Three straight wins after club's 1-6 start
Harry Schulman - San Francisco Chronicle
The Giants held kangaroo court and Fred Lewis was fined $12 because one day he donned a natty dark suit and had no matching belt, so he wore his black uniform game belt instead.
Lewis better keep his wallet handy because of the way he finished running out a triple Thursday night. He could not decide between sliding and standing, so he belly-flopped. Cardinals third baseman Troy Glaus told Lewis he would have to pay for the slide, and Lewis said, "I know. It looked stupid. I'm already in the (fine) box."
Could the Giants actually be having ... fun? A winning team has fun, and this week, that is what the Giants are. After the outside world declared them dead on the season's arrival, and following a 1-6 start, they now have a three-game win streak after beating St. Louis 5-1.
"A lot of us felt from the beginning of spring training, once we got on a roll, we were going to have a little more fun," closer Brian Wilson said, after recording his second save. "With that comes a better attitude and a better caliber of baseball. We hope to keep rolling with that."
The winning streak coincides with a great run of pitching. The Giants took a 19-inning scoreless streak into the ninth, when Brad Hennessey allowed a run. In the three victories, starters Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez and Kevin Correia together have surrendered one run over 192/3 innings.
Correia took a three-hit shutout against the Cardinals into the eighth inning, when his left arm cramped so badly his hand balled into a fist and he momentarily could not extend his fingers and put his glove back on. Manager Bruce Bochy, pitching coach Dave Righetti and the medical staff visited the mound, but left Correia in the game long enough to allow two more hits.
Jack Taschner then got a huge out, retiring Ryan Ludwick on a flyball to strand the runners with Albert Pujols looming on deck as the possible tying run.
Correia set a tone in the first inning when he caught Pujols looking at a 3-2 fastball right after Pujols hit a long foul down the left-field line and a Cardinals fan reached over Lewis' glove and snatched the ball.
Even though the Giants had a relatively potent game at the plate and scored a season-high five runs, they understand their recipe for fun will be pitching, particularly the rotation.
"There's no reason we can't be one of the best staffs in baseball," Correia said. "All of the guys could be No. 1 starters, or have been."
Does that include Correia?
"Hopefully, I can work into that," he said, "but I wouldn't say I'm there yet."
Correia had a rare advantage among his colleagues. He got to pitch with a lead, largely provided by Lewis. Batting leadoff, the 27-year-old left-handed hitter doubled against Adam Wainwright to start the first inning and scored on Aaron Rowand's single. In the third, after his triple and indelicate slide, Lewis scored on Randy Winn's sacrifice fly.
The Giants proved Thursday that if they pitch, they can win without the long ball as long as they occasionally find the gaps and alleys. They did so in the seventh, doubling their lead to 4-0 on successive doubles by Ray Durham and Jose Castillo and an RBI single by Rich Aurilia. Bengie Molina singled home the Giants' final run in the eighth.
The Giants also played solid defense, particularly shortstop Brian Bocock. Lewis made another nice play in left field, too, catching up to a searing liner by Pujols in the sixth that started to sail on him.
Lewis will be the primary left fielder now that Dave Roberts will have surgery on his left knee Saturday and probably miss at least two months. The only question for Bochy is where to hit him. Lewis has batted in the middle of the lineup when Eugenio Velez starts, but first when Velez sits. Bochy said he believes he can stick Lewis almost anywhere.
"This guy has got a ton of talent," Bochy said. "He's got discipline at the plate, power, speed. He's got all the tools to be a really good major-leaguer."
If Lewis knew how to pack accessories for a road trip, he also would have 12 more bucks in his pocket.
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Stingy starters
The Giants' starting pitchers have a combined 0.46 ERA during the team's three-game winning streak:
| Starter | IP | H | ER | SO-BB |
| Lincecum | 6.0 | 7 | 1 | 7-1 |
| Sanchez | 6.0 | 3 | 0 | 10-2 |
| Correia | 7.2 | 5 | 0 | 4-2 |
| Totals | 19.2 | 15 | 1 | 21-5 |
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