Giants Outscore The Cardinals and Pujols 13-to-3 In First Two Games In St.Louis

July 01, 2009

Michael McGauley

Giants Outscore The Cardinals and Pujols 13-to-3 In First Two Games In St.Louis

We are officially halfway through the season, and I'm trying not to get too excited about these Giants. However, if the last three games are any indication of where this team is going, there's reason for optimism. San Francisco improved to 42-and-34 with last night's 6-to-3 win in St. Louis, and find themselves only six games behind the Dodgers in the National League West. The Giants also lead the Cards and the Rockies for the wild card. Double up the numbers, and the Giants are on pace for 84 wins, which is a heck-of-a-lot better that last year's 72-and-90 performance. I don't want to get too greedy and think play-offs, but, on second thought, YES I DO WANT TO GET VERY GREEDY. I know, I know, there's a lot of baseball left to be played.

Following last Saturday's implosion in Milwaukee, the Giants have outscored their opponents 20-to-3 over the last three games, including Sunday's 7-to-0 drilling of the Brew Crew, and Monday's 10-to-0 beat down of the Cards. And, despite two Albert Pujols homeruns last night, the starting pitching has been flawless. Randy Johnson pitched well enough to win, improving to 8-and-5, capturing career victory #303. But anytime a starter gets six runs, he should win! At this point in his career, with win #300 under his belt, multiple Cy Young awards and a World Series title, RJ is thriving as a mentor between Lincecum and Cain in the rotation. How much fun is it to watch those two potential all-stars go back-and-forth! Cain takes the ball tonight while Timmy has three complete games in his last four starts. Lincecum has 132 strikeouts, leading the National League, and is on pace to match his 265 k's recorded last year. Meanwhile, the bats have certainly been thriving of late, getting consistent efforts from a number of sources.

In last night's victory over former Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter, San Francisco pounded out 13 more hits, including a 3-for-4 night from Edgar Renteria, and two hits apiece for Rowand, Win, Sandoval, and Molina. Rowand has thrived as a lead-off hitter (who knew?) and sports a .297 batting average and a .359 on base percentage halfway through the season. No, not the homerun and RBI numbers we had hoped for when he was signed as a free-agent from Philadelphia, but I'll take his leadership and toughness. Double up his current power numbers, and we end-up with 16 homers and 66 RBI's - very similar to last year's output. Bengie has the most RBI's on the team with 45 (on pace for 90) and is right in line to match his team-leading 95 "rib-eyes" in 2008. Pablo has 40 RBI's, while hitting a robust .338 (good for third best among National League hitters). His 89 hits leave him with an outside chance of collecting 200 hits in his first full season with the team, if he stays healthy. Another guy who has really stepped into the limelight in recent weeks is outfielder Nate Schierholtz (.311 batting average, .338 on-base percentage). Despite an 0-for-4 last night, Schierholtz has taken over the starting right field job, moving Randy Winn over to left field, and sending Fred Lewis to the bench, which is probably where he should have been to start the season as the team's fourth outfielder. Does anyone remember Dave Roberts?

Travis Ishikawa is another guy with something to prove. Back on Memorial Day with his starting job in jeopardy, Ishikawa had a four hit game against Javier Vasquez and the Braves, including a long home run to right field. That performance seemed to stabilize his standing with the team briefly. He was then banished to the bench when Pablo moved to first base for a couple of weeks due to a bum throwing shoulder. Now with Sandoval back at third base, Ishikawa is batting seventh in the order. He blasted a long three-run home run Monday night followed by an RBI double last night. Hopefully, he can improve on that .258 batting average, but is showing some power potential.

We knew the starting pitching was going to be good, but the bullpen has REALLY been good! Jeremy Affeldt tossed two more scoreless innings last night (no runs allowed since early May). Affeldt induced two double plays and struck out two, lowering his ERA to a microscopic 1.48. Sergio Romo has been a solid contributor since returning from injury (2.79 ERA), bumping Bobby Howry down on the bullpen food chain. Merkin Valdez may finally be healthy enough to realize his potential (3.52 ERA, and 18 k's in 23 innings). And despite a couple of hiccups here and there, Brian Wilson is once again all-star material with 21 saves, a 3.50 ERA and 39 strikeouts in 36 innings of work. Also last night, I noticed when Wilson was warming up in the pen, Jonathan Sanchez was also getting loose. Could Sanchez be another valuable left-hander out of the pen after Affeldt? We know he can be dominant in short stints which may better suit his game than being a starter. Especially if the "Big Sadowski" continues producing quality starts.

The Giants go for their fourth consecutive road win tonight in St. Louis. Matt Cain will be opposed by the very tough Adam Wainwright. Following one more game against the Cards Thursday, the team returns home to host the Houston Astros over the weekend. I'm going Saturday on the 4th and will have a full report.