SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
The adage says you cannot win a division in April. Just the same, you can construct a solid foundation. It starts by setting a tone of domination at home, and the Giants are doing precisely that.
They are 8-3 at AT&T Park after manhandling Philadelphia 6-2 Tuesday night. They have won four of their first five games on what should be their toughest homestand of the season, against three gold-standard teams.
In capturing series against the Cardinals and Phillies, the Giants have put their 1-5 trip to Southern California far behind them.
"Everybody talks about that stretch we had in San Diego," first baseman Aubrey Huff said. "You can't explain it. You can't read anything into that. Everybody's writing us off and panicking, but you just keep playing."
Many fans were writing off starter Todd Wellemeyer after terrible starts in Los Angeles and San Diego. They started calling for Madison Bumgarner or Kevin Pucetas or a guy named Anybody But Wellemeyer.
Wellemeyer was not ready to be flushed away. Working with pitching coach Dave Righetti and bullpen coach Mark Gardner, he moved to the first-base side of the rubber to expand his view of the plate, which he hit consistently in seven innings of two-run ball Tuesday.
As he walked off in the eighth, Wellemeyer accepted an ovation from 31,792 fans, many of whom surely wanted his head a week ago.
"It's natural for them to think that way," Wellemeyer said. "I don't blame them. They can get on the bandwagon if they want. They're welcome."
Wellemeyer's first Giants win enabled his teammates to sleep well pondering a possible sweep today behind Tim Lincecum, who attempts to go 5-0.
Wellemeyer's reward is a trip to long relief. He will be skipped in Florida because the Giants have off days Thursday and Monday and do not want their top four starters to go a week between games.
The Giants' pitching has been phenomenal on this homestand. In one full turn against two dynamic offenses, the starters allowed six runs in 32 innings. The bullpen has been better, allowing nothing in 13 innings.
In the two games against Philly, the pitchers were well-supported by an offense that adjusted from hard-throwing righty Roy Halladay to soft-throwing, 47-year-old lefty Jamie Moyer.
Huff and Matt Downs homered in the second inning, Huff hitting his first as a Giant that actually left the yard. His first was an inside-the-parker.
"Everyone said they enjoyed the first one better. Not me," Huff said. "I enjoyed that one a lot more."
Edgar Renteria and Pablo Sandoval contributed RBI singles to a fifth-inning rally that began with a single by Wellemeyer. Renteria and Sandoval added RBI singles in the seventh against Chad Durbin.
Nate Schierholtz nearly homered in the second as well and stole the show with his arm. He threw out Ryan Howard and Chase Utley at second trying to stretch singles, Utley in the ninth with his team trailing by four.
The Howard play was entertaining. As he lollygagged into second, Renteria deked him by standing idly as if the ball were nowhere in sight. Renteria then quickly grabbed Schierholtz's one-hop strike and tagged Howard on the butt - a "mental lapse," Howard called it.
"Man, I had no idea he had that good an arm," Huff said. "The throw on Utley was on a line from 200 feet. Amazing. It wasn't even close. He has one of the better arms I've seen in right field."
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