"Giants Can't Score Off Pedro Martinez; Lose to Phillies"

  Eugenio Velez drilled the first pitch of the game of Pedro Martinez for a home run and a 1-0 Giants' lead.  Too bad that was the end of the scoring for the rest of the game in a 2-1 loss to the Phillies Thursday.  Martinez looked really good with 9 strike outs over seven innings. No, his fastball is not what it once was, but he knows how to pitch, and still features a deceptive delivery with his arm angle. Philadelphia is hoping THIS will be the same Pedro they can take with them into the post season. Giants' fans may remember when Pedro came off the DL in May of '08 as a New York Met, and beat San Francisco at A.T.& T. Park. He also had two hits in that game, and Barry Zito was awful - I remember because I was there!  Now Zito has regained his form, and apparently, so has Pedro, because he was Way better today then he was at anytime last year with the Mets.

  Tim Lincecum was once again snake-bit, and just cannot buy a victory - still stuck on 13.  Since August 1st when he beat the Phillies at home, he's gone 1-1 with four no-decisions.  Today, he was absolutely fantastic, except for a couple of mistakes - a hanging breaking ball that Jayson Werth crushed into the upper deck for his 30th homer of the year. Then, with two-outs in the sixth, he hit Chase Utley, and then gave up an RBI double to Ryan Howard.  Howard also drove in the only run off Jonathan Sanchez in Tuesday's 1-0 Philly victory.  Lincecum struck out 11 over seven innings, allowing two runs on four hits with one walk.  He leads all of baseball with 233 K's after fanning 265 last season.  

  Giants head to Milwaukee for a SECOND TIME this year, and will face Jeff Suppan Friday, and Yovani Gallardo on Saturday - two out of three over the Brew Crew would be just fine thank you.  Also, I heard that Huston Street is dinged with tightness in his biceps.  He's supposed to undergo an MRI, but will miss at least a few days.  That could be huge for the Rockies down the stretch as Street has been rock solid with an ERA under three, and a WHIP under one.  Franklin Morales takes over the closer role for now, but that definitely depletes the Rockies' bullpen anyway you slice it.