Kuzul

Tim Lincecum's pitching like a Cy Young ace once again. If there is one player that is key to the Giants in their postseason race, it's Lincecum: the staff ace and reigning National League Cy Young Award winner. With their ace pitching like he should, the Giants can be confident coming to the yard knowing they have a great shot at winning. Lincecum's line was as follows: 5 IP, 2 ER, 6 H, 3 K, 2 BB. The Giants' hitting was poor as usual. In each of the first three innings, the leadoff hitter reached on a single, but they failed to capitalize on any of those opportunities. In the fifth inning, with runners on the corners and one out, Tim Lincecum's spot in the order came to the plate. He had pitched a decent ballgame, with his only earned runs resulting from when Pablo Sandoval failed to turn two on a ...

  Orange Fridays just aren't as magical as they used to be.There's really not much to be said about this game. The Giants lost 3-0 because they simply could not execute. They grounded into two double plays (Pablo  Sandoval wasn't the culprit of either), both of which killed legitimate threats to score. In the third, with runners on first and second and nobody out, Bumgarner failed to lay down a bunt. The ball flew off of his bat and one-hopped to McGehee, who then turned a double play. Renteria then failed to get the runner home from third base. In the fight, Pat  Burrell led off with a single, but Uribe fouled out and Jose  Guillen grounded into a double play to end the inning. The Giants couldn't take many pitches because Randy  Wolf pounded the strike zone, but their aggressive style didn't work too well, either. Through the first six innings, Wolf only ...

Up against the young Dodgers' ace Clayton Kershaw, the Giants failed to score a run. Barry Zito, too, was dealing for a while until the sixth inning, when he hit Reed Johnson with a pitch and then walked Rafael Furcal and Andre Ethier. With the bases loaded and two outs, SS Juan Uribe bobbled a groundball, allowing Reed Johnson to score. Zito was then taken out of the game because of bad numbers against Kemp in his career. His final line: 5.2 IP, 1 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 3 BB, 5 K. The Giants reached base only four times in the entire game, but a few positives can still be taken from this: First of all, Cody Ross wasn't hitless. The man playing center, Aaron Rowand, was hitless, however. If Cody Ross keeps hitting, which he is clearly capable of, and Rowand keeps struggling, which he is clearly capable ...

The Giants are once again tied with the Padres for first place in the NL West after beating them to win the series finale. Tim Lincecum pitched well for the third time this month, allowing just one earned run in seven innings while striking out nine. Buster Posey hit a two-run homer in the first inning to give the Giants an early lead, and they added on later: Jose Guillen hit a sacrifice fly in the third inning, and Lincecum hit a two-run single in the fourth inning. Mat Latos, who had gone a major-league record 15 consecutive games with five-plus IP and two ER or fewer, lasted just four innings, giving up five runs. The Giants went on to win the game 6-1, as they finished their road trip with a 7-3 record. The key factor in the Giants' success against the Padres was their ability to contain Adrian Gonzalez. He was just 3-for-15 ...

Saturday's game was characterized by dominant pitching and poor umpiring behind the plate. Madison Bumgarner pitched a beautiful game, allowing only one earned run on three hits through seven innings. The lone blemish was a third inning solo shot off of the bat of Yorvit Torrealba. Bumgarner only needed 79 pitches to get through seven innings, as he pitched extremely efficiently. His counterpart, Tim Stauffer, also pitched very efficiently, going six scoreless innings, allowing just three hits. The bullpen trio of Gregerson, Adams, and Bell came in and shut the Giants down, to secure the 1-0 victory, but more importantly, to reclaim first place as their own. Jerry Crawford, the umpire behind the plate, just called a bad game overall. His strike zone was too wide, expanded on the outer half of the plate, forcing the Giants to protect pitches outside. The effect it had on them was noticeable: Buster ...

May 6.  That is the last day the Giants were in 1st place. Four months later, the Giants stand atop the NL West, tied with the San Diego Padres. They won 1-0 on Friday thanks to yet another strong pitching effort. Jonathan Sanchez went five scoreless innings, allowing just one hit, but walking eight (one intentionally). Despite his lack of control, he did his job. He kept the Giants in the game, and gave them the opportunity to win. Aubrey Huff was hit by a pitch to start the seventh inning, at which point Clayton Richard was removed from the game and replaced with Luke Gregerson. While Pat Burrell was swinging at strike three to make the first out, Aubrey Huff took a bold steal of second base. Jose Guillen reached on a fielder's choice, and Nate Schierholtz was put in to pinch run for him. With one out and runners on the corners, ...

The Giants got on the board early in the first inning and did not look back from there—Andres Torres led off the game with a triple, and Freddy Sanchez knocked him in with an RBI single. The Giants then proceeded to hit four home runs—Huff hit a two-run home run in the third inning, Uribe hit a solo shot in the fourth, Posey crushed a two-run homer to left field in the fifth, and Pat Burrell led off with a home run in the sixth. By the seventh inning, the Giants were winning 7-1 and held on to win the game 7-3. Matt Cain was stellar—8.0 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 8 K. He allowed only one earned run through the first eight innings but came out to pitch the ninth and gave up a two-run shot to Ludwick. This really was the most important game of the year, ...

From the start of Tuesday's game, the Giants' bats were working. Andres Torres - who had been struggling - led off with a double, and two batters later, Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer. Buster Posey then doubled and scored off a Jose Guillen RBI single. With three runs of support, Tim Lincecum began dealing, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning. Through six innings, he had struck out nine; but in the seventh inning, it all collapsed for the Freak. Kelly Johnson led off with a triple, followed by a Chris Young home run. Two batters later, Miguel Montero singled, then scored on a Tony Abreu triple, which marked the end of Linecum's night. Nevertheless, his line was respectable, especially after such an awful August: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11 K. The high K rate, as well as the fact that he allowed just five hits ...

From the start of Tuesday's game, the Giants' bats were working. Andres Torres - who had been struggling - led off with a double, and two batters later, Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer. Buster Posey then doubled and scored off a Jose Guillen RBI single. With three runs of support, Tim Lincecum began dealing, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning. Through six innings, he had struck out nine; but in the seventh inning, it all collapsed for the Freak. Kelly Johnson led off with a triple, followed by a Chris Young home run. Two batters later, Miguel Montero singled, then scored on a Tony Abreu triple, which marked the end of Linecum's night. Nevertheless, his line was respectable, especially after such an awful August: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11 K. The high K rate, as well as the fact that he allowed just five hits ...

On Monday, the Giants did what their team was built to do: win behind dominant pitching, and just enough run support. Madison Bumgarner had pitched a gem (7.1 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 7 K), but the Giants failed to score any runs in the first 10 innings of the game. In the 11th inning, Nate Schierholtz stepped up to the plate with runners on first and second and crushed a triple to make the score 2-0. Brian Wilson came in and recorded his 41st save of the season, as the Giants cruised to their fifth victory of September; they are now 5-1 in the month. The Giants are starting to get the drift of things: that their pitching and defense is what's going to win ballgames for them. The outfield was at one point manned by a trio of Cody Ross, Andres Torres, and Schierholtz, almost the defensive equivalent of Carl Crawford, ...