Giants Lose Another Series

The score was different but the results were the same, San Francisco lost a one run game for the fifth time in the last six games. Barry Zito and the Giants fell victim to the long ball in their 5-4 defeat at the hands of the Seattle Mariners.

Ken Griffey Jr. got things started for the Mariners in the bottom of the first, when he hit the 616 home run of his illustrious career to put the M's up 2-0.

That's the way things stayed until the Giants took the lead with a three run rally with two outs in the fifth. Eli Whiteside, Aaron Rowand, and Edgar Renteria all had rbi singles to put the Giants up 3-2.

Unfortunately for San Francisco, Zito was not able to keep the lead for long. When Seattle came up to bat in the bottom of the inning, he walked the lead off batter and gave up a single to Ichiro Suzuki. Yuniesky Bettancourt moved the runners up with a sacrifice, and Adrian Beltre came to bat with runners on first and second and only one out. Beltre responded with a three run blast that put Seattle up for good.

Zito finished the game with 6.1 innings pitched, 5 earned runs, 5 walks, and 5 strikeouts. A rather pedestrian effort given his recent success, but still not horrible. He struggled with his command all game, often missing high and away to right handed batters. Missing up in the zone is never a good thing and Barry paid the price in the form of two home runs and tally in the loss column.

Fred Lewis made the game close in the top of the eighth when he hit his second home run in as many days. Mississippi Fred could provide a big boost to the Giants floundering offense if he can continue his power streak.

San Francisco begins a three game series against the Atlanta Braves on Monday afternoon.

Scott Hairston Tests Positive for PED's

The post title is just a fantasy. In a perfect world, that's the headline I would wake up to tomorrow morning. How else can you explain Scott Hairston's penchant for success against the Giants? Coming into Tuesday's game he had 8 hits in 15 at-bats against San Francisco. Tonight he went 2 for 2 with a home run and two bases on balls. Here are some thoughts about the Giants 2-1 loss to the Padres:

• Scott Hairston should be traded to an American League team.
• Barry Zito has been surprisingly effective this season. I keep waiting for him to implode and give up 6 runs in 4 innings pitched, but it just hasn't happened yet. It's getting to the point now where I can almost sleep the nights before he starts, almost. Zito went eight innings and only allowed two earned runs on five hits.
• Prior to tonight's game Barry Zito had recieved the worst run support in the National League. After the game, he still has the dubious honor of topping that list.
  
• The team's youngsters were flashing the leather all over the field tonight. Emmanuel Burriss and Fred Lewis both had spectacular defensive plays, and Kevin Frandsen looked like a shortstop. I think he should lose the eye black though, it's way too nineties at this point.
• I'm pretty sure I've been to Little League games that drew better than the Padres. Seriously, where are there fans? Fleeing from the swine flu?
• As soon as I saw Eugenio Velez step into the batters box with two out in the ninth, I just knew the game was over. Unfortunately, I was right.

Tomorrow the Giants will send Jonathan Sanchez against right-hander Chad Gaudin. Hopefully Eugenio is on a bus to Fresno by that time.

Padres Series Preview

The Giants begin the first series of a six game road trip Tuesday against the San Diego Padres. San Francisco will be looking to avenge the three game sweep they endured during their last visit to San Diego. They will send Barry Zito (1-3, 3.89 ERA) to the mound to face Chris Young (2-2, 5.56 ERA) in the opener.

Zito has been pitching well as of late. In his last five starts he has allowed only eight earned runs in 32.2 innings pitched, and has been averaging 5.79 strikeouts and 2.48 walks per nine innings. His revival has been a pleasant surprise for the Giants so far this season, and I expect he will make a strong showing in front of his hometown crowd in San Diego.

His opponent, Chris Young, has not fared as well. The 6'10" right-hander has had control problems in his last five starts, walking six batters per game. He will need to improve his command to slow down a Giant's lineup that has shown signs of improvement lately.

Pablo Sandoval has led the way for the Giants this month with a team leading .387wOBA. The 22 year old third baseman has increased his power output, hitting two home runs, seven doubles, and slugging .554 in his last 65 at-bats.

Other hot hitters include Emmanuel Burriss, Randy Winn, and Bengie Molina. All three have hit over .300 in the past two weeks. Even centerfielder Aaron Rowand has shown signs of breaking out of his slump. The 31 year old Rowand has a batting line of .333/.448/.990 in his last 24 at-bats.

San Francisco has not been able to figure out Chris Young the first two times these teams faced each other, scoring only one run in each game. Despite Young's recent dominance against the Giants and the added advantage of pitching in PetCo Park's spacious dimensions, it seems likely that the Giants will be able to score at least a couple of runs against him in this game. If Zito's resurgence continues they have a good chance to start this road trip off with a victory.

Zito Returns to Cy Young Form

Barry Zito will take the hill today against the Washington Nationals. The nationals have a fearsome lineup which includes third-baseman Ryan Zimmerman who is in the midst of a 30 game hit streak. As a team their wOBA is .351. That is good for fifth best in the majors, behind only the Red Sox, Blue Jays, Rangers, and Yankees.

For most of the past two seasons, this is a start you would expect Barry Zito to lose. But the former Cy Young award winner has shown signs of regaining his old form so far this season. He has increased his strikeout rate and decreased his walk rate, bringing his K/BB ratio to a healthy 2. His WHIP has dropped from last year's career high of 1.60 to a respectable 1.25.

What has led to this improvement? Zito's velocity has increased this season from an average of 84.9 MPG to 86.6 MPH. This improved velocity means that there is now a 12 MPH difference between his fastball and his change-up, a 2 MPH improvement over last seasons' split. It is possible that his increase in velocity has allowed Zito to keep hitters more off-balance this year.

Many people have also pointed to a change in Zito's attitude on the mound. They cite this newfound confidence as the reason for his improvement. If you watch Barry pitch, it is evident that he is way more into the game than in years past. I'm not really sure what caused this shift in demeanor or how much of a difference it really makes but, I won't argue with the results.

75 has been especially dominant of late, posting a 1.37 ERA in his last four starts. If the Giants are going to sweep the Nationals they will need a strong start from Zito. I refuse to believe that the Giants will be able to score more than 4 runs three games in a row.

Giants Beat the Padres, 1-0.

The San Francisco Giants ended their five game home stand with a 4-1 record after beating the San Diego Padres in extra innings Wednesday afternoon, 1-0. The win brought their home record to 6-2 this year.

Barry Zito shut out the Padres through seven innings in one of his best starts as a Giant. Zito gave up no walks and struck out five batters. Barry's performance was the fifth straight quality start by a member of San Francisco's rotation, which seems to be rounding into form.

Unfortunately for him, Zito was not able to earn a win as Chris Young matched the Giants' starter pitch for pitch. San Francisco's lineup was only able to muster two hits in seven innings against Young. In his two starts against the Giants this season, Young has managed to pitch an impressive 14 scoreless innings!

The pitchers duel lasted until the bottom of the 10th when Bengie Molina came in and hit a pinch hit ground ruled double to score Andres Torres and give the Giants the win.

After 14 games the Giants are 3-1 when they score four or more runs. They are 5-0 when leading after seven innings. Clearly this team has good enough starting pitching and a strong enough bullpen to win a lot of games if they can just score an average amount of runs. However, the lineup has averaged a meager 3.29 runs/game so far.

The team begins a three game series against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday, April 24th at 6:40 PM. Tim Lincecum will be on the mound for the Giants against Dave Davis.