I got home late yesterday to find the Giants had just played their best game of the year. It’s only one of 162, but the ten-zip win over St. Louis was a microcosm of all the things we want from the... # continue reading
I'm headed out of town for a few days for a much-needed escape, so get ready for a major trade. Brian Sabean has a knack of making moves while I'm not looking. Coincidence? You figure it out. Though we're not... # continue reading
My starting five have been rock-solid of late, a great mix of grizzled veterans, quiet performers, and young up-and-comers. Rain delays, short rest, long road trips -- nothing fazes them.M. Ward, Hold Time: M. (for Matt) Ward has been around... # continue reading
Giants 3, Rangers 2: Happy Father's Day for thirty more seconds. It was the best of homestands, it was the worst of homestands. Then it was the best of homestands, leading most observers to shrug and say, Welcome to the... # continue reading
Randy Winn is often cited as a valuable, underrated player. For one, he’s the best defensive right fielder that East Coasters have never heard of, and he puts up unspectacular but solid and consistent numbers from either side of the... # continue reading
Angels 8, Giants 1: Hats off to reader Dave Jr., who told us several hours before game time in this comment thread that the Giants would make a big roster move today. The lucky winner is Matt Downs, an unheralded... # continue reading
Manny Burriss’s latest cold streak has re-heated talk of a switch. Now that the Giants have proved they can compete, not just by climbing to the top of the wild card standings but by playing close games night after night, win or lose,... # continue reading
Angels 9, Giants 7: The Giants' streak of not getting blown out continues, thanks to late inning fireworks from Pablo Sandoval (two HRs, 4 RBI) and Andres Torres (2-run homer). Barry Zito pitched two mediocre games before this one, and... # continue reading
Baseball Prospectus has posted a fun interview with Omar Vizquel in which he says he wants to be a big-league manager. What better place for a free-thinking, painting-and-sculpting, Spanish-speaking shortstop/dancer to manage a team than in San Francisco? Can you... # continue reading
Giants 7, A's 1: How could it get any better? The weather was great, the pitching was off the hook, The Kung Fu Panda went deep, Nate Schierholtz had one of the most exciting plays ever witnessed in this blessed... # continue reading
Giants 3, A's 0: Tim Lincecum has been spectacular, he's been dominant, but rarely has he been efficient. He was tonight. A complete game shut-out, eight strikeouts, and 110 pitches against a team that has had its offensive struggles, but... # continue reading
D'Backs 2, Giants 1: The dormant offense was different than the 4-0 shutout in Florida, in that Arizona pitcher Max Scherzer looked like he could have blanked the Yankees today. Guh-narsty stuff, especially that fastball/changeup combo. Then again, with Uribe... # continue reading
In a few minutes, 27th-round draft pick Jonathan Sanchez will take the mound for the Giants. About 15 hours ago, 24th-round pick Brian Wilson had the kind of save we’ve all been waiting for, striking out the top of the... # continue reading
Giants 9, D'Backs 4: Is first-round draft pick Zack Wheeler any better or worse than any of the other 14 non-Strasbourghian pitchers drafted in the first round? Who the heck knows? But Wheeler and the Giants' next two picks, Arizona... # continue reading
All week it’s been draft draft draft, Strasburg Strasburg Strasburg, with a whole lot of youneverknow to follow. Unless the Giants have six of the first 51 picks, it’s one of my least favorite days on the baseball calendar. Not... # continue reading
The Giants’ “Vote Bengie” All-Star campaign took a hit with Molina’s month-long slump, but amazingly, even with his .265 OBP, Bengie is still a viable candidate. The fans won’t vote him in, no matter how much San Franciscans stuff the ballot... # continue reading
MONDAY PM UPDATE: Lewis sits again tonight with a lefty starting for the Marlins. Giants 3, Marlins 2: Our fair team has patched together a winning road trip during which nearly every game was delayed by rain, the lads dealt... # continue reading
Giants 2, Marlins 1: Before I berate Brian Wilson for giving me a pulmonary thrombosis and relapsing-regressing acute nervosa* as well as the typical cardiac fucking arrest, let me advise you, dear readers, to tune into the radio broadcast next... # continue reading
The Giants are in Miami, the draft is four days away, and the trade talk is starting to heat up. You don’t need a hot stove to talk turkey in Miami in June, you need a cool drink and a... # continue reading
Giants 5, Nats 1: After Randy Johnson had a bad outing in his return to Arizona and a scrappy but shaky effort in his return to Seattle -- nights where it seemed nerves played a factor -- I had little... # continue reading
Rain last night in D.C., and showers of work for me on the other coast, so expect intermittent blogging for the next couple days. That said, I can’t resist passing along this quote from Boston manager Terry Francona. He was... # continue reading
Nats 10, Giants 6: As soon as the Giants took a 5-2 lead in the 6th and Washington came right back and scored two off Tim Lincecum in the bottom of the inning, this one had the stink of a... # continue reading