When we left each other last week, we had an image of the Giants being stranded in open water, treading water, trying to stay afloat, and generally unsure of when or where their savior would come from. Well in predictably unpredictable fashion, along came a short, unassuming Louisianan named Mike Fontenot in a tug boat.
Here he is, steering his tug boat and whisking the Giants to safety:
*Note* This video's relevance ends 15 seconds into the clip.
Part of the appeal of this Giants team, and what made them sweethearts in the 2010 postseason, was their "different hero every night" mentality. While one of the drawbacks of having a team without a single offensive superstar is never knowing how the heck you'll score a run on any given night, it also means that when good things do happen, it's usually from a different source almost every time. For better or for worse, they spread the love.
This trait was featured prominently during this Mother's Day weekend in May. The Giants' quest to turn April's showers into May's winning flowers got off to a good start with an inspiring three game sweep of the Division-leading Colorado Rockies.
I'm not sure what the opposite of Murphy's Law is. Maybe Yhprum's Wal. But whatever it is, the San Francisco Giants seemed to have a good grasp of it on this sunny, spring weekend.
There's a lot to be excited about:
- First, while it may be only May 9th, the Giants trimmed the Rockies' NL West lead to one game. Two weeks ago, it looked like the Rockies could be 13 games up by the end of May the way the Giants and Dodgers were sputtering. But all of the sudden the Giants have won 5 of 6 and the Rockies have lost 7 of their last 9. The Giants and Rockies play each other 18 times this season, and the Giants have won 5 of the first 6. Is it too soon to buy tickets to the last series of the year?
- The Giants swept the Rockies with their #3, #4 and #5 starting pitchers. Granted Matt Cain is not your average #3 starter, but the fact that the Giants held the Rockies to five runs over three games without the likes of Lincecum and Sanchez is encouraging. That type of balance from the rotation is exactly what this team needs.
- While the offense didn't exactly break out this weekend (10 runs in 3 games), it did produce timely hitting in clutch situations. Nate Schierholtz's two run double on Friday? 2 outs and 2 strikes. Cody Ross' two-run Mother's Day screamer? 2 outs. If the Giants can cash in on their scoring opportunities, which have been plentiful even in low-scoring games, they're going to win a lot of games. Seeing players take good, long at-bats in clutch situations this weekend was very, very encouraging.
- The Giants earned their first series sweep of the season. I'm sure I wasn't the only fan to wake up Sunday and say, "Well, won the first two. Vogelsong v. De La Rosa today. Two out of three ain't -- CRAP, I forgot a card..." After failing to capture the final game in numerous other series, the Giants finally busted out the brooms against the ideal opponent.
So where are we now? Did Captain Mike Fontenot and his tug boat pull the Giants out of the rocky waters? For the moment, yes. But momentum only lasts till your next game. So the real answer is, "who the heck knows?"
The key for now is establishing as much consistency at the plate as possible. Mike Fontenot can only be expected to carry a team for so long. Sooner or later, Buster Posey and Aubrey Huff are going to have to take the reigns and start hitting.
This Giants team is going to drive you crazy like it did in Washington, but it's also going to make you feel on top of the world like it did last weekend. It's who they are. They were born that way.
For now, just sit back, buckle up and enjoy the ride.
The Good: The Giants
It was as complete a series as we've seen all season:
Cain went 7 innings and allowed 3 runs. Bumgarner went 6 and allowed 2. Vogelsong went 6.1 and allowed 0.
As for the bullpen, no one blew it. Ramon Ramirez worked out of an insane jam on Saturday and while Brian Wilson raised the blood pressure later in the game, the levy held.
The Giants did commit 3 errors in 3 games, which is far from ideal. Luckily, none of them ended up costing them a game. The Giants made their share of stellar defensive plays as well. Mike Fontenot, who was responsible for two of the three errors, made up for them with two fantastic plays in the 9th inning on Saturday. Rowand made a great diving catch to rob Carlos Gonzalez. Even Miguel Tejada made a fine grab!
The offense? They weren't shut out! Seriously -- seeing as had they'd been shut out 3 times in the previous 9 games, scoring in every game was something of an accomplishment. In the series the Giants gathered 21 hits, 8 doubles, a triple and one home run. And most importantly, they got the hits they needed to win.
The Bad: Miguel Tejada
Maybe I'm being too hard on him. Maybe including him on "The Bad" list every week is my way of protesting his existence. But I keep discovering new mind-boggling stats that reinforce his futility. This weekend, the Giants had 7 scoring plays. Miguel Tejada came to bat after 3 of them. And each time, he made an out, twice to end the inning and twice with a runner in scoring position. As Hall and Oates once said, he's a rally eater. His only hits seem to be singles with two-outs and when he comes to bat with a chance to extend a rally, he pops out on the infield. I'd love to know if any hitter has made more 3rd outs than Tejada. And to take it one step further, I'd love to know of all the times he's come to bat with 2 outs, how many times he's avoided making the 3rd out. I'll bet it's a pretty small percentage.
He hasn't collected an extra base hit since April 15th. And guess when the last time was he had more than one hit in a game? April 15th. He's now hitting .198 with 9 RBI, 5 of which came before April 10.
The Hilarious: Old, Senile Brian Wilson
This old guys' voice just cracks me up. He plays senile a little too well. But then again, it is Brian Wilson... It's the second time he says Machine. That's what gets me.
It has temporarily replaced the below picture of a monkey I received on a birthday card as the best way to make me smile during the low points of the work day:
Play of the Series:
I, along with everyone else, have caught a bad case of Fonte Fever. Symptoms include growing/shrinking to 5' 8", speaking with a Louisiana drawl and generally exceeding everyone's expectations. For me, his biggest contribution to the series wasn't his triple or walk of sac-fly. It was this nifty piece of glove work that saved two runs in the Top of the 9th on Saturday. Off the bat I thought for sure Dexter Fowler had a two run single that would sink the Giants like a purple torpedo.
Again, MLB.com didn't chose this as one of it's "game highlights," but anyone who watched the game knows exactly which play I'm talking about. The bases were loaded with two outs and Dexter Folwer hit a seed up the middle. Going to left Fonte snagged the ball, spun and threw on the run to end the inning.
As a replacement, here's another nice play Fontenot made in the same inning:
http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=14589193
Choke of the Series:
Madison Bumgarner's botched double play did cost him a win, but it all worked out, right? Biggest choke goes to me being a cheapskate and not getting to the ballpark for any of these games...
and on that note, for you cost-conscious baseball fans...
Cheap Tickets!
For those of you looking to get out to the ballpark, this week is the perfect time. Tickets for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursdays games are as low as $1 on StubHub. That is not a typo. The Diamondbacks are as far from sexy as MLB gets and ticket prices reflect it. When you have a chance to see Timmy pitch at home for less than $5, take it.
Similar tickets on sfgiants.com are selling for $20. Unless you like burning paper money, go for Stubhub.
Song of the Week:
In honor of native Louisianian and Man of the Hour Mike Fontenot:
On Deck:
Fresh off a three game sweep of the Division leaders, the Giants will look to climb further above .500 when they welcome the Arizona Diamondbacks into China Basin for a three game weekday series. It will be San Francisco's second look at the D-backs after taking 2 of 3 in Phoenix in mid-April. Led by the underrated trio of Chris Young, Justin Upton and Stephen Drew, the Diamondbacks rank 7th in the league in Runs and 5th in Slugging Percentage. Fortunately for the Giants, their pitching rotation sets up perfectly to help quiet Arizona's bats as they'll send Lincecum, Sanchez and Cain to the hill. Similarly, the Diamondbacks will send their three best starters at the Giants. Ian Kennedy, Armando Galarraga and Daniel Hudson each have 3 wins, but are certainly hittable with ERAs ranging from 3.80 (Kennedy) to 5.29 (Galarraga).
The biggest item on-deck, however, will be the evolution of the lineup in the coming days. With both Andres Torres and Mark DeRosa coming off the DL on Tuesday, Bruce Bochy and the Giants will have a lot of decisions to make in regards to who starts and who sits. Should DeRosa be given a few weeks at 3B, Bochy will be forced to make the tough choice between starting Fontenot (the hottest hitter on the team) and Tejada (the coldest hitter on the planet) at shortstop. That is indeed sarcasm, but my legitimate concern that Bochy will stick with Tejada all the same is not. He's just crazy enough to do it...
go sharks go sharks chomp chomp chomp
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