Hey, nothing like snapping out of a five-game slide with some timely hitting! The Giants beat the Washington Nationals 4-2 Tuesday night in the first game of a fresh nine-game home stand after limping through a miserable 1-and-6 road-trip.
The Giants took a few innings, by finally settled in against old friend Livan Hernandez with two outs in the fith. Five consecutive hits plated all four runs, highlighted by a two-run double off the bat of Freddy Sanchez. Pablo Sandoval folliwed with a double off the left field wall to score Sanchez. The rally against Livan was rare thus far in 2010, as the veteran Nationals right-hander came into the game with an ERA below two (it ballooned to 2.08 after last night).
Four runs was enough for Todd Wellemeyer: a guy who was really pitching with his back against the wall, and one foot out the door if he didn't come through. Not only did Wellemeyer toss a solid six-innings (two runs and four hits and two strikeouts), but he actually ignited "the rally" at the plate with a two-out bloop single. Wellemeyer actually has one more victory (three) than both Matt Cain and Jonothan Sanchez (two each).
The line-up: I like the changes, and I'm very impressed that Aubrey Huff didn't blink. He just went out there and manned left field like he'd been out there all season. Unfortunately, Mark DeRosa is probably not going to contribute much this year if anything at all, and moving Huff to left allows Juan Uribe to play everyday at third base, and takes some pressure off Pablo by moving him over to first base. This one-game experiment may have ended though as reports surfaced last night that Edgar Renteria, just back from the DL with a groin strain, has strained his right hamstring. We'll find out more today with an MRI. The top-of-the-order sure looked good last night with Andres Torres producing three hits with a run scored, and Renteria contributing a couple of hits, a sacrifice, a run scored, and an RBI.
The bullpen: everything looked good last night as Romo, Mota, and Wilson slammed the door. Wilson struck out the side to record his 11th save in twelve chances, and dropped his ERA to a solid 2.60.
What can you say about the disastrous weekend in Oakland? One run and 14 hits in three games? Yikes!! Granted, Zito didn't have his best effort Friday night and got dinged by a couple of well-placed bloop hits, but Cain and Sanchez pitched well enough to win. Cain tossed 8-innings and allowed zero earned runs only to lose 1-0. Sanchez worked 7-innings the next day, allowed only two earned runs, but walked five as he lost 3-0. Both starters are 2-and-4 on the season. Cain's ERA is 2.88; Sanchez has an ERA of 3.00.
