Jesus Guzman A Giant

The big news leading up to tonight's game three against the Padres is the Giants have purchased the contract of infielder Jesus Guzman from Triple-A Fresno. Many people who follow the organization have been screaming and crawling on all fours waiting for this move to finally take place. Now everyone will have a chance to see exactly what Guzman has to offer on the Major League level.

Jesus is expected to bring some added power to a lineup that is next to last in runs scored (152). He put together a batting line of .363/.391/.983 in 157 at-bats with the Fresno Grizzlies. In 39 games, Guzman hit six home runs and had 32 runs batted in.

Even more impressive is his .419 average with runners in scoring position. The Giants as a team have hit .220 with runners in scoring position this year. If Guzman's run production carries over to the big leagues, he will quickly become a valuable asset to this team. Hell if he can hit a couple sacrifice flies he'll be a fan favorite.

Jesus will be available to pinch hit tonight against the Padres, and he is expected to DH for the Giants in their upcoming series against the Seattle Mariners.

Backup catcher Steve Holm has been sent back down to Fresno to clear room on the active roster for Guzman. Joe Martinez has been placed on the 60-day DL to make room for him on the 40-man roster.

Two Games; Two Runs

Baseball teams have been scoring runs since the 19th century, but apparently such an antiquated vestige of baseball's history is of no interest to these Giants. Two games into a three game set with the San Diego Padres, and San Francisco has only managed to score two runs. Newsflash, you will not win many games scoring only one run, and after tonight's 2-1 loss they haven't won any in this series.

On with the bullet points:

• Uh what was Aaron Rowand doing in the leadoff spot? Definitely didn't see that one coming, but the permaslumping center fielder showed some signs of life going 3-4 with a double. It will be interesting to see if this was a one time thing, or if manager Bruce Bochy will put Rowand in the top spot for tomorrow's game.
• Jonathan Sanchez remembered how to pitch tonight. Coming into Thursday's game, the Giants fifth starter had been pitching like just, a fifth starter. But Sanchez pitched six innings, and only allowed two hits and two earned runs. He was hit with the loss despite his strong start. We'll see if this is a sign of things to come, or if Sanchez will continue to be plagued by the inconsistency that has held him back all year.
• Randy Winn continued his hot streak. The right fielder has hit for a .353 average over the past two weeks. Tonight he went 2-4 with two doubles, and scored San Francisco's only run in this game.

Another three game sweep at PetCo Park would be enough to make me nauseous. Please don't make me puke Timmy.

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.