Game Recap: STL 8, SF 0

Do I have to write a recap about this game?

But I will, kind of. The Giants had 3 hits, 2 of them coming from Pat Burrell, and the Cardinals had 15. At some point Barry Zito kind of imploded and had his shortest outing of the year. Jaime Garcia faced just one more than the minimum number of hitters over 9 innings and threw 89 pitches. That's it.

I do have one big complaint. You play to win on the road. I understand that Aubrey Huff needs rest and Andres Torres might have some kind of injury, but why rest your guys in the rubber match of a series on the road against a serious Wild Card contender? Why not rest Huff a day later at home? Bruce Bochy gave the series to the Cardinals by running out that terrible lineup today.

We also learned during the game that the Giants were awarded the claim on Cody Ross. All of a sudden the outfield is extremely crowded. To make room for Ross the Giants will probably have to get rid of Nate Schierholtz. I'm not sure if he's used up all of his minor league options (maybe someone can let me know?) or if we'll have to DFA him. At first glance, I didn't really care for the move. Ross has a .316 OBP and it'd be a shame to have to DFA Schierholtz to make room for him. But, it seems like Ross is finally going to be the right-handed hitter off the bench who's great against lefties. First we thought it was Pat Burrell, then Jose Guillen, and now it seems like it's going to be Ross (Although if Bruce Bochy had his way he'd probably have a Burrell-Ross-Guillen outfield). Ross does have a .846 OPS against lefties, so he should be valuable as a pinch-hitter with power.

Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow, as we have a very special post coming. Stay tuned.

Game Recap: STL 5, SF 1

I'm pretty sure most Giants fans saw progress in Tim Lincecum's start tonight. He was rolling right through the Cardinals lineup until Randy Winn hit a solo home run in the 3rd inning to make the score 1-0. After that I'm pretty sure Lincecum was thinking, "Did Randy Winn just hit a home run off of me? Am I really that bad? Randy Winn NEVER hits home runs. I mean in 538 at-bats last year he hit 2 home runs for us! I'm pretty sure Ryan Sadowski hit more home runs than that. Wait, this just in, Randy Winn has 6 home runs in 302 at-bats this year. What the hell, Randy? I mean you still suck and there's no way you should've gotten 538 at-bats for us last year, but you have 4 more home runs this year in way less at-bats. I mean, seriously, what the hell Randy? What gives? Oh is it the 6th inning already? I gave up a walk, triple, and double and the Cardinals scored 2 runs in the 4th? And then I gave up an RBI single to that stupid rookie John Jay in the 5th? It's 4-0? Oops, my bad. Why is John Jay even playing? Tony LaRussa doesn't like good young players. Just ask Colby Rasmus...." Yeah, Tim Lincecum was thinking all of that and got distracted. And it's all Randy Winn's fault. Hey, I guess Tim Lincecum's inner thoughts pretty much did the game recap for me.

The Giants scored a run in the 8th, but so did the Cardinals, just to rub it in. They had as many hits as the Cardinals, 8, but were just 1-for-6 with RISP. Buster Posey had two hits. So did Jose Guillen. Pat Burrell hit a double. That's the best I can do for Giants offensive highlights tonight. Pablo's back? It's seemed like it recently, but not tonight.

Tim Lincecum did look a little better, which is the most important part of this game. The Giants won't go anywhere if he doesn't get back on track. His final line reads: 5 1/3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Hey, I like just 2 BBs. He began the game with a 93-94 MPH fastball and towards the end he was at 90-91 MPH. Being able to command that fastball while still throwing it at 92-94 MPH seems like the key to success for him.

Padres lost. Obviously they can't beat the Milwaukee Brewers like we can. We are so much better, I know it. They'll lose again so let's take the series tomorrow and gain a game in the NL West! HOORAY!

Game Recap: SF 6, STL 3

Madison Bumgarner pitched a great game, even though he ended up allowing 9 hits in 7 innings. Only one of them, Albert Pujols' solo HR, did any real damage. We haven't seen the Cardinals in a while, and my 1st impression after this game: "wow is their lineup is weak". As long as Tony LaRussa refuses to play Colby Rasmus, there are only 2 batters to worry about: Pujols and Holliday. John Jay is on fire, but he's barely been up, so he doesn't really count, and he'll definitely cool down. The only other player in the lineup tonight with a slugging percentage over .350 was Felipe Lopez at .358. Allen Craig, with a .473 OPS, was hitting 2nd tonight in front of Pujols. And you thought Bruce Bochy had trouble with batting orders. I think Tony LaRussa is overrated.

Time to welcome Aubrey Huff back to the land of the living. Not only did he hit an impressive HR today, but he also got another hit and walked twice. Buster Posey doubled twice. No biggie. He does that every night. And Pablo Sandoval hits a HR every night now. It really does feel like he has turned a corner, because he is hitting the ball with force and authority. Very encouraging.

While the Cardinals lineup might be surprisingly inadequate, their starting pitching is not. It might be the best overall rotation behind Philly in the NL, with the 2 aces in Carpenter and Wainwright and a great rookie named Jamie Garcia. The Giants will have to face Carpenter and his cleat-marked back tomorrow. Apparently Tim Lincecum noticed something wrong with his delivery and fixed it this week. I hope so.