Tag: giants

By Morris Phillips

It had to be the first directive, leading off the Giants’ scouting report for the Astros.   And whatever the specific plan, Madison Bumgarner and Chris Heston followed it to the letter for the first 15 of the needed 18 innings.

Don’t let one of these guys launch one.

The Astros came into Tuesday’s series finale with an objective: do anything to avoid a disastrous, 1-8 road trip that saw them lose three in Texas, three of four in Oakland and the series opener at AT&T Park.  And befitting the club that leads all of baseball in homers, they approached the plate itching for rookie Chris Heston to make a mistake.  For the AL West leaders, an obvious strategy, but with a twist.

The Astros didn’t grow impatient as the game wore on scoreless, instead they showed just the needed amount of patience.

Colby Rasmus homered off Heston in the seventh, Jed Lowrie connected off George Kontos in the eighth, and Houston starter Scott Feldman made it stand up, pitching six, scoreless innings in the Astros 2-0 win over the Giants.

“I made one mistake.  I left a fastball a little bit up there, and he made me pay for it.  Good piece of hitting and you just have to tip your cap,” Heston said of Rasmus’ game-deciding homer.

During the first six innings, Heston and Feldman were in control, pitching ahead in the count, retiring hitters, and doing their best to counter picture-perfect conditions and still air that clearly favored the entirety of the gathered sluggers.  The Astros lineup—lefty-leaning with four changes from Tuesday—had deep threats 1 through 8, and six of their eight position players already with double-digit home runs.

The Giants no doubt had their collective eyes on the outfield wall as well with Buster Posey, Hunter Pence, and the Brandons hitting 3 through 6.

But Heston and Feldman held the advantage, as the Astros drew four walks, but ran themselves out of a situation in the sixth, while the Giants were even quieter with just three hits.  Coming off the disabled list to start for just the fifth time, Feldman was done after six.  Bochy, no doubt encouraged by Heston’s outing after two subpar ones, let his starter continue into the seventh.

That’s where Heston ran into Rasmus.

In the fourth, Rasmus had drawn a walk on Heston after falling behind 0-2.  The at-bat consumed eight pitches and loaded the bases for Evan Gattis, but the slugger grounded out to end the inning.  Little accomplishd, but likely Rasmus had seen all that Heston had to offer.

In the seventh, Heston’s 0-1 fastball was up and Rasmus launched it—one bounce on the outer walkway and into McCovey Cove.

Then in the eighth, Jed Lowrie, the least slugger for Houston with just four bombs coming in, got a hold of Kontos’ offering where he took a little off a 3-2 pitch, and Lowrie, feeling healthier after dealing with issues from surgery on his hand, put a little on.

“I feel that was bigger than mine.  A big at-bat,” Rasmus said of Lowrie’s shot.  “Proud of him.”

The loss was the Giants fifth in their last six games, and after the Dodgers shutout the Nationals Wednesday night, they find themselves 3 ½ games behind the division leaders.  The Cubs also won Wednesday, 3-2 over the Brewers, so the Giants trail Chicago by 4 ½ games in the hunt for the second wild card spot.

The Astros improved upon baseball’s best interleague record, moving to 11-3 in 2015.  Houston has hit 158 home runs and they are 39-7 when they hit more than one in a game.  The Astros haven’t been eight games over .500 and in first place this late in a season since 2003.

Nori Aoki experienced post-concussion symptoms during the game and was taken out in the fourth inning, replaced by Justin Maxwell.  Bochy hinted that the setback could land the veteran hitter on the disabled list.

The Giants continue their homestand on Thursday at 7:15pm when Stephen Strasburg matches up with Ryan Vogelsong.

By Morris Phillips

Wiped out at Wrigley.  A new wave of injuries.   Bum, an iffy Cain, and pray for several days of rain.

For the Giants, life as defending champions has been filled with optimism, inconsistent play and a lot of injuries. Start with the revolving door of a disabled list, add the team’s recent, dismal play and questions about the team’s post-season viability multiply like signs of global warming.

Simple math–with 51 games to play, the Giants look like the seventh horse in a six-team race for five playoff spots.  Clearly better than the eight also-rans below them in the National League standings and slightly poorer than the six clubs ahead of them, the Giants are in need of changing the math dramatically in the remaining eight weeks.

With limited options, the Giants maintained a steady presence in San Diego over the weekend scouting the Phillies’ Chase Utley.  The 36-year old infielder is hitting .189 with 228 at-bats in an injury-marred season.  Could Utley keep the Giants from Panik-ing about Joe’s absence at second base?  Sure, but this would be more of an insurance move than an upgrade.

So the Giants appear married to improvement within the ranks.  But the immediate schedule offers no breaks.  Monday marks the only day off in a 23-game stretch of playoff contenders that actually gets tougher in the remaining 13 games.  After home games against the Astros and Nationals, the Giants visit St. Louis and Pittsburgh, homes of arguably the two best teams in baseball.

Following that stretch: one day off, then the Cubs, Cardinals again and then three games at Dodgers Stadium.

If the Giants can survive the next 22 games, they could thrive in the final 29.  In the final month, only the four home games against the Dodgers figure to be against a team with a winning record.

Trailing the Dodgers by three games in the NL West, and the Cubs by 3 ½ games in the wild card, the Giants will likely have to accomplish both.  Winning 12 of the next 22, and then 19 of the final 29 would give the Giants 90 wins.  Win 90, and the Dodgers would have to win 29 of their remaining 50 games to avoid a one-game playoff with their rivals.

On Monday at press time, the Dodgers were putting the final touches on a four-game losing streak of their own, losing 7-0 to Nationals at home.

Could the Giants catch the Cubs?  Sure, but it figures to be a much tougher task.  With 52 games remaining, Chicago has more games against bottom dwellers Milwaukee and Philadelphia (13), than they do against the Cardinals and Pirates (12).   Plus, after a dismal weekend in Chicago, the Cubs appear to be a better, and more resourceful club than the Giants.  In contrast, the Dodgers look vulnerable.

But before the Giants can conquer their competition, they must answer the questions about themselves.

The biggest issue is the health of Panik, Andrew Susac, Mike Leake and Nori Aoki.  Aoki will be evaluated before Tuesday’s game after he was hit in the head by a pitch on Sunday and was removed in the third inning.  Susac, Panik and Leake are expected to be healthy enough to return in the next 10 to 14 days.  Without that quartet, the remainder of August gets that much tougher as the team’s depth and versatility has taken a noticeable hit.

In his weekly turn on KNBR Monday, Giants’ broadcaster Mike Krukow focused on the team’s depth, saying “they don’t have a lot of guys able to come up for an at-bat late in a ball game.”

The team’s overall pitching thus far has been simply OK.  Currently, seventh in the NL in team ERA, the Giants trail all of the other six teams vying for the NL playoffs.  Conversely, their pitching numbers are noticeably better than the league’s eight also-rans.

For improvement, the Giants need some quality starts from Jake Peavy, Ryan Vogelsong, Chris Heston and Matt Cain.  All four were roughed up in Chicago, and Heston suffered his second, subpar outing.  Cain hasn’t been effective since his return, and Peavy saw 32 of his 101 pitches fouled off on Sunday.  Vogelsong allowed six hits in four innings in his first start since June 11.  Vogey hasn’t really pitched well over a stretch of appearances since May.

If those four can’t change their luck, Tim Lincecum and Tim Hudson could be in the mix.  But the likelihood either will be activated before September 1?  Extremely slim.

Offensively, the Giants have the answers, but the lineup needs to regain health and stability.  Susac’s return could be critical with Buster Posey hitting everything, but likely to wear down without a break or two.  Pagan, Aoki and Blanco are limping to the finish, but could show improvement with regular rest.  Hopefully, Brandon Belt, Brandon Crawford and Hunter Pence can be catalysts with Matt Duffy a question mark because the lithe infielder hasn’t played a full season at the big league level yet.

The bullpen’s been managed wisely as of late, but overall, the relief core hasn’t been great.  In order for the Giants to thrive, the relievers—led by Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo—may have to be great down the stretch.   One good sign: the bullpen has its health for the first time with Hunter Strickland, Jeremy Affeldt and Yusmiero Petit poised for increased workloads.

On Tuesday, the Giants open a six-game homestand with Madison Bumgarner facing Scott Kazmir at 7:15pm.

By Morris Phillips

The Dodgers got a deal done, and Cole Hamels is off the market.  So what did the Giants do?

They just kept on winning with the guys they got.

Fans inside sold-out AT&T Park had to sit patiently for more than two hours after first pitch, but then right on cue, the Giants responded with a five-run explosion for all the measurable offense in their 5-0 win over the Brewers.  Winners of 13 of 15, the Giants have caught the Dodgers in the NL West with 61 games remaining to play.

So is it deal or no deal for the defending World champs?

“We have a team that we’re proud of,” Giants GM Bobby Evans said when asked if the team would deal before the game.  “I think not making a deal is an option.  But if you can make a deal that make sense, you’ll do it.”

If they do deal, the Giants will likely splurge on a starting pitcher that would put them more in line with the Nationals and Dodgers in terms of rotation quality.  If so, they would appear to be down to Jeff Samardzija and David Price on the high end, San Diego’s James Shields and other lesser names could be possibilities as well.

Andrew Susac and highly-regarded, first round pick Tyler Beede could be among those players that would move to complete such a deal and therein lies the rub.  All of sudden the Giants are seeing big benefits from keeping their prospects like Matt Duffy, Chris Heston and Joe Panik were before they literally overnight became indispensable for the Giants at big-league level.

If standing pat feels like the smarter play, then Jake Peavy sure did look good on Wednesday.  The 34-year old veteran frustrated the Brewers for six inning in his best outing of the season.  Peavy’s only had seven starts but this was the best of the bunch with four hits and no walks allowed.  In the sixth, and facing Ryan Braun for the third time, Peavy had enough in the tank to strike out the slugger.

“He had really good stuff, he really kept it down.  He’s been throwing the ball really well since he came back,” manager Bruce Bochy said of Peavy.

Milwaukee’s Mike Fiers wasn’t bad either, thus the long wait for any offense on Wednesday.  Fiers allowed just two hits in the first six innings before running into trouble in the seventh.

Matt Duffy opened the seventh with a single, and the next batter, Hunter Pence doubled home Duffy and the Giants had a lead.  Brewers’ manager Craig Counsel then lifted Fiers, but reliever Will Smith let three of the four batters he faced reach, and the Giants extended the lead to 4-0.

Jonathon Broxton was the third Milwaukee pitcher of the inning, and he allowed a sacrifice fly to Gregor Blanco that chased home Ehire Adrianza to cap the scoring.

Hunter Strickland needed 11 pitches to record an out, and 20 to get the Giants out of the seventh, but he succeeded, which gave him the win, not Peavy.  Strickland hadn’t won a major league game since September 2014.

Sergio Romo pitched the eighth and Javier Lopez had a hitless ninth to close it out.  Pence was the only Giant to rack up a pair of hits, and Adrianza’s two-run single put the Giants up 4-0.

The Dodgers acquired Mat Latos and Michael Morse from the Marlins in exchange for a trio of minor leaguers, none of which are considered to be highly regarded.  Morse helped the Giants win the title last season only to sign with Miami in the winter.  The Dodger also picked up Jim Johnson, Alex Wood and Luis Avilan in exchange for Dodgers’ prospect Hector Olivera and two other minor leaguers.

The Rangers ponied up the preferred package for Hamels on Wednesday, sending six prospects to the Philadelphia in exchange for the 31-year former All-Star.  Hamels pitched a no-hitter over the weekend no doubt enhancing his trade value.  Were the Giants as willing as Texas was to add Hamels?

Probably not, but stay tuned until Friday afternoon.  This situation remain fluid.

The Dodgers rallied Wednesday night from a 6-3 deficit in the seventh to beat the A’s 10-7 at Dodgers Stadium.  The win allowed Los Angeles to regain their half-game lead over the Giants in NL West.

On Friday night, Madison Bumgarner gets the nod in the heat of Rangers Park in Arlington.  Bumgarner will opposed by Texas’ Nick Martinez.

By Morris Phillips

40-year old Tim Hudson had a lot on his plate Monday night.

In his return from the disabled list after nearly a month of rehab and inactivity, the veteran pitcher was asked to subdue the suddenly-hot Padres in their ballpark and do so with the limited number of bullets in his arm due to all the time off.

Throw in the difficulties the entire Giants team has had in the venue—losing 13 of their last 18 games at Petco Park—and the stingy reputation of Hudson’s pitching counterpart Ian Kennedy, the veteran pitcher knew he needed to be effective and efficient from the start.

But Hudson appeared shaky from the start, escaping any damage in the first inning but throwing 28 pitches in the process as his pitch command was an issue from the beginning.  Not surprisingly, Hudson didn’t last long—pitching four innings allowing three runs—in the Giants 4-2 loss.

The Dodgers also fell, 7-5 in Atlanta, so the Giants remain 3 ½ games behind the division leaders in the NL West, and one game behind the Chicago Cubs in the race for the second wild-card spot the Giants captured last season.

The loss ended the Giants’ six-game win streak and increased the Padres’ streak to five straight wins, a season best run for them.  With San Diego and slugger Matt Kemp heating up, the Giants have to now gear up for the next two days against their closest pursuer in the still wide-open NL West.

Kemp homered over the center field fence off Hudson in the third inning to give the Padres a 2-1 lead in the third.  The Padres’ high-profile acquisition in the off-season struggled in May and June as his team faltered, prompting the firing of manager Bud Black.  But now, the slugger is heating up as Kemp has homered four times in the team’s last seven games, after going deep only six times in the team’s first 86 games.

“That’s probably one of my better swings of this year,” Kemp said.  “It’s a tough place to hit a home run, right center.”

Hudson loaded the bases in the fifth without retiring a batter, and manager Bruce Bochy opted for Yusmeiro Petit, who escaped the damage only allowing an RBI sacrifice fly that gave San Diego a 3-2 lead.

But with Kennedy dealing, and the Padres’ bullpen in support, the Giants were stymied the rest of the way with setup man Joaquin Benoit and closer Craig Kimbrell shutting the door in the eighth and ninth innings.

Gregor Blanco homered in the third inning to give the Giants their only lead.  It was Blanco’s third home run of the season.

On Monday, the Giants announced that Tim Lincecum has a degenerative hip issue that will continue to leave him unavailable to the club for the forseeable future.  Also, as Hudson was activated, long-time reliever Jean Machi was designated for assignment.

As much as Hudson remains a hero in San Francisco for his contributions to the team’s 2014 World Championship run, he still figures to be scrutinized as closely in the coming weeks as he has at any part of the career.  Having just turned 40 during his period of inactivity, the veteran knows that his 5-8 record and ERA near five won’t cut it for a team with post-season hopes.  The trade deadline will determine how much the team values Hudson going forward.

Bochy refused to speculate on Hudson’s fate after the game when asked by local reporters.

On Tuesday, the Giants turn to rookie Chris Heston in a matchup with the Padres’ Odrisamer Despaigne at 7:05pm.  Despaigne has pitched well against the Giants but has gone seven starts without a victory dating back to May 31.

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.