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.