Off-season Odds & Ends: Bochy, Sabean, Freddy and Buster

Hello again. It's been almost a month since the Giants season ended, although MLB will crown a champion in the next few days if not in a few hours.

San Fran has plenty of work to do to improve on their 2009 campaign and they have made a few steps to try and do so.

-- First, on October 13th manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean were given two-year deals to return to the club with options for 2012.

-- Hitting coach Carney Lansford was let go by the team after another dismal offensive season for Giants hitters and just today Hensley Meulens was promoted from the team's Triple-A affiliate in Fresno.

"Bam Bam" as Meulens is called has been lauded for his work with Giants prospects John Bowker and Eugenio Velez and will hopefully spark some new life, discipline and fundamentals into a line-up sorely in need of some direction.

-- Second baseman Freddy Sanchez, limited in his playing time after a mid-season trade brought him to the Bay from Pittsburgh agreed to a two-year deal, worth $12 million.

Sanchez should see plenty of pitches to hit while batting in the #2 hole directly in front of Pablo Sandoval.

-- Oft-injured Giants lefty Noah Lowry will be a free agent after the orange and black declined to exercise his 2010 option worth $6.25 million. The 29-year old Ventura native has missed all of the last two seasons with shoulder and forearm injuries.

The Giants still could bring Lowry back but there is a definite rift between the club and Lowry's agent who claimed the Giants training staff "misdiagnosed" one of Lowry's ailments and in turn made matters worse for his client.

-- Finally, Buster Posey was recognized with the J.G. Taylor Spink award as the 2009 Minor League Player of the Year. The 22-year old Catcher out of Florida State hit .325 at Single-A San Jose and at Fresno before being called up to the big club in early September.

The Giants have a big decision to make in terms of Posey's readiness to inherit the full-time starting catching job in 2010. Free agent incumbent Bengie Molina's status play a big role how that will turn out.

Molina, will want a multiple year deal and a sizable salary but he's 35, is going to catch less games each year from here on out, and should be hitting no higher than sixth in the line-up.

To tie-up money behind the plate when Posey is so close would be a strange move for an organization with so many other needs.

Stay tuned for more updates, especially when free agency and arbitration begin after the end of the World Series.

I have been talking baseball on my other blog "Tucker Talks" all throughout the playoffs. Click the link on the right to read more of that.

Giants, Pablo finish strong

It took 160 games for the Giants to string five straight victories together.

Too little, too late.

After sweeping the Diamondbacks to finish an NL-best 52-29 at home they won the opener Friday night at Petco to run their win streak to five.

They were blanked Saturday 2-0 before Pablo Sandoval's lead-off homer in the 10th carried the G-Men to a 4-3 win and an 88-74 final mark.

The 88 wins was 16 games better than in '08 and made the Giants the fifth best team in the NL and eighth best overall.

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Sandoval, like Lincecum last year, had a remarkable first full big league season.

He hit .330, smacked 25 homers and drove in 90 runs - all team highs.

That .330 clip was good enough for second in the NL and fifth best in the Majors.

Panda and the Giants have put his conditioning and weight on the top of his off-season priority list and there is no reason to think a lighter Sandoval won't mean even bigger numbers in 2010.

Albert Pujols will be the run-away winner of the NL MVP and justifiably so but Pablo should finish in the top-5. The G-Men win 70 games again tops without him.

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Despite a great last start it appears as though Tim Lincecum will fall short in his bid to repeat as NL Cy Young.

Playing for a much better offensive team Chris Carpenter and Adam Wainwright posted comparable ERA's but received much better run support en route to superior win-loss records.

They might split votes and Timmy's numbers are actually better than during the 2008 campaign but it seems as though he is on the outside looking in.

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Randy Johnson pitched what may have been his final inning yesterday. He worked the seventh, yielding an unearned run that knotted the game at three.

The 303-game winner would like to return as a starter. No word on whether his balky back and 46-year old arm will allow him to do so.

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Lots of talk about the future of manager Bruce Bochy and GM Brian Sabean.

If you look at the 88 wins and exciting playoff push it seems like a no-brainer.

If you consider the shortcomings and fundamental failures the argument can be made the Giants finally pieced together a good season in spite of these two.

I tend to lead toward the latter but something that is far too often overlooked when changes are made is the small matter of qualified replacements.

Maybe these guys aren't the answer, but who is?

Most importantly, where will the offensive help come from.

That's the question that will keep Giants fans awake at night as World Series dreams dance in their heads.

Giants update: 5 games left

The Giants lost two more to the Cubs after Thursday night's crushing blow, including a complete game shutout by Carlos Zambrano with Tim Lincecum going for the black and orange.

This loss all but ensures Timmy won't repeat as NL Cy Young but that the honor will instead go to either Chris Carpenter or Adam Wainwright of the Cardinals.

Until just recently, despite the low win total, a very good argument could still be made that Lincecum deserved to win it again. But at just 14-7, despite a meager 2.47 ERA and a league-high 254 K's it's hard to imagine the young phenom finishing higher than third.

Carpenter has a better ERA (2.30) and a better record (16-4). Wainwright sits just behind #55 in ERA (2.58) but at 19-8 could be the only 20-game winner in the NL.

It's hard to imagine how Lincecum could lose seven games but when you pitch in as many close, low-scoring games as he does fluky things do happen.

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Great effort by Matt Cain Sunday as the G-Men salvaged one with the Cubs and four-hit nights from Pablo Sandoval and Bengie Molina led the boys of the bay to an 8-4 win over Arizona last night.

Two more with the D-Backs at home before the season's final three in San Diego.

The rollercoaster looks to have made it's last stop

If nothing else, it's been exciting.

The 2009 Giants have brought meaningful innings to their side of the Bay for the first time in too long.

But just when that anticipation has reached a crescendo it has come crashing down.

It has risen, and then painfully and quickly it has finally fallen flat.

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Last Wednesday was the last great chance the G-Men had to get close to the Rockies and position themselves to sneak into the playoffs.

They fell behind 4-0 and managed to get three across in the ninth before falling 4-3.

The magnitude of that loss? 3.5 back instead of 1.5 with just 16 to play.

But they won the opener at Dodger Stadium and the Rockies lost. 2.5 back, 15 left, there's still time!

Then Saturday happened. Penny got shelled and an early 1-0 lead was long gone.

Same thing Sunday. Torres leads off with a homer and Timmy was going strong until he walked Dodgers pitcher Randy Wolf. A 3-2, 2-out, 2-run bomb from Ethier gave the Dodgers a 2-1 lead in the third and the Giants never recovered.

To make matters worse Colorado took the next two from Arizona and the Giants looked finished again.

The Giants win Monday while the Rockies are off but fall short in their rally Tuesday night just like San Diego does in pursuit of Colorado.

Five back with 11 to play, things aren't looking good.

But Colorado loses Wednesday night and the black and orange hold on.

And Colorado loses again Thursday night and the Giants have a 2-1 lead when John Bowker takes a pitch into the right field seats.

Wait a second, if the G-Men hold on they will be three back with nine to play. And Carpenter and Wainwright are pitching for the Cardinals at Coors the next two days. Timmy and Zito are going for the Giants.

We might be alive still!

And then it happened.

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ESPN's Bill Simmons calls it the "Stomach-Punch Game." It feels like there have been 10 this year.

With two outs, two strikes and still leading 2-1 Jeff Baker takes Brian Wilson deep for a two-run homer and the Cubs lead 3-2.

If your a fan of almost any other big league club there is still solace in the bottom of the ninth.

Giants fans don't really have that luxury.

Even with two on and one out there it still that feeling that they will blow this chance and yet even when they do it hurts.

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With one out Rowand strikes out. He looks so overmatched at the plate, I can't imagine why Bochy would even let him near the dish at this point in such a pivotal game. I would rather see Matt Cain up there, at least he got a triple the other night.

Three pitches and Rowand strikes out. Everyone is quick to criticize the Zito signing but even at half the cost Rowand looks like a bigger bust.

Pinch hitter! Fred Lewis? He strikes out too.

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And there you have it. In recent memory there has not been a worse team at doing the little things right when it comes to producing runs.

The Giants don't take pitches, they don't work counts, they don't walk.

They don't steal bases, take extra ones, they don't hit-and-run.

No one can get down a sacrifice bunt, they don't try to, or worse, if they do they pop it up.

No one knows how to execute.

They will get a lead-off man on 2nd and strand him. Runners on 1st and 2nd and strand both.

Did I mention they can't bunt?

Not only can no one, or will no one bunt, but no one will move a runner over.

The Giants give up outs like millionaires give up 20 dollar bills.

When that lead-off man gets to 2nd base a good team will find a way to get him to third. Then somebody will knock him in.

Even if that means a groundout and a sacrifice fly.

Sample Giants inning twice a game: Leadoff double, groundout to third (runner has to hold), strikeout, pop out.

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For a team that generates so few opportunities the ease and carelessness at which the 2009 Giants squander them is beyond frustrating and downright appalling.

This is not the 1927 Yankees. There are no three run homers just waiting to fall out of the sky.

This is a team that has to manufacture runs and they refuse to do it.

There is only one guy hitting over .300 and Pablo Sandoval has been near the league leaders in hitting for most of the year.

The only other guy close is Juan Uribe. He has had a great September and it's scary to think where the Giants might be without his emergence.

Everyone else has struggled. Even the guys brought in to shore up the spotty offense are gone. Freddy Sanchez is hurt again and Ryan Garko can't get off the bench.

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The Giants don't need superstars at every other spot in the order but they do need a few decent hitters. They need professional hitters.

Guys that are willing to do the things I talked about.

They need unselfish and smart guys at the plate that will bunt, move guys over by hitting ground balls behind the runner and driving in runs via the sacrifice fly.

A few of those guys and the Giants are on the verge of a playoff spot. Better yet they are at least a 95 win team.

They would have at least ten more wins. They have squandered way too many close games because they blew chances to score a run here and a run there based on poor hitting approaches and guys failing to acknowledge or execute the right way based on the situation.

That kind of play is downright unacceptable time and time again at the big league level and people need to be held accountable.

Can you teach an old dog new tricks? Not sure but you sure can set a tone and let them know what is expected. The time for winning 75 games has long past for a proud franchise and the mediocrity needs to be put to bed.

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It's gonna be a long winter for Giants fans wondering what could have been if this team could have come up big in a few spots where they really needed it.

The core of the team will be back and in many ways that's a good thing.

The future is still bright but I have my serious doubts whether Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy should really be pulling the strings anymore but after a surprise run at a playoff spot both seem near locks to return.

If the Giants are serious about contending and Buster Posey's rookie year won't include 60 home runs and 180 RBI's then they really need to find more bats lest we sit through another year of putrid and futile attempts to push a couple of runs across each night.

It's been a great ride but I think it's about time to jump off this one and onto the next one headed towards the 'Stick. I know you miss October's there.

Two down, one to go: Giants almost all the way back

I should have known better than to write the 2009 Giants eulogy last Saturday.

After all I took great pride in writing the "Back from the Brink" post after they won the first two games of a home series with the Rockies August 28-30 finding themselves just one game behind Colorado in the NL wild card after falling four games out just five days earlier.

But after celebrating their sweep over the Rockies when Renteria's improbable grand slam propelled the G-Men into a tie as the calendar made the turn for September, things quickly deteriorated.

Jim Tracy's bunch wouldn't lose while Bruce Bochy's squad couldn't muster enough runs to back their outstanding pitching.

Heading back to AT&T for Labor Day offered a glimmer of hope and a 9-4 trouncing of the Padres that Monday seemed to be a big step in the right of direction.

But the wheels came off for the NL's best home team, especially against the Dodgers on Friday and Saturday, as the Giants fell a whopping five-and-a-half back.

Once again, all seemed lost.

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If the Giants were teetering on the edge of a quiet October late Saturday night, they stand once again at the precipice of a playoff crossroads.

They blew out the Dodgers on Sunday and San Diego upended Colorado.

Desperately needing a sweep of the Rockies - albeit this time to pull within one-and-a-half games with just 16 to play - have thumped the Rox 9-1 and 10-2 in consecutive nights and truly are back from the brink once again.

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Fittingly, Matt Cain goes again for the Giants the man who started, but didn't finish, that seminal victory highlighted by Renteria's heroics.

The key for Cain and the Giants will definitely be the location of the flamethrower's fastball.

There is no doubt Cain has a tremendous weapon when he can run it up there at 95 or 96 but what we have seen lately, even at the spacious confines of AT&T Park is if he leaves that heater up in the zone it can get hit a long way.

In that August 30th start the Rockies laced two doubles, a triple and two homers off the big right-hander in just six innings.

Despite exploding for 26 runs in the last three games the Giants cant afford to fall behind early in such a pivotal game.

Only two-and-a-half hours to first pitch. I hope you'll be watching.

Giants season, playoff hopes unravel

It's been a week since I last posted. My last semester started but after the 2-1 extra inning loss to Milwaukee and the hell week that followed the drive to post hasn't been there.

I don't want to come off like a front-runner but the Giants haven't been good since I was in high school and the last five months were so exciting as a result.

So to have it all crash and burn so quickly is painful.

The Giants bats erupted on labor day for nine runs. I actually told people at work as I kept refreshing the box score on my iPhone that I hoped we saved some runs and that nine runs was a week's worth for us.

The G-Men who were 45-21 at home following that win - have lost four in a row at AT&T since and scored 9 runs total in those contests.

They blew close games to the Padres (4-3 and 4-2) with more pathetic situational offense and have been embarrassed at home by the rival Dodgers 10-3 and 9-1 to cement a third place finish in the NL west and their sixth straight season out of the playoffs.

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The future is bright in San Francisco but there are some guys on the roster that need to take a long look at themselves this winter and set out about getting better.

As an organization the black and orange need to set a standard of excellence.

The guys that laid the groundwork for that are gone and in their place a new group needs to pick up that legacy and it starts with the little things.

Winners make the most of opportunities and seldom waste them. Hopefully the Giants won't waste another in 2010.

Pair of 3-2 nail-biters keep Giants one back

So the Rockies keep rolling at home against awful opponents while the Giants left Philly for Milwaukee.

But with just enough offense and more great performances on the mound the G-Men took the series from the Brewers and go for the sweep tomorrow.

Zito struggled with his command last night but kept the team in it.

Then that stout Giants bullpen went to work and an error by Mike Cameron opened the door in the sixth.

In the eighth Molina came through with a solo homer and Wilson shut the door in the ninth.

That 8th frame has provided some big heroics for the Giants recently and there have been a lot of injury/contract whispers about Molina so the game-winning poke couldnt have come from a better source.

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This afternoon Matt Cain really came to pitch.

As good as Cain is, that fastball can be sent a long way if the opposing team barrels it up and although Milwaukee made some long outs and Fielder's double almost went out he saved the Giants by keeping the Brew Crew in the yard.

He also went the first seven without issuing a walk.

Uribe hit another monster bomb (on a 3-2 hanger, after taking the previous pitch out but foul) his second tape measure shot of the trip and Eugenio Velez had a stellar game both at the plate and in the field.

Papa Dubs five-out save including working out of a jam in the eighth ranks right up there in the best performance category Saturday.

16 of the last 25 are at home after tomorrow's contest where the Giants are an NL-best 44-21.

The G-Men haven't won more than 76 games since they won 91 in 2004. Today's victory was win # 75 in 2009.

Penny dominates, Pedro outduels Timmy

After the newest Giant Brad Penny dispatched the Phillies 4-0 Wednesday night things sure looked good for the Gigantes.

But when they wasted an unbelievable effort by Lincecum 24 hours later, reality seemed to be back.

For all the Giants great pitching efforts this year there's always just a couple of runs from the offense leaving the slimmest of margins for success.

Thankfully the Mets took out the Rockies to keep the Giants within one game.

Juan Uribe's homer was an absolute bomb. He may not hit all that consistently but like Sandoval he sure doesn't get cheated when he's in the box.

Speaking of Sandoval the Giants need him to get healthy early because when he struggles that really changes the dynamic of the lineup.

Bochy told Penny they only needed him for five. Something tells me he took that a bit personal and channeled it in a great way.

He may only start 4 more games the rest of the way but his impact Wednesday was huge.

Onto Milwaukee where the Giants have really struggled but Zito and Cain and Sanchez should keep the black and orange in contention.

Philly scored three runs in three games but won two. Hard to give them away like that.

Even harder in September.

Giants offense downright offensive

Despite his struggles this year Cole Hamels is no slouch on the mound.

If you've been watching baseball longer than 6 months you may remember his domination last October.

Tuesday night the Giants were missing Sandoval and Molina again and Freddy Sanchez is still on the DL.

But the G-Men managed just two hits and worse wasted a great effort by Jonathan Sanchez who has been tremendous since his return to the rotation after Randy Johnson went down.

The Rockies won leaving the Giants once again looking up at them in the wild card standings.

Tough matchup tonight with Penny squaring off against the Phillies rookie standout J.A. Happ but the black and orange will really need to steal a win with Colorado's soft schedule the next week-and-a-half.

Renteria's slam propels Giants into WC tie; Brad Penny joins club; Jermaine Dye?

When Edgar Renteria comes to the plate with runners on I always find myself doing the same thing.

I have my head in my hands and I'm pleading "just please don't hit into a double play."

So when Renteria came up with two outs and the bases loaded in the seventh yesterday I was sure he would find a way to blow it.

After all Pablo had struck out looking the inning before. Molina struck out when he pinch it. Velez struck out too.

The G-Men seemed doomed to fall two back of the Rockies - not an insurmountable hole but devastating nonetheless.

But Renteria laced a 1-0 pitch down the left field line that had a chance from the moment he connected and had me screaming "no way!" over and over again in an otherwise quiet, dark bar in the middle of a lazy, hot Sunday afternoon.

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There don't seem to be a whole lot of dramatic, exciting moments like that for Giants fans of late but what a week of big homers it was.

Ishikawa, Molina and Renteria's late-inning heroics are not the norm for the black and orange but sure provided a big lift.

Renteria, like Zito is making a chunk of change and his struggles this year have been frustrating. But like the resurgent lefty, Edgar has been playing through it, and has a laundry list of injuries to boot.

For every 0-for-4 or infield single to short I've bemoaned the fact that the Giants don't have a better option to spell the ailing Renteria.

But he is one of the few Giants with a wealth of postseason experience and success, and despite his unassuming demeanor, seems to be at the heart of the clubhouse and as you may remember was the first guy out of the dugout when Pablo was nearly hit in the finale of Dodgers series.

Sometimes it's the little things, yesterday it was a big one.

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SI.com was the first to report that Brad Penny had cleared waivers and was on his way to San Francisco (albeit to Philly and Milwaukee first.)

I talked recently about the struggles of the rotation out of the 5-spot and so why not give the veteran a shot?

Penny should get the ball Wednesday at the Bank.

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Big road trip for the Giants who have not played well away from AT&T Park this season.

The Rockies get 10 in a row at home against some bad teams (Mets-Diamondbacks-Reds) and the Giants can't afford to play too poorly this week or they may fall four games back again.

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Lastly, I just saw on ESPN.com that the White Sox were dangling Jermaine Dye, Jim Thome and Scott Linebrink to other teams after being swept in the Bronx over the weekend.

While Thome, reserved to mostly a DH-role at this point, doesn't fit into an NL clubhouse (especially with Garko and Ishikawa at first) and the Giants could show interest in Linebrink based on their attempts to get Heilmann and Hoffman, Dye is the one that stands out.

Rumors of the Giants trying to get him have been out there for a while and he would be the perfect guy to hit fifth in this line-up.

But with the financial situation as it is and a logjam in the outfield Winn-Rowand-Schierholtz-Lewis-Velez, etc. it remains to be seen if the Giants would pull the trigger to get him.

Dye has a 12 million dollar option for 2010, with a 1 million dollar buyout.

For him to be on the playoff roster a deal would have to be worked out by 9 Pacific, but Kenny Williams made the Jake Peavy trade happen pretty quickly so anything is possible.

Stay tuned.

Back from the Brink

Playoff races aren't won or lost in late-August but the foundation for success or failure sure can be laid.

In the late hours Monday night in Denver the Giants sure seemed to do the latter.

After blowing leads in two consecutive games to fall three games out in the wild card they battled the Rockies hard - in pure Giants fashion - to a 1-1 tie through 13 innings.

Then something amazing happened they put up a 3-spot in the top of the 14th and looked like they might finally salvage a split with Tracy's hot bunch and stay in the thick of it a little longer.

But the bullpen imploded and Spilborghs hit a grand slam and the Giants went four back in the wild card and Colorado seemed like a team on a mission.

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But the G-Men battled back and if they do find their way into the postseason they will owe Travis Ishikawa a big thank you.

The three-run blast he hit in the eighth inning Tuesday night was a big lift and a game the boys by the bay had to have since the Rockies beat the Dodgers that night.

But the Rockies haven't won since going 0-4 after back-to-back walk-off wins had everybody thinking they just might catch the Dodgers after being an astounding 15.5 games back earlier in the season.

The Giants went 3-1.

By virtue of another big three-run bomb off the bat of an-injured Bengie Molina won again Wednesday before Thursday's 11-0 clunker that can be chalked up to that gaping hole at the back-end of the rotation and the monster series looming ahead.

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So Colorado came to town three up on the Giants. But San Fran has been masterful at home and the overpowering tandem Lincecain had a softer, gentler partner that wanted to make for a devastating trio.

Add Barry Zito's stuff (ridiculous curveball, 4-2, 1.77 ERA since the break) and the Giants are downright nasty in a short series.

But no one knew if Sandoval or Molina would play and with their spotty offense the G-Men have wasted even the best pitching performances all season especially from Zito.

But Timmy went out there Friday night like a man on a mission tossing eight scoreless innings and Pablo, batting left-handed, went to the opposite field to give the Giants a 1-0 lead before they won 2-0.

Zito followed suit. He went eight shutout innings (before giving up a solo homer to Hawpe in the ninth) and Pablo went splash in the bay to give him a 1-0 lead.

For any other pitcher that's a not a lot of wiggle room. For a guy who nine times in 26 starts has received no run support it must have felt like a grand slam.

So Zito remained strong and the Giants tacked on one more and then three more to push it to 5-0. The Rocks made it interesting in the ninth but Wilson finally slammed the door and the result was a 5-3 triumph.

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There haven't been a lot of big games in the Barry Zito era in San Francisco. In fact, last night was the biggest. But MLB contracts are guaranteed and Zito has been making that $126 million hand-over-fist for almost three seasons.

Now, he's earning it. The Giants signed the lefty to be a big-game pitcher and last night was just that. The one good thing I could tell people when he was struggling and names like Mike Hampton and Denny Neagle came up was that Zito was different.

He would take the ball every five days and at least try. He might get shelled, walk six, and not make it out of the fourth but at least he was on the hill and not rehabbing in some league in Arizona with no immediate plans to return.

But when the Giants got good that mentality changed. This was supposed to be the guy. Zito was brought in to be the ace and now the guy who makes in a couple starts what the reigning NL Cy Young winner gets per season is really starting to cost us.

If the start against San Diego the last day before the All Star break was the low point, Zito really used that time off to get himself right, and the much-maligned Bruce Bochy deserves a ton of credit, for not only sticking with him, but also for slotting him right between his two young stars for the second half stretch run.

105-6. That's Zito's record when he receives four runs of support.

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Matt Cain goes today and the Giants can enter September in a dead-heat with Colorado for the NL wild-card. Monday night that seemed implausible.

It's hard to bounce back from a loss like that, but that's the beauty of baseball. You wake up the next morning and try again.

What a ride it's been and oh what a thrill the last five weeks are going to be.

Two three-run bombs give Giants life before series finale

Travis Ishikawa and Bengie Molina in a Willis Reed-esque performace (remember this a Giants blog so I'd rather not make Dodger references) lifted the Giants with three-run homers in consecutive nights past the Arizona Diamondback at AT&T Park.

Ishikawa, who has been lost in the mix with the addition of Ryan Garko, scored the tying run on a wild pitch in the seventh before depositing a ball in the seats in the 8th to give the Giants a 5-2 lead.

They held on to win 5-4.

With Sandoval, Sanchez and Molina out the Giants needed somebody to step up on offense.

Wednesday night it was Molina who provided the late game fireworks. After falling behind 3-0, Uribe hit a solo blast in the 7th to cut the deficit to two and Bengie's pinch-hit blast was a thing of beauty.

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ESPN.com had a thing Thursday about the Rockies looking ahead to the Giants series. I laughed out loud when I read it.

The Rockies looking ahead to playing in San Francisco when they are home against the Dodgers with a chance to cut the division-leaders margin over them to two games? I think not.

But the Giants looking up at the Rockies in the wild-card standings sure looked ahead to Colorado's trip to the Bay on Thursday night.

The G-Men were blanked 11-0 but remain three back of Colorado who lost 3-2 at home to LA Thursday afternoon.

The bigger concern is that fifth spot in the rotation. Sanchez couldn't pitch there (although he has done well in the fourth spot after Randy Johnson went down.) Ryan Sadowski started hot then struggled and now Joe Martinez has done the same.

The Giants are so good at the top end of their rotation it's hard to complain but you don't want to just give one away every fifth day either.

Lincecum-Zito-Cain this weekend for the orange and black. Can't ask for much more than that.

Giants lose three of four in Colorado

The Gigantes keep finding new ways to lose.

Tonight's effort was by far the worst.

After a 13 inning affair made it into the 14th still knotted at 1-1 the Giants broke open the game with three runs in the top half of the frame and looked as if they could split in Colorado and leave Coors still only two back in the wild card.

But the bullpen imploded - and they really have been good - and nothing was worse than the bases loaded walk to Rockies reliever Adam Eaton (his first at-bat of the season) that set up Ryan Spilborghs walk-off grand slam.

The Giants led in every game in this series but only managed to win the opener. They were up 6-1 before surrendering 13 unanswered on Saturday night.

They led 2-0 with Lincecum on the hill and not yielding a hit until the 6th before losing 4-2 on Sunday.

Then there was tonight, the low point of the season by a landslide.

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I have said it here before but I will say it again. The Giants ineptitude is magnified and maddening because the routinely make it worse.

They don't move runners over, they don't take the extra base, they don't hit sac flies - hell they can't sacrifice at all.

For a team with limited opportunities they find a way to always make the least of them and that's why they are in serious danger of falling out of the playoff race.

Better defense wouldn't hurt either.

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Let's give credit where credit is due. Barry Zito has been tremendous since the All-Star break. Everyone was calling for his head after he got shelled against San Diego in the first-half finale.

But Z has a 1.88 ERA in 8 starts since the midsummer classic giving up two earned runs or less in seven of those outings and never more than three.

He has lowered his ERA almost a full run (from 5.01 to 4.09) and would have a much better record if the Giants ever scored when he was on the hill.

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Things don't get any easier for the black and orange on Tuesday. While the Giants trot out Matt Cain, the Diamondbacks counter with their stellar ace Dan Haren.

Giants manage just two runs over last two games in CIncy

The bright side: They won Wednesday's game 1-0.

The ugly side: They lost 2-1 in the 10th Thursday afternoon.

To tell you the Giants offense is anemic would be to tell you they have fog in San Francisco.

You know I and I know it, but the display the last two days has been pretty awful.

First of all the G-Men have a tendency to make ordinary pitchers look tremendous. Great American Ballpark is a hitter's paradise and they couldn't do squat.

More troubling though is the consistency in which they fail to score runs. Runner on second no outs, first and third with one out, the leadoff man gets aboard.

Every possible way to start a rally ends with poor hitting and no runs.

Yesterday's game was a big one to win and they blew it.

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The Giants have to win when Cain and Lincecum pitch but they keep finding ways to blow it.

This team could win 100 games with a little more run support.

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The good and the bad of the bullpen - Tueday and Wednesday the 'pen went 7 innings, gave up one hit, and struck out 12.

Thursday Bob Howry gives up the walk-off. He's the first pitcher in MLB history to yield game-ending homers to three different rookies in his career and all have come in the last three months.

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More on Zito to come....

Colorado tonight as the Giants battle for NL West supremacy and wild card positioning.

Bats wake up in a big way in back-to-back wins

18 runs? 30 hits?

Sounds like a 7-game homestand for the 2009 Giants.

Instead, after 10 runs and a season high 18 hits in a 10-1 thrashing of the Mets on Monday night in NYC the Giants kept the ball rolling in Cincinnati by storming back for an 8-5, 10 inning triumph over the pesky Reds that featured 12 more knocks.

Rowand was the hero Monday night with four hits and a homer and new Giant Ryan Garko was the man Tuesday with four RBI's including two on a 10th-inning double that gave the Giants their first lead of the night.

After being down 4-0 after 2 and 5-1 after 4 the Giants looked dead in the water.

After all this is a team with one 3-run comeback all season and that came on the only homer of Eli Whiteside's career two weeks ago in Houston.

So as I went to work I was pretty upset that Timmy had given up four runs in the second, including a two-run hit to Reds pitcher Homer Bailey and that the Giants weren't going to beat a hapless Cincinnati team with their ace on the mound.

But something remarkable happened.

The Giants scored four runs in the sixth via a two-run single from Garko and a two-run double from Randy Winn, all with two outs, for a team that has had a few clutch hits lately but needed so many more.

The bullpen quartet of Affeldt, Romo, Howry (first win of the season now 1-5) and Wilson (save) gave the G-men four scoreless innings, striking out six and yielding just one hit.

Zito tomorrow and Cain Wednesday before a monster four-gamer in Colorado.

Castillo goes yard, Mets walk-off winners

Luis Castillo never hits homers.

After Fred Lewis dropped Angel Pagan's two-out "double" to left Castillo hit his first homer since last May giving New York a 2-1 lead.

I have said it time and time again but Fred Lewis is the worst outfielder I have ever seen at the Major League level.

The Giants like his speed but just getting to balls isn't enough if you can't make the play on them once you get there.

Randy Winn's double in the 8th tied the game at 2 but David Murphy's single to right scored Jeff Francouer who slid in ahead of Nate Schierholtz's throw to give the Mets the win.

The old saying in baseball is that momentum only means as much as the next day's starting pitcher.

Well, the Giants have the best staff in the league - whether it's the starters or the bullpen so for them the positive energy is all fueled by the bats and the big hits are just too few and too far in between.

Joe Martinez, whose from New Jersey gets the start against former Giant Livan Hernandez in the finale Monday night and the boys of the bay really need to earn a split against a Mets squad decimated by injury.

David Wright is going on the 15-day DL. He sustained a concussion but seems to have escaped any serious harm.

Giants get last laugh, much needed W

Scary, scary moment Saturday afternoon when Matt Cain's fastball thundered off the batting helmet of Mets third baseman David Wright.

Thankfully Wright seems to be doing o.k. and in a tie game, with a runner on and ahead 0-2 Cain was certainly trying to waste a pitch but had no intention of trying to hit him much less in the head.

But Mets starter Johan Santana stood up for his teammate and threw behind fellow Venezuelan Pablo Sandoval in the sixth.

The Pandas response? A towering home run off the facade off the second deck in left center that must have left all my neighbors thinking I was watching something truly remarkable happen.

After both benches were warned Santana hit Bengie Molina, the next man up for the G-Men and while home plate umpire Brian O'Nora thought the pitch got away from Johan, Bochy wanted him tossed.

Mets skipper Charlie Manuel pulled Santana and the Giants seemed as if they were in the driver's seat.

But the wheels came off in the 8th and the Mets tied the game at 4.

Molina, just like Sandoval came through in a big way after getting thrown at.

The Giants catcher homered off closer Franky Rodriguez to start the 10th and the Giants wound up with a 5-4 win.

Sanchez goes tomorrow as the Giants look for their second straight win at Citi Field.

Big 11 game trip to NY, Cincy and Denver

The Giants have been pretty bad on the road this year and after going 2-4 at home on a six-game homestand they are in New York for four with the Mets.

I saw almost every pitch of the Dodgers series from my various seats in beautiful AT&T Park and came away feeling like I did about this team about four months ago - that they are a year away.

The offense is still incredibly spotty and the back end of the rotation is unreliable.

Which makes the trades for Sanchez and Garko look worse by the day.

I don't know how Barnes and Alderson will turn out but Sanchez and Garko are not the big bats the Giants need.

If Posey and Bumgarner and can make the transition to the big club next year they will be a lift but the Giants will still have to seek a middle-of-the-lineup presence if they really want to contend.

Lincecum and Cain can flat out pitch but as we saw firsthand from the Dodgers a three-run homer, four-run inning or five-run outburst can bury a team and the Giants just do that way too infrequently.

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The Rockies and Marlins are hot. Colorado has taken a game-and-a-half wild card lead over the orange and black while Florida sits the same distance behind the 2nd place G-Men.

It's as good as time as ever for the Giants to go to Citi to take on the not so Amazing's. The Mets are still riddled with injuries and San Fran has really got to try and take at least two if not three of the four.

After three in Cincy the Giants play a monster four game set with the Rockies in Denver. It should be an electric atmosphere in a great baseball city but the Giants need to hold their own lest they fall further back in the race for the final NL playoff spot.

****

Posey's last 10 games at Fresno: .361 avg (13-36), 4 HR's, 9 RBI's and 8 runs - Can't wait for September 1.

Giants-Dodgers Round 1: The Casey Blake Game

If you weren't watching back on May 10th, Casey Blake hit a homer in the bottom of the 12th to tie the game off Giants closer Brian Wilson.

The Giants went on to win 7-5 in 13 innings, taking 2 of 3 for their second consecutive series win against their hated intra-state rivals.

But cameras caught Blake mocking Wilson's post-game homage to both his father and his faith and when Papa Dubs saw the footage later he was visibly shaken - and for good reason.

There are plenty of major league pitchers known for their antics on the mound. Francisco Rodriguez, Joba Chamberlin and Jonathan Papelbon are a few that come to mind.

Guys that celebrate, pump their fist or show up batters when they get the out.

Wilson does not fit in that category.

After a save he walks off the back off the bump bows his head and with his back to the plate he crosses his arms in an "x" formation with his index fingers pointing outward and skyward.

As far as tributes go it is touching and as far as being meant to show anyone up that case holds no water.

So Wilson was upset after the game and his teammates said so.

All were quick to brush off the incident the next day but make no mistake it will be in the forefront of their minds tonight.

Ideally, Blake comes up with 2 outs and nobody on in the top of the second and the first pitch Jonathan Sanchez throws goes right between the numbers on the back of his jersey.

As if the tone for this series needed to be set, a first-pitch fastball directed right at the Dodgers third baseman would show the Giants mean business and aren't about to let a childish move by Blake go unpunished.

AT&T should be rocking tonight, the push for the playoffs is about to get underway.

Tough weekend for all but a few Giants

The Reds had lost 14 of 16 and the Giants had the best home record in the league.

Lincecum was throwing Friday's opener and Cain was on the bump for Sunday's finale.

Somehow the Giants lost both games but salvaged the middle affair with another sterling effort from Barry Zito.

Cain got beat. Lincecum did too, but by his defense and bullpen.

Zito has given up eight runs in his last five starts and won three in a row.

A month ago if the Giants lost when Timmy or Matt took the mound it spelled real trouble, but with Zito and Sanchez finding a groove the ship is still steady for now.

Aaron Harang dominated the Giants for his first win in 14 tries and Pablo Sandoval grounded into run-scoring double plays with runners on the corners in the 6th and the bases loaded in the 8th.

Yikes.

Colorado won two of three to pull even with the Giants at 61-50.

The G-Men missed a golden opportunity to gain some serious ground on the Dodgers who lost three of four to the Braves at Chavez Ravine but it makes the home losses to the lowly Reds a little easier knowing that at the very least they didn't fall back further.

That next chance to make a move in the standings comes quickly. The Dodgers and I come to San Fran tomorrow with the boys trailing the blue crew by 5.5 games in the NL West.

Sanchez and Kuroda tomorrow night. Wolf and Martinez go Tuesday, while Lincecum is supposed to face Billingsley Wednesday afternoon but word on the Dodgers ace is that his hamstring may keep him from making that start.

Eugenio Velez continues to hit the ball well and extended his hit streak to 15 games (28-for-65), and he had an extra-base hit (HR-HR-2B) in each game against Cincy.

Buster getting hot in Fresno

After never playing above A-ball at the big league level, it would make sense that the jump from San Jose to triple-A Fresno with the typical stop in Connecticut skipped would not translate to automatic success for Giants wunder-prospect Buster Posey.

And struggle Posey did. With 12 hits in his first 51 at-bats, that included just four extra-base hits (all doubles) it looked like Buster may be human after all.

But the man lauded for his defense and value to the big league club at such a critical postition, catcher, has all of the sudden found his swing.

The FSU product has 7 hits in the last 5 games, three doubles and crushed homers one and two in the last two games.

Posey has four hits, four runs, and six RBI's to go along with those longballs and looks like a great candidate to see some action in San Francisco in September even if the Giants are in the middle of a pennant race.

There is no doubt the 22-year old Posey is the catcher of the future. Bengie Molina is in a contract year.

Molina has scuffled for much of the past few months and Posey would fit perfectly into the youth movement by the Bay if he can secure the role of opening day backstop in 2010.

Giants take over wild card lead, go 12 games over

Big weekend ahead of the Dodgers series for the Giants. The league's best home team gets three games against the Reds who had lost 14 of 15 before upending the Cubs last night.

While down south the Dodgers will miss Braves phenom Tommy Hanson who kept Padres bats at bay yesterday afternoon, they will have to face Lowe, Jurrjens and Vazquez in three of four games beginning tonight.

A Giants sweep would be huge (especially with Lincecum and Cain throwing) coupled with a split series at Chavez Ravine (2-2) could leave the orange and black just 4.5 games out of the NL West with the Dodgers rolling to town.

The Giants haven't been in striking distance of the division leaders since mid-April and there is no better opportunity to make up ground in a hurry then when your staring across the team your chasing in the other dugout.

Yesterday's win puts the G-Men a season-high 12 games over .500. A rough post-all star stretch seemed like it might sink this team but they righted the ship and the trade dividends were really on display the last 24 hours in Houston.

The boys of the bay are off today, Timmy squares off against Cincy starter Homer Bailey at AT&T tomorrow night.

Eli Whiteside blows it open

The Giants back-up backstop just took Brian Moehler deep for a grand slam. Not a bad time for his first big league homer.

Giants lead 7-3 and two big developments are in play.

First, Joe Martinez could get the win in his first big league start. He hasn't pitched with the big club since taking a line drive to the temple and is just a tremendous feel-good story.

Second, the G-Men haven't had a three-run comeback the whole season and if the bullpen can shut the doors they will have finally managed to do so in game 108.

Sanchez and Garko's presence have really been felt in the lineup the last game and a half.

Sanchez comes up big, Giants go for win 60

Jonathan Sanchez hadn't won on the road in almost 11 months and the Giants really needed a win after a rare loss with Matt Cain on the mound the night before.

In his best start since his no-no Sanchez went 7 scoreless innings and the Giants exploded for 8 runs on a night when the Rockies and Dodgers also won.

F-dot Sanchez and Sandoval went back-to-back, only the second time all season we have seen that from SF, and the much-maligned Bengie Molina had three hits. Aaron Rowand had a big hit after an awful game Monday and Eugenio Velez continued his torrid play.

Wednesday's season finale is a big one. Joe Martinez who the Giants really need to eat up some innings and give them a handful of quality starts over the next 8 weeks will appear on a Major League mound for the first time since he suffered multiple skull fractures after taking a Mike Cameron-liner to the dome during the third game of the year.

The Giants haven't won a road series since a 2-1 late June trip to Oakland and won't make it anywhere this year without a much more consistent effort away from AT&T.

They trail the Rockies by just one-half game in the Wild Card but also have the Cardinals and current division-leading Cubs hot on their tail.

Lastly, the Giants have been 11 games over .500 three times now but not yet to 12. A win later today would put them at 60-48 at the two-thirds mark (108 games) and squarely on pace for the club's first 90-win season since the 2004 squad recorded 91 victories.

No Giants team has managed more than 76 wins since. This year's squad should be there by Labor Day.

Up Next: The Giants are off Thursday as the best home team in baseball travels back to the city by the bay for a six game homestand. Three with Cincinnati, and three big ones with the Dodgers.

Welcome!

Welcome to my newest blog, Going deep with the Giants.

As a lifelong fan, I hope to mix knowledge, experience and insight on the G-Men to give you a deeper look into the day-by-day grind of a baseball season.

My ultimate goal would be to cover the team but for now my remarks will be made from afar.

I'll post often so please check back frequently and feel free to sound off on the black and orange or let me know what's working and what's not.

Without further ado, let's get this thing going!