Giants' Castillo homers in 3-2 victory over Colorado

Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews

So many unexpected things have happened to the Giants in this first month of the season, something unforeseen was bound to take place Wednesday afternoon.

Enter Jose Castillo, whose solo home run snapped a tie in the seventh inning and sent the Giants into May with a 3-2 victory over the Colorado Rockies at AT&T Park.

Castillo hadn't homered since Aug. 14, 2006, as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates. His streak stood at 450 at-bats before he launched a first-pitch fastball from right-hander Ryan Speier into the left field bleachers.

His shot helped the Giants take two of three from Colorado, split a six-game homestand and finish April with a 13-16 record.

Three under .500 won't win pennants or cupie dolls, but it might have surprised those who saw this team trudge through spring training.

It was just the third losing April in the 12-year tenure of Giants General Manager Brian Sabean. But the club isn't buried in the standings despite rotating two Class-A shortstops, turning John Bowker into a starting first baseman overnight and dealing with inconsistent play from youngsters.

Oh, and sending 0-6 ace Barry Zito to the bullpen, too.

"Coming out of spring, there were a lot of naysayers and I think the club is developing some confidence," Giants Manager Bruce Bochy said. "And you know what? I think we're a better club than we're given credit for, and I think we match up against anybody. If we go out there and put together a good game, we expect to win."

The Giants have put together plenty of bad games, too, including a disheartening loss Tuesday that was full of young baserunning blunders.

"There's room for improvement on every front with this team," said Aaron Rowand, who hit his first home run as a Giant at AT&T Park. "Being as young as we are, I think this month was a good month. Guys are finding themselves, finding their strides. We're coming together as a team. A lot of us haven't played with each other.

"It's a good period of time to come together and find out what kind of team we're going to be. I think we know what kind of team we'll be now."

Until the last week of the spring, nobody could have known Castillo would be the Giants' everyday third baseman, or even on the roster. A last-minute waiver claim, Castillo showed he hadn't forgotten how to trot around the bases.

"Sometimes I have a little bit of power," Castillo said. "I'll hit more this year."

It also couldn't be foreseen that the Giants bullpen would coalesce so quickly. Relievers combined to allow four hits in nine scoreless innings over the Colorado series, and Brian Wilson nailed down his ninth save in 10 chances. It's the most saves by a Giants closer in April since Robb Nen saved nine in 1999.

Wilson saved Merkin Valdez's first major league victory. Valdez, who missed all of last year following elbow reconstruction surgery, stranded Jonathan Sanchez's runner in the sixth and pitched a scoreless seventh.

"It's so special for me," said Valdez, who received a game ball and lineup card. "It took so long to come back."

The bullpen needed a major assist, though. With a runner at second base, Fred Lewis made a diving catch in left field to help Tyler Walker preserve the lead in the eighth inning. Bochy had the outfielders play a few steps in once Walker got to two strikes on Willy Taveras. Lewis did the rest, making a headfirst dive on a ball that was sinking in front of him.

"Oh man, go get it. That was the first thing in my mind," said Lewis, who pumped fists simultaneously with Walker. "Go get it and don't let it get past you. I was so excited for the team."

What did Walker say to Lewis in the dugout?

"He told me I'm on his Christmas list," Lewis said, laughing. "I said, 'Oh, I wasn't before?' "

Rockies balked to win

Controversial call scores decisive run

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

So many reporters and television crews came to the yard Tuesday, you almost expected Barry Bonds to amble out of the Giants' dugout. They were here to cover the other Barry. For the first time all year, manager Bruce Bochy was encircled by cameras, and he said, "I've got to keep reminding myself we're talking about Zito."

Someday, maybe they will be talking about Tim Lincecum, who glided under the radar as one of the game's best pitchers in April. And maybe by then Bochy will understand the bizarre balk that directly led to Tim Lincecum's first defeat of 2008.

Even after a long argument with home-plate umpire Gary Darling, an ejection and time to stew after the Giants' 3-2 loss to Colorado, Bochy was baffled.

"I still don't understand it," he said. "Obviously, it was huge."

Lincecum and Colorado's Aaron Cook were locked in a 2-2 game in the seventh inning when Chris Iannetta hit a leadoff double and was sacrificed to third. With Yorvit Torrealba batting, catcher Bengie Molina asked for time and started to rise. Darling raised his hands in the standard timeout signal, but then called the balk and invited Iannetta home with what proved to be the winning run.

Lincecum fell to 4-1, his ERA soaring to 1.73, although in his mind he did not balk. He said he started to rock back in his delivery and stopped only because he saw Darling raise his hands. Darling had a different view.

"Lincecum flinched," the ump told a pool reporter. "Bengie was giving him the signs. Then (Lincecum) started and stopped. Bengie tried to cover for him by calling the timeout."
Bochy's argument was long and loud, and he got tossed for the second time this season.
The game-losing balk was a first for Lincecum, too, and he said, "It was unfortunate, but I've seen other games where it's happened, too. That's part of the game."

The balk fit a pattern of strangeness at China Basin that began in the bottom of the first inning, when the Giants scored their only two runs thanks to two bizarre happenings: first baseman Todd Helton dropping a throw for an error and shortstop Troy Tulowitzki's left quadriceps seizing as he attempted to field Aaron Rowand's grounder, which should have been the third out. Instead, the ball rolled into center and the Giants' second run scored.

With the Rockies already down an infielder, manager Clint Hurdle had to install Iannetta, normally a catcher, at third base for his first career infield appearance. After responding with a leadoff homer in the second inning, which tied the game 2-2, Iannetta might be asked to take a lot more grounders during batting practice.

Equally bizarre was the Giants' baserunning and decision-making, which made this defeat even tougher to swallow. Fred Lewis was thrown out at home in the first inning when he attempted a delayed steal. In the seventh, Randy Winn hit a leadoff double but made the first out at third base on a grounder to short. Later that inning, Eugenio Velez was picked off first base.

Winn said "in hindsight" he should not have run, and Bochy said, "We can't get picked off in that situation. I thought we made too many mistakes on the bases. This is one we probably let get away from us."

That became official in the ninth when, with a runner on second base and one out against closer Brian Fuentes, Winn swung at a 3-0 pitch and popped up, a killer blow to a rally and game that ended with Daniel Ortmeier's strikeout.

The Giants stranded one runner in each of Aaron Cook's seven innings, and wasted a Ray Durham double, Jose Castillo triple and leadoff baserunners in the second, fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth innings.

Lincecum was not as dominating as he had been. He allowed season highs with three runs and eight hits and matched a season low with four strikeouts.

This loss cannot take away from what Lincecum did for the Giants over the season's first month. He merely pitched on a night when far too many things, mostly in the Giants' control, but one that was not, conspired to prevent him from reaching 5-0.

Zito, Righetti begin reclamation project

Harry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Barry Zito began his new job as a reliever Tuesday by doing exactly what he would have done as a starter. He threw a 10-minute, 70-pitch bullpen session that impressed pitching coach Dave Righetti.

"His side today looked like he was pitching-ready for a game," Righetti said. "I enjoyed that as a coach."

Zito has had good bullpens before. The issue is what he does on the mound, and Righetti understands he and his charge will travel a long and difficult road. At the end of the road, Righetti said, will be a successful starting pitcher.

"Personally, I think he can win with the stuff he's got," Righetti said. "I believe that. If you don't believe that, you can't coach him, right? That's the way I'm built. I believe it. He's got to make adjustments."

The biggest will be accounting for a fastball that rarely surpasses 85 mph and, in Righetti's mind, probably never will. Asked if he believes Zito can regain his velocity, Righetti said, "No, unless he has an operation, unless he does a Rod Beck and puts on 20 or 30 pounds and throws harder. But how can you throw harder? I've never seen it other than somebody getting hurt and getting a new arm."

So what does Zito do? One key is creating speed separation between his fastball and offspeed pitches, and one does not need to be a flamethrower to do that. Righetti cited Philadelphia's Jamie Moyer, who throws some fastballs in the high 70s and offspeed pitches in the high 50s. Fastball movement would help, too, and Zito has been working on a sinking fastball that he has not brought into a game.

One of Righetti's main concerns is preserving Zito's arm strength, which can be difficult from the bullpen. On one hand, Zito might not pitch for several days. On the other, he cannot keep throwing bullpen sessions and tire his arm on nights he might have to pitch. Even so, Righetti believes this move to the bullpen can benefit Zito, as much mentally as physically.

"Sometimes, it does relax you a little bit and you come back feeling different," Righetti said. "Who knows? If you're a competitive person, which he is, you find sometimes you need to light a fire one way or the other."

Vive le Bochy: Manager Bruce Bochy was amused to learn that he set the major-league win mark for foreign-born managers (1,034). He was born in Landes de Bussac, France, where his father was stationed in the military. Bochy left when he was a year old.

"Well, they're probably still celebrating there," he joked.

Bochy returned to France for the first time last winter and visited his birthplace, or so he thought.

"My sister, who was born there too, did some research and it turns out there are three Bussacs," he said. "We went to the wrong Bussac. We missed it by a scant 50 miles."

Giants give solid Cain first victory

Righty's only blemish in 5 1/3 shutout innings is five walks

Chris Haft - MLB.com

Matt Cain, who frequently loses games like the one that unfolded Monday night, refused to dwell on his first victory of the season.

"That's the least of my worries," Cain said.

But his teammates, who all too often have seen Cain bequeath a late lead that dissolves in the bullpen's hands or receive no decision after pitching a seven- or eight-inning gem, delighted in the talented but luckless 23-year-old right-hander who earned the decision in the Giants' 4-0 triumph over the Colorado Rockies.

"I'm glad we got Cain's first win out of the way," closer Brian Wilson said. "Now we can roll."
Tyler Walker, who pitched the eighth inning, recalled working the same inning behind Cain on April 12, when St. Louis scored three runs to erase a 5-2 Giants advantage.

"That was definitely something I've thought about for a couple of weeks now," Walker said. "So it's kind of a good feeling to pitch a scoreless inning to help him get the win. He's pitched well enough to win several times, so that has to be frustrating for him. But now he has something to build off of."

So do the Giants. After yielding 10 runs in each of their previous two games against Cincinnati, the Giants rebounded to notch their fourth shutout, most in the Major Leagues.

"That's pretty solid," said Wilson, who pitched the ninth. Speaking for the bullpen, he added, "Each guy goes in with the intention of putting up a zero and we feed off each person who goes in in each inning and try to maintain that."

Cain (1-2) established the pattern with his 5 1/3 innings. He ended a streak of 10 consecutive winless starts with his first victory since last Aug. 28, also against Colorado and left-hander Franklin Morales. Cain allowed only four hits but walked five, which prompted his relatively early exit with a pitch count of 108.

"I was just a little erratic," Cain said. "I couldn't keep it honed in."

He was effective enough to improve to 6-3 with a 2.89 ERA lifetime against Colorado, the reigning National League champions who have lost four in a row.

Explaining his success against the Rockies, Cain said, "They're always swinging the bats well, it seems. I try to take some of their aggressiveness and turn it around. It seems to be working so far."

"He was throwing his fastball down in the zone, away, working his offspeed pitches in there," Rockies third baseman Garrett Atkins said.

Cain, who had received no more than one run in 17 of his previous 37 starts since the start of the last season, left the game with a 4-0 lead as Morales (1-2) yielded two runs in the first and fifth innings.

Emmanuel Burriss opened the first-inning uprising with a bunt single. He advanced to second base on a balk -- which prompted Colorado manager Clint Hurdle to be ejected for arguing -- and scored on Ray Durham's bloop single. Durham stole second and scored on Aaron Rowand's two-out single.

The Giants collected five walks to fuel their other rally. Morales walked the bases loaded and was pulled for Kip Wells, who issued free passes to Rowand and Rich Aurilia to force in runs.
Cain disappeared after Atkins doubled and Brad Hawpe walked with one out in the sixth. Vinnie Chulk relieved Cain and ended the threat by retiring Troy Tulowitzki on a fly ball and striking out Jeff Baker. Chulk's escape improved the Giants' percentage of stranding inherited runners to 90.6 (48 of 53), second to Tampa Bay.

"It's nice to see guys in the bullpen come in and stay locked in just as well," Cain said.

The game was delayed for two minutes in the bottom of the seventh inning, at 9:53 p.m. PT, due to a power outage that affected the area around AT&T Park. The Giants' running game wasn't short-circuited, however. They amassed four stolen bases to increase their total to 31, another Major League high and the most in the season's opening month by a Giants team since the franchise moved west in 1958.

Giants send Zito to the bullpen

Magowan: A move 'that had to be made'

Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews

Barry Zito is no longer the highest-paid starting pitcher in the major leagues.
He's the highest-paid reliever.

In an anticipated but still stunning move, the Giants demoted their $126 million opening-day starter to the bullpen Monday. Left-hander Pat Misch will replace Zito, at least temporarily, in the rotation; Zito will be available to pitch in relief when the Giants begin a series at Philadelphia on Friday, Manager Bruce Bochy said.

With Zito just more than one season into his record-setting seven-year contract, the Giants still owe him about $112.5 million guaranteed.

"I'm obviously very disappointed," Giants owner Peter Magowan said. "Barry is too. Neither one of us signed up for this, frankly, and we both know it."

Apprised of Magowan's disappointment, Zito shrugged.

"Yeah, and the sky's blue," he said.

After giving up eight runs in three innings to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday, Zito is 0-6 with a 7.53 ERA in six starts; he has not missed a turn over his eight major league seasons, a streak that will end at 261 starts.

Bochy made the decision to demote Zito after weeklong discussions with General Manager Brian Sabean and the coaching staff. Magowan said he consulted with Sabean and Bochy and that the move had his "full support."

"I mean, we've got to do something," Magowan said. "We can't just go on (as if) five days from now things are all of a sudden going to be different. I know it's got to be significant for Barry. This will be the first start he's missed, I guess, since he was 12 years old. So it's clearly significant.

"But it's a significant problem and we've got to try to work through it. We still believe that we can. We want to support him. He's a great guy. Nobody wants to see him succeed, other than him, more than the organization does. But I think it was the move that had to be made."

Bochy said he hoped it would be a short-term demotion. Zito said he knows it will be.

"Oh yeah," Zito said. "I know it's fun to run with stories, 'Oh, is Zito done?' Whatever you guys have got to say, go say it. But from my standpoint, this is a bump in the road. It's a big bump. . . . There hasn't been the kind of scrutiny around it because of the market or the contract, but I've gone through these things before."

April struggles have been as predictable as tulips for Zito. With the A's, he had a 6.83 ERA in April 2004, a 6.60 ERA in April '05 and a 5.93 ERA in April '06.
Zito is fighting a little harder now as he pitches with a fastball that tops out at 85 mph. He cannot throw as effectively up in the zone, which lessens the effect of his big, breaking curveball. And there is less of a gap between his fastball and change-up velocity.

But Zito said he doesn't see the radar gun as his undoing.

"I showed the last 10 starts (in 2007) that with the stuff I've got, I can go out and be one of the top pitchers in the league," Zito said. "It's not about stuff, not about velocity. It's about attacking the strike zone and being aggressive."

The Giants are idle two of the next seven days and will go with a four-man rotation, Bochy said. They'll need a fifth starter again May 10.

Noah Lowry, currently on the disabled list, will not be ready by then. The left-hander is dealing with an elbow setback in his recovery from forearm surgery and still hasn't thrown off a mound.

Bochy would not say whether he is targeting May 10 for Zito's return to the rotation.

"It's happened to a lot of great players, great pitchers," Bochy said. "I just feel at this point it's best for him to sit back."

Zito will use the next few days to throw on the side with pitching coach Dave Righetti, Bochy said. He will be available mostly as a long reliever Friday.

Zito, the 2002 American League Cy Young Award winner, had never lost six consecutive decisions in his career, let alone taken defeats in six straight starts. He has allowed 41 hits in 28 2/3 innings and his ERA is the highest over any six-start stretch in his career.

"I'm certainly not happy with it, by any means," said Zito, who didn't attempt to persuade Bochy to reconsider. "This is the bed that I've made. I have to lay in it for the time being and I have to overcome."

Zito said he would not use the time to tinker, saying his problems have not been mechanical.

"It's just a good time to take a hard look at the way I've been approaching things," Zito said. "Sometimes in life you know you have to make a change . . . and for whatever reason you're stubborn. Life sometimes throws you on your ass in order for you to take a good hard look in the mirror."

GIANTS Embarrassment-Pounded 10-1

Zito Zapped Again

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION TO THE ZITO DILEMMA?

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Many times over the course of a season, manager Bruce Bochy shuts his office door and discusses critical issues with his coaching staff and general manager Brian Sabean. As soon as today, Bochy will preside over what could be the most important confab in his season-plus as manager.

The central question: Do the Giants continue to let Barry Zito get his brains beaten every time he takes the mound, or do they take what certainly will be an embarrassing public-relations hit and remove their $126 million pitcher from the rotation and try to get him right?

"We're going to get together here," Bochy said. "We've got to do something different. There's no doubt about that. We can't keep doing what we're doing. We need to get together and get a game plan on what we think is best."

That meeting will be a direct result of Zito's awful three innings in a 10-1 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. He threw 39 pitches in a six-run first. Although he was hurt by flimsy defense, Zito nonetheless seemed almost incapable of getting an out.

He became the third major-league pitcher in the last 52 years to fall to 0-6 before May 1, Dave Stewart (1984) and Mike Maroth (2003) being the others. His ERA stands at 7.53.

Bochy has two options. He can skip Zito's next scheduled turn at hitter-friendly Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia or make Zito a very expensive long reliever.

Asked about Zito in the bullpen, Bochy said, "That's an option. Sure."

If he Giants wanted to send Zito to the bullpen and still keep a five-man rotation, they could turn to Pat Misch, who came up from Triple-A Fresno to replace the injured Kevin Correia and pitched the final six innings to save a bullpen that had to get 26 of 27 outs after Correia got hurt Friday night. Misch allowed two runs, both on Brandon Phillips solo homers, but did what Zito cannot do - throw strikes.

Such a move doubtlessly would shatter Zito, who has made 261 starts without missing one. However, he is not in a position to argue if that is what the brass chooses to do.

"Obviously it's hurting the team right now," Zito said. "It's not a good place to be personally, but those guys make the decisions and we always trust what they want us to do. They know how to manage teams and ballclubs. I've brought it on myself. It's not they're acting rash in a situation that wouldn't call for it."

Zito believes his problems stem from not pitching aggressively. He clearly has a bigger problem. He simply cannot throw the ball where the catcher wants it to go.

"He seems to be falling behind a lot of guys," said Randy Winn, who faced Zito at the pitcher's best in the American League. "I remember when I faced him, I felt I had to swing because he pounded the strike zone."

At the same time, Winn said, the defense has been especially spotty behind Zito this year.

All of the above was clear Sunday as Zito walked Jerry Hairston Jr. to start the game, allowed a Corey Patterson single and walked Jeff Keppinger to load the bases. He worked the count full to Phillips, and as he readied his 3-2 pitch a crowd of 39,050 cheered in encouragement. Zito made the pitch he wanted, getting Phillips to pop up to short right field.

Second baseman Eugenio Velez went back on a ball Winn admitted he should have called for. The ball ticked off Velez's glove, and he kicked it when it hit the ground. A run scored. After Edwin Encarnacion popped out, Joey Votto singled to right and two runs scored as Winn batted the ball not once, but twice.

The rest was all on Zito: a two-run Ryan Freel single and Paul Bako's RBI triple to cap the six-run first, and single runs in the second and third.

There is one lifeline for Zito-watchers. He always pitches badly in April. Sunday marked his fourth career start with eight or more runs allowed, all coming in April. Even when he went 23-5 with a 2.75 ERA to win the 2002 Cy Young Award, he was 1-2, 4.81 in April.

"I think this is a bump in the road like any other. It might be a little bigger bump," said Zito, who declared himself ready to fight for another turnaround.

"I definitely want the ball. I'm not backing down from that," he said. "'Screw it' is not an option. You can't do that in life. You can't just give in. I know what I can do, I know what I've come from and I know what I've done in the past. Those are things you know you have inside of you."

Giants start producing runs, but pitching fails

GIANTS LOSE 10-9...Comeback falls short

John Shea - San Francisco Chronicle

The merriment on the mound, which lasted three straight games for Giants starters, ended in a hurry Saturday night. After Matt Cain, Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez pitched consecutive gems, Kevin Correia lasted only nine pitches.

Correia flinched on pitch No. 9 and gingerly walked off the mound, favoring his left side. He was pulled from the game and diagnosed with an oblique strain, an injury that has been known to shelf players for several weeks, though no initial timetable was available. He was to have an MRI exam late Saturday.

In Correia's absence, manager Bruce Bochy emptied much of his bullpen, but the relievers were unable to prevent a steady stream of Reds rallies, and the Giants (despite scoring four runs in the ninth) fell 10-9 to lose their brief grip on second place, where they lingered for the first time since May 5, 2007.

In the previous three games, starters gave up two runs in 211/3 innings. The Giants won them all despite scoring just seven times. Saturday, the Giants reached a season high in runs and received home runs from Fred Lewis - the Giants' first bay shot since Barry Bonds' on Aug. 8 - and Rich Aurilia, his second in three games.

But six pitchers gave up 14 hits, seven for extra bases, and that's tough to beat.

"We went through the pen pretty good today. We may have to adjust. We'll see," Bochy said.

Will the Giants add another pitcher? Looking ahead, if Correia's absence is prolonged, they don't need a replacement starter until May 10 because of upcoming off days. So a four-man rotation can be used, if necessary, for the next two weeks. Barry Zito, who's looking not to extend his record to 0-6, will start today's series finale and would do the bullpen a favor by pitching a lot of innings.

Brad Hennessey replaced Correia and gave up three runs, as did Keiichi Yabu and Jack Taschner. "I'm getting ready to watch the game, and all of a sudden, they call for you," Hennessey said. "You've got to be ready all the time, I guess."

Lewis opened the fifth inning by smashing Matt Belisle's first pitch into McCovey Cove, the 46th time a Giant reached the water on the fly. Bonds pulled 35 of them, and it was anyone's guess when, or if, someone on the 2008 roster would create a splash. Lewis did it in the Giants' 12th home game.

He also tripled (with an assist from left fielder Adam Dunn, who probably should have caught the ball) and singled. Needing a double to complete his second career cycle, he drew a walk in the ninth and scored on Eugenio Velez's two-run triple.

"Being the first out of the rookies (to reach McCovey Cove), I was happy I got it out of the way," Lewis said. "All the young guys were talking about who'd be the first to hit it. Boom, there it was. I never even did it in batting practice."

Lewis grew up a fan of Ken Griffey Jr. and has noticed his game accelerate in Junior's presence. Lewis hit a grand slam last year in Cincinnati, over Griffey's head, just like Saturday's homer.

"Just being on the field today and yesterday with Griffey, I was very excited," Lewis said. "I met him for the first time last year, and when I'm on the field with him, I try to do my best."

In the ninth, Steve Holm and Jose Castillo opened with doubles. After Lewis walked, closer Francisco Cordero was summoned for his third save opportunity, and Velez tripled to make the score 10-8. Randy Winn bounced out to score Velez, but Cordero retired Daniel Ortmeier on a grounder and struck out Ray Durham to end it.

Mound over matter

Sanchez latest pitcher to lift Giants hitters

Steve Kroner - San Francisco Chronicle

Based on their last three games, all wins, the Giants might consider this for a team slogan:

"With our pitching, who needs to score a lot of runs?"

Jonathan Sanchez handled the Reds on Friday evening much the way Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum had shut down the Padres the previous two nights. Sanchez lost his shutout bid when pinch-hitter Brandon Phillips homered to lead off the ninth, but Sanchez still earned his second win in the Giants' 3-1 decision.

Ryan Freel followed Phillips' homer with a single, ending Sanchez's outing. Brian Wilson got the final three outs for his eighth save and third in three nights.

Sanchez allowed four hits in eight-plus innings and tied his career high of 10 strikeouts that he set against San Diego on April 9. In the previous two seasons, the left-hander made only eight starts in 60 appearances. He said he feels much more comfortable knowing he's in the rotation.

"I'm where I belong," is how Sanchez put it.

"He hasn't realized how good he can be," manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's got great stuff. He throws hard. He has a good changeup and curveball. If he locates, he's going to have success."

Sanchez had plenty of success against the Reds, but he didn't have his changeup. During Thursday night's game at San Diego, Eugenio Velez lined a foul ball into the Giants' dugout. The ball hit Sanchez on the ring finger of his pitching hand. When he threw his lone changeup Friday evening, Sanchez thought the finger injury was hampering him, so he scrapped that pitch for the rest of the night.

The Giants have scored seven runs in their three-game winning streak. But with 3-2 (in 13 innings) and 1-0 victories in San Diego preceding Friday night's win, you can say they're doing the most with the least.

Bochy attributed some of the Giants' offensive struggles to the starters they've faced.

"You go against (Greg) Maddux, then Chris Young and then (Aaron) Harang," Bochy said, "you need your guy to go out there and put zeros up."

Harang and Sanchez matched zeros until the fourth. With one out, Velez poked a double down the left-field line. With two outs, Bengie Molina jolted a Harang pitch into right-center. Freel made a diving attempt, but the ball got by him and rolled to the wall. Velez, one of the fastest men in baseball, cruised home with the game's first run. Molina, not one of the fastest men in baseball, turned a sure triple into a double.

Molina also delivered a sacrifice fly in the Giants' two-run eighth. He leads the team with 16 RBIs.

Sanchez faced the minimum through 52/3 innings, including striking out the side in the third. He retired 16 men in a row before Harang hit a two-out double to left-center in the sixth. Sanchez stranded Harang at second by fanning Freel on a 92 mph high-and-away fastball. That gave Sanchez another inning of striking out the side.

The Giants have won Sanchez's last four starts, but he lasted only five innings in Sunday's 8-2 rout at St. Louis because he walked four hitters. Sanchez issued only one free pass to the Reds.

"He was so much more consistent with his delivery tonight," Bochy said.

Before many of the 34,657 fans at China Basin had reached their seats, the Giants had put together a fine defensive play. After Freel led off the game with a single, Jerry Hairston, Jr. dropped a bunt down the third-base line. Rich Aurilia charged the ball and threw out Hairston at first.

Freel, seeing third base momentarily unoccupied, made a big turn past second. First baseman John Bowker noticed Freel was vulnerable and fired to shortstop Brian Bocock, whose between-the-legs tag with his body facing right-center completed the 5-3-6 double play.

Hard to repeat

The Giants won 1-0 on Thursday and led 3-0 going into the 9th on Friday before the Reds' ended Jonathan Sanchez's shutout bid. The last time the Giants had consecutive shutouts was Aug. 19-20, 2002 when they beat the Marlins 3-0 and the Mets 1-0.

Pitcher with the Midas touch

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

The mind sometimes wanders in a scoreless game. As the Giants and Padres traded zeroes, one wondered how many Tim Lincecums could fit into one Chris Young.

Seriously, San Diego's 6-10, 275-pound pitcher looks like an aircraft carrier standing on its bow. Lincecum dare not walk over to say hello lest Young inhale too hard and ingest Lincecum through his nose.

In baseball terms, Lincecum was the bigger man Thursday night. He struck out nine batters in 61/3 innings to capture the major-league lead, at 36, and did not make the killer mistake that Young did. In the seventh inning, a badly slumping Rich Aurilia slammed a 3-2 fastball from the Pads' starter into the left-field seats for his first extra-base hit of the season and the only run in a 1-0 Giants victory.

San Francisco won its 10th game; Lincecum has worked in half of those. In fact, the Giants are 5-0 in Lincecum's games and 5-13 in the others. He threw a career-high 121 pitches and ran his scoreless streak to 162/3 innings, the longest in the majors this season.

"That's cool," Lincecum said. "Hopefully I can keep that going. Keep not telling me. It's easier not to think about it."

Thinking about playing in San Diego was very painful for the Giants last season. They were 1-8 here and 4-14 against the Padres overall. This year, they stand 4-1 against manager Bruce Bochy's old team and swept the two games here after losing twice in Arizona. Throw in a series win in St. Louis, and the Giants completed their first winning trip since August at 4-3.

That is not cause for getting rings made, but for a team expected to go nowhere, it's a nice step.
"Coming here and facing a great pitching staff, facing two great pitchers like (Greg) Maddux and Young, and coming away with two wins, that's a great road trip," said Bochy, who can feel a little prouder as he walks the dog near his suburban San Diego home.

The Giants had one hit against Young when Aurilia batted with one out in the seventh inning. Aurilia's batting average was .186. His slugging percentage was .186, too. He had struck out in each of his first two at-bats.

"I actually felt I had some really good swings against him, except for the one strikeout on a pitch over my head," Aurilia said.

Just before the climactic moment, Bochy turned to hitting coach Carney Lansford and said, "This would be a great time for him to pop one here." When the count reached 3-2, Aurilia expected another high fastball from the ginormous pitcher and guessed right.

"I'm glad it was a timely hit because Timmy pitched a great ballgame," Aurilia said. "There were a lot of times last year when we had games like that and the starter got no decision or a loss."

Um, Richie, you still have a pitcher like that. Big guy from Tennessee, name of Matt Cain.

While Cain continues to be snakebit, Lincecum is King Midas. When he pitches, the Giants turn to gold. On Thursday, it looked as easy for him as 1.23, his new ERA. Lincecum came out smoking, striking out Brian Giles with a fastball that registered 98 mph on the stadium gun.
"When he starts throwing his breaking balls and changeups for strikes," Giles said, "he's as nasty as anyone in this league."
Lincecum allowed four hits and walked five but faced real jeopardy only at the end of his night, when the Padres put two runners aboard with one out in the seventh.
Jack Taschner relieved him and walked Giles to load the bases, but he escaped by getting Scott Hairston to pop up and Adrian Gonzalez to ground out. Vinnie Chulk worked the eighth and Brian Wilson earned his seventh save in eight chances to complete a trip that left the Giants in the same position as their hottest pitcher.
Like Lincecum, the Giants are small in stature but, at least on some nights, are capable of doing very big things.

Aurilia's bat, Lincecum's arm lift Giants

Solo homer the difference in pitchers' duel vs. Padres

Chris Haft - MLB.com
Rich Aurilia homered to generate Thursday night's only meaningful offense while Tim Lincecum pitched 6 1/3 impressive innings to help the Giants outlast the San Diego Padres, 1-0.

The Giants completed a two-game sweep of San Diego to finish 4-3 on their three-city trip. San Francisco is 4-1 this season against the Padres, who posted a 14-4 record against them last year, including 8-1 at PETCO Park.

San Francisco moved only two runners as far as second base in the first six innings against San Diego starter Chris Young (1-2), who struck out 10. But with one out in the seventh inning, Aurilia shattered a scoreless tie by driving a high 3-2 fastball into the left-field seats. Not only was it Aurilia's first homer of the season, but it also was the first run he has scored this year. It also was the first homer by a San Francisco corner infielder.

Lincecum (4-0) struck out nine while extending his streak of scoreless innings to 16 2/3, longest in the Major Leagues this year. The right-hander, who allowed four hits and walked five, left the game after yielding pinch-hitter Tony Clark's one-out single in the seventh inning with Tadahito Iguchi on first base. Jack Taschner relieved Lincecum and walked Brian Giles, the first batter he faced, to load the bases. But Taschner retired pinch-hitter Scott Hairston and Adrian Gonzalez to end the threat. Taschner has stranded all 12 baserunners he has inherited this year.

Vinnie Chulk pitched the eighth inning and Brian Wilson notched his seventh save in eight chances to preserve the Giants' third shutout.

Giants win 3-2 in 13 innings

GIANTS SCORE TWO IN 13TH INNING, HOLD OFF PADRES FOR VICTORY

Andrew Baggarly - Mercury News

Matt Cain's luck. Greg Maddux throwing Whiffle balls. Petco Park. A fallible bullpen. A tired, aged roster.

When these things aligned last season, and they did often, it meant an agonizing loss for the Giants followed by shouts of frustration echoing off the walls of the manager's office.

Bruce Bochy had it all Wednesday night, except for a few more kids on the roster and more reliable arms in the bullpen. And the outcome was different, a 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres in 13 innings at Petco Park.

Who said the Giants would be a boring team this season?

They felt exhilaration in the chilly marine air of Petco Park. With one swing, Bengie Molina wrecked Maddux's potential 350th victory, rescued Cain from another undeserved loss and heaped a blown save upon all-time leader Trevor Hoffman. He golfed a tying home run with one out in the ninth inning.

Then the Giants made the most of their extra life. Emmanuel Burriss doubled for his second major league hit and scored the tiebreaking run on Fred Lewis' bloop single in the top of the 13th. Aaron Rowand added a run-scoring single for an insurance run that proved vital.

That's because closer Brian Wilson loaded the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the 13th. Colt Morton lined a sacrifice fly that Rowand caught on a dead sprint in center field, making it a one-run game. But with the bases loaded again, Tadahito Iguchi grounded into a forceout to end it. was a victory that held special satisfaction, considering all the wounds the Giants suffered at Petco Park last year. They lost eight of nine in the Padres' home park, five of the defeats were by one run and two of those came on walk-off home runs.

"Any time we had games like this last year, we had a tough time," Bochy said. "But these guys fought. I'm so proud of them."

Last season, the Giants were 4-16 in games tied after eight innings. They were 6-15 in extra-inning games. Some of that was due to an older roster; their best player, Barry Bonds, was usually on the seven-inning program - long gone when games were on the line.

"I wasn't here last year, but some of our guys said we didn't fight to win these close games," Rowand said. "This team, it doesn't ever stop fighting, doesn't ever stop battling."

Before their 13th-inning rally, the Giants had scored just two runs over a 30-inning span at Petco Park, dating to last season.

It was the Padres' first game at Petco since the April 17 marathon between the Padres and Rockies, which Colorado won in the 22nd inning - the longest major league game in almost 15 years.

After Molina's homer sent the game to extras, you had the feeling both teams were just settling in.

The Giants were 0-for-10 with runners in scoring position before Lewis' looping fly ball bounced in shallow center field. Burriss didn't get a great read on the ball, but had enough speed to slide underneath catcher Josh Bard's tag.

Burriss also had the pleasure of gloving Iguchi's grounder and throwing to second baseman Ray Durham for the final out.

"One thing I'll say about young players, they just keep pushing," Bochy said. "They don't have a tendency to start tiring at the end of the game."

The Giants also have a stronger bullpen. Four relievers combined for five shutout innings before Wilson entered.

Maddux held the Giants to four hits over seven briskly paced shutout innings, frustrating Cain yet again. He threw just 74 pitches and had his 350th career victory in hand until Hoffman threw a 1-2 change-up that Molina dug out and belted into the left field stands.

If Barry Zito needed reassurance that he can succeed without lighting up radar guns, it was neatly laid out in front of him. Maddux's fastball topped out at 83 mph, he didn't throw more than 14 pitches in an inning and the Giants didn't have an at-bat that lasted longer than six pitches.

Cain was nearly as efficient. But Maddux scattered his four hits over four innings, while Cain gave up four of his five to consecutive batters in the fifth. Brian Giles hit a chin-level fastball to drive in a run.

After giving up a career-high nine earned runs in his previous start, Cain didn't mess around. Of his 98 pitches, 84 were fastballs and most of them blazed at 95 mph on the stadium radar board.
But he is a doomed soul here in San Diego. He has a 1.63 ERA in six career starts at Petco Park, but just a 1-2 record to show for it. Last year, Cain had a 2.41 ERA in six starts against the Padres but was 0-3.

Several of Cain's losses have come against Maddux, whom the Giants haven't beaten since 2003. He has been untouchable in eight starts since he rejoined the NL West in the middle of the 2006 season: 5-0 with a 1.82 ERA, three walks and 37 strikeouts in 54 1/3 innings.

The Padres went into the dusty pages of the record book to figure out that Maddux's career ERA against the Giants (2.80) is the lowest among all eight major league pitchers who have made at least 50 starts against the franchise since 1883.

The list includes Don Drysdale (2.92), Bob Gibson (2.99), Phil Niekro (3.07), Steve Carlton (3.20), Warren Spahn (3.23), Larry Jackson (3.33) and Don Sutton (3.78).

Sandy Koufax isn't included because he only made 46 appearances against the Giants (33 starts). But Koufax's 3.08 ERA against the Giants doesn't beat Maddux, either.

It

Zito lets down Giants again

Staked to 3-0 lead, lefty falls to 0-5 for season

Henry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Someone would need Superman's vision to see the light at the end of the Barry Zito tunnel.

Granted, it is a long tunnel. Zito has another five years plus 30 starts to get it right. But as he fell to 0-5 for the season and 11-18 overall in the Giants' 5-4 loss to Arizona on Tuesday night, it was difficult to watch him waste an early 3-0 lead and believe he is one good effort or one mechanical tweak from starting to earn his hefty paycheck.

The Giants scored three runs for Zito in the first two innings against Brandon Webb, a Herculean effort against one of the National League's most miserly pitchers. By the fourth, that lead was gone, and so was Zito.

Manager Bruce Bochy was not a happy man after this loss, for many reasons. The Giants were 2-for-15 with runners in scoring position and he was ejected in the seventh inning after arguing a call that appeared by be blown by the umpires. But it was clear that Bochy was not happy with Zito's performance after the lefty was staked to such a generous lead.

In one of those "I better not say what I'm really thinking" quotes, Bochy responded to a question about Zito by saying, with lips clenched, "It was not a good night, not a good outing for him. I'll leave it at that."

Zito was not happy either. Nor did he make any excuses.

"We came out and we capitalized on Webb's mistakes," he said. "They gave me a lead of 3-0, and I feel like s -. I let them back in the game. I gave them two runs in a shutdown inning, and then I went out in the fourth and gave up a hit to Webb."

Ah, yes. Webb. The pitcher who batted .095 last season yet twice in seven days crushed Zito with a clutch, two-out hit.

The Giants led 3-2 in the fourth when Webb lined the first pitch into the gap in left-center for a two-run double. Eric Byrnes added a single that scored Webb for a 5-3 Arizona lead. Bochy emerged to argue the call at home. When he returned to the dugout, Zito went with him, his ERA up to 5.61 and destined for the first five-game losing streak of his career.

Zito has been around long enough to know that just as a team can feel extremely confident with a hot pitcher on the mound, a team can lose confidence in a pitcher who consistently struggles. He acknowledged he let down his teammates Tuesday and begged them to "stick with me, because I'm going to get myself out of this. That's what a team does. It picks up guys who scuffle. They're all great guys and I know they're going to do that."

When Randy Winn was asked about the team losing confidence in Zito, he said, "I think that's a little strong. I think he would say he hasn't pitched the way he's capable of. But if we get a few breaks today, a few bounces go differently, and we could have had a different outcome."

Winn is right. The Giants outhit Arizona 13-6 but did not get enough hits at the right time.

Two events loomed large in a one-run loss. First, the Giants squandered a two-on, no-out rally in the third inning when they could have buried Webb. In the seventh, Jose Castillo was thrown out at first by a tenth of a second to end the inning, preventing Bengie Molina from scoring.

Molina had doubled after he hit a chopper that was ruled foul even though it appeared to tick off third baseman Mark Reynolds' glove as he stood in fair territory. That was the call that got Bochy boiling - and tossed for the first time in 2008.

Molina had three hits, as did Fred Lewis, who singled and scored the Giants' first-inning run, then singled home one of two runs in the second inning. Winn also had an RBI hit in the inning.

Emmanuel Burris hit an infield single in the eighth off Tony Peña for his first big-league hit and scored on Lewis' double, closing the gap to 5-4. Molina added a leadoff single in the ninth against closer Brandon Lyon, who retired the next three hitters.

Arizona swept the two-game series and improved to 4-1 against the Giants, who next try their luck behind Matt Cain against Greg Maddux in San Diego tonight. They have not beaten Maddux in nearly five years.

Giants bullpen keeping up its end of bargain

Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews
It doesn't show up on the back of their baseball cards, but few statistics are as important to Giants relievers as stranding inherited runners.

After doing a miserable job last season, the bullpen has been a champ at cleaning up messes this year. Giants relievers have stranded 35 of 39 inherited runners; their 89.7 percent rate is the second-best among National League bullpens.

The Diamondbacks rank first, having stranded all 10 of their inherited runners. But Giants have been much busier. Their 39 inherited runners are the third most in the majors, behind Boston (43) and Florida (41).

"For those of us that may never get a chance to be a closer, that's the role we want," said left-hander Jack Taschner, who has stranded all 10 of his inherited runners. "It's my favorite role and I hope it's one I continue to have because you get that satisfaction of picking up your teammates. It's a big part of what I believe in."

Said right-hander Tyler Walker, who is 7-for-7: "Even if you're losing bad, those runners belong to someone else and they affect his numbers. So it's always a point of pride."

Last year, the Giants stranded just 61.1 percent of inherited runners, the worst mark in the NL and better than only the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in the majors.

What's the difference? Aside from the obvious things like pitch execution, Walker said the bullpen's settled roles allow relievers to plot out each inning. By getting plenty of notice on who they'll be facing, they can visualize a plan of attack.

"We're doing a good job of that," Walker said. "When the phone rings, the guy they want is already up and stretched out. The preparation is definitely important."

Manager Bruce Bochy agreed, saying the bullpen has taken shape quickly - especially compared to the five months he needed to shake out roles last year.

"Really, there's not a weak link now," Bochy said.

• Matt Cain will start today after allowing a career-high nine earned runs in his previous outing. He'll oppose the San Diego Padres' Greg Maddux, who allowed a career-high nine earned runs in his previous start, too.

According to the Elias Sports Bureau, it's the first time two major league pitchers will match up after allowing at least nine runs in their previous start since June 4, 2001, when the Cardinals' Andy Benes faced the Reds' Osvaldo Fernandez. (The Cards won behind Benes, 5-2.)

• Shortstop Omar Vizquel remains stalled with a bone bruise in his surgically repaired left knee. It could be two days or five before he can start playing in extended spring games, Bochy said. His return to the active roster is at least two weeks away.

"It could be longer," he said. "We really don't know."

In the clutch, Giants fail to come through

LEWIS ENDS LEFT FIELDERS' HOME RUN DROUGHT

Andrew Baggarly - MercuryNews

The Giants moved one step further from the Barry Bonds era Monday, when Fred Lewis hit a home run at Chase Field. It was the first homer by a Giants left fielder since Bonds' 762nd and final longball last season.

But the Giants still don't have anything close to Bonds' imposing presence in the lineup, and they couldn't find the clutch hit they needed in a 4-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Lewis, who lined his solo shot in the third inning, killed a rally when he grounded into a double play in the seventh.

And Eugenio Velez committed a grave sin leading off the eighth when he was thrown out trying to stretch a double into a triple. Replays appeared to show Velez was safe, but third-base umpire Bob Davidson ruled otherwise and the Giants weren't able to bring the tying run to the plate.
"Just a young mistake," said Giants Manager Bruce Bochy, who no longer presides over a veteran-heavy roster built around Bonds.

The Giants had one last chance in the ninth after Jose Castillo hit a two-out single. But pinch hitter Rich Aurilia took a called breaking ball from closer Brandon Lyon and the Diamondbacks improved their major league-best record to 14-5.

The Giants were held to two runs or fewer for the 10th time in 20 games.

Aside from Velez, Giants pinch hitters are 0 for 28. Velez is 3 for 5 off the bench.

That's where Velez found himself last weekend in St. Louis, where Bochy opted for Ray Durham at second base. Bochy wanted to give Velez a mental break after the rookie began overthinking his approach at the plate.

Velez had plenty to contemplate after Monday's loss. He sat at his locker in full uniform for several minutes, his head cast downward.

"That situation, I have to stop at second base," Velez said. "I was safe before he tagged me, but if the umpire calls me out, that's out."

Bochy said "there was no stopping him. Everyone in the dugout was yelling, 'No, no!' He made up his mind he was going for it."

Bochy said he would wait until today to take aside Velez for a talk.

It wasn't all bad for Velez. He helped Kevin Correia out of a bases-loaded jam in the third when he made a knee-skidding stop to his left of Conor Jackson's drive, then delivered the ball quickly to shortstop Emmanuel Burriss.

Burriss, who was making his first career start, showed his athleticism by making a nice turn and throw.

Correia held a scary-hot lineup to three runs over six innings, but again had trouble keeping the ball in the yard. Eric Byrnes hit a two-run homer in the fifth inning to erase the Giants' one-run lead. Correia also gave up a solo shot to Mark Reynolds in the second inning.

"Seems like every run I've given up has been on a home run," Correia said.

Almost. Correia has allowed five homers in 25 2/3 innings, accounting for seven of the 12 runs against him.

Giants left fielders had not homered in 151 at-bats since Bonds connected on a 99 mph fastball from Colorado's Ubaldo Jimenez on Sept. 5 at Coors Field.

Technically, Lewis almost became the first Giant to hit a splash homer this year. He hit the first pitch from Micah Owings over the right-field fence where a fan deflected it in front of the swimming pool party section.

The Giants had more chances against Owings than they did a week ago at AT&T Park. But Bengie Molina couldn't score the tying run from first base on Aaron Rowand's two-out double in the sixth, and John Bowker lined out to strand two.

Burriss didn't get his first hit, but he made hard contact on the first pitch he saw, hitting a one-hopper to shortstop Stephen Drew that resulted in a fielder's choice. Burriss also was hit by a pitch and grounded out on a too-firm bunt attempt to the right side.

GIANTS thrash Cards 8-2...Win first series of 2008

Offensive outburst gives Giants series
Giants pass Dodgers in Standings...leave cellar


Molina tallies three hits, three RBIs; Bowker slugs third homer
Nate Latsch - Special to MLB.com

The San Francisco Giants arrived in St. Louis with a two-game losing streak and will leave with a two-game winning streak.

Every player in the starting lineup had a hit Sunday, led by catcher Bengie Molina's three hits and three RBIs, and starter Jonathan Sanchez tossed five scoreless innings as the Giants defeated the Cardinals, 8-2, at Busch Stadium.

"We were playing a very good ballclub here that's been hot," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "To come on the road and take a series here, yeah, that's great for the club, especially after the last road trip. And it's a great way to start the road trip."

San Francisco, which won the season series with St. Louis four games to three, improved to 8-11 on the season and will now head to Arizona for a two-game series. St. Louis fell to 12-7.

"Any time you win against the Cardinals and that type of team, it's great," Molina said. "It doesn't matter how you win. It matters that you came out with two out of three against the Cardinals. It's a big win for us. It gives us a lot of confidence to go out to Arizona."

The Giants' first inning was a sign of things to come Sunday. Fred Lewis, Jose Castillo, Ray Durham, Molina and Aaron Rowand all put the bat on the ball against Cardinals right-hander Braden Looper -- even though they left Molina and Durham stranded on base.

"I told Carney [hitting coach Lansford], this is a good start," Bochy said. "The guys are taking some good swings. We didn't have anything to show for it, but we came out swinging and had some hard outs there."

"In the first inning we didn't score any runs, but we squared up five balls against him and he's been throwing the ball really, really well," Rowand said. "We came out in the first inning and hit five balls on the screws on the barrel and ended up not getting any runs. But I think that was a confidence builder and we felt like we had a shot to get to him today."

The Giants erupted for six runs in the third inning, with six consecutive hits against Looper. Lewis and Castillo started it off with back-to-back singles. Then Durham hit an RBI double and Molina followed with a two-run double. After Rowand's RBI single, rookie right fielder John Bowker blasted a two-run home run 412 feet into the right-field seats.

"We came in here playing a hot team," Bochy said. "They can put some runs on the board. Bengie's [double], it just seemed like it got contagious then with his big hit. Bowker's just makes things a little more comfortable."

It was the third home run in 19 at-bats for Bowker, who also has nine RBIs in his first seven games in the Major Leagues. After going 1-for-5, he is now hitting .364.
"It's good to come out swinging the bat well because you know how the season goes," Bowker said. "You go through your ups and downs, so it's good to come out swinging well."

The Giants added two runs in the fourth after chasing Looper. Molina had an RBI single and Rowand followed with an RBI single.

Sanchez (1-1) shut out St. Louis for five innings to earn his first victory as a starter since Sept. 6, 2006, at Cincinnati, which was also his first Major League win. The lefty allowed two hits, struck out five and walked four. He threw 101 pitches, with 59 strikes, and labored to get through five innings.

"I think Sanchez did very, very good, actually," Molina said. "He was moving his ball. He was having that sinker moving a lot today. Obviously he got tired, I think, towards the fifth inning. Other than that, he pitched great."

The Giants' bullpen closed out the final four innings. Keiichi Yabu didn't allow a hit in the sixth or seventh. Merkin Valdez struck out two of the three batters he faced in the eighth.

Vinnie Chulk, making his second appearance since coming off the disabled list, struggled in the ninth. He surrendered four hits, including three doubles. Troy Glaus and Rico Washington both hit RBI doubles to snap the shutout and break the Giants' run of 17 consecutive shutout innings this weekend.

"The pitching did a great job the last couple of days," Bochy said.

GIANTS shut out Cardinals 3-0

Lincecum's winning groove continues
Starter tallies seven shutout innings; Rowand blasts first homer

Nate Latsch - Special to MLB.com

The St. Louis Cardinals will be happy not to see Tim Lincecum again for the rest of the season.

The San Francisco Giants right-hander struck out 11 Cardinals in his last start and on Saturday afternoon tossed seven shutout innings against St. Louis as the Giants defeated the Cardinals, 3-0, at Busch Stadium.

"He really pitched well," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He used all his pitches today very well. He did a great job getting out of jams. He pitched very well in traffic today. He had to go through some tough hitters at times. Seven shutout innings against this ballclub is very good. It's an impressive job."
San Francisco (7-11) snapped a three-game losing streak.

"When Timmy's throwing, the way he competes, he just picks up the ballclub," Bochy said. "We needed somebody to stop the skid we were in and that's what it takes, somebody to go out on the mound and pitch the way he did."

In his last start, against the Cardinals on Sunday, Lincecum struck out 11 in six innings as he allowed two runs on six hits.

On Saturday, Lincecum (3-0) scattered six hits over seven innings, striking out five and walking three. Of his 95 pitches, 60 were strikes. He lowered his ERA from 2.25 to 1.57.

"Those guys were swinging early," Lincecum said. "I had to try to take advantage of it by keeping balls down in the zone and just trying to utilize all my other pitches, especially my changeup and my slider and then also my curveball later. My guys played great defense behind me, turning three double plays, so I can't ask for much more than that."

Cardinals outfielder Ryan Ludwick said that Lincecum reminded him of a young Roy Oswalt. St. Louis manager Tony La Russa said Lincecum was outstanding.
"You look at what he did to get guys out and you just have to tip your cap to him," La Russa said.

The biggest moment of the game came in the fourth inning.

The Cardinals (12-6) had runners on first and second with no outs and first baseman Albert Pujols up. After throwing three straight balls, Lincecum threw a fastball away for strike one, a curveball down the middle for strike two and then a hard curveball in the dirt that Pujols waved at for strike three.

Even though the runners advanced on a double steal on the strikeout, the second-year hurler struck out the next batter, Rick Ankiel, and then got Adam Kennedy to ground out to shortstop to end the inning.

"Both my slider that I developed this year and my changeup have helped me out tremendously," Lincecum said. "I went from a two-pitch guy coming up to a four-pitch guy now. I'm getting more comfortable with those pitches and they are just helping me get out of big situations."

The sequence showed how much Lincecum has matured as he approaches the one-year anniversary of being called up.

"I think he's doing a better job of pitching," Bochy said. "Early, he used to power his way through lineups. Now he's pitching, he's throwing any pitch in any count. He has the confidence to do that. He's learned the hitters. He picks this up fast. He makes adjustments out there and that's what you need to do up here. He's already shown that at an early age."

"He threw the ball great today and he battled through some rough innings," Giants center fielder Aaron Rowand said. "It's a character and confidence builder. He made his pitches when he needed to. That's the sign of a good pitcher. And he's going to get better."

The Giants gave their young right-hander just enough offense.
San Francisco jumped ahead early with a run in the third when third baseman Jose Castillo scored shortstop Brian Bocock with a double off Cardinals starter Joel Pineiro into the left-center-field gap.

Rowand made it 2-0 in the fourth with a solo home run to left field. It was the first homer of the season for Rowand, who signed a five-year, $60 million deal with the Giants in December and has been battling some nagging injuries so far this season.

"I'm definitely feeling better," Rowand said. "I'm still battling this groin thing a little bit. My ribs are feeling a lot better. It's always nice to feel like you can go out and be healthy and play. But in this game of baseball you're not going to be healthy all the time."

Rowand added a run in the sixth with a two-out RBI single to left.

"I think he's healthy and it showed," Bochy said. "This game is hard enough to play when you're not 100 percent. He's such a warrior and he wanted to keep grinding it out and now he's coming around. He's a big part of this club. He'll be a guy we're counting on. Today and yesterday, you could tell a difference with how he's swinging."

The Giants got two scoreless innings from the bullpen to close out the game.

Left-hander Jack Taschner retired two batters in the eighth, and righty Tyler Walker came in and got out Pujols for the third out. In the ninth, closer Brian Wilson worked around a leadoff single to earn his fifth save in six chances.

Giants bring back Yabu, drop Davis

Lefty Threets goes on DL; Burriss to join big league team

Nate Latsch / Special to MLB.com

The San Francisco Giants made several roster moves after Saturday's 3-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

The Giants placed left-handed relief pitcher Erick Threets on the disabled list with a right intercostal strain, recalled right-handed pitcher Keiichi Yabu from Triple-A Fresno and designated outfielder Rajai Davis for assignment.

On Sunday, they will purchase the contract of shortstop Emmanuel Burriss from Triple-A Fresno.

"We're hoping to get Davis some playing time," manager Bruce Bochy said after the game. "He hasn't been getting the playing time that he needs up here and we want to get some help for [Brian] Bocock. We think Burriss can come up here and help us. He also gives us some speed on the bench. He's similar to Davis, he just gives us more infield depth.

"Our outfield situation is covered. [Daniel] Ortmeier can go out there. [Eugenio] Velez can go out there. We think it's the best thing for Davis and for us at this point."

Davis, who was acquired by San Francisco from the Pirates along with a player to be named (right-hander Stephen Macfarland) for pitcher Matt Morris last July, batted .282 and stole 17 bases in 51 games for the Giants a year ago.

But this season, Davis was hitting .056 (one hit in 18 at-bats) with two runs scored and four stolen bases in 12 games. Playing time in the outfield was hard to come by, with regulars like Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn and emerging players like Fred Lewis and hot-hitting rookie John Bowker.

Davis said he understands the move and is looking forward to his next opportunity, either with Triple-A Fresno or if he is claimed by another Major League team.

"Everything works out perfect for me," Davis said.

The 23-year-old Burriss is expected to provide some depth in the infield, specifically behind rookie shortstop Bocock, and add some offense.

In his first 16 games with the Fresno Grizzlies, Burriss batted .258 (16 hits in 62 at-bats) with two extra-base hits, six RBIs, six runs scored and two stolen bases. He had a .281 on-base percentage and .306 slugging percentage.

"He can play short and second," Bochy said. "It gives us a little more flexibility."

The manager said Threets, who walked four, struck out one and allowed two hits in 2 1/3 innings Friday against the Cardinals, pulled something in his right side Friday night.

"He was reaching for a ball yesterday and felt a pull in his side," Bochy said. "We don't mess with that area there."

The 39-year-old Yabu tossed two innings for Fresno on Thursday. He allowed one run on two hits, walked two and struck out one batter.

Yabu is 1-1 with a 3.86 ERA in 9 1/3 innings for the Giants this year. He was sent down to Fresno to make room on the roster for reliever Vinnie Chulk's return from the disabled list earlier this week.

Cain, Giants go down the drain...11-1

Trial by fire for San Francisco's young guns in St. Louis rout

Harry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle

Throughout the years they contended for the playoffs, the Giants carefully introduced whatever young players they had into opportunities best suited for their success. In this rebuilding and evaluation year, they are doing the opposite, letting their prospects loose in situations that could bring failure.

Thus, Brian Bocock is playing every day at shortstop, even though he seems overmatched against major-league pitching, because the Giants need his defense.

Similarly, in Friday night's 11-1 loss to the Cardinals, John Bowker started at first base even though he has not played the position regularly since high school. The Giants need Bowker's left-handed bat in the lineup, but not at the expense of switch-hitting right fielder Randy Winn.

"The young guys are getting a chance to go out there and play," Bowker said. "I think it's definitely a good thing."

Bowker went hitless for the first time in five big-league games and the Giants were held to one run for the second game in a row, but it hardly mattered amid one of Matt Cain's worst career starts.

Cain could not locate his fastball and allowed a career-worst nine runs, all earned, in 32/3 innings. He was chased in a six-run fourth that featured a 424-foot, three-run homer by Albert Pujols into what the Cardinals still call Big Mac Land in the second deck. All six runs scored with two outs.

Pujols had his second four-RBI game against the Giants in eight days, while Cain remained winless and saw his ERA soar to 6.64 on a night he best soon forget.

"It's one start," he said, "and you can't let this one kill you for the rest of the year."

Manager Bruce Bochy admitted he was a little shocked to see Cain pitch so badly, saying, "When he's on the mound you have tons of confidence he's going to keep us in the game and give us a chance to win. He's going to have off days, and tonight was one. Anytime someone scores that many runs off him, sure, you're surprised."

Bochy said he asked Bowker if he would be comfortable playing first base before throwing him out there, and the rookie said he was.

The Giants will need Bowker there, rather than the outfield, because otherwise they are too right-handed. If Bowker can play first, the Giants also can have the switch-hitter Winn in right field and left-handed Fred Lewis in left.

Bowker played first base toward the end of spring training and got an inning there Wednesday. Sure enough, in his 10 big-league innings at first base he has not had one ball hit to him. He was hoping to get the first one out of the way Friday.

"I had a couple of throws over there and a scoop play," he said. "I'm sure I'm going to get some groundballs."

Today they will come in batting practice, because Bochy plans to start Rich Aurilia at first base.
Friday's game, played on a cold, wet night, was a pitching rematch of Saturday's game in San Francisco, in which Cain faced Todd Wellemeyer and took a no-hitter and a 5-0 lead into the seventh inning. The Giants eventually lost 8-7 in 10 innings.

This time, the Cardinals were all over Cain. They turned a leadoff walk to Skip Schumaker into a first-inning run. Chris Duncan concluded a nine-pitch at-bat in the third inning with a two-run homer after Schumaker singled.

An inning later, Schumaker hit a two-run single, which was merely the overture for the show to come - Pujols' fourth homer of the season.

Notice how many times the name Schumaker appeared in that synopsis? The Giants have not found a way to stop St. Louis' leadoff hitter, who is 10-for-18 with eight runs scored in five games against San Francisco this season.

When Cain was knocked out in the fourth, Bochy double-switched to get Aaron Rowand out of the game. General manager Brian Sabean revealed on his weekly radio show Thursday that Rowand has been playing with a cracked rib, information the team previously withheld.

Rowand hit a double to the center-field wall Friday, a sign that he is improving. When asked if the cracked rib was affecting his hitting, he said, "Not now."

Zito remains winless as Giants fall

Lefty struggles with command over six innings in finale

Chris Haft - MLB.com

Emphasizing progress instead of perfection is helping Barry Zito cope with his 0-4 start.

Zito's record continued to dip Wednesday as the Giants mustered only three hits off Arizona ace Brandon Webb and fell to the Diamondbacks, 4-1. The decision ended a 5-5 homestand for the Giants, who begin a three-city trip Friday in St. Louis.

Zito's competence was no match for Webb's excellence. This didn't please the Giants partisans, some of whom booed as Zito walked the bases loaded in the second inning to set up Webb's two-out, two-run bloop single that loomed large in the outcome.

But Zito, who's 13-22 lifetime in March and April and owns winning records in every other month, insisted that he can sense that his winning form is within reach.

"I can't focus on the record at this point, but I feel good and the ball's coming out of my hand better every game," Zito said. "Going against Webb, I didn't have much margin for error and those walks in the second inning were the difference. I know that I have good stuff in me. I know it's going to surface eventually."

D-backs left fielder Eric Byrnes, whose fifth-inning RBI double was his third hit off Zito in 18 career at-bats, expressed confidence in his former Oakland A's teammate.

"I think Zito's going to be fine," Byrnes said. "I don't think there's hiding the fact that his velocity's down a little bit, but he competes and he still knows how to pitch. ... He's still a guy you're going to have to bring your 'A' game against to have success."

Byrnes, a native of Redwood City, Calif., who grew up rooting for the Giants, urged fans to be patient with Zito, whose $126 million contract invites ridicule.

"I can understand the people's frustrations and I can understand Barry being frustrated," Byrnes said. "But the great thing about him is he's not going to be one of those guys who are going to get a big contract and be content. He's going to continue to work and find a way to get better. I know him as a friend. This guy cares as much, if not more than, any player I've ever played with. I really believe some of his struggles are temporary."

Zito's troubles were indeed fleeting in the second inning, but they lasted long enough to allow the D-backs to capitalize.

Zito began his laborious 38-pitch inning by walking Conor Jackson and Mark Reynolds on 3-2 pitches and issuing a four-pitch walk to Justin Upton.

"I think my timing got off a little bit," Zito said. "There are a couple of mechanical keys you always focus on to get the ball down, and it went haywire for a little bit."

Zito recovered by slipping a called third strike past Chris Snyder, who fouled off four 3-2 pitches. After retiring Stephen Drew on a fly to shallow right field, Zito appeared bound to escape the inning unscathed. But Webb poked an outside 2-0 fastball into right-center field to score Jackson and Reynolds.

"He couldn't have thrown it out there any better-placed," Zito said. "If that happens 10 times, it's probably a fly ball at somebody eight or nine times."

Zito lasted six innings against the Major League's highest-scoring offense, allowing all of Arizona's runs (including one unearned) and five hits. He did not yield a home run for the first time this season. But it marked the third time he had faced an opposing No. 1 starter, following encounters with the Dodgers' Brad Penny and the Brewers' Ben Sheets. The Giants scored once in 23 2/3 innings off those pitchers.

Webb (4-0), who worked eight innings, sustained that dominance by retiring eight of nine hitters on ground balls with his devastating sinker after Eugenio Velez's fourth-inning RBI double. But the Giants actually brought the tying run to the plate in the seventh inning against Webb, who walked Randy Winn and John Bowker. But although Bowker walked on four pitches, Jose Castillo swung on the first pitch and popped up for the second out. Webb then retired Rich Aurilia on a fly to left.

Manager Bruce Bochy refused to fault Castillo for his impetuous swing.

"He can tie the ballgame," Bochy said. "He's got doubles power and he can hit the ball out of the ballpark. You want him looking for a pitch he can drive to do some damage. You've got a guy hitting in your sixth hole and you certainly don't want him taking one right there. The ball just ran in on him."
All things considered, finishing .500 on the homestand after a season-opening 1-5 trip was tolerable for the Giants.

"I think our play has picked up," Bochy said. "We had some lapses, but we're getting more consistent with our defense and the team is developing confidence."

Giants drop middle game to D-backs

Correia allows five runs, including two homers, in six innings

Chris Haft - MLB.com

Trying to rouse the spirits of April 15, 1958, when they began Major League Baseball on the West Coast with a victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers, the Giants began their game Tuesday against the Arizona Diamondbacks at 1:34 p.m. PT, same as they did 50 years ago.

"I just hope it ends up the way the first game did," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said about an hour and a half before the first pitch.

But instead of reviving the past, the Giants had to confront the present. An 8-2 loss reminded them of why the D-backs are reigning National League West champions.

The D-backs not only jumped ahead on home runs by Conor Jackson and Chris Young off Kevin Correia, but they also continued padding their lead while limiting San Francisco to seven hits, including one hit through five innings.

"Those kids have another year of experience and can beat you in different ways," Bochy said of the D-backs. "They can beat you with the long ball or speed. They're solid."

The Giants were better off contemplating the signs of hope for the future that emerged from this game. John Bowker, the only Giant ever to homer in his first two Major League games, nearly made it three in a row by tripling off the right-center-field wall in the seventh inning. Daniel Ortmeier maintained his progress as an exclusively right-handed batter by coaxing a walk from Arizona closer Brandon Lyon in an impressive ninth-inning at-bat. Kevin Correia, still striving to establish himself as a full-time starter, allowed five runs in six innings but looked mostly strong while striking out six.

The Giants addressed their immediate future after the game by activating right-hander Vinnie Chulk from the disabled list -- a move that will be made official Wednesday -- and optioning right-hander Keiichi Yabu to Triple-A Fresno. Yabu looked sharp while pitching two scoreless innings and recording the decision in the Giants' 5-4 series-opening victory Monday, but he had been scored upon in four of his six outings.

"He's a pretty good guy to have down there ready to be called up," Bochy said.

At the current rate, Bowker will never again have to concern himself with promotions or demotions. His ridiculous three-game statistics include a .600 batting average, a .545 on-base percentage and a 1.400 slugging percentage. The left-handed batter has struck out only once in 10 at-bats as a Giant after amassing 347 strikeouts in 1,622 Minor League at-bats entering this season.

Bowker would have been more popular than gasoline at $3 per gallon if his seventh-inning drive had cleared the barrier. It struck the brick about two-thirds of the way up the wall, resulting in Bowker's first big league triple.

"It felt good off the bat," said Bowker, who went 2-for-4. "The wind was kind of swirling out there. I was hoping it wouldn't knock it down."

Bowker, 24, officially joined the teeming ranks of hitters whose bids for home runs have been denied by AT&T Park's expansive right-center-field dimensions.
"I've seen how much space there is in right-center field," Bowker said. "I try not to think about that and keep the same swing and same approach."

That's similar to Ortmeier's philosophy as he completes his conversion from switch-hitting. Facing the right-handed Lyon, Ortmeier fell behind in the count 0-2 but fouled off four pitches -- including one off his left shin -- before drawing his free pass.

"Obviously, going up against a guy like that and having a quality at-bat definitely gives you confidence and something you can build off of," Ortmeier said.

The part-time first baseman reached base safely in three of four plate appearances by hustling out an infield single and walking twice.

"I think the way he's handling himself -- he's showing that this is going to work with just hitting right-handed," Bochy said.

Correia, the only starter besides Tim Lincecum to last six innings or more in each of his outings, actually believed that he threw better than he did last Thursday against St. Louis, when he pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings.

"In pitching, that happens sometimes," said Correia (1-2). "I think I located better. They just took advantage of a couple of mistakes."

One of Correia's most glaring lapses occurred against Young, who is 3-for-8 with three homers off him. One of four D-backs position players to observe Jackie Robinson Day by wearing No. 42, Young looked more like Hank Aaron in the third inning when he drove Correia's 1-0 delivery into the left-field seats for a two-run homer that widened Arizona's lead to 3-0.

"He's such a good mistake hitter," Correia said of Young, whose five homers is two short of the Giants' team total. "Every time I've made that mistake to him, he's hit it. It seems like you can get away with stuff on some other guys. Certain guys, as soon as you make that mistake, they hit the ball very well."

Correia noted that the fastball Young clobbered was the first one he threw from the stretch position all afternoon.

"I didn't concentrate on getting it down, and I just left it right where he wanted it," Correia said.