From the start of Tuesday's game, the Giants' bats were working. Andres Torres - who had been struggling - led off with a double, and two batters later, Aubrey Huff hit a two-run homer. Buster Posey then doubled and scored off a Jose Guillen RBI single. With three runs of support, Tim Lincecum began dealing, not allowing a hit until the fifth inning. Through six innings, he had struck out nine; but in the seventh inning, it all collapsed for the Freak. Kelly Johnson led off with a triple, followed by a Chris Young home run. Two batters later, Miguel Montero singled, then scored on a Tony Abreu triple, which marked the end of Linecum's night. Nevertheless, his line was respectable, especially after such an awful August: 6.2 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 11 K. The high K rate, as well as the fact that he allowed just five hits through 6.2 IP are promising signs. The ball does have a tendency to fly in Arizona, after all.
The Giants offense put up six runs, which is more than enough. Huff, Sanchez, and Burrell each homered, and Posey, Torres, Renteria, and Guillen each doubled. Torres and Huff are starting to heat up - just in time for the big Padres series. Everything that can be taken from this game is positive. Even the relievers did an excellent job, surrendering just zero earned runs and just one hit through 2.1 innings pitched. The defense, as usual, wasn't stellar, but it also wasn't dreadful enough to the point where the Giants came close to losing the game...and in the end, that's all that really matters.Notes:
- The Giants are now 6-1 in September. For comparison's sake, in July, when they went 20-8, they began with a 4-3 record.
- The Dodgers' record has now sunk below .500: they are 69-70. Unfortunately, it's hard to be happy about their failures while they are playing the Padres.
- Seven of the Giants' last nine starts have now been quality starts.
- Tim Lincecum seized the National League lead for strikeouts with his 11-K performance on Tuesday. He stands at #1 with 199 K. The next closest are Kershaw and Halladay who have 197 and 196 strikeouts respectively. Jonathan Sanchez is at #10 with 172 K, despite logging fewer innings than most of the others in the top 10. He has pitched 164.2 innings whereas Halladay, for example, has logged an incredible 221 innings already.
- Seven of the Giants in the starting lineup had extra base hits - not something we see every day.
- The Giants are now 61-10 when they score four or more runs. That is the target number: four.
- Despite winning the last two games to end their 10 game losing streak, the Padres' offense is still struggling. They've scored just six runs in those two wins.
- With Torres' leadoff double, he moved to 2nd in the majors in doubles. He's tied with Evan Longoria with 43 doubles. Jayson Werth is 1st in the majors in doubles with 44.
Tomorrow: Barry Zito will pitch against Daniel Hudson. The day we have come to dread is tomorrow: Zito's start. And Daniel Hudson's put up some impressive numbers this year, like his 3.03 ERA. Last time he faced the Giants, he went seven innings, allowing 2 ER, just four hits, and striking out six. At least Zito won't pitch against the Padres; and the final game of that series is going to be a great matchup: Lincecum vs. Latos.
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