Homers get Giants off to good start

Ishikawa belts two long balls; Schierholtz also goes yard

Tom Singer
MLB.com

Giants 10, Indians 7
at Goodyear, Ariz.
Feb. 25, 2009

Giants at the plate: First baseman Travis Ishikawa, expected to be the Giants' first baseman, made that projection look brilliant by going 3-for-3 including two homers that drove in three runs. Nate Schierholtz added a two-run homer in the sixth to break open a tight game.

Indians at the plate: Mark DeRosa properly introduced himself to Indians fans with a three-run blow in the third inning off Keiichi Yabu. Cleveland's offense kept featuring the long ball -- Stephen Head snapped a 4 1/3-inning hitless string by Giants pitchers with a foul-line-hugging solo homer in the seventh, and Michael Aubrey added another solo shot in the eighth. Trailing 10-4 entering the bottom of the eighth, the Indian got the tying run to the plate with two outs, but Michael Brantley grounded out.

Giants on the mound: Consider Tim Lincecum's short-but-sweet outing a tease; the National League Cy Young Award winner pitched only a scoreless first, starting off with a strikeout of Grady Sizemore and brushing aside a two-out single by Jhonny Peralta. Brandon Medders (two innings) and Luis Perdomo combined for three hitless innings.

Indians on the mound: Starter Jeremy Sowers struggled in a high-pitch-count first, then had a snappy second. The next three pitchers also were scored upon until non-roster invitee Vinnie Chulk, who spent the last 2 1/2 seasons with the Giants, pitched a hitless seventh.

Cactus League records: Giants 1-0; Indians 0-1.

Up next: The NL West rivalry enters a new dimension Thursday as the Giants host the Arizona-newcomer Dodgers in their Cactus League home opener; Matt Cain is set to start against left-hander Randy Wolf. The Indians stay home to host the D-backs; left-hander Aaron Laffey will start against Arizona's Dan Haren, with seven other Tribe hurlers slated to work.

From MLB.com

San Francisco	San Francisco 10, Cleveland 7 Today's Boxes 2/25/09 DET 5, ATL 4 BOS 7, BC 1 CIN 7, TB 0 FLA 5, STL 5 NYY 6, TOR 1 NYM 9, BAL 3 PIT 8, PHI 2 HOU 6, WSH 3 LAA 12, CWS 3 TEX 12, KC 7 CHC 5, LAD 3 OAK 3, MIL 3 SD 4, SEA 3 ARI 5, COL 3 MIN 3, BOS 2	Cleveland
	February 25, 2009 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E San Francisco 1 0 0 1 1 4 0 3 0 10 11 0 Cleveland 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 3 0 7 10 0
	Standings | Recap: SF | CLE

	San Francisco AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Winn, RF 3 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 Bowker, RF 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Renteria, SS 3 1 1 0 0 0 0 .333 Bocock, SS 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Sandoval, P, 3B 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 .500 Guzman, J, 3B 2 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Molina, B, C 3 0 0 0 0 0 3 .000 Holm, C 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 1.000 Ishikawa, 1B 3 2 3 4 0 0 0 1.000 McClain, 1B 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rowand, CF 3 0 1 0 0 1 2 .333 1-Velez, PR-LF 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 Schierholtz, LF 3 1 1 2 0 1 0 .333 Torres, CF 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 .000 Burriss, 2B 2 1 1 0 0 0 0 .500 Frandsen, 2B 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 .500 Uribe, DH 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 a-Whiteside, PH-DH 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Totals 36 10 11 10 1 5 7 a-Grounded into a double play for Uribe in the 8th. 1-Ran for Rowand in the 6th. BATTING 2B: Renteria (1, Sowers), Burriss (1, Perez, R). HR: Ishikawa 2 (2, 4th inning off Jackson, 0 on, 1 out; 6th inning off Mujica, 1 on, 1 out), Schierholtz (1, 6th inning off Mujica, 1 on, 1 out). TB: Renteria 2; Sandoval, P; Holm; Ishikawa 9; Rowand; Velez; Schierholtz 4; Burriss 2; Frandsen. RBI: Ishikawa 4 (4), Winn (1), Schierholtz 2 (2), Velez (1), Torres (1), Frandsen (1). 2-out RBI: Ishikawa. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Rowand. SF: Torres. GIDP: Whiteside. Team LOB: 2. BASERUNNING SB: Velez (1, 2nd base off Mujica/Gimenez). FIELDING Pickoffs: Yabu (Francisco at 1st base). Cleveland AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG Sizemore, CF 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 .333 1-Brantley, PR-CF 2 0 1 0 0 0 2 .500 DeRosa, 3B 3 1 1 3 0 0 1 .333 Hodges, 3B 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Peralta, SS 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 Valdez, SS 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .000 Martinez, C 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Gimenez, C 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 .000 Garko, 1B 2 0 1 0 0 0 0 .500 Aubrey, 1B 2 1 1 1 0 0 1 .500 Francisco, LF 2 0 0 0 0 0 1 .000 LaPorta, LF 3 1 1 0 0 1 3 .333 Carroll, 2B 2 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Barfield, 2B 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 .500 Santana, C, DH 0 1 0 0 2 0 0 .000 a-Espino, D, PH-DH 2 0 1 1 0 0 0 .500 Crowe, RF 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 .000 Head, S, RF 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 1.000 Totals 36 7 10 7 4 4 13 a-Grounded out for Santana, C in the 7th. 1-Ran for Sizemore in the 5th. BATTING 2B: Garko (1, Yabu), Sizemore (1, Yabu), Barfield (1, Pichardo), Espino, D (1, Pichardo). HR: DeRosa (1, 3rd inning off Yabu, 2 on, 1 out), Head, S (1, 7th inning off Hinshaw, 0 on, 2 out), Aubrey (1, 8th inning off Pichardo, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Sizemore 2; Brantley; DeRosa 4; Peralta; Garko 2; Aubrey 4; LaPorta; Barfield 2; Espino, D 2; Head, S 4. RBI: DeRosa 3 (3), Head, S (1), Aubrey (1), Barfield (1), Espino, D (1). 2-out RBI: Head, S; Aubrey; Barfield; Espino, D. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Brantley; LaPorta. Team LOB: 8. BASERUNNING PO: Francisco (1st base by Yabu). FIELDING DP: (Valdez-Barfield-Aubrey). San Francisco IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Lincecum 1.0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0.00 Yabu (BS, 1) 2.0 3 3 3 1 0 1 13.50 Medders (W, 1-0) 2.0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0.00 Perdomo 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 Hinshaw 1.0 2 1 1 0 0 1 9.00 Pichardo 0.2 4 3 3 0 1 1 40.50 Beltran (H, 1) 1.0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0.00 English (S, 1) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0.00 Cleveland IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA Sowers 2.0 3 1 1 0 2 0 4.50 Jackson 2.0 1 1 1 0 0 1 4.50 Perez, R 1.0 1 1 1 0 0 0 9.00 Mujica (L, 0-1) 1.0 3 4 4 1 0 2 36.00 Chulk 2.0 3 3 3 0 1 0 13.50 Herges 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 0.00 WP: Chulk. HBP: Gimenez (by Beltran), Aubrey (by English), McClain (by Chulk). Groundouts-flyouts: Lincecum 1-1, Yabu 3-2, Medders 3-3, Perdomo 0-2, Hinshaw 2-1, Pichardo 0-1, Beltran 1-1, English 0-1, Sowers 1-3, Jackson 4-2, Perez, R 3-0, Mujica 2-1, Chulk 4-1, Herges 1-0. Batters faced: Lincecum 4, Yabu 9, Medders 7, Perdomo 4, Hinshaw 5, Pichardo 6, Beltran 5, English 2, Sowers 9, Jackson 7, Perez, R 4, Mujica 7, Chulk 9, Herges 3. Inherited runners-scored: Beltran 1-0, English 1-0. Umpires: HP: Ted Barrett. 1B: Bill Miller. 2B: Cory Blaser. 3B: David Rackley. Weather: 75 degrees, sunny. Wind: 1 mph, Out to LF. T: 2:53. Att: 4,181. February 25, 2009 Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball Office of the Commissioner