Tag: giants

By Morris Phillips

Oh boy, have times changed.

In 2005—the first losing season under general manager Brian Sabean after eight winning ones—the criticism was coming from all directions.  The Giants were finally floundering with Barry Bonds as the centerpiece—and no one to hit behind the slugger or a closer to replace Rob Nen and sew up the ninth inning—and the future didn’t seem bright.

Foremost, Sabean was criticized for the acquisition of Matt Herges, who wasn’t as effective as Nen.  And things wouldn’t get better on the trade front in 2005 when Sabean brought in Armando Benitez and Moises Alou.  That season marked a second straight season without a post-season and critics had no choice but to look at the team’s farm system with no prospects bubbling to the top.

At that time, the Giants hadn’t produced a homegrown position player in four years.  Prior to that Bill Mueller and Marvin Bernard were the most significant names.  When the Giants needed to reach for a minor-league system groomed arm that season, they had only Noah Lowry and Jesse Foppert to choose from.

On top of that, USA Today declared that the Giants’ system—in an evaluation of the each team’s baseball organization heavily weighted towards the numbers of high-level prospects on the minor league levels—was 30^th and dead last.

It didn’t help that Sabean and other team execs had decided to forfeit their first pick in the 2004 amateur draft in order to save money.  Critics took to wearing t-shirts that said “lunatic fringe” in reference to Sabean’s biting description of the vocal segment of the fan base that made their displeasure known.

And then—like momentum in the form of today’s starting pitcher—valuable, talented players good enough to be among the best in the National League with time began to spring forth starting in 2006.

That year, Matt Cain made his major league debut, and Tim Lincecum was drafted in the first round of the draft.

After that, Buster Posey was drafted in the first round, and Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo were groomed in the minor league system.  Out of nowhere, a Panda sprung forth and assumed the third base spot.

Not that Sabean discontinued his reliance on proven talent acquired through trade, but no longer did the Giants depend solely on veterans brought in to replicate or exceed their best seasons from the past.  In 2010, when the team needed a big arm to fill out its rotation, Madison Bumgarner was ready to join Cain and Lincecum.

And three World Series titles later, the beat continues with the naming of 24-year old Joe Panik and 28-year old Brandon Crawford as the team’s first double play combination to be so honored in the same year since Rich Aurilia and Jeff Kent in 2000.

“Hopefully, I’ll get in the game with him,” Panik said on Monday. “To have someone that you’re comfortable with up the middle and you’ve had chemistry with the past year, it’ll be awesome.”

If paired on Tuesday, maybe Panik and Crawford can execute their favorite play—the diving stab and glove-hand flip Panik to Crawford to start a double play—just as they did in Game 7 of the World Series when Eric Hosmer attempted to single home a critical run for the Royals but was thwarted.

Since 2007 when Bonds made his final All-Star appearance, the Giants have been awash with homegrown All-Stars.  Lincecum (four times), Cain, Bumgarner, Posey, Wilson (3 appearances each), Sandoval (twice), Romo and Vogelsong have all made appearances.

During that same period, only Melky Cabrera (2012 All-Star MVP), Marco Scutaro, Tim Hudson and Hunter Pence (one appearance each) have represented the Giants as players groomed outside the organization.

On Tuesday, the Giants go homegrown again with Posey and Bumgarner in addition to Panik and Crawford.  Manager Bruce Bochy and bench coach Ron Wotus round out the San Francisco contingent.

By Morris Phillips

It was last thing anyone that cares about the Giants wanted to see.  Eight scoreless innings only to see a meaningless run pushed across in the ninth in a 4-1 loss to the slightly less offensively-challenged Mets.

After seven consecutive losses and finally a win, the Giants are back in the loss column again.  And this time, given their current state, this loss could be seen coming a mile away.

Reigning Rookie of the Year Jacob DeGrom loves pitching in the daytime, and his teammates have responded to matinee starts as well.  In this case, the combination of DeGrom’s lights-out pitching and the team’s confidence outweighed an awful road record that saw the Mets drop 18 of 22 on the road at one point.  And DeGrom’s not only good, he’s been hot as well, winning six of last eight decisions to enter the discussion for the NL’s starter in the All-Star game.

To combat DeGrom and the Mets, the Giants offered a lineup minus Buster Posey, a late scratch due to a hamstring issue.  Angel Pagan was a scratch as well.  With or without Posey and Pagan, the Giants have whiffed lately, scoring just eight runs in their previous five games coming in.

Manager Bruce Bochy probably saw the writing on the wall right before he posted his lineup in the dugout before the game.

“When you’re going against a guy like this you’ve got to play perfect ball,” Bochy said.

DeGrom allowed just two hits, struck out 10, and retired 13 in a row at one point.  Catcher Kevin Plawecki likened his vantage point to that of a video game.

“He’s a lot of fun to catch,” Plawecki said of DeGrom.  “He got ahead of a lot of guys and was able to throw any pitch he wanted.”

The Dodgers shut out the Phillies 5-0 Wednesday night to increase their lead in the NL West to five games over the Giants and Diamondbacks.  The Mets hadn’t captured a road series since May before winning two of three this week against the Dodgers and Giants.  Despite an awful 16-28 road record, the Mets are a big-league best 20-8 during the day.  DeGrom’s 5-1 during the day and he lowered his ERA to 1.09 across seven daytime starts.

Jake Peavy single-handedly dragged the Giants into the late innings despite making just his second start after a lengthy stay on the disabled list.  Peavy’s reward?  A Brandon Crawford throwing error in the sixth that allowed Ruben Tejada to score from third with the game’s first run.

Peavy was still battling in the seventh when he allowed consecutive singles, the second one to DeGrom.  The next batter, Juan Lagares, grounded out to third base, but that was good enough to get Eric Campbell home from third.

The veteran fell to 0-4 despite scattering six singles across his seven innings of work.  Peavy looked healthy and pitched great, a good sign going forward according to Bochy.

“When he’s healthy, he’s like that,” Bochy said.  “I’m encouraged, I really am, at where (Peavy and Tuesday’s starter Matt Cain) they’re at.  Both of them.  We’ll be a stronger team with those two in the rotation.”

“I was excited to get back out there a couple of times before the All-Star break and get my feet wet.  We hope we can be a big shot in the arm.  Me and (Cain) are going to push each other.”

The Giants’ first-time All-Stars—Joe Panik and Crawford—were a combined 0 for 8 along with Crawford’s damaging throwing error.  Hunter Pence and Brandon Belt each had a pair of hits, and both contributed to the Giants’ ninth-inning rally.  The game ended when Andrew Susac grounded out as the potential tying run with Belt and Pence both aboard.

On Friday night, Madison Bumgarner faces Cole Hamels, as popular a name as any among numerous mid-season trade rumors.  The Phillies-Giants matchup commences at 7:15pm.

By Morris Phillips

The rumblings have grown louder over the recent weeks.  And on Monday night with the game on the line, the evidence was there for everyone to see.

The Giants’ bullpen, so good in both of their most recent World titles, has slipped from its lofty status among the game’s best pens.  While the faces may be familiar and trusted, the relievers’ performances are not.

Sergio Romo and Santiago Casilla both allowed a pair of hits in a three-run, ninth inning rally that carried the Mets past the Giants, 3-0.  The Giants long day that started with a cross-country flight ended with a seventh consecutive loss on the heels of a winless road trip.

In the Giants’ case, symmetry isn’t pretty.  The loss dropped the team back to .500 (42-42) with identical 21-21 records home and away.  After moving to a season-best 30-20 record on May 29, the Giants have slumped badly, losing 22 of 34.

“This offense right now, we’re sputtering,” manager Bruce Bochy admitted.  “We had five runs last series, and got shutout today.  That’s not going to work.”

Chris Heston no-hit the Mets on June 9 in New York, and he was almost as good Monday, pitching into the eighth inning, allowing no runs, three hits and navigating through traffic off his making on the base paths with four walks issued and an errant pick-off throw that allowed Curtis Granderson to take second base in the third inning.  In five starts since the no-no, Heston has thrown himself into the Rookie of the Year conversation, posting an ERA of 3.23 while throwing a quality start each time.

“He did all he could and a really, really great effort by him, had great stuff again,” Bochy said of Heston.  “They saw him not too long ago and he still pitched quite well against them.”

As good as Heston has been, his efforts since the no-hitter have only amounted to a 2-2 record.  Every major leaguer needs some pick-me-up from his teammates, and Heston’s guys were apparently too jet lagged to do their part on Monday. Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik were named All-Star reserves on Monday, and Bochy elected to give his double play guys a day off.  Angel Pagan’s been scuffling, but he landed in the five-hole on Monday, and Gregor Blanco, Ehire Adrianza, Joaquin Arias got spot starts.

In the end the bullpen let the club down.  Romo came on with runners at second and third in the eighth, and got Mets’ slugger Wilmer Flores to ground out to end the inning.  But the ninth was different story.  Romo allowed a single to Michael Cuddyer, then with Kurt Nieuwenhuis hitting .098 (6 for 61) and down 0-2, the reliever delivered three straight balls to take the count full where Nieuwenhuis doubled down the right field line.  Inexplicably, Cuddyer didn’t score on the play, which put the next pitcher, Casilla, in the pickle of assuming two baserunners with no one out.

Casilla threw a pair of strikes to his first batter, Johnny Monell, the Mets’ backup catcher who started his big league career with the Giants, playing in eight late-season games in 2013.  But like Romo, three consecutive balls brought the count full where Monell doubled in a pair of runs.  After pinch hitter Lucas Duda struck out, Juan Lagares singled home Monell, and the Giants’ closer who earlier this week allowed a three-run, ninth inning homer, taking a loss against the Marlins, was done.

Already, the Giants have seen Jeremy Affeldt’s struggles land him on the disabled list when he likely would have been demoted if healthy.  Now Romo and Casilla, the current set up man and closer, are showing signs of wear and tear.

Romo has allowed seven runs in his last 11 appearances, and Casilla was returning from a tired arm that took him out of the mix for the remainder of road trip after his meltdown in Miami.

Is the bullpen a concern?  As much as Bochy would admit publicly, it is.

On Tuesday, the home fans get to see Matt Cain in his second start after his return from injury and rehab, in a matchup with New York’s Bartolo Colon, who has nine wins.

By Morris Phillips

In splitting their first 38 home games, the Giants have been all over the place in terms of their play: just as often brilliant as they’ve been just been bad.

On Wednesday afternoon, they squeezed the whole gamut into one ballgame.

The Giants cruised through the first seven innings, leading 9-2 behind starting pitcher Chris Heston and an impressive offensive display.  But the Padres mounted in a huge rally in the eighth to climb within 9-8, only to see the Giants rally back in the bottom of that inning to finish off a 13-8 win.

How up and down have the Giants been at home?  The matinee win against the Padres marked the first time the Giants have won back-to-back home games in almost a month, last accomplishing the trick on May 29 with consecutive wins against the Braves.

“Obviously we would have like not to make it interesting, but it was good to counter-punch,” Joe Panik said of the Giants’ topsy-turvy afternoon.

The Giants racked up a season-best 13 runs and 19 hits, but it wasn’t easy street until they added on the final six hits and four runs in the eighth, to answer the Padres’ big rally.  In a ballgame featuring 31 hits, the fans were treated to an offensive display by both teams that’s been rare along McCovey Cove this season for sure, but in previous seasons as well.

Even rarer were the Giants’ four triples, a feat the team hadn’t accomplished since 1960 when Willie Mays accounted for three of the four three-baggers all by himself.  This time, Brandon Belt had a pair of triples, and that had him all fired up describing the thrill of baseball’s rarest type of hit.

“When I can sniff a triple, I’m going to turn it on.  I will do whatever I have to do–use my giraffe strides—to get to third base,” Belt said.

Heston did his best to take advantage of all the offensive support.  The rookie pitched well again, throwing seven innings, allowing two runs and five hits, while walking one and striking out six. All indications are that Heston will retain his spot in the rotation when Matt Cain and Jake Peavy return from the disabled list, and he showed why again on Wednesday.

Heston won his eighth game against five defeats to maintain his stature as one of the most impressive rookies on any team this season.  Again, Heston showed great command of all four of his pitches and kept the Padres at bay.

But when Jeremy Affeldt relieved Heston, things got interesting.  Affeldt allowed two doubles and a Matt Kemp two-run homer before manager Bruce Bochy could make a change.  But Javier Lopez and Sergio Romo had issues as well, allowing a combined four hits before Romo got Clint Barmes to pop out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Giants bounced right back.  Mat Duffy and Belt came up with RBI singles and Buster Posey knocked in a couple of runs with a double.

James Shields got the start for San Diego, and he ended up no happier than he was in a pair of World Series matchups with Madison Bumgarner last fall.  The former Royals starter was lifted Wednesday after allowing seven runs and nine hits in only four innings of work.

The Giants look to move their home record above .500 on Friday night when Colorado comes to town.  Tim Hudson and the Rockies’ Chad Bettis are scheduled for the series opener at 7:15pm.

By Morris Phillips

As confounding as the Giants’ nine-game losing streak at home, its conclusion was just as hard to explain as well.

Why? Because after a truly lackluster stretch, the Giants immediately went back to playing credible baseball and looking like a playoff contender in a 6-2 win over the Mariners on Tuesday afternoon at AT&T Park.

Not every title contender can afford to take what amounts to a week-long vacation, but the Giants have without relinquishing their position atop a competitive NL West.  While the Giants were winning, the Dodgers were dropping a tough one at Texas, leaving the rivals three games apart with another big series against each other coming up this weekend at Dodgers Stadium.

In gaining the mini-split with the Mariners, the Giants got clutch hitting to back a strong start from Tim Lincecum, who in turn was supported by a quartet of relievers who finished it without allowing a hit.

The Giants went the first four games of their home stand without establishing a lead at any point.  On Tuesday, Matt Duffy provided the early lead with a rare, two-run homer.  Lincecum and the bullpen protected 2-1 and 3-2 leads until Duffy and Casey McGehee provided a cushion a three-run eighth inning.

“When you go through a rut like this you need good pitching, a timely hit, and it happened today,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “We played well.”

“We got to play better at home,” Duffy said.  “We had a little meeting today, just pick up the intensity.  And I think that really helped snap us out of what little funk we had going.  These fans are too good, they’re too loyal for us to play like we had been at home.”

Whether the meeting actually had anything to do with the Giants’ resurgence is up to debate.  But unquestionably, the potential is there for a team that’s been all over the map in the first 2 ½ months of the season.  Besides the two losing streaks, the Giants had the best record in baseball for a stretch of 35 days.  Duffy and Joe Panik are emerging, offensive contributors, Brandon Crawford and Brandon Belt are building their best offensive seasons thus far in their career, and the pitching has the same potential it had last season when it carried the team to a world title.

Now if they just solve that little conundrum of consistency, and playing at home, things could take off.

Lincecum pitched into the sixth inning without his new, best stuff allowing four walks, five hits including a home run allowed to shortstop Brad Miller.  While the Freak hasn’t been anything near what he was at his zenith, he’s won seven games, and justified all the trust the club handed him when he signed a new deal before last season.

Duffy ended up with three hits, and evened his competition with Panik with six homers on the season.  Dubbed the tortoise vs. tortoise home run race, it should maintain some intrigue for the two, young infielders throughout the summer.

“I said, your move, Joe,” Duffy recalled telling Panik after he connected in the second inning.

On Wednesday, the Mariners and Giants continue their interleague series in much warmer Seattle.  The matchup is compelling with King Felix Hernandez looking for his 10^th win and Madison Bumgarner motoring along as well in search of his eighth win in a ballgame that starts at 7:05pm.

By Morris Phillips

For eight, briskly played innings Monday night, Giants’ fans patiently waited, and then it happened.   After witnessing the best act of the night by someone wearing a Giants’ uniform, the home crowd roared with approval.

Just one thing: the kid in the Giants’ uniform full of verve, variety and dancing uncontrollably for the in-between innings’ Dance Cam isn’t a major league ballplayer. He’s a kid. And his act did little to impact the game where the Giants offered more of the same in what’s developed into a disastrous stretch of ball along McCovey Cove.

So in a nutshell: After dropping a 5-1 decision to the visiting Mariners, the Giants have lost nine straight at AT&T Park, their worst stretch at home since 1940 when the New York Giants lost 11 in a row at the Polo Grounds. The Giants haven’t won a home game since knocking off the Braves, 4-2 on May 29.

And, it hasn’t been pretty with the exception of the kid, who had at least 15 distinctive dance moves, and was so compelling the camera hung with him for a good 90 seconds. Conversely, the Giants’ offense hasn’t been watchable, scoring just three runs in the first four games of the home stand.

On Monday, Mariners’ starter Taijuan Walker made it look easy, shutting down the Giants for seven innings, allowing one run on seven hits. Walker’s had a nice stretch of four starts, but he’s still the highly touted prospect that hasn’t yet panned out, losing nine of his 20 career starts to date. But against the Giants, he got ahead of hitters, pitched effortlessly, and as pitchers so fashionably say these days, Walker let the hitters get themselves out.

“We’re just making better pitches, not trying to throw anything harder or trying to be too cute with anything, just making better pitches,” Walker said of a stretch of four starts in which he’s won three times and posted and ERA of 1.55.

Quite naturally, Giants’ hitters looked overanxious as well. Three of the first five innings concluded with a Walker strikeout, and eight of the nine Giants’ hitters to bat with a runner in scoring position, failed to reach. For those counting, that’s 21 baserunners stranded in the last four games.

With the offense scuffling, Giants’ starter Tim Hudson had his work cut out for him once again, and he held up until the fifth, when he allowed a pair of runs that put the Mariners up 3-1. Four of the seven Mariners to bat in the inning singled off Hudson, including Logan Morrison, who placed perfectly a pop up in between Angel Pagan and Jarret Parker, who were charging, and a retreating Joe Panik.

Morrison’s seeing-eye hit scored Brad Miller and drew a visible reaction from Hudson. The veteran would depart in the sixth on the hook for the loss, which would become his 23^rd loss in an interleague game, the most all-time, a dubious record Hudson now shares with former teammates Derek Low and Barry Zito.

In the eighth, the game’s only fireworks came off the bat of Kyle Seager, who took reliever Jeremy Affeldt authoritatively into the right field arcade.

The Giants look to avoid a winless homestand on Tuesday afternoon Tim Lincecum takes the mound in a matchup with Seattle’s J.A. Happ.

NOTES: Matt Cain’s rehab start in Sacramento on Monday was a mixed bag. Cain threw 3 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits with seven strikeouts. Cain threw 75 pitches, displaying a healthy mix of fastballs that topped out at 91 MPH and changeups that registered 77 MPH. The veteran starter is expected to make one or two more such starts before any decision is made on his return to the big league club.

By Morris Phillips

The Pirates’ memory of what transpired on October 1 is probably a lot more vivid than the collective memory of the Giants.

If so, that may explain how the hot Giants had their heels cooled by Pittsburgh in a three-game sweep at AT&T Park that concluded on Wednesday afternoon with a 5-2 Giants’ loss.

The Pirates 2014 post-season was made frustratingly brief by the Giants and Madison Bumgarner in an 8-0 shutout that sent Pittsburgh home for the winter without them even scoring a single run in the playoffs.  What’s worse is the shutout took place at PNC Park in front of disbelieving Pirates fans.  And more worse: the game was effectively over after four innings when Brandon Crawford’s grand slam gave the Giants a 4-0 lead that Bumgarner was certain to maintain.

After that harsh dismissal, it wouldn’t surprise anyone that the Pirates probably had their trip to San Francisco circled on their calendars.  In a three-game sweep in which the Pirates did everything right—especially on the mound—it sure seemed to be the case.

“We did run into a hot club that played very well,” manager Bruce Bochy admitted.  “When they didn’t hit it hard like the eighth inning, groundballs had eyes.  It was one of those series.  What could go wrong went wrong did at times.”

Francisco Liriano allowed four hits and a run in seven innings and the Giants’ hitters were stymied for the third straight day.  In each loss, the Giants scored first only to see the Pirates assume the lead and hold on.  Liriano allowed Joe Panik’s RBI single in the second, but Pittsburgh responded with single runs in the fourth and fifth, then three more in the ninth to put the game away.

Jordy Mercer homered for Pittsburgh in the fifth to give the Pirates a lead, and Jung Ho Kang had the two-run double that capped a three-run rally in the ninth.

The Giants’ lineup was missing Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence as Bochy elected to give his heavy-use guys a day off.  Those absences boosted Liriano, who allowed the Giants fewer hits (4) than a trio of relievers that followed him in the final two frames (5). The late rally saw Belt produce a pinch-hit single and the Giants get the tying run to the plate, but the Pirates closed the door.

Reliever Mark Melancon came on with the bases loaded and one out, and he got Crawford and Nori Aoki to ground out to end the game.

The Pirates won for the 12^th time in their last 16 games while the Giants have dropped five straight for the second time this season.  The Dodgers lost in Denver to the Rockies 7-6 last night allowing the Giants to stay within two games of the NL West leaders.

On Thursday, the Giants visit President Obama at the White House for the third time in celebration of their 2014 World Series victory before they open a three-game series over the weekend in Philadelphia.

By Morris Phillips

The Giants have won at the best clip in all of baseball for over a month, and they didn’t show any signs of slowing down on Thursday in their return to AT&T Park.

Chris Heston pitched into the eighth inning without allowing a run, and captured his pitching battle with Braves’ ace Shelby Miller as the Giants won 7-0 in a game that was scoreless for the first six innings.

Hot-hitting Brandon Belt homered off Miller in the seventh, and the Giants tacked on six runs with seven hits in the eighth to win going away.

After winning 25 of 35, the Giants are just a half game behind the Dodgers in the NL West, a total 360 from their eight-game losing streak in early April that landed them in the division cellar.  While health is major reason for the surge, Heston’s a big factor too, stepping in for the one still absent, significant piece—starter Matt Cain—without any noticeable dropoff.

The Giants have won each of Heston’s last four starts whether the rookie has been just OK or spot on like he was Thursday.  Heston has had a couple of shaky outings, but he’s proven resilient, throwing more innings (62 1/3) than any other rookie this season.  Like the grizzled veterans he’s sharing the rotation with, he’s been unflappable with his seasoned approach.

“Just seemed like he was keeping guys off balance all night hitting his spots,” Belt said of Heston’s outing.  “When your ball moves like his does you can get with a lot of stuff.  And lot of guys don’t put the ball on the barrel.”

Heston’s clearly been more relaxed at AT&T Park–with the cool temperatures and heavy air–allowing him to be less burdened in his approach, saying, “You know you can throw strikes in hitter’s counts and let your defense work.”

The rookie was threatened only once all evening, in the sixth when the Braves had runners at first and third.  But Heston escaped, getting Nick Markakis to ground out to end the inning.

Heston won his matchup with Miller as a hitter as well.  While Miller looked so feeble striking out in the third, Kruk and Kuip felt obligated to reignite the designated hitter in the National League debate, Heston acquitted himself quite well, doubling for his first major league hit in the sixth.

The Giants batted around in the eighth–the second time they’ve done that in the last four games—and all the solid contact was befitting of a lineup of mostly .300 hitters.  In that breakout inning, Hunter Pence tripled, and Belt, Brandon Crawford and Joe Panik had doubles.

After failing to score more than six runs in any of their first 32 ballgames, the Giants have done it eight times in their last 16.

Of all the impressive hitters in the Giants’ current lineup, Belt stands out, with all six of his round-trippers hit since May 15.  Belt’s blast in the seventh was his first this season at AT&T Park.  For a guy whose seen major struggles in each of the last two seasons, he’s no doubt locked in, hitting both his double and homer into the opposite field gap.

“I hit both on the barrel of the bat,” he said.

“A couple of those home runs he hit on the road were crushed,” manager Bruce Bochy said.  “(He’s a) big strong guy.”

The Giants look to grab a sixth straight at home on Friday night with Atlanta’s Mike Foltynewicz facing a guy with a lengthy history as a Brave, Tim Hudson, at 7:15pm.

By Morris Phillips

After another big win for the Giants, 8-4 at Milwaukee, you get a sense of how difficult it is to characterize the current state of the three-time World Champs.

Since May 12, the Giants have become an offensive machine.  On that day in Houston, the Giants scored more than six runs for the first time in 2015 in an 8-1 win over the Astros.   After failing to score more than six runs in any of their first 32 games, the Giants have done it seven times in the last 13–including Monday afternoon–and won each time.

The Giants aren’t a Big Orange Machine in reference to the hitting-crazy Reds of the mid 70’s, but the same old pitch-and-catch bunch that did so much damage in three of the last five post-seasons.  They have the second-best record in one-run games (10-5) in the National League and a league-best eight shutout wins.  All but one of those shutouts has come in the team’s magical month of May, in direct conflict with any contention that the club is driven by offense.

Given all the offense and stellar pitching so then what’s the real strength of the ball club?  Who’s the key guy that’s driving all the recent success?

Well, they’re actually two guys, the only two Giants who appear on the various lists of National League statistical leaders: closer Santiago Casilla and shortstop Brandon Crawford.  In his fourth, full season as a major leaguer, Crawford is having a breakout season, hitting .298, 50 points higher than any of his previous, season-ending batting averages.  And Casilla has been quietly effective, among the league leaders in saves with 12 and greatly responsible for the Giants leading the league in save percentage (86.7%).

Given all those numbers and only two names, only one conclusion can be drawn: the Giants are a well-rounded team as the Brewers no doubt found out on Monday at Miller Park.

The Giants entered their holiday series with Milwaukee weary from a couple of tough losses and more than seven hours of weather delays in Denver over the weekend.  And if that wasn’t enough, the Giants’ bullpen was shot–a regular occurrence for a team that’s been through Denver—and the team weary from arriving at their hotel at 1 a.m. and having to rise and shine for a Memorial Day matinee.

Then the Brewers had their own shenanigans going on with the opening, closing and then reopening of the Miller Park fan-like roof while the game was in progress.  Probably orchestrated to throw the visitors off their game, if so it worked as the Giants trailed 4-1 in the fifth inning.

At that point, Tim Lincecum had allowed three homers, including one that almost was none, as a controversy developed in the first inning when Khris Davis’ opposite-field shot was appealed by the Giants, who felt the Brewers’ slugger failed to touch home plate on his trip around the bases.

The Giants’ appeal found favor with home plate umpire Will Little, who then ruled Davis out.  But Milwaukee’s new manager, Craig Counsell, did good, demanding a video review, and winning it when the New York video review posse sided with Counsell and the Brewers, and against Little, who couldn’t have been any closer or had a better look at Davis’ foot.

In the third inning, Davis touched up Lincecum again, and this time gave home plate a stomp off the two-foot jump for a 2-0 Milwaukee lead.

Lincecum had allowed just one home run coming in—a highlight of his impressive pitching to start 2015—but he would allow three on Monday.  In the fifth, Ryan Braun went tape-measure as his prodigious shot was measured at 474 feet, the fourth longest in the history of Miller Park.

With Lincecum allowing bombs and the Giants’ offense quiet with the exception of Nori Aoki, who would amass three hits including a solo shot, manager Bruce Bochy admitted afterwards that the tough travel had his club sleepwalking.

“It didn’t look good the way Lohse was throwing,” Bochy said.  “You’ve got to keep going hard and see what happens.”

‘What happens’ happened for the Giants in the sixth as eight consecutive hitters reached base and the team scored seven times to go from three down to four up.  Hunter Pence came up the capper, a two-run double off the left field wall that scored Gregor Blanco and Aoki.  Two oddities took place in the Giants’ surge: Angel Pagan struck out twice in the inning, bookending the eight consecutive hitters that reached, and Brewers’ centerfielder Carlos Gomez committed a pair of damaging errors.

The Giants’ taxed bullpen was spelled by Jeremy Affeldt, who relieved Lincecum and got five outs.  And then Hunter Strickland, recalled from AAA Sacramento, got the final seven outs without allowing a hit.

The win allowed the Giants to keep pace with the Dodgers, who won later at home over the Braves, 6-3.  Los Angeles continues to lead the NL West by two games.

On Tuesday, the Giants have Madison Bumgarner on the mound in a matchup with Milwaukee’s Matt Garza, who’s enjoyed some success facing the Giants in his career.  That one commences at 5:05pm PST.