I know, I know—I'm a tad late with this one. Not only have the San Francisco Giants already started their next series against the Colorado Rockies, but the first pitch for the second game is only minutes away.
And it's all the more inexcusable because the series I've been dragging on was a fantastic offering that saw our good guys slay the evil Los Angeles Dodgers twice in three chances.
The icing on the cake was that a scorching-hot Manny Ramirez couldn't muster a long ball in Pac Bell, though I'm sure that, sooner or later, the most superlative Bum will leave the Giants' home yard.
But here's to later.
In my defense, I've been distracted by a couple of larger issues outside the sports world—the economy and another fabulous chapter (maybe footnote) in American politics.
While those topics are clearly more important in the grand scheme of things, even I don't really accept them as valid excuses for neglecting the Gents, but I've gotta mount a token defense, right?
On to the show (a good, almost great one for San Fran fans)...
The series opener marked LA's first appearance by the Bay in 2009. And as if that weren't reason enough for the faithful to be charged up, the man who built the park made a surprise appearance—at least a surprise to me.
Apparently, even Barry Lamar Bonds is excited about the Orange and Black this year because he caught the game as a guest of Bill Neukom and his absurd bow-tie. Bonds must be feeling generous with his time these days because he threw in a booth appearance with Kruk and Kuip.
Too bad the game itself was just as awkward as Bonds is for old-school Giants fans.
There was the good.
Barry Zito pitched flawlessly through six innings with wonderful command of all his pitches, including a knee-buckling bender. Brian Wilson came in one night after a brutal blown save in Arizona to strike out the side and emphatically slam the door on our rivals. Edgar Renteria (2-for-4 with 2 R) stayed hot, Freddie Lewis started the winning rally, and Lady Luck was certainly riding shotgun.
I'm pretty sure Casey Blake could've tried to get Renteria at the plate to prevent the winning run while still having time to get Bengie Molina at first, and Richie Aurilia tied the game on a ball that traveled 10 feet.
But there was also the bad.
Zito tired quickly and completely—as seems to be his custom—by allowing an absolute bomb of a home run to Blake after a walk to Mark Loretta. A single by Juan Pierre chased Zito, and then Merkin Valdez, showing considerable rust, gave away the rest of the lead.
Later, Manny drove in the go-ahead run, Zito's win was blown, and the offense missed a lot of chances (they were 3-for-10 with runners in scoring position).
But ultimately, a win is a win is a win and even better when it's a resolute comeback over Los Angeles.
Unfortunately, Game Two did not end so kindly.
Jonathan Sanchez deserved much better than a no-decision in a loss. The young lefty showed no ill-effects of having his normal spot in the rotation skipped due to an off day. Sanchez went five strong innings without allowing an earned run and surrendering only six baserunners (three each by hit and walk) to go with five whiffs.
But it was all to no avail, as a combination of poor defense (remember the inexplicably embarrassing error by Fast Freddie on a routine fly ball and a horrendous throw by Juan Uribe) and the Dodgers' ace denied Jonathan his just deserts. Lewis' error led to the first un-earnie against Sanchez and Uribe's gave LA the second.
Meanwhile, Chad Billingsley wasn't quite as dominant as he had been in his previous start against SF, but most teams will take 7.1 IP, eight hits, two ER, three walks, and eight K.
Billingsley didn't get the win since Jonathan Broxton couldn't bail him out of the trouble already present at takeover and thereby blew the save, but LA managed to double its way into the lead for good against Bobby Howry.
The Giants' bullpen probably wants to forget this game as soon as possible.
Brian Wilson was off-limits because of a heavy recent workload, and Jeremy Affeldt was in a glass case (in case of emergency, break glass). Plus, Justin Miller gift-wrapped three walks plus a hit while only recording two outs, Brandon Medders got touched for a run, and Howry got shelled.
On the bright side, Osiris Matos pitched a perfect inning and recorded 2 K. But anyway, let's grant the bullpen's wishes and move on.
An easy thing to do when the next stop is another gem by the Franchise. Don't let Tim Lincecum's final line fool you—it's distorted by some lax relief work in a blow-out.
If you watched Tiny Tim's performance—seven IP, six hits, three ER, three walks, and eight K—you know precisely how dominating he was in the series finale and that two of those runs crossed the plate after he left the game with a 7-1 lead (one on a double-play).
Indeed, Lincecum carried the Giants to victory by stifling LA's offense and, consequently, creating breathing room for the SF O.
And whoo boy, did it breathe!
"Big Money" Molina went 3-for-5 with a big fly and, in one of the most terrifying sights you'll ever see on a baseball diamond, legged out a triple. I'm not kidding, the shot of big Bengie literally rumbling around the bases had my flatmate laughing, and he's not really a baseball fan. Only a double kept the most improbable cycle in the history of Major League Baseball from Molina.
Renteria continued to rake (he was 4-for-5 with 2 R and 2 RBI) and Nate Scheirholtz began vindicating Simon Balin's faith in him (2-for-4 with a run and RBI). Almost everyone joined in the maple fun, with Emanuel Burriss and Uribe contributing two hits apiece.
Although some shaky work by Affeldt made the game more interesting than it should've been, Wilson showed the rest did him good by recording a four-out save despite the 9-4 final score.
With the win, the San Francisco Giants climbed back to .500 (now one game over).
Sure, the most optimistic fans probably saw them sitting above that mark after 20 games. But losing seven of the first nine games put an abrupt end to such plans.
Considering the faceplant out of the gates, I'd say the boys have accomplished something pretty cool by getting their head back above water so quickly.
Especially because they used the Bums to officially do it.
** www.pva.org**
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