (who homered in both games) off Nat's ace Scherzer, who no-hit the Bucs the last time they met. (He came within an out of a perfect game.)

The Giants, also comfortably at home, beat the Oakland A's 9-3, without a home run.  Just four hits by Hunter Pence, including two RBI doubles, and true to his streaky ways, a multi-hit night for Brandon Belt, plus a very nice double play in the field.

But the reason I'm hitting the keys tonight is to mention something I keep forgetting. I've mentioned many times how much I like the Giants announcers (they make the current Pirates announcers a real embarrassment), while recognizing their wit and intelligence fit well for the Giants market of upscale techies.  And Bruce Bochy is recognized everywhere as one of the best managers, if not the best, in baseball.  Bochy, like players and managers everywhere, does things for "charity," and like a lot of both, he's written a book.

Bochy's book is about walks he's taken in cities the Giants have visited.  And if that's not unique enough, the proceeds go to help aspiring writers.   That's not only unique--that's amazing, even if you're too old to be called an aspiring writer anymore.

Heating Up

The Pirates haven't righted the ship yet after the All-Star break, but the SF Giants are clipping along.  They've finished a 5-1 road trip, and have won 8 of their last 9 games.  After losing the first in San Diego, they won the next two, and scored a lot of runs doing it.

 Wednesday's game was really interesting.  Matt Cain again got better as he went along, and gave up only one run, on a mistake pitch homer.  James Shields pitching for the Padres had the Giants scoreless, missing one opportunity after another with runners on base.  But those extended innings, and the long at-bats Giants hitters had, chased him from the game early because of pitch count. Once he was gone, the Padres vulnerable middle relievers got hammered.

Brandon Belt homered for the first time in ages, and that bodes well for the near future with this highly streaky hitter.  Buster Posey once again muscled two runs across with a double--he's an unassuming Superman with runners on base.  Pence, who launched a screaming line drive homer on Tuesday that went nearly 500 feet, scorched a single and an RBI on the next pitch after Posey's double on Wednesday.  Once again, Joe Panik and Matt Duffy were getting on base the entire road trip.

But it's really past time to take notice of Brandon Crawford.  I have to admit that last year when he hit the grand slam that sunk the Bucs in their Wild Card game, I thought of it as a fluke, a lucky swing that sent the ball out in the perfect spot, the closest and lowest point for a homer.

But this year he's not only the best defensive shortstop in the league, or a clutch singles hitter at the back of the lineup.  He's hitting with authority and power. On the Giants he's second to Posey in homers, and here's a stat that blew me away: he has more RBIs than the Buc's run producer, Andrew McCutchen.  Crawford hit a big fly homer on Wednesday, with a real home run swing.

Tuesday's homer highlight was a grand slam by none other than Hector Sanchez, the catcher called up from the minors when Susak got hurt.  That was a home run swing, and a home run flip of the bat, which got the ire of the Padres' pitcher.  The man threw chewing gum at him!  The umps warned both benches.

After an off day, the Giants at home face another couple of teams with losing records, though both have been winning lately: Oakland and Milwaukee.  Then they start facing tougher opponents.  Friday may well see the return of  Aoki to the lineup.  He only got one hit in his two minor league rehab games so his timing is apt to be off, but how about this: the Giants with Aoki AND Pence in the lineup, and three pitchers returned to the starting corps, of which two--Cain and Peavy--look good.

Only flies in the ointment: Hudson didn't look sharp his first start (though he didn't get bombed either), and reliever Affeldt was ineffective in his return. We may not see Lincecum again this season, with hip problems that may require surgery.  It's not clear whether Pagan has fully recovered from his leg injury. But the Giants right now have more of their key personnel healthy than they did much of last season.

While there is some speculation about moves the Giants might make before trade deadline, there's also a feeling that they mostly have the makings.  Not so in Pittsburgh apparently--the players are fielding questions about trades, with Neil Walker quoted as saying the team has some obvious needs.

There's been a lot of chatter about trades, and none made so far.  Both the Oakland As and the Brewers are surrounded by trade talk, and some of it may happen while they're in SF.  I'd be surprised if the Giants traded very high--maybe Maxwell, who has a lot of potential, maybe Affeldt, but this team has such great chemistry it's hard to see it disrupted.  The infield is solid and with Aoki back, so is the outfield.  If the Giants trade it will be interesting to see if they sacrifice experience (a few of their older relievers) or youth (they're packed with great potential among pitchers in the minors.)  I wouldn't be surprised--or disappointed--if they stood pat basically.  And I don't think many other fans would either.

Good, Bad and Ugly

Coming out of the gate after the All-Star game break, the San Francisco Giants swept their three game series at Arizona, including a 5 hour epic that used a record 10 pitchers.  That extends a pre-break winning streak to 6 games, and two sweeps.  Good!

Coming out of the break, the Pittsburgh Pirates were swept in Milwaukee.  This team has a history of stuttering if not stopping in the second half of the season.  Bad!

The ugly was a serious injury to the Pirates' starting shortstop Jordy Mercer.  It sounds like it may have ended his season, though that's not yet confirmed.

Also not pretty but not as bad by comparison was the minor injury to Giants catcher Andrew Susak.  He's on the 15-day DL by which time he's expected to be fine.  But he'd been hitting very well lately and stoking hopes that he could platoon behind the plate more often, getting Buster Posey in an upright position playing first base.  His injury also may complicate trade possibilities before the deadline for Hector Sanchez, the backup catcher he replaced and who is now replacing him.  The Giants carry only two catchers.

The Pirates getting batted around in Milwaukee may not be as bad as it seems, since the Brewers were already on a hot streak.  It doesn't get any easier for them however, as they next play last year's American League champs at Kansas City.

The Giants will test that Brewer's streak when they come into SF next week but first they go to San Diego, where the Padres have recently awakened.  On Sunday, the Padres experienced only their second rain-out in the history of their ball park, as remnants of Pacific hurricane Delores deluged southern California.  The Angels game was also called.

And then there's a really hard month of baseball for the Giants as they play a string of contenders, often away.  So could be good, could be bad, and it could be ugly.

My All-Star Moment

As both of my teams are in the NL, not good news that the AL won the All-Star game to secure home field advantage in the World Series.

As possibly the world's only Pittsburgh Pirates/San Francisco Giants fan, I note that the Giants players did ok--Madison Bumgarner pitched a scoreless inning, Brandon Crawford got an RBI--and the Pirates did well, especially Andrew McCutchen who blasted a second-deck homer.  Pretty to watch.

But the highlight perhaps peculiar to me was the strikeout of the game's MVP, Mike Trout (the first to go back to back) with the Bucs' ace Gerrit Cole pitching (a nasty curve) and the Giants' star Buster Posey catching. Both of these are currently on a loop at Bleacher Report-Pittsburgh Pirates.

Springing into the Break

Both my teams are surging into the All-Star break,  but you can't beat the Pittsburgh Pirates for a dramatic and ecstatic weekend.  On Saturday night, they played the St. Louis Cardinals to a tie in regulation nine, then St. Louis scored a run in the top of the 14th.  But in the bottom of the 14th, Neil Walker singled and Andrew McCutchen hit a towering homerun to center that hit into the topiary bushes that spell out  PIRATES.  Game over.

Can't top that huh?  Think again.  In the ESPN nationally broadcast Sunday night game, the Cards and Bucs again went back and forth until they were tied at 3 apiece in regulation.  In the top of the 10th the Cards scored not one but two runs. (They tried to score three but got thrown out at the plate.)  They led 5-3.

Then against the All-Star closer Trevor Rosenthal, the Pirates kept hitting in the bottom of the 14th, with RBIs by Marte, their surprise star catcher Cervelli and their new star outfielder Gregory Polanco, who (with two outs and bases loaded) stroked a single to right to bring in the winning run and end the game, 6-5.  The Pirates go into the break an amazing 18 games above .500 and now only 2.5 games behind St. Louis in the division.  Good enough for the second best record in the league.

Meanwhile, the SF Giants swept their three game series with the visiting Phillies, with 15 hits on Saturday and a more subdued 4-1 victory Sunday on Andrew Susac's three-run homer in the fourth.  Like the Pirates, they got great starting pitching in this last series--on Sunday it was Chris Heston for his 9th win, matching records with Madison Bumgarner as tops on the team.

The Giants go into the break with good momentum and more players getting healthy, but only 3 games above .500 and 4.5 back of Los Angeles in their division.  But at the moment they wouldn't qualify for either Wild Card spot, behind the Cubs and the Mets.

Both teams have great starting pitching, a dominant closer (though more so the Bucs), big stars (Cutch, Posey) and big young surprises--Cervelli and to some extent Polanco for the Bucs, Duffy, Heston and to some extent Susak for the Giants. The Pirates are finally living up to their potential, and though the Giants play exciting and exception ball (3 double plays Sunday) they have yet to prove they are better than a .500 team.

When the Giants managed only one of three against the Mets last week it looked bad, but the Mets have been surging too, and are now only 2 back of the Nationals in their eastern division.  The Pirates and Cards have split their 10 games with each other right down the middle, with half of those games going to extras, and the home team winning each of those.

Good News Night

Barry Bonds was hanging around the batting cage before the game, talking to players about hitting, and talking about players to coaches.  In the game, the SF Giants collected 22 hits, setting a record for the 16 years of their current ballpark.  Coincidence?

The Giants chased Phillies ace Cole Hamels in the rout, winning 15-2.  Hunter Pence hit a grand slam homer to the opposite field in his third game back.  Normally the story would be all about that.  Not this game.  Joe Panik, Matt Duffy and Justin Maxwell all had four hits. Three players with four hits hasn't happened since the 60s.  Panik hit a two run homer that got wet on a bounce. Maxwell had two doubles and a triple.  Angel Pagan, finally rested and his injury better, had three hits and two RBIs batting leadoff.  Brandon Belt (seen in conference with Barry Bonds earlier) had two doubles.

Yet the game started slowly.  Both SF Giant Madison Bumgarner and Hamels looked pretty sharp in the early innings.  The Giants scraped a run, and the Phillies got two on a homer.  It looked like another low scoring, low support Bumgarner start.  Lately the Giants have held on until he weakened in about the sixth, and then the bullpen did or didn't hold a small lead.  But the fourth just exploded with 9 runs, so not even a grand slam got the majority of them.

Plus Bumgarner continued his torrid hitting--he's over .400 for the past month or so--with  a couple of hits and an RBI.  He's still tiring in the late innings, though.

There was more good news for the Giants.  Pitcher Tim Hudson looks very close to ready, reliever Jeremy Affelt pretty close ( with Tim Lincecum better but not close) and outfielder Aoki improving faster than expected.  He may be back in a couple of weeks.

Good news also for the Pirates, who beat their division rival the St. Louis Cardinals.  When they've made a run in recent years, it was because they handled the Cards, and when they fell short--like last year--it was because they didn't.  They lost the first game of this set, but won 5-2 on Friday behind Geritt Cole's majors-leading 13th win, and Neil Walker's 2-run homer.

The Giants have the mo to get the sweep they should get against the Phillies, and that they need going into the break.  They are still 5.5 games behind LA.

Can Buy A Thrill

Imagine you are a SF Giants fan who lives within an hour or two of the city, and you don't have a lot of money.  There probably still are such people, even in this high income tech zone.  Anyway, you can't afford a lot of games but you got tickets early to a game that was available and not especially important: a Tuesday night game with the New York Mets.  Maybe you even got it from somebody sufficiently discouraged by a 7 game losing streak.

Well, you got quite a night.  First, Matt Cain in his first start at home in a year.  But at least that was scheduled, you knew that going into the ballpark.  What you didn't know, what noone knew, was that you were going to see Hunter Pence suddenly return to the Giants lineup.

I can just imagine the buzz, the swirl and then the roar of sound when he trotted out onto the field.

Then how about when he drove in the Giants first run.  And then when he singled in the Giant's second run--which turned out to be 2/3 of their total.

And then the catch and throw, which quickly got the honor of playing on a loop on the SFG's Bleacher Report page all night.  He layed out for a fly ball on the line, jumped up, and gunned down the Met heading for home.  Pretty much the play of the year so far.

Wow.

The Giants won that one 3-0.  That goose egg courtesy most of all of Matt Cain, who pitched a strong 6.

Wednesday's day game was played under the lights, as the fog played around fly balls before lifting to a gloomy marine layer.  And it stayed gloomy, as ace Mets pitcher and All Star de Grom held them in check.  The Giants hit some hard deep balls but for outs, plus a Hunter Pence homer that went foul by inches.  They also had an inning of opportunity which they blew with poor baserunning by Justin Maxwell.  Otherwise, nothing until they scored one in the 9th.

The worst part of it was they again wasted a superlative start by Jake Peavy.  He's pitched well enough to win both outings since his return, and he's lost both because the Giants didn't score behind him.

There was some managerial bad luck, too.  Bochy rested Buster Posey (with a hamstring problem) and the hurting Angel Pagan, but not Brandon Crawford, who made an uncharacteristic and costly throwing error.  Then in the 9th Andrew Susak was the tying run at the plate with two outs, with Posey set to pinch hit if he extended the inning.  Bochy couldn't pinch hit for the catcher because Posey, the only other catcher on the roster, couldn't catch with that hamstring.  But that was minor, really.  Even though Susak hit the ball up the middle but not hard enough for a hit, it was a good at-bat, and he's enough of a hitter to trust in that situation.

The Giants are unquestionably limping to the break.  But if they can win the last few, they won't be in bad shape--and the last few days have shown that the second half could be good.  Peavy and Cain are clearly ready, Pence is back.  I think Bochy learned today that Maxwell can play left field (he sure can't play center)--so with him in left, Blanco in center and Pence in right,  it's a solid defense.

Meanwhile the Pirates are sprinting to the break, as they did last year.  In fact, last year the break broke their mo.

Giant Goose Egg

That the SF Giants lost their three game series at Washington was less of a shock than their 3 duds in Miami, but it still had to be discouraging.

 Washington proved to be the better team, and the Giants didn't even see their best pitcher.  The Nationals' infield woes receded, and they have right now a superior outfield that took away several extra base hits from the Giants, who couldn't score a run for two of the games except for two solo homers.The final game was additionally frustrating for all the bad calls on balls and strikes.  Ryan Vogelsong was still pitching well when he was ejected, which didn't help matters.  George Kontos, who hadn't given up a run in ages, gave up the winner on a home run.  It ended up 3-1.

Bryce Harper of the Nationals was the top All-Star vote getter, and he showed why even in this relatively quiet series for him.  He's something of a Mickey Mantle figure, with incredible potential and putting up incredible numbers, but whose career has been marred by injuries.  And instead of off-field excesses like Mantle, he's prone to on-field temper.

The Giants return home from an 0-6 road trip depleted and exhausted, 4 games back in second place.  It could have been worse, since the Dodgers also lost on Sunday.  They have to rest Pagan or risk losing him later, and they are going to rest Panik as they did Duffy today.  Their latest roster moves bit them today when Travis Ishikawa returned to the Pittsburgh Pirates on waivers. That's an experienced bench player the Giants won't have for late season, but the Pirates now will.

 The Pirates are ending the first half going in the opposite direction of the Giants.  They won their series against Cleveland, with a 1-0 gem by Jeff Locke and a 5-3 win by league leader Gerrit Cole (his 12th victory), with a 5 run fifth capped by a double by Andrew McCutchen, who didn't make the All-Star starting lineup but will probably start anyway due to injuries.  The Giants' Aoki was the 4th outfielder in votes, but he's injured, too.  The Pirates have no starters, and the Giants only Buster Posey.  So that's exactly one of my selections that start, two if you count Cutch.

All-Star Update: NL players voted Giants shortstop Brandon Crawford onto the All-Star team, and All-Stars manager Bruce Bochy selected second baseman Joe Panik for the team, as well as pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Pirates added to the All-Star team are Andrew McCutchen and pitchers Gerrit Cole, Mark Melancon and A.J. Burnett.  It's great news for Burnett, who had a bad year last year with the Phillies, and is back with the Bucs for his 17th and last year (at least, that's his plan.)  Meanwhile, starter Cole leads the league in wins and closer Melancon is arguably the best in the league.  (So that's four of my selections.  Fans didn't pick pitchers.)

Fall of the Lakers

This week's NBA news has all the major free agents wooed by the Los Angeles Lakers going to other teams.  The best the Lakers can do is trade for a center (Roy Hibbert of Indiana) who is slow, has no shot and rebounds poorly.  He could bounce back from a bad year, he could suddenly click with the Lakers, but it's unlikely.

The Lakers aren't used to being snubbed.  And while the sports world likes to blame Kobe Bryant, it's pretty clear to me that its the Laker management.  The team has not been the same since baby Buss took over for his father.  The elder Buss was universally respected, loved by his players (Magic Johnson for one revered him.)  In the years that Jerry West was also in the front office, the Laker organization was the classiest, most astute and most powerful in the league.

Now that mantle has likely fallen to the San Antonio Spurs, who were able to take away free agent star power forward Aldridge.  I have my doubts that Aldridge will work out on the Spurs, but if he does, it will be another indication of that organization's skill.  He was a malcontent in Portland for no real reason, and if the Spurs can quell his jealousy of other players, it will signal to other stars that their organization and team ethic is for real.

In any case, top players making obscene amounts of money aren't necessarily following just the dollar signs or the major market endorsement possibilities.  Whatever it is they are looking for, the Lakers don't have it.  And it's not just prospects for winning, and it certainly is not playing with Kobe Bryant.  Whatever the word is among players, they are being cautious and skeptical at best.  This year's failures don't auger well, after last year's etc.  The pattern is set, and top players aren't getting on the Buss.

Limping to the Break

The Giants wasted a very impressive return performance by Jake Peavy to lose 2-1 to the Washington Nationals.  Things only get harder in Washington now.  Next game is Bumgarner v. Strasbourg.

The Giants made a number of roster moves prior to the game.  As mentioned here, depth in the outfield was really getting to be a problem, and they addressed that by bringing up Ryan Lollis, a fairly good hitter who has been on a tear in the minors recently.  He has speed and can play all three outfield positions.  He's said to be an enthusiastic player in the Hunter Pence mold.  He bats left.

The Giants really need him or someone right away, as Angel Pagan is obviously hurting and pressing.  I think he's in pain all the time, though that's just intuition.  But he needs rest, as the Giants limp to the All-Star break with potentially none of their original starting outfield.  Fortunately Blanco is hitting very well, Justin Maxwell not so much.  If Lollis can contribute right away, he might get them over the hump.

As it is the Giants are wasting Buster Posey's amazing hot streak, and it won't last forever.  But he's playing more first base and that's good for the long term.  He's not bad at that position, and Brandon Belt is improving as a left fielder.

Apparently Casey McGehee is gone--I missed that--and Tim Hudson is on 15 day DL.  The team sent down pitcher Broadway as well as outfielder Ishakawa, and brought up left handed pitcher Josh Osich, who pitched late against the Nats and had a scoreless eighth.

So for the short term at least, Cain and Peavy join the starting rotation, replacing Hudson and Lincecum.  Romo is apparently going to be the closer, and Hunter Strickland is likely to be the late innings rightie in Romo's previous role. Along with Cassia.  Osich joins Lopez as left hander relief, though manager Bochy said that Osich will pitch to right-side hitters as well, as he did today.

I was puzzled by the news that the Giants paid major money for the contract of an international player, just 18, who plays middle infield and is a contact hitter.  Don't they have a bunch of them on the squad now, all pretty young?

The Giants have lost 4 straight now, and like many losing streaks, bad luck is playing a part.  But they've been a streaky team all year, and the dynamics keep changing with injuries, as Bochy is forced to change batting order and player positions.  Still, with Aoki and Pence both out, it could even be worse.  The problem could be if they lose too much ground before the break.  They were nearly tied for first just a few days ago, and they're 3.5 out now, with the Dodgers playing tonight.

On the Road: Woe and Flow

The Marlins swept their three game series with the visiting Giants, and the only team more surprised at that than the Giants would be the Marlins.  A bottomfeeder this year, reeling from organizational woes, the Marlins probably did not expect to even win the series at home against the world champs.

But Justin Bohr, who the rest of the league has "figured out," beat them three times with homers, two of them with two on base.  These constitute a third of his year to date total (he had six, now he has nine.)  His walk-off was the stunner.  With the Giants leading by two runs in the last of the ninth and their closer on the mound, the first two hitters reached base and he promptly homered.  It was all over in minutes.  Before that, the Marlins had committed three errors and didn't seem to be in the same league as the Giants.

Thursday Matt Cain returned to the mound, and so did the Marlin's young ace, Jose Fernandez.  Cain was reportedly pretty sharp for four innings but lost it in the fifth, when Fernandez homered and Bohr hit another three run dinger.  Fernandez had a better first outing, going a strong six, as well as homering.

What hurts the most is that these were supposed to be the gimme games.  The tough ones are ahead, with the strong Washington Nationals.  And the Giants will start off with another season debut by an injured pitcher, Jake Peavy.  The Giants kept the Marlins from scoring after the fifth mostly because of pitcher George Kontos.  But he's unlikely to be available for long relief if Peavy gets in trouble or tires early.  Apparently the Giants will also be going to a different closer, as manager Bochy diagnosed closer Casilla's problems Wednesday as arm fatigue.

Stuff like walkoff losses and a closer losing a game happen during the course of any season.  But it should also motivate being smarter.  If the rest of the league had figured out Bohr, and he hit his three homers on pretty much the same pitch in the same location, shouldn't the coaches take notice and figure out what they missed?  Same with Casilla's arm.

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates went to Detroit and swept that three game series.  The first they won with grit, the other two with power.  Neil Walker hit two homers in the middle game.  They got great pitching, especially from Liriano today.

Sprinting for Midseason

An off day Monday for the Giants and the Pirates, so taking a breath to take a longer view.  One of those assessments of the season so far makes a persuasive case that neither will win their divisions.  The Dodgers and the Cardinals are dealing with more injuries than many other clubs, even the Giants at this point, but they're holding down first place--the Cards by a considerable margin.  It's true the Giants had that commanding lead at the All-Star break last year and lost it, so it isn't impossible.  But the reasoning is sound--it is more likely that the Giants and Pirates will again face each other in the Wild Card game.

As for the Pirates, since its been awhile since I've been back in the Burgh for any length of time, I read with interest this claim that the Pirates have replaced the Steelers and Penguins as the most popular sports team in the city.  The article quotes a Pittsburgh sports fan's blunt assessment: “The Steelers are thugs, and the Penguins are crybabies. The Pirates are good guys and work hard. It’s easy to root for this team.”

The piece is mostly about the supposed decline of the Steelers but what this guy says about the Pirates rings true.  They do seem like good guys that work hard.  I would attribute my own distance from the Steelers to my dismay over professional football in general.  I've been unhappy for some time with the emphasis on hard hits (fed by sports media) over other aspects of the game, and the revelations on concussions kind of sealed that deal for me.  Of course, I still secretly read everything I could find on this year's Steelers draft picks.

But as a more active fan, baseball has really become my game.  I admire the Giants team--they're good guys who work hard, too, and they are easy to root for.  So I've filled out my All-Star ballots with a combination of Giants and Pirates.  Mostly Giants I must confess--I recently switched my third baseman to Matt Duffy, how could I not after the week he's had?  But I also switched out one Giant for the Pirates' Sterling Marte in the outfield (I still have Aoki out there, though.)

How many Giants fans today would trade Matt Duffy for Pablo Sandoval?  Pretty much zero I'll bet.  

On A Clear Day You Can Hit Forever

On a clear day you can hit forever, at the San Francisco Giants home park at least.  Blue skies and at times blinding sun helped 31 hits happen, including a bunch by San Diego in their strange eighth inning.  A parade of pinch-hitters dumped hit after hit off Giants relievers and the Padres turned a 9-2 laugher into a 9-8 squeaker, at least until the last half of the inning when the Giants scored 4.  The distinctly un-SF final was Giants 13 Padres 8.

The Giants not only hit 19 times, they seldom settled for singles.  They hit four triples for the first time at home in San Francisco (Belt had two), plus 4 doubles (Posey had two.)  Seven players had more than one hit in the game (including 3 with 3 hits), and 9 Giants hit safely (including pitcher Chris Heston, who drove in a run.)

The hit stats obscure the great outing that Heston had on the mound.  The no-hitter two starts back was a career achievement, but how he pitched in this game I think turned him into a starter for SF for a long time to come.  He's also an asset fielding his position and hitting.

(Now that I said that I had a weird feeling that the Giants may be about to trade a pitcher for more bat.  But let that pass.)

Anyway, three excellent starts against San Diego, one bad luck (and dead bat) loss, so a series win.  Colorado next, another division foe.  The Giants hit the Padres best starter and best reliever, so this hitting thing may be for real, even at home.  Travis Ishikawa rejoined the club yesterday, got a great ovation by fans taking their first opportunity to recognize his home run last season that won the pennant.  He wasn't among those getting hits today, and he didn't figure in the scoring.  But with Pence and now Aoki out for several more weeks, they need gloves in the outfield at a minimum.  Blanco continues to perform well at the plate and in the field.

  

Slam

They needed this one.  On the strength of Buster Posey's second grand slam in his last five games, the San Francisco Giants defeated the San Diego Padres 6-0.  A victory, yes, but a victory at home.

Ryan Vogelsong pitched 6 innings of shutout ball, but Madison Bumgarner did the same the night before, only better: he had 13 strikeouts in 7 plus innings, and a shutout into the 8th.  But the Giants had scored just two runs, and a two-strike double brought in two runs for the Padres.  The game stayed tied until San Diego won 3-2 in extras.

That was the first game of the homestand, and brought back melancholy memories of the last one.  But Wednesday's victory at least changed the mood.  The Giants are even more hitter-depleted than the last homestand, with their potent hitter Aoki injured, and Hunter Pence now not expected back for weeks.  They are about to get richer in starting pitchers with Peavy and Cain returning, but it's bats they need.

Good things in the batting department though: Blanco is hitting well, and now so is Joe Susak.  He had his first triple tonight, and scored the sixth run.

Odd thing about those two Posey grand slams.  Today I had just turned on the radio, and the first pitch I heard called was the one he slammed.  Something very similar happened in the game in LA, although I think the home run call had just been made.  So I'm improving.  As I tuned in I was thinking that what the Giants needed the most was a big win.  And turns out they got it.

Come 11

The San Francisco Giants behind starter Ryan Vogelsong won their league-leading 11th shutout of the season in Seattle Thursday, while Gerritt Cole won his majors-leading 11th victory as the Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Chicago White Sox.  It was the Pirates' eighth straight victory.

But the disquieting aspect of the Giants season is they get shut out almost as often as they shut out others.  That was the case on Wednesday night when they wasted a stellar Bumgarden start with a 1-0 loss, though against the best pitcher in the American League.

The Giants bats woke up against a rookie pitcher on Thursday, with Matt Duffy's triple the most dramatic of their hits.  If you don't count Brandon Belt's monumental not-home run that the wind blew back from deep center field.  Duffy and Panik remain the guys you'd go to see play regardless.

So the Giants split their 4 games with Seattle, and remain 2.5 behind the Dodgers.  They now head to LA.

A feature of the two games in Seattle was the conspicuous presence of thousands of Giants fans in the stands.  They chanted, they cheered, they were the crowd sound on the radio.  Amazing.

Injured Giants are starting to return.  Blanco comes back Friday, Peavy is in the wings with Cain so far looking like he'll come soon after.  I don't have the patience to go through all the teams in those evaluations of which team needs what, but the Giants are going to have to make some decisions regarding pitchers, and I've got no answers.  The outfield gets healed when Hunter Pence does.  They could use a utility infielder with some hitting.  So far they've shown admirable patience with McGehee but he's not producing. The other night when he came up with men on base again, I wonder if he had the same thought as I did--with two outs at least he can't hit into a double play. Maybe that relaxed him, because he hit a double.

 A number of the Giants are streaky, including Posey, Belt and Pagan.  Others are still question marks, like Justin Maxwell.  McG just doesn't seem to be working out.  Unless they don't have a prospect ready, he's an obvious roster move.  But that's easy for me to say.  I don't even know the guy.

Happy Warriors

Game 6 of the NBA finals went pretty much as I expected, at least in general.  There were the coaching chess games, as Cleveland went big again and tried to deny Steph Curry his outside shot, but Curry is also a court general and when the time came he hit the dagger 3s.  Golden State seized the initiative early, weathered some LeBron runs and hit the fourth quarter shots that put it away.  Golden State Warriors are NBA champs, not even thinkable for a long time but this was their year.

Andre Igudala who started the last three games won the MVP, but though he played big and was a catalyst, his insertion was only part of the Warriors figuring out how to beat Cleveland.  Once they figured it out in game 4 and executed in 5 and 6, they could win just about every game against the injury-depleted Cavs, and I'll bet James knew it.

The Warriors like the Giants are a likable team with personable and generous players, and so are a great fit for the Bay Area.  They've got a future as contenders for a nice long stretch.  Nothing will make me like Cleveland, but they are likely to be back in the hunt next year.

Meanwhile the Giants had a day game and won it, breaking their losing and home losing streaks.  Matt Duffy homered with authority, and a couple of Giants who needed hits and RBIs got them (McGehee and Pagan), though the woeful Mariners outfield helped more than a little.  Now the series moves to Seattle.  The Giants really should win both of the remaining games--their slump made Arizona and Seattle much better than they are.  Then they get the Dodgers in LA, though neither team is throwing their best pitchers at each other, and then to another woeful team in San Diego.

The Pirates followed their 1-0 extra innings gem with an 11-0 rout and a 3-0 shutout (that's 3 shutouts in a row if you're counting) against the White Sox.

Flying

The exciting game on Sunday was the Golden State Warriors beating Cleveland in game 5 of the NBA finals.  As I predicted they lost game 3 and won game 4 big, and by winning game 5 they're in the driver's seat.  Steph Curry had a monster game to match James and exceed him in timing his dazzling highlight shots.  The Warriors are not intimidated anymore if they ever were.  They can deal with Cleveland's bullies and Curry isn't cowed by James.

The Warriors surprised the Cavs in game 4 by going with a smaller lineup.  They did it again in game 5 and the Cavs tried to offset it by going small themselves.  But it didn't work.  They've lost big and small.  Still, I believe Bogut will have some important moments (and minutes) for GS before it's over.

While complimenting Curry, James said he wasn't worried because he himself is the greatest player in the world.  That of course is what's wrong.  He's as close to a one man show as anyone has ever been in the finals, and it's not enough.  Curry has a strong team and a strong coach who--even though this is his first year coaching--has won championships as a player.  I wouldn't be surprised if game 6 is a virtual rerun of 5, with the Cavs staying close or even slightly ahead for much of the game but unable to sustain in the fourth quarter.  The only fly in the ointment possibly is Steph Curry suffering from dehydration effects in the short turnaround for Tuesday.  If both he and James are worn out it could be an ugly game.  Still, chances are it's Golden State in six.  Right now they are the better team.

By contrast, the San Francisco Giants are doing their Mr. Hyde at home act.  That road trip and redeye flight home after a night game with the Mets (which they lost) must have really done them in, as they can't hit or score, and Sunday they couldn't field either.  They were swept in another home series, and have lost 8 in a row at home.

But on happier matters, you'd think that two players with absurdly perfect baseball names--like power hitter Brandon Belt and second baseman Joe Panik--would be enough for any one team.  (Matt Duffy isn't a bad baseball name either.)  But now the Giants brought up a relief pitcher named Mike Broadway.  Another hard thrower in the bullpen, at least for awhile.

Stories Sunday said the Giants are scouting a Reds starting pitcher.  This while Cain and Peavy are warming up in the minors.  Seems a bit odd.  Vogelsong seems most likely to lose his spot in the rotation if one of them comes back, but if both do, is there room for anyone else?

Hitting into two rally-killing double plays on Sunday may have finally doomed Casey McGehee.  He was given a chance to get his hitting back in the minors, did well there, but hasn't done much but make big outs since he's been back.

Sunday also showed Bochy that Justin Maxwell can't play center field.  He not only muffed a routine fly for a run, the substitute radio announcing team suggested the double over his head that scored two runs earlier may have been catchable.  Unfortunately two outfielders, Pence and Blanco are DL.  The team brought up outfielder Jarrett Parker who got his first major league hit Sunday.  Which was about the only thing the crowd had to cheer about.  At least until later, the Golden State game.

Meanwhile the Pittsburgh Pirates are flying high, having swept a 3 game series with the Phillies by winning 1-0 in the 11th.  The powerful Pirates won the series with pitching and defense, and a few timely hits.  A. J. Burnett pitched nine scoreless on Sunday, and earlier in the series Garrett Cole became the Major League's first ten game winner.

Of course everybody beats up on the Phillies these days, and the Pirates are still 6 games back of St. Louis.  Even after underperforming against Milwaukee they've moving basically in the right direction.  All the pieces are there, but they'll need to put them together with some consistency in the meat of the season.

Despite their recent woeful play, the Giants are only 3.5 back of Los Angeles. They're so streaky that it's hard to figure out whether they are overperforming when they win or underperforming when they lose.  Basically they seem a really talented team.  They look to remain competitive.  

Merry Chris

It could have been Joe Panik's night--he hit a long home run back in his home state, with lots of family and friends from Hopewell Junction in the stands.  Matt Duffy clobbered one, too, and Buster Posey had three hits.  But no question whose night it was: rookie pitcher Chris Heston threw a no-hitter in the Big Apple, in just his 13th start in the bigs.  Oh, and he had two hits and drove in two of the 5 Giants runs.

Many, many years ago I got sleepy listening to the Pirates game on the radio.  I had school the next day and besides, nothing was happening.  The next day I read in disbelief that Harvey Haddix, my favorite Pirates pitcher, had thrown a perfect game for 12 innings plus, a no-hitter for 12 and 2/3. Even though the Bucs had 12 hits they hadn't scored, and Haddix and the Pirates lost it in the 13th inning.  One of the greatest pitching feats in baseball history--largely forgotten because of the loss--and I couldn't believe that of all the Pirates games I'd listened to that year, I missed most of this one.

Those were the days when even the announcers obeyed the injunction not to jinx a no-hitter by anticipating it.  On Tuesday I didn't hear the Giants announcers talk about it until after I'd figured out on my own that it was happening, although there were some pointed references to the Mets baserunners all being hit batsmen (three, including two in one inning.)  But by the 7th inning they had said it out loud and every out was marked.  By then the Giants had a five run lead and this was the remaining drama.

So this time I was listening, and it was sure exciting--especially when Heston ended his no-hitter by striking out the side in the last of the 9th.  There were lots of Giants fans at the game, and even the Mets fans apparently were excited to be witnessing baseball history.  Also in the stands was Heston's first baseball coach, from Little League through high school.  They live near each other today. He was in New York ostensibly visiting relatives but really to see the game-- it was the first major league game he saw Heston pitch.  Amazing.

 Heston, Duffy, Panik--not the names associated with the Giants before.  But Tuesday in New York, they made their names forever in Giants lore, and they're playing big for the 2015 Giants, and integrated into this team that suddenly seems loaded with talent.  That's why they play the games.

Local happiness dampened by the Golden State Warriors losing another close one to Cleveland.  I kind of expected that if they lost game 2, they would lose game 3--the first at Cleveland.  I expect they'll win big in the next game, and then--as it so often is--the fifth game is pivotal.  That was usually the Bulls and Lakers formula--win game 1 and 5, whatever else you did, on the way to the championship.  

After their five game losing streak the Giants went to the White House, for the third time in Obama's presidency (and the past five years.) They professed to be inspired by it when they went to Philadelphia, but for awhile they seemed to be playing down to the level of the awful Phillies.  They played just well enough to win 2 of 3.  A day off in New York City must have energized them, as they faced one of the Mets young guns.  They got to him and even more to the bullpen.  Then they partied in the clubhouse after the no-hitter.  So far they're loving New York.

Big Bucs

The Giants head for the White House to receive congratulations for their World Series win, but they also head east on a road trip with a five game losing streak.  The Pirates, who more than survived their difficult West Coast trip, came up big and won three straight over the Giants.  They looked like the potential world champs some predicted they could be, before the season started.  They featured two brilliant starts by Cole and Liriano around a good enough to win start by Burnett, with Cutch continuing his blistering hitting and some other erstwhile quiet Pirates bats (Jody Mercer, big time) coming alive.

The Giants reverted to their old recipe for losing--though Hudson and Vogelsong had strong starts, Chris Heston didn't, an apparently overstretched bullpen under-performed and the timely hits were scarce, plus untimely errors and mental mistakes.  The Pirates bullpen was not perfect but strong enough not to allow late inning comebacks.

The Pirates certainly look better than their record, with starting pitching and power conspicuous strengths.  It's going to be an interesting season.