San Francisco Giants Week 3 in Review

As Sly Stone once said, "Time needs another minute, at least."

To KB's delight and my dismay, we're almost about one-tenth of the way through the baseball season.

The good news is, the Giants haven't yet played their best baseball. The bad news is, the Giants haven't yet played their best baseball.

Through their first 18 games, the Giants are a respectable 10-8. It's nothing to write home about, but considering their 1-4 start and a bevy of injuries, the Giants have done well to climb back above .500.

To put things in perspective, through 18 games in 2010, they were, wouldn't you know it, 10-8. And in yet another striking similarity to 2010, the Giants just wrapped up their third consecutive April series in which they won the first two games and lost the third to the Cardinals, Diamondbacks and Rockies. Last year at this time, they won the first two and lost the third to the Cardinals, Phillies and Rockies. If the Giants are looking for a repeat I'd say they're off to a decent start.

While the G-men may not yet be clicking on all cylinders, their recent 6 game road trip was certainly the most consistent ball they've played this season. They averaged over 5 runs per game, a stat worth celebrating, and 20 of the runs didn't come in a single lopsided victory as we're used to seeing.

Aubrey Huff looks like a new man after having been relieved of his duties in Right Field. While his average is still abysmal, he hit safely in four of the six games and drove in five runs. Most importantly, he hit his first two home runs of the year. It was obvious that Huff's defensive mishaps were affecting his confidence at the plate. Now back in his natural habitat, the Water Buffalo will begin doing what water buffaloes do best: bathe in mud.

Have the Giants found their groove? Not quite yet. The injury bug continues to buzz around the clubhouse. It seems just as one is ready to come back, another goes down. And Darren Ford is reaping all the benefits. I'd also like to see them get through one full turn of the rotation without one of the starters getting shelled. Finally, it would also be nice for them to kick their allergy to sweeps and finish off a series.

But all things considered, going 4 of 6 on the road is a great thing. Taking 2 of 3 in Denver, against the hottest team in baseball, is even more of an accomplishment. The Giants have now seen their entire NL West competition and besides the Montreal Expos, formerly known as the LA Dodgers, the G-men have a winning record against each of them. Considering the Giants are still putting the pieces together and have still managed to go 9 for their last 13, they have to be feeling prettty prettty prettty good.

Considering both the amount of time you can get away reading this blog at work, I'm going to recap each series in the form of a "Game of the Series", rather than summarize each game. I figure most of you follow each game as it is and simply look to Eric and I for casual entertainment OR as a way to distract yourself from the strange smells coming from the cubicle next to you. Good God, man.

Giants @ Diamondbacks: 2-1
4/15: Giants 5, Diamondbacks 2
4/16: Giants 5, Diamondbacks 3
4/17: Diamondbacks 6, Giants 5 F/12

Game of the Series: 4/17 -- Diamondbacks 6, Giants 5 F/12
A loss? Yes. While the Giants ended up dropping this extra-inning slug fest against the Diamondbacks, they showed a lot of heart in doing so. Most importantly, Madison Bumgarner lasted 6.2 innings and gave the Giants by far his best outing of the year. While he still surrendered 4 runs and 8 hits, three of those runs came in the 3rd Inning. Bumgarner settled down nicely and kept the Giants in it. But what I liked the most about this game was that the Giants finally showed some life after already clinching a series. Considering how flat they looked the Sunday of the Cardinals series, the Giants impressed me by coming back from a 4-1 deficit to take a 5-4 lead. As I said a while back, complacency will be as big a rival this season as Troy Tulowtizki. And winning the first two games of a series does not give you an excuse to sleep walk through the third.

Giants @ Rockies: 2-1
4/18: Giants 8, Rockies 1
4/19: Giants 6, Rockies 3
4/20: Rockies 10, Giants 2

Game of the Series: 4/18 -- Giants 8, Rockies 1
Pretty easy choice here. I said the Giants weren't clicking on all cylinders yet. But they were on this night. Scoring 8 runs in the first three innings and keeping the other team hitless until the 7th is just about as good as it gets. It's impossible to overstate the importance of this game and the way the Giants won it. The Giants pounded the Rockies into submission with both their bats and their arms. They completely shut down the Rockies offense and shelled the Rockies hot young starter. After the first few weeks, it's looking more and more like the NL West will come down to the Rockies and Giants. The Rockies have grabbed headlines in these first few weeks and deservedly so. But in the same way the Giants are able to drop two of three to the Pirates, they're also able to take two of three from the hottest team in the game. And this loud victory in Game 1 was about as bold a statement as you can make kicking off a season-long showdown. As Tim Lincecum said after the win, "We hope the fact we were smacking the ball around and pitched so well will make them feel a little more inferior to us." Much like the Sand People, the Rockies will be back and in greater numbers. But this first series victory was very, very important in reminding both the Rockies and the 3 national media members who follow the NL West that if the Rockies want the Division, they'll have to get through these old bastards first.

The Good:
Pablo Sandoval: In 2010, "Pablo's Back!" was the second most uttered exclamation in San Francisco, just behind "'F--- Muni!" Fans seemed to think the more they said it, the more likely it would come true. He went 3 for 5 one night -- Pablo's back! He went 4 for 12 on a road trip -- Pablos's Back! But alas, each glimmer of hope was followed by a blinding ray of despair.

Well this time, Pablo's back! Beyond trimming down, he's much more disciplined at the plate, waiting for good pitches and making solid contact when he sees them. He's hitting .328 and now leads the team in both HR and OPS. Both his pitches per plate appearance and walks per plate appearance are up from his career average. In the last 6 games he's gone deep 3 times, driven in 7 and walked 5 times. His recent tricep strain is certainly a concern. The Giants need him to continue his hot start, both at the plate and with the glove.

Bill Nukeom: Thank you, Mr. Neukom, for not being Frank McCourt. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/04/10/MNCU1ILNB2.DTL

The Giants are not like the Dodgers, and that is a good thing.

The Miguel Tej -- I mean, The Bad:
Miguel Tejada: Miguel Tejada might as well start paying me rent. Something tells me he's going to be spending a lot of time in "The Bad" section of my weekly recaps.

Since his heroic game-winning double on Opening Night, Tejada is 4 for his last 31, good for a .129 average. He has 3 errors in 16 games, but that doesn't count the balls he simply can't make a play on due to his lack of range. He dropped a sure throw from Posey to nail a runner stealing second in Arizona that would have likely propelled the Giants to a three-game sweep.

He earned a bit of slack that night against the Cardinals, but he's just about used it all up.

The Fleeting:
Brandon Belt: The Brandon Belt experience, to me, was like eating Indian food for dinner. You were really excited for it. Wolfed it down in five minutes and loved it. Almost instantly, though, things went south. Before you knew it, it made a painful and emotional departure and you were left wondering whether it was worth eating in the first place. But damn if you aren't excited for your next trip to Curry Village!

Play of the Week: Nate Shierholtz goes Triple Decker in Colordao
This was truly mind blowing. Nate the Great is not a large man, but he was able to send this ball 467 feet into the thin Colorado air.

Even more exciting, researching Nate's homer run led me to this website, which may in fact be the coolest thing ever created: http://www.hittrackeronline.com/top_true_distance.php

Play of the Weak: Bruce Bochy's Face
While I was considering choosing Miguel Tejada's dropped catch in Arizona that would have ended the inning and likely led the Giants to victory, I decided to give him a break. After all, we all screw up 85% of the time.

Instead I chose Pablo Sandoval tweaking his tricep during batting practice in Colorado. While the injury is clearly no fault of the Panda, it is still a potentially huge blow. Most amazing, however, was CSN's video footage of Bruce Bochy realizing that his best hitter just hurt himself. See Bochy saunter over to Pablo, crack a wise one, and then realize what's actually going on. It's a mixture of horror, anger, fear, skepticism, shock and hunger -- kind of like when Obi Wan, Han and Luke first see the Death Star from afar. "That's no moon," Pablo says. "it's a strained tricep."



Headline of the Week: "Robot to throw out first pitch at Phillies game."
This one came in just ahead of "Golden Retriever bats cleannup for Pirates' Minor League Affiliate." But seriously, what is so great about a Robot that can throw a baseball? Did the Phillies forget that we've had pitching machines for, I don't know, 100 years? This robot better at least be able to brew me a cup of coffee, do my taxes or defend the human race from monkeys riding Border Collies. I just hope these aren't the type of Science-driven projects Prez-O had in mind when he pressed his finger against my lips, whispered, "Shhhhh" and took half of my bonus.

Song of the Week:
Dedicated to Barry Zito, Andres Torress' successfully recoveries:

On Deck:
The Giants get a temporary respite from their road grays as they host the 8-12 Atlanta Braves for three games at AT&T Park. A sexy preseason pick to upset the Philies in the AL East, the Braves have sputtered out of the gate thanks in part to slow starts from star sluggers Jason Heyward and Dan Uggla. Don't expect that to last however, particularly with Uggla. He murdered the Giants in his trip to AT&T last year and you know he'll be looking to break out soon. Tonight the Giants will throw Madison Bumgarner against the Braves young stud Tommy Hanson. Saturday will pit Lincecum against Tim Hudson. Sunday we'll see Jonathan San-CHEZ against rookie Brandon Beachy. Tonight's game will be a challenge against Hanson, but Saturday and Sunday should give the Giants a chance to take 2 of 3. It will also be Giants fans' first chance to thank Brooks Conrad in person for his efforts in leading the Giants to a World Series Championship.

After this brief pit stop in San Francisco, the Giants embark on a long, East Coast road trip. They start in Pittsburgh where the baseball world will be treated to a sneak preview of the 2015 NLCS. Take a good look, folks! While the Pirates got of to a surprisingly tolerable start, they were just swept in Miami by a combined score of 21-5. The high gloss shine on the Pirates pitching is now starting to fade, revealing the blind circus clowns hiding underneath. The Giants will send Cain, Bumgarner and Lincecum against Charlie Morton, James McDonald and the PhillieBot (who the Pirates recently signed to replace starter Jeff Karstens).

But hey, at least our Buccos still have a sense of humor!