The Giants went 1-2-3 in the first inning. The Padres are up now and Scott Hairston is on base thanks to a walk by starter Jonathan Sanchez.
Sanchez has looked great so far and has struck out two of the first three batters.
Chad Gaudin is starting for the Padres. Last night the Giants made Padres' starter Chris Young look like Cy Young so let's see if Gaudin can do his own impersonation of Cy Young tonight as well.
Aaron Rowand is the lead-off hitter for the Giants tonight in a surprise move by manager Bruce Bochy. Rowand has struggled all year long and the Giants have him batting first? This is why I say the Giants MUST fire Bochy ASAP.
Sanchez gets out of the first inning without givin up a run. Big Money Bengie Molina is up for the G-men.
Rowand has made Bochy look like an idiot by striking out to begin the game. Gaudin is not a strikeout pitcher by any means. But hey, this is the 2009 Giants we are talking about.
Gaudin tends to walk a lot of batters but the Giants are such an aggressive and impatient hitting team that Gaudin should be able to limit his walks tonight.
Gaudin has not given up a homer all year and the Giants don't hit a lot of home runs so we should expect a low scoring game if Sanchez can keep the Padres from scoring a lot of runs.
Randy Winn is the hottest Giants hitter right now and he just scorched a double to left field. The Giants now have a runner in scoring position with less than two outs. Fred Lewis is now up at the plate.
Lewis could not deliver and hit a weak popup to the outfield for the second out. It is now up to Travis Ishikawa to drive in Winn from second base.
Ishikawa is now on first base thanks to a walk. Gaudin threw a wild pitch on ball four so Winn is now on third base.
Emannuel Burriss just hit a grounder to the shortstop which scored Winn. Burriss was safe on the close play at first. Jonathan Sanchez just struck out swinging to end the inning, but the Giants are now leading 1-0.
The Giants are 15-0 when they are the first team to score in a game this season.
It is imperative that Sanchez holds the Padre scoreless in the bottom of the second inning.
Unfortunately for the Giants, Sanchez has thrown five straight balls to start the inning.
Wow, Travis Ishikawa just started a nice double play! Two outs now and Nick Hundley is up. Ishikawa's nice play on defense reminded me of one of the great double plays the Giants made against the Mets last Sunday night.
Sanchez walked Hundley and Chris Burke is now up. Burke is just a terrible offensive hitter so Sanchez should be able to get him out easily.
Burke gets a double off of Sanchez and we are now tied 1-1. Sanchez should be able to get out of this inning though with giving up another run since the pitcher is now up.
Randy Winn just made a nice catch in foul territory for the last out of the inning. Sanchez is having control problems which is nothing unusual for him. If he throws strikes, he can be unhittable. He is often his own worst enemy.
Rowand will be now leading off again for the Giants. Rowand got a single but Kevin Frandsen immediately hit into a double play. Fransen is really struggling right now but he at least is playing very well at shortstop.
Sanchez just had a 1-2-3 third inning and we are now heading to the fourth inning.
Molina will lead off for the Giants followed by Winn, and then Lewis.
The Giants have made Gaudin look like Sandy Koufax tonight. The best chance for the Giants this evening might be for them to try to get to the Padres' bullpen.
Gaudin got the first two outs easily but he just walked the next two batters. Lewis and Ishikawa are now on base with Burriss at the plate.
Burriss hits it to the shortstop again but this time the shortstop David Eckstein gets him out. We remain tied 1-1.
If the Padres can get a run or two off of Sanchez this inning, the game should be over. That is how pathetic this Giants offense is. They don't hit well and can't come back from deficits.
Gaudin should have a 1-2-3 inning in the fifth since Sanchez will be leading off, and then Rowand and Frandsen will bat again. Frandsen has not had a hit yet since being recalled from Triple A.
Kevin Kouzmanoff just hit a homer and now the Padres take their first lead, 2-1. This game is practically over now for the Giants. The good news is that Tim Linececum will be pitching tomorrow night in the series finale.
The Giants had runners in scoring position again in the fifth but the overly aggressive hitters Sandoval and Molina could not get the runners in.
Sandoval and Molina are an opposing pitcher's dream. They love to hit early in the count and are not fast runners.
Sanchez should have a 1-2-3 inning now since he is facing the bottom of the Padres order. The only way he should be in trouble is if he walks hitters again.
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