Perfect Minus 1

On most occasions, a one-hitter is a one-hitter, which is pretty damn good.  But this wasn't most.  This was, once again, Madison Bumgarner going into the very late innings with a perfect game.  Tonight there were four outs to go when a clean single up the middle spoiled perfection.  Still, it was more than a one-hitter.  It was a game without Bumgarner allowing a walk or the Giants making an error.  It was perfect, except for one batter.

It's a weird thing to listen to.  The announcers have little to say when every single Padres player is 0 for 1 or 0 for 2, and eventually 0 for 3.  But for awhile it wasn't the story to get excited about.  The Giants once again beat up on the Padres offensively.  They did it exclusively with singles last night in a 9-1 win--which was, by the way, a 2 hitter for Jake Peavy.  But tonight they had singles, double, triples and homers by Pagan and Belt.  One of those triples was almost an inside the park homer.  The Giants scored 8 runs.  (Once again, no Crawford or Panik in the lineup, and Blanco is out as well, with a concussion.)

But by the 7th there was just one story, and the eyes of baseball all over the country were turning towards San Francisco.  And then with one swing, perfection was over.  And Madison Bumgarner had merely thrown a one-hit shutout complete game, for his 18th win of the season, matching his personal best of last year's regular season.  It was his third one-hitter, and the second one in two years that was perfect until very late in the game.

Sure, it's that time of year when teams clearly out of it are experimenting with minor leaguers they brought up.  And the Giants pitcher do tend to throw no-nos against the Padres.  But the Giants are only 8-6 v. the Padres by my count, overall this year.  So these are still real games.

Big moment of the night on Friday: manager and former pitcher Bruce Bochy had sent his son and (until recently) minor league pitcher Brett Bochy in for some relief work in the ninth.  Brett was doing well, got the first two outs, but gave up a hit and hit a batter.  The elder Bochy had other relievers who needed work, so he took his walk out to the mound, intending to take Brett out.

Now fellow old timers will recall that managers used to make multiple trips to the mound before the rule was changed to allow them only two visits per pitcher, meaning the second time the pitcher had to be taken out.  These days you seldom see a manager go to the mound except to take the pitcher out.  But he doesn't have to.

The fans knew what it meant when dad headed out to the mound, and they booed him.  They wanted to see Brett pitch some more.  Bruce Bochy heard them, and with an eight run lead, he told his son, you get one more batter.  He walked back to the dugout to the cheers.  Brett struck out the batter to end the game.  Hello Hollywood!

Meanwhile, things are REALLY getting interesting in the NL Central, as the Cards continue to skid while the Pirates are winning.  Today the Bucs won while both the Cards and Cubs lost.  The Bucs blowout over the Brewers included a pinch hit grand slam by former Giants playoff hero Michael Morse.  The Pirates are just 2.5 games out of first.

The Kid Comes Back (And So Does the Old Man)

It's a good thing the Giants aren't actually in a division race anymore.  On Tuesday they got back a starting pitcher and their All-Star second baseman, and both were great.  But in the fourth inning, after several plays at shortstop probably only he could make, Brandon Crawford left the game with recurrence of both the injuries that have kept him off the field.  He'll be out for at least "a few days."  So the Giants had their starting infield intact for all of three innings in the past month.

Announcer Jon Miller (I think it was) outlined what's happened since the last time the team had a day off, two weeks ago.  They went 5-9 while the Dodgers went 12-2.  And of course, 3 of the Dodger wins were over the Giants.  No Panik or Crawford or Pence.

But Tuesday's story--and Tuesday's win--was about the guys who made it back.  This is the fun of following a team this closely--to know these stories, to feel along with them.  Forty year old Tim Hudson pitched six strong innings, and had two hits, including--and this is getting to be a habit with these Giants pitchers--a home run.  The fourth of his career, the first as a Giant.  This is all but certainly his last season, and each game like this is precious.  I hope it all slowed down for him so he could savor it all.  He couldn't end his career on a better team.

Joe Panik, from last year's rookie to this year's All-Star, came back, and sparked the victory.  He hit, he ran, he fielded, he drove in runs, he scored--and he homered, too.  The Giants have one more game in Arizona, and then go home.  He may not play until then--and that place will rock to see him.

Tim Hudson has earned a place in the rotation, and it'll be great if he gets a start in the home park.  Somebody figured out that if he maintains his spot, he would pitch in the season's final series, to be played in Oakland, where he began his storied career.

It's also worth noting that a run scored due to Pagan's speed, and he's been out of the lineup for a long time as well.  Anyway, the Giants won 6-2 (Gregor Blanco homered again too), and the Dodgers won as well.  So far no implosion.

As for this last game in Arizona, it will likely be back to a much weakened lineup--without Crawford or Panik, and possibly with the substitute catcher, which means two very weak spots in the order.  Chris Heston will have to pitch a damn good game.

Meanwhile, the NL Central is getting interesting.  After the Pirates took two of three in St. Louis, the Cubs have defeated the Cards twice.  While that means the Bucs are now four games out of first, it also means that the Cubs are pressing them from behind--just two games behind them.  At this point they are probably playing for home field in the Wild Card game, but this is becoming a race worth watching.

The Pirates kept pace by beating the Reds with pitching and power, their formula.  I'm gearing up to follow them deep in the playoffs, but I am dismayed at the prospect of listening to their announcers.  They are awful.

Wednesday Update: Sure enough, the Giants were shorthanded and lost again by that ghastly score of 2-1, the most painful score of all really.  Chris Heston and the bullpen pitched very well--a 2 run homer was all Arizona got.  Joe Panik played but probably shouldn't have--he left hurting, if not hurt.  Now the Giants come home from this fateful road trip with a different emphasis--preparing for next year. But the fans will be out to make this not at all a sad time.  And Tim Hudson announced that indeed he is retiring at the end of this season.  The Cards beat the Cubs, the Pirates won, so there remains a little mystery in that division.

Weird Enough Yet?

The game tonight is as good a microcosm of the Giants season as any.  Having lost two more players to injury, probably for the rest of the season (Aoki, Susak), after Lincecum's season-ending surgery was announced and news on the return of Hunter Pence was fairly doleful, the Giants had to scratch first baseman Brandon Belt from the starting lineup because of a stomach issue.

 Since manager Bochy was determined to give a banged-up Buster Posey the night off, that meant that Nick Noonan--called up this week--had to play first base, which he had never done professionally. Alejandro De Aza batted cleanup, for the first time in his big league career.

Then in the third inning, third-string catcher Hector Sanchez sprained his ankle trying to beat out a bunt.  With Susak gone, the only catcher the Giants had was Posey.  His night off was over.  

So what happened?  Giants announcers began the game carping on the lack of homers by the team.  The only one in forever was the eye-rolling blast by pitcher Ryan Vogelsong.  It was his first homer--in his entire career. How weird was that?

Apparently not weird enough.  Because in this game, starting pitcher Jake Peavy, in addition to handcuffing the Rockies, hit a double.  Then he hit another one, and got an RBI.  Peavy is not only a pitcher, but he's about as close to legally blind as any player allowed in the bigs.

And the Giants got a home run--by Angel Pagan.  Not the first in his career exactly, but the first all this season, and most of last season.

Nick Noonan doubled in a run--his first big league hit in a year.  And when Duffy made a difficult backhanded grab at third and his back foot slipped as he made his throw, Noonan stretched to get it like he's been playing first base all his life, and got the out.  Duffy had three hits, including a double that drove in two, giving the Giants a 4-1 lead.  De Aza had two hits, and on his day off Posey had one.

Then another Giants power hitter got a home run.  That would be Blanco.  His fourth of the year.

So the good starting pitching and the great relief pitching that the Giants have been getting in this losing streak this time got runs behind them, and the Giants won 7-3.

Meanwhile in St. Louis, the Cards defeated the Pirates.  That pretty much settles first place, barring a Cardinal dive and a Bucco surge.

Oh, also in Colorado, league home run leader Arenado hit another one--so he's homered in six straight games. That's a Rockies record.  So what's the major league record for homers in consecutive games you ask?  Well...

Return with me now to yesteryear (1958 or so), to an afternoon outside the confectionary (as they called themselves--the neighborhood store) about midway on my paper route where I often stopped for a frosty bottle of Verner's root beer from the cooler outside, and maybe some penny candy and a pack or two of baseball cards and the enclosed slice of pink bubble gum. (This was also the place where I once heard a local wit ask, how much are those nickel candy bars?  A question I've been asking ever since, and getting increasingly shocking answers.)

 This store was just a few doors up a sidestreet from Hamilton Avenue, catty-corner from the brick Knights of Columbus hall, behind which my grandfather occasionally played bocce, and next to the barber shop with the barber whose daughter was my 7th grade math teacher.  I think we were vaguely related, but then just about all the Italians in western PA were vaguely related.

Besides color photos of a player on one side and his stats on the other, the bubble gum baseball cards had a baseball quiz question at the bottom, with the answer upsidedown beneath it.  The question this particular sunny day was precisely the one I just asked.

The answer on that card was Dale Long, who homered in eight consecutive games. I remembered that today.  And dang if that still isn't the record, although a couple of more recent players also own it: Don Mattingly and Ken Griffey, Jr.   But Dale Long did it while he was on the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1956. which was only a couple of years before I read about it on that baseball card.  I hadn't started really following the Pirates then--not until 1958, when they astonished everyone by finishing in second place.

Dale Long, by the way, remains the only National Leaguer to hit homers in 8 consecutive games.  Arenado has a shot to be the second.  But he's probably going to have to hit one off Madison Bumgarner, who starts for the Giants Sunday.

Update Sunday: Arenado's streak ended at 6.  The only homer in Sunday's game was by Buster Posey, the 100th of his career.  Giants won 7-4, MadBum got his 17th win. Dodgers won over Padres.  Cubs won. Pirates rang up the Cards behind Gerrit Cole, to get 2 of 3.  Close game until late innings, 7-1.

A Winter's Tale

The three game sweep of the Giants will be talked about in L.A. for some time to come.  Every game was hard-fought, all settled by one run--the first in 14 innings, the next two by the score of 2-1.  Clayton Kershaw had a career game in the last one, pitching a complete game, and inducing more swings and misses that he ever has, or anyone else has this year.

Giants fans however may remember a very odd but telling detail about those last two games.  In a crucial late inning in both of them, with the Giants threatening, an umpire named Winters made a crucial call that some Giants strongly disagreed with.  When manager Bruce Bochy defended his players, Winters tossed him from the game.  Both games.  Both of the games that the Giants lost 2-1.

As Bochy said after the first instance, that kind of thing just isn't done--not in games like this, between teams like this, at this time of year.  The idea that Bochy, acknowledged as the best manager in baseball, would do or say something so flagrant to earn such a quick hook is pretty much unthinkable.

Something really wrong there.  Wonder what it is, and if anybody will try to find out.

In the two games since that epic series, both teams showed exhaustion in their first game out but the Dodgers recovered for a win tonight, while the Giants did not.  They lost by that same awful score of 2-1, in usually hitting-friendly Colorado.  Chris Heston pitched well, but gave up back to back homers to the league's home run leaders in the first inning, and that was all.  Once again, Marlon Byrd struck out in the game's most crucial at-bat.

This was the Giants' seventh loss in a row, and unless this streaky team suddenly goes on an epic winning streak, the front office attention turns towards winter, and the moves the team needs to make for next season, beginning with a new starting rotation.

There is still some potentially intriguing baseball to come.  What will it be like to have Joe Panik, Brian Crawford (both injured) on the field again with Matt Duffy (showing signs of wear) but with Kelby Tomlinson in the mix?  What will it be like to have Hunter Pence in the lineup, but with Byrd and their latest acquisition Alejandro De Aza available, as well as Blanco?  That infield may happen soon, the outfield before season's end, maybe.  (More bad news on the injury front came Saturday: Aoki is out again with recurrent concussion symptoms, Susak reinjured--both may miss the rest of the season.  Meanwhile the return of Hunter Pence may not come until the season's final week, if then. Earlier it was announced that Tim Lincecum will undergo hip surgery, so he won't return this year.)

Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates broke a four game losing streak to beat their rival Cardinals in St. Louis and move to 5.5 games out of first.  But they'd have to sweep the series to make a real dent in that lead.  Not easy to do in St. Louis. J.A.Happ, acquired in July, gave the Pirates 7 scoreless on Friday, and with Burnett coming back, pitching seems even stronger.

Reality Check

For awhile now, the Giants getting into the postseason was an unlikely possibility.  Now after dropping the final two games at home with St. Louis, and the first two games of three at Los Angeles, that has grown more remote.  Not impossible, not on the first of September, but some dramatic stuff will have to happen.

But you know what?  They still give you your money's worth.  Bruce Bochy said he was proud of how they played in the L.A. opener on Monday (into Tuesday), even though they lost in the 14th inning.  (Had it gone 15, they likely would have won, because the Dodgers were out of pitchers.)  Credit the Dodgers relievers, otherwise that team's weakness.

Things could have hardly gone worse in that epic opener.  On the last day before roster expansion, the starters had to stay in the game for 14 innings and the bullpen, already overused, got stretched to the limit.  And Brandon Crawford got injured all over again, in his first game back.  They just never got the one hit that might have salvaged at least the win, in the game of the series that on paper they were more likely to win than the other two.

Tuesday night an exhausted team, fielding some players who had just joined or rejoined the club, couldn't support MadBum's start, and they lost the second game 2-1.  The Giants have learned how to win without Pence, but they haven't without Crawford.  Buster Posey, who caught 14 innings in a game that ended after midnight, was back behind the plate, and got one hit. That's heroic.  Manager Bochy as well as pitcher Jake Peavy were ejected for arguing a key strikeout call in the 7th, when the Giants had runners on second and third.  Once again, Matt Duffy made a stellar play and got a key hit.

Some will say the Giants' season is over, but you know, it just ain't.  They play good ball, heroic at times, fun to watch.  This road trip may have already turned deadly--especially if they lose the third game (and the pitching matchup says they probably will)--but they are at home for most of the rest of the season.  There will be great days and evenings at their San Francisco park, fans will see terrific baseball and have fun.  Kids will get their certificate for seeing their first Giants game, as my pal Beckett did last weekend.

It also looks more and more likely that the Pirates will get into the postseason only as a Wild Card.  They lost Tuesday while the Cards won.

Super Kelby!!

Once again the mild-manner re-, ah, second baseman surveys the scene.  The game is tied, bottom of the ninth, Giants against the Cards, the team with the best record in the majors.  The Giants have squandered a 4 run lead, left a lot of runners on base all game, but now, the bases are loaded.  And this looks like a job for...

Super-Kelby!  With two strikes he scorches a liner past the overshifted infield, and the Giants win 5-4.

True, the ball didn't go nearly as far (and again I repeat myself) as the home run by Marlon Byrd.  Not a three run shot to center this time.  Nah.  A grand slam to center.  Yesterday Kelby hit the seventh grand slam of the year for the Giants, tying a club record.  Tonight the record was broken with the eighth.

Kelby Tomlinson also made a terrific play in the field in the top of the ninth that helped keep the Cards from scoring, and set up his own dramatics.  With his slam yesterday and the winning hit tonight, both before sold out crowds at home, he's becoming a social media star.  Only a matter of time before the oversized Clark Kent glasses show up in the stands, if they haven't already.

Mike Leake pitched his second strong game in a row at home, and again doesn't get a win.  His wild pitch however was costly.  Gregor Blanco was back in the lineup and had two hits, and drew a walk in the ninth.

Brandon Crawford was really missed this game in the field, and the news of a faster recovery yesterday was reversed today.  The soonest he'll be back in the field is in L.A.  Matt Cain went on the DL, Chris Heston was recalled to replace him, he starts on Sunday.  Angel Pagan also won't rejoin the club until Sept. 1.

The Dodgers also won so the Giants only stay at 2.5 back, but the more games they win now, the more pressure there is on the Dodgers when they go to L.A. next week.  The Pirates won, and so thanks to the Giants, they gain a game on St. Louis.

It's kind of amazing but with all these injuries, the only conspicuous weakness the Giants have in the field and at bat is Adrianza when he's at short (that's with Aoki and Blanco back).  The starting rotation still has some gaps but the bullpen is making good use of young arms like Strickland, Osich and Broadway as well as the veterans.  The expanded roster is going to help the starting situation, if not directly,  then with long relievers.

Kelby!

It was the eighth inning, runners on second and third.  The Cubs elected to intentionally walk Byrd-man (who earlier in the game hit a three run homer to put the Giants comfortably ahead) to load the bases for the mild-mannered reporter--er, second baseman--Kelby Tomlinson.  Who, on a 1-2 count and without even taking off his Clark Kent glasses, turned into Superman, and launched his first major league home run--which also happened to be a grand slam.

Look, up in the sky!  It's a bird, it's a plane--no, it's a baseball!  And it's gone, it's bye bye baby, it's outa here!

It's true that Marlon Byrd's homer to center was about 100 feet longer, but Tomlinson's was special--the home crowd responded with a standing O, and Kelby flashed his super smile.

And arguably it wasn't even his most important hit of the game.  He got the Giants' first hit with two outs in the second, and was running when Perez doubled and scored the tying run from first.  The Cubs were ahead in the game for exactly a half inning.

 Madison Bumgarner had an uneasy second but otherwise dominated, with 12 strikeouts in 6 innings.  Manager Bochy took him out with a four run lead, which Tomlinson turned into eight.  Final score was 9-1.  MadBum got the win, which makes him 5-0 in August.  He's once again sharing a club record with Juan Marichal--the only two Giants pitchers to go 5-0 in a month three times.

The standings didn't change today, as the Dodgers, Pirates and Cards all won.  This was only the second Giants win against the Cubs this year, but the Chicago team suddenly looks vulnerable.  They are such a young team that they could take a dive to follow this incredible hot streak.  It bears watching.  (No, that's not a Chicago joke, exactly.)

Tomorrow night the Cards and their ace Macha.  The Giants played well enough in St. Louis that home field could be the difference in this series.  I look for them to win two.  Their upcoming road trip to Los Angeles looms ever larger.

Duffy's ankle was good enough for him to play, and play well.  Crawford's injury reportedly not as bad as first reported.  Yet the Giants won two games against the Cubs with only three players who started the season at their position--and only one of them (catcher Buster Posey) hasn't lost games to injury this year.  (One starter lost his job to Matt Duffy and is gone.)

Running Wounded

It's why they play the game, and why this team is so much fun to follow.

Injuries seemingly have been rampant almost everywhere this year but with the San Francisco Giants it is getting ridiculous.  Missing three starting position players already and a rotating two or three starting pitchers, the Giants on Wednesday lost their All Star shortstop, home run leader and RBI leader for most of the season, Brandon Crawford.  And the player who came off the bench to become an offensive as well as defensive mainstay in center field, Gregor Blanco. This was but a few hours after reliever Jeremy Affeldt had another of his habitual weird household accidents and was out.

And then in Wednesday's game, their rookie of the year Matt Duffy sprained an ankle.  He stayed in the game and was instrumental in the Giant's victory, but he's day to day.

Did I say victory?  Their first win over the Chicago Cubs this year, 4-2.  Timely hitting and running by rookie replacement Kelby Tomlinson, a gut-check pitching performance by starter Jake Peavy, and bullpen perfection won the day, ending with Casia's incredible ninth inning--he threw 8 pitches, all strikes, and got two strikeouts and a ground out.  And no drama.

As for the walking wounded, Duffy is day-to-day, Crawford will sit out tomorrow's game (rubber match with the Cubs, Bumgarner pitching) but hopes to be back for the first game with the Cards.  No word on Blanco, but Angel Pagan is scheduled to be back for the Cards series.  Encouraging words on Joe Panik's return soon as well.

Tim Hudson may return early to pitch Sunday in Matt Cain's spot, or Chris Heston could be recalled, to replace an injured pitcher.  Pence is not even in the conversation yet.

The Cubs victory on Tuesday sent several local writers into despair about a wild card spot, but I thought that's been pretty much out of reach for awhile.  Even with this loss, the Cubs are 21-5 in their last 26 games.  The Mets aren't quite as hot but they're close.  While the Giants lost one and won one, the Dodgers won two, and are 2.5 games in front.  The schedule just doesn't favor the Giants the rest of the way, and a musical chairs lineup doesn't help either.

But then there are games like this one, that started like it was going to be an absolute disaster, almost got into keystone kops territory again in the sixth, and then a few key hits and a mesmerizing bullpen turned it into an electric evening in San Francisco.

Meanwhile the Pirates beat up on the Marlins, as Cutch hit a 3-run shot, his 20th homer of the year.  St. Louis also won, over Arizona.

 

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.)