Freak show: Lincecum shuts down Padres

Adam Berry
mlb.com
After Tuesday's loss to the Padres and a 17-of-24 losing stretch led Giants manager Bruce Bochy to invoke Murphy's Law, Wednesday night's 2-1 victory at AT&T Park was a more pleasant reminder that sometimes things do go the way they should.

Carlos Beltran, the Giants' biggest Trade Deadline acquisition, hit a huge, tiebreaking homer. Brandon Belt, the franchise's top hitting prospect who has been tossed between the Majors and Minors for much of the year, played like a big leaguer. And Tim Lincecum, San Francisco's ace and two-time Cy Young Award winner, threw eight strong innings and rightfully received his 12th win of the season.

"We needed that," Bochy said, though the Giants still trail the D-backs by two games in the National League West. "With what happened yesterday and our struggles here recently, it takes a great pitching effort, and hopefully that gets you back on track."

Lincecum labored through a 27-pitch first inning but remained effective until his final pitch, a 92-mph fastball to strike out Jesus Guzman. Despite walking five batters on the night, Lincecum allowed only one run on four hits and struck out seven, lowering his ERA to 2.46 -- one one-hundredth of a run lower than teammate Ryan Vogelsong (2.47), who starts Thursday night's series opener against Houston.

Lincecum managed to get through eight innings, doing his part to preserve a bullpen that is without its two best late-inning relievers (Brian Wilson and Sergio Romo) and has been worked hard lately.

"His count was up there a little bit, but he said he felt great, and he pitched like it," Bochy said. "Timmy did what he does best, and that's make great pitches when he has to."

After 3 1/2 innings, Beltran broke a scoreless tie with a solo shot to right field off Padres right-hander Tim Stauffer, his first homer since coming to the Giants from the Mets nearly a month ago and struggling through a bothersome right hand strain.

The injury had kept Beltran off the field primarily because of its effect on his left-handed swing. But the switch-hitter erased any doubts by drilling a 1-1 pitch from the left side into the right-field arcade. Beltran had his hand wrapped in a heater when he sat in the dugout, and he issued another reminder that he might not be able to play without pain for the rest of the season.

"For him to hit a home run his first time back is pretty impressive," Bochy said. "I thought it'd take him a few games to get his timing down, but he got a changeup there and hit it well. ... It's just great to have him back."

Following Beltran's first homer at AT&T Park, the fifth inning brought two more firsts for the Giants and, more importantly, an insurance run. Belt led off the inning with his first Major League triple -- a booming shot to right-center field that likely would have been a home run in most parks. Bochy said he thought it would be the first of many, given Belt's gap power and speed on the basepaths.

Lincecum then aided his cause, driving in Belt with a single -- his first RBI of the season -- a high chopper over Guzman at first base.

Belt finished 2-for-3 with a stolen base. The left-handed slugger is batting .310 (9-for-29) with four extra-base hits since his most recent callup, showing the ability that made many Giants fans clamor for him throughout the season. But Belt said he learned something in every demotion to the Minors, even if it wasn't an enjoyable experience, and he returned to the Majors this time with a focus on consistent production -- and it's paying off.

"I see the confidence growing in this kid and that sense of belonging that you need to have up here," Bochy said. "I like his at-bats. He has a good eye up there. He's driving the ball. He's going to hit a lot of triples, I think, because he can run. He has good gap power, and he's going to hit some home runs. But I do see him getting better and better."

But the Padres quickly cut the lead in half. Cameron Maybin led off the sixth with a single that second baseman Jeff Keppinger had to dive to stop. Lincecum induced a Jesus Guzman flyout to Keppinger to get the first out but surrendered a triple to Orlando Hudson. Beltran dove for the ball, but it bounced beneath his glove and rolled into the right-field corner, allowing Maybin to easily score from first.

Lincecum left Hudson stranded at third and didn't look back, sitting the Padres down in order in the seventh and eighth despite having already thrown 96 pitches in his first six innings. That enabled Santiago Casilla to throw a perfect ninth, striking out two and picking up his first save of the season.

But it was Lincecum, of course, who drew the most praise from the Padres after the game.

"The dude is a two-time Cy Young Award winner. He ain't no punk on the mound," Hudson said. "He has a hard fastball, a sharp slider and a good splitter. And he's a workhorse. What did he throw, 120 pitches?

"He's one of the elite pitchers in baseball. I can see him walk to the podium and grab a few more Cy Youngs. That's the type of pitcher he is."

And he pitched exactly the type of game the Giants needed.

Box Score

San Francisco Giants beat Houston Astros in 11 innings

Andrew Baggarly
Mercury News

HOUSTON -- It was tough to spot the contender over the weekend at Minute Maid Park, which doesn't speak well for the Giants. Their opponent was on pace for a 108-loss season.

But there is no mistaking Pablo Sandoval's All-Star swing.

A beaten-down Kung Fu Panda delivered when nobody else could, lifting a two-run home run to the opposite field in the 11th inning that sent the Giants to a 6-4 victory over the Houston Astros on Sunday afternoon.

Although his right shoulder remained too sore to swing right-handed, the switch-hitting Sandoval mustered up the difference-maker off right-hander Mark Melancon, and local boy Brandon Belt popped a three-run homer as part of a career-best, four-hit afternoon.

The Giants used six pitchers and every last muscle fiber to avoid being swept in three games by the team with baseball's worst record. Most vitally, the victory allowed the Giants to inch within 1½ games of the N.L. West-leading Arizona Diamondbacks, who lost their fifth consecutive game.

For all their whirlwind of injuries on a dripping, disappointing, challenging and grueling 4-6 trip, it wasn't a widow-maker. The Giants return home trailing Arizona by just a half-game more than when they left the cooler climes of AT&T Park.

Torture? Sure. But there's a different one-word motto this season: survival.

"The best way I can put it is, we survived," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, who looked as if he needed his vitals checked. "It wasn't great by any means. To win the last one, we survived it. We're not too far back, for which we're fortunate. We know it.

"That's one of the hardest-fought wins I think I've ever been involved in."

It started off promising enough. Belt hit his three-run shot in the second inning to delight his friends and family, many of whom wore T-shirts with a baby giraffe -- his clubhouse nickname -- and a "Keep Belt Awkward" slogan.

"I was hating life yesterday," said Belt, who was 0 for 4 and once lost track of the outs Saturday. "I was so eager to see all my friends and family, and I didn't do so good. I came in today and just wanted to clear my head and put the bat on the ball. If I can keep it that simple, that's when I'll be at my best."

Belt's home run off former minor league teammate Henry Sosa was the Giants' first three-run shot since Brandon Crawford hit one July 2. Before that, they hadn't hit a three-run homer since Freddy Sanchez on June 2.

In addition to filling their monthly quota, the homer provided a margin that had been safe all season. The Giants entered the game 32-0 whenever they held a three-run lead.

It wasn't that easy, though.

For all the offensive ineptitude that Bochy has witnessed this season, nothing turns his size 81/8 cap into a pressure cooker more than when his pitchers issue walks. Spot starter Dan Runzler issued three of them, including one to Sosa, and checked out in the middle of Houston's four-run second inning.

"Now you're beating yourself," Bochy said. "We knew it'd probably be a bullpen day, but I didn't think we'd start in the second inning."

Belt's single contributed to the Giants' tying rally in the fourth, when Mike Fontenot's sacrifice fly scored Nate Schierholtz.

But the Giants couldn't push ahead. An invisible force field seemingly kept them from breaking a tie as they stranded seven runners over the seventh, eighth and ninth innings -- with each missed chance more calamitous than the previous one.

Sandoval, batting lefty-on-lefty, struck out to strand two runners in the seventh. The Giants also saw Schierholtz thrown out trying to score on a moderately deep fly ball in the eighth; Schierholtz flied out with the bases loaded in the ninth.

But the Giants bullpen held firm. Jeremy Affeldt survived a bases-loaded, one-out jam in the ninth to force extras and give Sandoval another chance.

A day earlier, Sandoval said he felt "like (crap)."

And now?

"I still do. I'm tired," he said, nursing a badly bruised foot, too. "I just look for one pitch. I got it. This is for us. It's important for us."

Bochy said nobody needs Monday's day off more than his All-Star third baseman.

"Well, early on he looked like he felt," Bochy said. "You know I love Pablo. Those last two at-bats were good ones. That's what you hope your 3-4 hitter does for you late in a ballgame."

Late in a season, too -- one in which the banged-up Giants, amazingly, are still relevant.

"We're strong," Sandoval said. "We've got a new team. Guys are playing hurt. The team we've got, if we keep playing like we did early, we'll do a lot of things. We can get there again."

Box Score

Atlanta Braves beat San Francisco Giants, Tim Lincecum 1-0

Andrew Baggarly
Mercury News

TLANTA -- What emotions does it stir to know that Tim Lincecum is an 11-10 pitcher? Anger? Despair? Liquid hot volcanic outrage?

Or perhaps all of the above?

Lincecum sure appeared to bubble, simmer and seethe on the bench during the ninth inning Thursday night, as the Giants put the futile, finishing swings on a 1-0 loss to the Atlanta Braves.

But afterward, in front of notebooks and microphones, he was placid, earnest Timmy.

"Regardless of it happening consistently, or on an everyday basis, it doesn't matter," he said quietly, after losing on Chipper Jones' home run in the fifth inning. "You've got to compete with what you have on a given day. I seem to have a knack for giving up that go-ahead home run. If I can just eliminate that, I'm sure we'd be a lot more successful."

The obvious follow-up point: Almost any home run Lincecum allows is a go-ahead shot. For the 10th time in his 25 starts, the Giants failed to score one measly run for their two-time Cy Young Award winner.

This one was damaging. The Giants dropped three of four at Turner Field, where they've won just once in 18 regular-season series. So much for tightening up the N.L. wild-card race. The Braves hold a six-game edge again.

"We didn't have too many guys on base and, really, didn't get too many good swings off," said Giants manager Bruce Bochy, after left-hander Mike Minor and three relievers held a collection of slow bats to five hits. "Even when you're facing good pitching, you've got to find a way to get a run."

Lincecum held an opponent to one run or fewer for the ninth time in his past 11 starts. He has a 1.17 ERA in seven assignments since the All-Star break but just a 4-3 record over that span.

His 2.53 ERA is third best in the N.L. Yet he's already matched his career high for losses in a season.

This is a trail frequently taken by Lincecum, Matt Cain and Co. But has it reached the point where the manager needs to tell them to buck up?

"I don't think so," Bochy said. "They've done a great job dealing with that. They can't control it. It's natural, don't get me wrong, to be frustrated. Losing isn't fun. But there's nothing else he can do, other than hit two home runs.

"We can't get shut out. That's our fault."

Lincecum continued to say all the right things. But is it easier said than done?

"Well, yeah, but everybody is frustrated in here," he said. "You can't point fingers at any one person. Today was one of those days. Teams will get shut out. You'll have close games, 1-0 games. You've just got to prepare for your next start and put it behind me. Put it behind us, actually.

"I want to go out there and throw a shutout every time I can. Just like all of us. We're perfectionists. That one run is going to be crucial, whether it's ours or the other team getting it."

It's usually not Bochy's style to play for one run. Early in the game, he generally prefers mass production to a manufacturing style that involves giving away outs.

He didn't play for one run in the first inning, after Cody Ross hit a leadoff double. Orlando Cabrera showed bunt early -- a decision he made on his own -- but ended up swinging away and went down on a called third strike.

There was a bit of Bochy's signature buzzard's luck involved. Cabrera barely missed a double in the at-bat when his line drive to right field bounced a foot foul. Aubrey Huff hit a hard out to third base to end the inning, too.

Still, Bochy was asked why he didn't have Cabrera sacrifice in the first -- or after Ross hit a leadoff single in the third.

"In that situation, no, because I've got a professional hitter up there," Bochy said. "He's a foot away from a double there. No, we took three shots at getting that run in."

Cabrera blamed himself, saying, "I really believe if I move the runner, we're still playing right now."

The Giants' chances dried up against Minor. They didn't advance a runner into scoring position after the second inning.

"We've got to get that mojo back," said Bochy, apparently remembering a time when his hitters actually had it.

Box Score

Giants support strong Cain in win vs. Braves

Chris Haft
MLB.com

ATLANTA -- In earlier generations, Matt Cain would have been a test pilot or bare-knuckled boxer. The Marlboro Man or even Dirty Harry might have suited him as a fictional character.

Any alter ego for Cain would have to be unyielding, unafraid and uncompromising. Needing Cain's special stubbornness Wednesday night, the Giants received every ounce of it in a 7-5 victory over the Atlanta Braves that plugged a few holes in San Francisco's leaky hull.

Cain would not be cowed by the Giants' 13 losses in the previous 18 games. The Braves' one-run, last-at-bat victories in the series' previous two games, as well as their 5-0 edge over San Francisco this season, never entered his mind. Facing an Atlanta lineup that featured power, speed and the ability to hit for average -- "You have to pay attention to those guys all the time," Cain said -- the right-hander took the mound with respect but without fear.

Cain allowed five hits and issued one walk to the first 13 Braves he faced. And that was it for Atlanta. Following Dan Uggla's third-inning leadoff double, Cain retired 18 consecutive batters until his eight-inning outing was complete. Displaying a fastball with lively movement, Cain struck out nine, and the lone run he surrendered was unearned.

"You definitely try to make quick innings and keep the guys moving, positive and in a good train of thought," said Cain, who ended a personal three-game losing streak. "If that [means] working fast or kind of being laid back in the dugout, you try to find ways to do that to keep guys energized."

Obviously, Cain was the man for the job as the Giants narrowed their National League West deficit to 2 1/2 games behind first-place Arizona. Asked if he was especially motivated to prop up his staggering teammates, Cain said, "I think all of the starters do that. The bullpen's the same way, but as starters, I think we put a lot of pride in keeping streaks alive and trying to put an end to streaks when things are going bad."

"He's so steady," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He's got that calmness you like out there, both on the mound and in the clubhouse. He's a calming influence, I think, on everybody. He doesn't get rattled. He's competitive -- he has his moments like all of us -- but with men on base or a mistake out there defensively, he doesn't let it bother him."

Cain (10-9) responded to the Braves' early challenge by abandoning his windup and working from the stretch position, which enabled him to keep his body balanced and aligned toward home plate throughout his pitching motion. If this sounds familiar, it should. Tim Lincecum often employs this stratagem, which Cain has tried occasionally.

"I kind of did take it from him," Cain said. "You have to find different ways to get things going."

Braves manager Fredi Gonzalez noticed a definite difference after Cain's switch.

"We didn't get very good swings out of him the rest of the night," Gonzalez said.

By contrast, the Giants sustained rare offensive productivity. Their four sacrifice flies tied a franchise record previously reached four times, most recently last year. Cain himself launched one of them in a four-run fourth inning against Braves starter Jair Jurrjens (12-5) that snapped a 1-1 tie. Before Cain batted, five Giants in a row reached base safely. Aubrey Huff blooped a double, advanced on Nate Schierholtz's single and scored on Orlando Cabrera's single. Brandon Belt walked to load the bases and set up Eli Whiteside's RBI single. Then came back-to-back sacrifice flies from Cain and Cody Ross.

Pablo Sandoval, sore right foot and all, contributed a first-inning RBI double and a ninth-inning sacrifice fly to the Giants' largest scoring output since they whipped Arizona 8-1 on Aug. 3.

Ultimately, San Francisco needed each and every run. With Cain having thrown 114 pitches, Bochy inserted Dan Runzler in the ninth inning to get some work, and most of the Giants' 7-1 lead quickly evaporated. After the Giants barely missed turning a double play that would have ended the game, the Braves mounted a genuine threat. Jason Hayward lashed an RBI single, Cabrera dropped Michael Bourn's simple popup for an error that enabled another run to score and Martin Prado drilled a two-run double. Suddenly, Brian McCann was batting, representing the tying run.

Huff allowed himself to think the unthinkable -- a home run by the clutch-hitting McCann.

"That probably would have killed us," Huff said.

With sore-armed closer Brian Wilson unavailable, the Giants survived as Jeremy Affeldt fanned McCann on a 3-2 pitch.

"We'll take a win any way we can get it," Huff said.

Box Score

SF Giants' injuries mount in 11-inning loss

John Shea
SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle

When Jonathan Sanchez was escorted off the Turner Field mound with an ankle injury, it was a fitting touch to the busiest day of the year for the Giants' medical staff.

Except for perhaps that ill-fated night in late May in which Buster Posey got pummeled at the plate.

That was an isolated case. Tuesday's action was fast and furious, one player after another checking in for treatment or tests, and the Giants were left to face the Braves with only two healthy men on the bench: Mark DeRosa and Eli Whiteside.

The roster-challenged Giants collected their usual five hits and lost 2-1 in 11 innings when old friend Brooks Conrad - whose four errors in October's Division Series were a Giants highlight - doubled off Javier Lopez with one out, advanced on a groundout and scored on Martin Prado's single to right.

It was the second game-ending hit in two nights for the Braves, who improved their wild-card lead over the Giants to six games. The Giants fell 3 1/2 behind first-place Arizona in the NL West.

"As players, it's tough when you see guys (injured), but you can't sulk," Cody Ross said. "We're going through a little tough patch with the injury bug, but nobody feels sorry for us. We've got to step up and play better. We definitely can't start getting selfish."

Until Ross' homer in the seventh inning, the Giants had zero hits off Randall Delgado, who was making his second career start as a fill-in for injured Tommy Hanson.

Initially, it seemed only Pablo Sandoval (bruised right foot) was a casualty from Monday night's opener. Upon further review, three others were injured: Nate Schierholtz (bruised right foot from a foul tip), Jeff Keppinger (sprained right wrist, in a collision at first base) and Aaron Rowand (intercostal strain, caused on a swing and a throw to the plate).

X-rays on Keppinger (who also had an MRI exam) and Schierholtz were negative, and both hope to play tonight, though each was far from 100 percent. Rowand, a surprise entry, grounded out as an eighth-inning pinch-hitter but was unable to play defense.

"If all three can't do something (today), we're going to have to make a move," manager Bruce Bochy said. "We can't be this short."

Earlier, the Giants put Carlos Beltran and Sergio Romo on the disabled list, replacing them with Miguel Tejada (who played third base) and Dan Runzler (a candidate to start if Sanchez is shelved). In the morning, head trainer Dave Groeschner accompanied Beltran to Cleveland for another opinion and a second cortisone shot.

Groeschner was back in Atlanta by the time the game ended, able to assist in the hectic trainer's room.

Thank goodness for Sandoval. "He showed up and came right into the office and said, 'I'm playing,' " said Bochy, whose lineup included several players out of position, including Sandoval at first base.

Sanchez sprained his left ankle in the third inning. He slipped and fell pursuing Delgado's bunt and was done one pitch into Michael Bourn's at-bat. Sanchez used two crutches to get through the clubhouse but said he hopes to make his next start. "I'll give it two days and tape it up and see how I feel," Sanchez said.

Guillermo Mota replaced Sanchez, and Bourn singled home Jose Constanza with the Braves' first run.

Atlanta had a chance to win in the 10th with runners at first and third, but shortstop Orlando Cabrera robbed Alex Gonzalez and turned an inning-ending double play. Other defensive gems came from left fielder Aubrey Huff (robbing Prado in the ninth) and right fielder Brandon Belt (catching Freddie Freeman in the 10th trying to get back to first base on a single).

Box Score

Brandon Belt hits 2 homers, SF Giants beat Marlins

Henry Schulman
SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
After hitting two home runs at Sun Life Stadium on Sunday, Brandon Belt might have a jones to play here again. He can, but he'll need to bring pads and a helmet.

With the rookie hitting half of the team's four home runs - yeah, one even with a man aboard - the Giants beat Florida 5-2 in their final game at this park before the Marlins open a new one next season.

Cody Ross hit a two-run homer against Chris Volstad in the third inning to end the Giants' record streak of 21 consecutive solos. They had gone 298 innings and 1,217 plate appearances without a multi-run homer.

What's that old adage in baseball? When one streak ends, you just start another? The Giants scored their final three runs on solo homers, one by Nate Schierholtz in the fourth and the two by Belt in his first game back from the minors.

And, yes, breathless Giants Nation, Belt will start against Tim Hudson in Atlanta tonight.

"He'll be out there somewhere," said manager Bruce Bochy, whose skin must be sensitive to pitchforks. "One homer, you're in the lineup the next day. Two is a no-brainer."

Nor does it require Albert Einstein's brain to understand why Sunday's win, Ryan Vogelsong's 10th, was so important for the Giants.

They not only won a series and back-to-back games for the first time since they visited Philadelphia last month, they gave themselves a running start into Atlanta, where they play a critical four-game series.

The Giants could become playoff longshots if the Braves wallop them as they did over three games in San Francisco in April.

Belt thus becomes an intriguing wild card at Turner Field after he doubled his season home run total to four. Both shots were impressive in different ways.

His first, in the sixth inning, was a tape-measure job to center against the right-handed Volstad. The second, in the eighth inning, was against a left-hander, Mike Dunn, who had not surrendered a home run to a left-handed hitter in the majors in 151 encounters. Moreover, Belt guessed slider on 3-2 and got one.

As the Giants have yo-yoed the first baseman between San Francisco and Fresno, and stuck him on the bench even when he was promoted, the fans started a "Free Belt" movement, asking, pleading, demanding that he play every day.

Belt would love nothing more, though he will not carry any protest signs into Bochy's office.

"I'm tired of thinking what the scenarios are," Belt said. "I want to worry about going out and performing well, playing baseball, seeing the ball, hitting the ball, having good at-bats and playing good defense. If I'm good enough, hopefully he'll play me again and I can stay up here."

Belt helped Vogelsong win another game, and Vogelsong helped the team immensely by lasting into the eighth inning on a day in which Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson were not to be used. Bochy said Romo's elbow was "a little cranky" and Wilson's back stiffened. Both ailments were described as minor.

Vogelsong allowed a Mike Stanton homer in the first inning and no more runs until Emilio Bonifacio's RBI double in the eighth. Santiago Casilla got a big out to end the eighth, and Ramon Ramirez got the save.

Asked what it meant to get his 10th win, Vogelsong said, "Every win is significant to me, after where I've been."

Box Score

Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants shut out Florida Marlins 3-0

Andrew Baggarly
Mercury News

Any time you ask Bruce Bochy about the Giants' odd, record-breaking streak of solo home runs, the manager lets out one of his basso profundo groans.

"I really know what Earl Weaver meant when he said he liked the three-run home run," Bochy said. "We all do."

Weaver also had pitchers such as Jim Palmer, Mike Cuellar and Dave McNally. The old Baltimore Orioles manager would have enjoyed having Tim Lincecum on his side, too.

Lincecum busted another losing streak while striking out 10 in seven shutout innings, and the Giants got their three runs in three different innings to pull out a 3-0 victory over the Florida Marlins on Saturday at Sun Life Stadium.

A night earlier, Bochy called a clubhouse meeting after the Giants' 11th loss in 14 games, telling his second-place team to straighten up those slumping shoulders and play loose.

That's always a bit easier with Lincecum on the mound.

"Hopefully it'll get us on a win streak and lift morale in here," said Lincecum, who is 4-2 with a 1.11 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break. "Bochy told us we can't hang our heads. This is going to be the toughest part of the schedule going into September. We need to lighten the mood, just go out and have some fun.

"We know where the Diamondbacks are. It's different when you're in the lead. Once they took the lead, it's like we're pressing. We're trying to play catch-up instead of relaxing and playing good ball.

"Nothing comes easy, especially if you're thinking too hard about it. You've just got to go out there with intent and do what's asked of you."

The hitters didn't exactly bust out. Nate Schierholtz scored in the fifth after an error and a wild pitch, and Aubrey Huff's run-scoring double in the sixth was a pop-up down the line that left fielder Logan Morrison dropped.

The Giants' first run, the only one Lincecum would need, came on Jeff Keppinger's first home run as a Giant -- solo, of course. The Giants' 21 consecutive home runs with the bases empty extended a highly undesirable major league record.

"Yeah, we're going to try to set a record that's never going to be broken," Bochy said. "We're in relentless pursuit of solo home runs. But you know what? I'll take them."

So did Lincecum (11-9), who might be re-entering the Cy Young Award race with a very strong second half.

"All our pitchers should be in the Cy Young race, the way they're pitching," Huff said. "Shoot, Timmy could be 20-3 with the Yankees. You can only imagine what they'd do if they had a nice lead."

Once again, Lincecum ditched the windup with the bases empty, confident he could find his rhythm better from the stretch. He did, allowing only Emilio Bonifacio's infield chopper in the third inning and Bryan Petersen's single in the seventh. Lincecum promptly struck out his final two batters, showing little effects from the humid, upper-80s heat.

Little Timmy used to melt like frozen custard in steamy conditions. Now he's simply fitter and more focused than during his winless August a year ago.

"That's where putting on the weight worked to my benefit," said Lincecum, who is known to wolf down three In-N-Out double-doubles in one sitting. "It's not all good weight, but I can retain water a little better and sustain my pitch count."

It's also notable that three of Lincecum's four victories after the break have come against managers who questioned his greatness in recent weeks. He twice beat Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, who called him "good, not great." Lincecum wasn't aware of it, but Florida manager Jack McKeon had criticized Bochy for putting the right-hander, then 6-6, on his N.L. All-Star squad instead of the Marlins' Anibal Sanchez.

"I don't know if it's proving me right," Bochy said of Lincecum's second-half surge. "He's a guy people want to see, so I had no problems with him being on the All-Star team because he deserved it. But, sure, it's nice to see him show what he's all about."

The next question for Bochy: Will he allow recently recalled rookie Brandon Belt, now in his fourth stint with the club, to show what he's all about?

Bochy said Belt is "here to help" as a backup first baseman, outfielder and pinch hitter.

Pressed on why he wouldn't throw Belt out there every day, Bochy said he has "your guys, veterans you still believe in. I'll do all I can to get him at-bats, because I think we need some help. It'll be up to Brandon to come up and handle this well and give us some good at-bats."

Box Score

Streak-busting SF Giants can't handle Marlins

Henry Schulman
SFGate • San Francisco Chronicle

You think the Giants had a bad homestand? The Marlins started theirs with seven consecutive losses. Things only got sunnier in south Florida when the World Series champs came to town.

Four nights after the Pirates ended a 10-game losing streak in San Francisco, the Marlins stopped their slide by beating Matt Cain and the Giants 2-1 on Friday night.

That should sound familiar. Philadelphia beat him by the same score in his last start, in which the Giants scored their run the same way, on a Pablo Sandoval homer.

Ah, but this one was historic. With their 20th consecutive solo home run, the Giants broke a tie with the 1914 Phillies - from the dead-ball era.

The Giants' current run of 11 losses in 14 games is a new dead-ball era. They have scored 31 runs in the stretch, just 14 over the 11 losses.

"Same old song and dance," Cody Ross said. "We've got to do something, and we've got to do it fast. It's getting out of control."

Right now, the Giants are not putting a competitive roster on the field. They need injured outfielders Nate Schierholtz and Carlos Beltran. The news on that front was mixed.

Schierholtz's hip flexor, though not 100 percent, improved considerably. He struck out as a pinch-hitter Friday and is expected to start tonight. On the flip side, Beltran missed his fourth consecutive game with a hand strain and offered little hope of returning soon.

Beltran reported only a slight improvement after Wednesday's cortisone shot. He swung a bat lightly for the first time and said it still hurts when he swings.

Manager Bruce Bochy said today will be a "big day" in deciding whether to place Beltran on the disabled list. Absent a marked improvement, the staff must assume the lingering pain is not from the shot, but the inflammation.

Though even 75 percent of Beltran could boost this lineup, Bochy said this is not a pain-tolerance issue.

"It's so vital to swinging the bat to have your hand healthy enough to take a normal swing," Bochy said. "Once he feels strong enough to handle the bat and take a normal swing, he'll do it. We can't risk losing him for a long period of time. We've got to be smart about it. The hand is a sensitive area."

Sandoval's first-inning homer against Ricky Nolasco was his 14th, one more than his 2010 total. The Marlins immediately struck for two runs in the bottom half against Cain, who deserved better after six gritty innings in the heat.

Cain said his teammates deserved better from him.

"It ends up being my fault that we lose," Cain said. "Pablo got us the lead in the first. It seems like I've been turning those over lately. I've got to make better pitches early to keep the momentum on our side."

The Giants had a shot against closer Leo Nuñez in the ninth, which began with a Sandoval single. With one out, Ross hit a rocket over center fielder Dewayne Wise, just inserted into the game.

In 2009, Wise's leaping catch at the wall saved Mark Buehrle's perfect game. On Friday, Wise took a bad route on Ross' drive, which was about to fall for what might have been a tying triple. Wise went horizontal - more of a fall than a dive - and caught it just off the ground.

"He falls, and you like your chances. That's a tough catch," Bochy said. "At the same time, we've got to be more consistent from the first inning on. We had some good at-bats in the ninth, but it was too late."

Box Score

Walks hurt Sanchez as Bucs sink Giants

Adam Berry
MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- The starting pitcher sets the tone for every game, and as Giants manager Bruce Bochy said after Wednesday's 9-2 loss to the Pirates, left-hander Jonathan Sanchez didn't set a particularly good one.

Sanchez exited after only 4 1/3 innings, having displayed questionable stamina and inconsistent stuff, and the Giants couldn't build on Tuesday's six-run outburst to support their struggling fifth starter in AT&T Park.

The tone seemed fitting, however, given the way the Giants struggled and stumbled through a 3-7 homestand, one that Bochy admitted had "shaken" the confidence of the players in the home clubhouse. With the loss and the series defeat, the Giants dropped three straight home series for the first time since 2008, when the club lost six straight sets from May 12 to June 12. And with a win over Houston on Wednesday night, Arizona could take the National League West lead away from the Giants for the first time since June 25.

"When you're in something like this, you think, 'Are we going to come out of this?'" Bochy said. "We will. I really believe we will. I believe this offense will come out of it, too, but it's got to start with the pitching. That's our strength."

But it was the Giants' weakness Wednesday afternoon, as Sanchez walked four batters and saw all of them score. He was wildly erratic from inning to inning, twice sitting down the side in order on 15 pitches or fewer and allowing the Pirates to score in the other three innings in which he appeared.

Sanchez allowed five runs (four earned), including a two-run home run, while striking out six. As is often the case with Sanchez, his walks came back to haunt him.

Sanchez issued a four-pitch leadoff walk to Andrew McCutchen. The Pirates center fielder promptly stole second and scored on Ryan Ludwick's line-drive single to left, giving Pittsburgh an early lead. McCutchen drew three walks and scored four runs, slamming a two-run homer off Sanchez in the third. The left-hander also gave up an unearned run on Matt Diaz's single to center in the third and a fifth-inning RBI single by Garrett Jones.

"We knew the statistics on him about walking guys, so we wanted to just be patient. Wait on a pitch to hit," McCutchen said. "That was the plan we kept throughout the whole game. We got him out of there pretty early."

Sanchez has not made it out of the fifth inning in his last four Major League starts, a troubling statistic that stirred concerns about his stamina and his future in the starting rotation. Bochy didn't want to speculate about Sanchez's next start but admitted he was concerned about Sanchez's physical condition given his short outings since returning from the disabled list.

"We have to be a little concerned because we need [the fifth starter] guy to help us win a ballgame, too," Bochy said. "We haven't had a good start there in I don't know how many now."

Sanchez, meanwhile, believes he can be the same pitcher who posted a 1.17 ERA last September, when the Giants needed him the most. But he also knows one thing has changed since then.

"Last year I didn't get hurt. This year, I'm just struggling a little bit," Sanchez said. "But I know I can be that pitcher I was in August and September last year."

It would also behoove the Giants to start hitting in key situations like they did toward the end of last year. They managed only two runs Wednesday off Pirates right-hander Jeff Karstens: Pablo Sandoval's first-inning solo homer to right -- the Giants' 19th straight home run without a runner on base, tied for the all-time Major League record with the 1914 Phillies -- and Orlando Cabrera's RBI single that scored Aubrey Huff in the fourth.

The Giants went 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position, putting them at just 7-for-58 (.121) over their last seven games and a paltry 23-for-143 (.161) over their last 20 contests.

"It's tough to go through a stretch like this. It's tough not to hang your head," outfielder Cody Ross said. "We've got to play like champions, and we're not doing that. We've kind of fallen into a rut, and it seems like we can't dig our way out. We've got to do something."

One thing they won't be doing, Bochy said, is making any dramatic changes. They will hope Carlos Beltran (strained right wrist) and Nate Schierholtz (right hip flexor) are ready to go when they begin a 10-game road trip Friday in Florida, but Bochy isn't going to press the panic button with his lineup.

Nor will the players give up on themselves, even as their frustration with their performance and their recent record continues to build. Ross admitted Thursday's off-day couldn't be coming at a better time, and it will give the Giants a chance to start over Friday -- and set a different tone for the remainder of their season.

"We'll bounce back. We've got a lot of heart and a lot of fight on our team. Nobody in here has forgotten that," Ross said. "Other people might have, but we don't. We're going to continue to go out there and play hard and work to get back to where we need to be."

Box Score

Aubrey Huff's power breakout powers San Francisco Giants past Pirates

Carl Steward
Mercury News

In Game No. 117 of the Giants' season Tuesday night, Aubrey Huff may have sent a significant signal that he is ready to come out of his long hitting hibernation.

Huff, the Giants' offensive leader last season with 26 homers and 86 RBIs, finally flashed some of his 2010 form at AT&T Park with three hits, including a run-scoring double and a solo homer, to lead the Giants past the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-0.

"I'm starting to get my timing a little bit better now," said Huff, whose big night raised his average to .249, the highest it has been since April 19. "Hopefully, we'll run off these next two months, and nobody will remember the first four."

Huff wasn't the only hero on a night when the Giants needed a victory to remain in first place in the N.L. West. Madison Bumgarner tossed seven shutout innings and struck out 10, and light-hitting catcher Chris Stewart slammed his first career homer in his 140th major league at-bat, dating to 2006.

But the breakout performance of the Giants' veteran first baseman was surely the most welcome sight for manager Bruce Bochy, who has been exceedingly patient in waiting for Huff to find his stroke.

With Carlos Beltran missing a second straight game because of a hand injury, it couldn't have come at a better time.

"We have a lot of baseball left, and even if you're still having your struggles this late in the season, you can't give up," said Bochy. "You have to keep grinding, keep working, and he's doing that."

Except for his three-homer game in St. Louis on June 2, Huff has failed to serve as much of a power-hitting run producer. Even though he had shown signs of life by hitting .327 over his previous 17 games, he had just one homer and three RBIs during that span. Worse yet, he had just three hits in 21 previous at-bats with runners in scoring position coming into Tuesday's game and was hitting just .233 for the year in such situations.

That changed in the fourth inning of a scoreless game when, one out after Jeff Keppinger's double to center to lead off the inning, Huff slammed an opposite-field double to left-center that brought home the Giants' first run.

Huff struck again in the sixth, when he whacked a 1-1 pitch from Pittsburgh starter James McDonald (7-6) into the right-field arcade. It was his 11th homer, but just his third at AT&T Park this year.

So what has Huff figured out of late?

"Just laying off bad pitches, getting myself in hitter's counts and giving myself a chance," he said. "In the struggles I've had, especially when we're not scoring any runs at all and our pitchers are going out there every night giving everything you got, you're going up there and just trying to do too much."

In between Huff's RBI hits was Stewart's personal milestone blast, a well-struck missile to left field leading off the fifth. It touched off a big party in the dugout because most of the players knew how long the catcher had waited to get his first homer.

"Luckily I lifted weights this morning where that extra curl may have given me just enough to get it out," Stewart said. "I'd expect myself to be the happiest guy, but my teammates proved me wrong. There was a lot of excitement going, so it was fun to get back to the dugout and celebrate with everybody."

Those three runs of support were plenty for Bumgarner (7-11), who limited the Pirates to four hits and a walk over his seven innings. Bumgarner now has a 13-inning scoreless streaking from his past two starts.

Bochy said Bumgarner just keeps getting better as the season progresses.

"He's just getting smarter, and he'll continue to get wiser out there and pitch with more savvy," the manager said. "The thing about Madison is he's aggressive, and he's starting to use all four quadrants of the strike zone."

Box Score

Giants lose 5-0 to Pirates, who snap 10-game skid

Henry Schulman
SFGate • San Francisco Chronicle
The Giants got good news from an MRI exam on Carlos Beltran's right wrist. He has inflammation and a strain. There is no structural damage. As for the team, well, that is altogether different.
After the Pirates wheezed into AT&T Park with a 10-game losing streak and clobbered the Giants 5-0 Monday night, dealing Ryan Vogelsong his second loss, it became harder to view the Giants' run of nine losses in 11 games as a "bad run" and easier to see it as a sign of things to come.
For manager Bruce Bochy, who always takes the rosier view, the Giants will bust out of this.
"We've got to get that mojo back," Bochy said. "We've lost it. We've got to get it back, and it better be sooner than later."
The Giants did have a mojo earlier this season, especially at home. The pitching staff kept it close and the hitters, though not a thundering herd, usually squeezed across the winning run.
Now, during a 2-6 homestand, any opportunity with a runner in scoring position becomes an exercise in false hope. On Monday, against Charlie Morton, they put two runners aboard in the second, fourth and fifth innings.
Those rallies died with a pair of double-play grounders (Aaron Rowand and Jeff Keppinger) and another groundball by Rowand that would have been a double play if not for a generous umpiring call at first base.
Giants management always takes the conservative tack. General manager Brian Sabean and Bochy are not reactionary, preferring to believe in the hitters they put on the field.
There has to come a point, though, at which they summon Brandon Belt from the minors and give him a shot no matter what his rookie shortcomings, because he cannot do worse than the hitters he would be replacing.
The Giants' future does look brighter with Beltran, even if he was struggling too, because he is a good hitter. On Monday morning, his wrist felt worse than it did after he hurt it Sunday. The medical staff opted for an MRI to back up Sunday's negative X-rays.
Doctors found some inflammation on the top and side of his hand and termed it a strain, not a sprain, with no ligament or tendon damage. After a long day of treatment, Beltran said he had better movement.
Bochy said the right fielder could return as soon as tonight. Beltran said he will not unless he can be competitive.
"There are injuries that allow you to go out there," he said. "But the wrist, swinging the bat, throwing, is such a huge part of the game. If I can't go out there and play at a percentage where I can help the team, I won't do it. I want somebody else in that spot."
Vogelsong's start was his 19th since he took Barry Zito's spot in the rotation April 28. That he did not take his second loss until Aug. 8 is remarkable on any team, and an act of hocus-pocus on one that cannot hit.
Four of the five Pittsburgh runs scored after he struck out Derrek Lee for the second out of the first, third and fifth innings. But he could not get that third out before Pirates crossed home plate.
He was down 2-0 after an inning, walked home a third run in the third, then allowed RBI singles by Ryan Ludwick and Brandon Wood in the fifth.
In his first 11 games at home, Vogelsong had allowed only 10 runs. His 1.30 home ERA was the best in the majors.

Box Score

San Francisco Giants' way is never the easy way

Monte Poole
Mercury News

Giants fans yearning for the team's bats to thaw, awaiting that refreshing 13-hit game, got their wish Sunday.

It was not the fireworks display they might have imagined.

It was a maddening and frustrating 21/2-hour grind that kept 42,366 fans on the edges of their seats until the final out.

They're used to it. So when the throw from second baseman Mike Fontenot reached the mitt of first baseman Aubrey Huff before Jimmy Rollins could cross the bag, recording the final out of a 3-1 win over Philadelphia, the reaction was less of complete satisfaction than of momentary relief.

The Giants had dodged the measure of humiliation that would have come with being victimized by a four-game sweep in their China Basin home.

They also regained their fragile dignity against a Phillies team always in mind, a club San Francisco expects to see again should it find its way back to the postseason.

The Giants did it as they have for the better part of their 292 games since the beginning of last season, reaffirming their identity as more pluck than power, always and forever the determined crew of the Good Ship Panic, staying on course while keeping passengers uneasy.

If ever a team can inspire anxiety while lashing 13 hits and drawing four walks behind a solid Tim Lincecum outing, it is the Giants. For as welcome as those runners were, that only three scored is symptomatic of their perpetual difficulty at crossing the plate.

So constipated is this offense, it sometimes seems easier to squeeze oil from the fog hovering over the ballpark. The Giants raked Phillies starter Roy Oswalt for eight hits over his first 31/3 innings yet scored only once.

"I hate using up all our runs the way we did today," manager Bruce Bochy cracked, smiling at his own sarcasm.

Bochy could grin because his team had avoided the bottom-of-the-well feeling that comes with a winless weekend at home. Or because he knows the next three games come against the Pirates, who have reverted to being the Pitiful Pirates.

The manager also could take comfort in knowing that through it all -- losing eight of 10 and 11 of 17 -- his team remains atop the N.L. West, if by only a half-game over Arizona.

Yet the most satisfying aspect of this day for Bochy and the Giants had to be winning despite spending most of the afternoon spinning a web of despair around Lincecum's artfully resolute pitching. He labored through 63 pitches over his first four innings, allowing one run, before eventually getting a lead and protecting it with the ferocity of a nursing badger.

Hey, Lincecum had a rival to contend with and a losing streak to halt.

"He's going to go out there and try to dominate, regardless," catcher Chris Stewart said of the right-hander. "But, yeah, maybe there was a little extra incentive."

Lincecum also seemed to grasp the value of having a lead, quite the fleeting feeling among Giants starters. The Giants tied it in the fourth and went up 2-1 in the fifth, after which Lincecum responded by retiring the Phillies in order in the sixth and seventh.

Yet the clubhouse hummed mostly with the hope that comes with seeing bats actually make contact. Jeff Keppinger sprayed four singles, Stewart added two, and Pablo Sandoval smacked a single and a double.

"Finally, it's exciting," Sandoval said.

"Getting hits can do a lot for a player's confidence," Bochy said. "I know it's been shaken a bit."

See what the joy of winning, even one game, can do? It allowed the Giants to bask in the glow of Keppinger's four hits rather than wallow in the fact that he scored zero runs. It allowed them to overlook such ugliness as Lincecum's failed two-strike squeeze attempt and the stranding of 12 runners.

Almost nothing got in the way of the vibe. But because it's the Giants, there's always something.

That something was Carlos Beltran experiencing soreness in the back of his right hand, near his wrist. The right fielder said he felt a sharp pain and that his hand felt noticeably weaker, after which the Giants removed him in the eighth. X-rays were negative.

Though Bochy speculated Beltran would be day-to-day, the player seemed to believe he could return soon, perhaps Monday.

It may not be that easy, though, because nothing with the Giants ever is. This is a team that is 11 games over .500 (63-52) despite being outscored 406-399, a team always living on the edge, keeping its fans on the verge of panic.

With 47 games left in the season, expect more of the same from the Giants. It's all they know. It's who they are.

Box Score

Cain on short end of duel with Hamels

Chris Haft
MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- Saturday was one of those rare instances when a one-run margin resembled a rout.

That's because Philadelphia's latest victory over the Giants, a 2-1 decision, sustained two distinct patterns: the Phillies' ascent and San Francisco's descent. The Giants, clinging to their status as reigning World Series champions, have lost eight of their last nine games. The Phillies, who possess the Major Leagues' best record, lengthened their winning streak to nine games.

The outcome seemed certain as early as the first inning, when Philadelphia scored both of its runs. The pro-Giants sellout crowd of 42,183 at AT&T Park barely had a chance to celebrate Pablo Sandoval's two-out home run in the ninth before Phillies left-hander Cole Hamels coaxed Orlando Cabrera's first-pitch groundout. That sealed Hamels' second complete game of the season, as the Giants fell to 1-5 on their 10-game homestand.

"When you get in something like this, whether it's winning or losing, you never think you're going to come out of it," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said.

The Giants have beautiful rings which prove that they ousted Philadelphia in last year's National League Championship Series. They also won two of three games at Citizens Bank Park last week. Friday night's benches-clearing fracas, which wasn't a factor Saturday, underscored the intensity that these teams bring to the ballpark. "We're trying to get to the World Series, and they are, too," Hamels said.

By winning the first three games of this series, the Phillies have proven that they're closer to achieving this goal than the Giants are. Philadelphia has allowed them three runs, while holding them hitless in 17 at-bats with runners in scoring position.

According to the consensus in the Giants' clubhouse, they're enduring a bout of unskilled hitting while encountering top-flight pitching.

Bochy suggested that the Giants, who have scored two runs or fewer in 12 of their last 16 games, try even harder, though he emphasized that their effort isn't lacking.

"You keep working because you have to. You have no choice," he said. "... You have to change your mindset. I thought these guys came out with a pretty good attitude. We just ran into a well-pitched game."

Right fielder Carlos Beltran repeated that he and his teammates must "do a better job." Asked to elaborate, Beltran said, "I think just being able to have good at-bats -- everyone. Sometimes we feel like we have some good at-bats, and sometimes we don't have good at-bats, including myself."

Beltran, San Francisco's most prominent Trade Deadline acquisition, went 0-for-4 to drop his San Francisco average to .244 (10-for-41). His afternoon included a double-play grounder that ended the first inning, a three-pitch strikeout with runners on first and second and nobody out in the fourth, and a bloop to second base in the ninth that immediately preceded Sandoval's homer.

Beltran insisted that he wasn't pressing. "I feel good," he said.

So did Giants starter Matt Cain (9-8), who permitted three hits in eight innings. But the Phillies nicked him in the first inning for their only runs.

Jimmy Rollins doubled off the right-field wall to open the game, and Chase Utley drew a four-pitch walk with one out. It was one of only two free passes Cain issued, but it influenced the outcome. After Cain struck out the dangerous Ryan Howard, Hunter Pence lined a broken-bat single to right field to score Rollins. Utley went to third on the play, sliding in safely as Sandoval mishandled Beltran's throw for an error. That mistake proved critical, as catcher Eli Whiteside's passed ball enabled Utley to score.

Sandoval blamed himself for his misplay. "I need to make sure I get the ball and tag the guy," he said.

Cain was just as self-critical regarding the first-inning runs. "He outpitched me," he said of Hamels, whose outfielders were required to catch only three fly balls. "Going against a guy like Hamels, the way he threw the ball today, that's all they needed."

Even Sandoval's homer unleashed negative factoids. It lengthened San Francisco's streak of bases-empty home runs to 16, dating back to Nate Schierholtz's two-run drive July 6 against San Diego. This reminded the Giants that the long ball, on the rare occasions when somebody hits one, typically isn't enough.

"I don't see guys trying to hit homers," Beltran said. "I think we're just trying to get on base, and we haven't been able to."

Box Score

SF Giants' benches-clearing brawl in Phillies rout

Henry Schulman
SFGate • San Francisco Chronicle
-- Eli Whiteside can be hilariously droll, as he was Friday night when asked about the sixth-inning fastball from Ramon Ramirez that drilled Phillies center fielder Shane Victorino in the back.

"I just called for a fastball inside," Whiteside said. "It was a little too far inside."

So far inside, the benches cleared in a brawl that not only punctuated a 9-2 Phillies rout but surely will stand as a significant waypoint in the Giants' 2011 season.

In the long term, it might ignite a team that has lost seven of its past eight games and is quickly losing propulsion. In the short term, Ramirez's seemingly unprovoked attack surely will lead to a suspension after he, Whiteside and Victorino were ejected.

Victorino lived up to his Flyin' Hawaiian nickname when he escaped the clutch of his 67-year-old manager, Charlie Manuel, charged into the pile and tackled Giants hitting coach Hensley Meulens from behind.

After the fight, which was a bit fiercer than your standard baseball scrum, manager Bruce Bochy was happy that his players (and hitting coach) escaped unhurt. First baseman Aubrey Huff was stuck in the middle of the pile. Whiteside was at the bottom. Pablo Sandoval grappled with Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz before he stopped Victorino's final charge.

As for the future?

"You hope anything gets a team going," Bochy said, "either a good pitching effort or an (eight-run) game like we had against Arizona. You hope that gets the offense clicking. This is a tough little rut we're in. We've got to get out of it. We'll get together and talk about it."

Funny thing was, fight-watchers anticipated action between Jonathan Sanchez in his first game off the disabled list and Chase Utley, whom Sanchez hit three times last year, most famously in Game 6 of the NLCS.

But all was quiet there.

Sanchez allowed five runs in 4 2/3 innings, including homers by Victorino and John Mayberry Jr. in a four-run fourth.

The Phillies then pounded Ramirez for three runs in the sixth. Jimmy Rollins delivered two of them with a two-out single. He then stole second with a six-run lead, which surely did not sit well with Ramirez (who left without comment).

Carlos Beltran was not keen on the steal. Asked for his opinion, Beltran said, "You should ask Jimmy Rollins about that. I wouldn't have done it."

After Placido Polanco reached on an infield hit, Ramirez hit Victorino with the first pitch.

Ramirez "was getting hit around, and he was mad, and he was going to plug someone," Manuel said.

Victorino immediately took a few steps toward Ramirez with Whiteside moving between the two. Victorino stopped and later said he was not going to charge the mound.

"I just wanted to know why he was around the plate all night and then the first pitch is at my back," he said. "I just wanted an answer."

As home-plate umpire Mike Muchlinski blocked Victorino, Whiteside hopped around waiting for another charging Phillie. He got Polanco running in from the bases and tackled the Phillie at his feet. Then, the scrum enveloped them.

The action centered on pulling apart combatants on the ground, including Polanco, Whiteside and Phillies catcher Brian Schneider.

Victorino, who might get his own suspension for repeatedly pushing Muchlinski, was yanked out of the pile. When he saw Sandoval and Ruiz fighting, he charged back in and tackled Meulens.

Sandoval then pushed or punched Victorino to the ground. Only then did the pile start to separate.

In the midst of the storm, rookie right-hander Vance Worley calmly continued his domination of the Giants, which now covers 16 innings in two games over the past 11 days, and two wins for the Sacramento native.

Box Score

Short of support, Bumgarner dealt tough loss

After beating him twice in Series, Giants can't solve Lee

Adam Berry
MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- For all the success the Giants enjoyed against Cliff Lee in the 2010 World Series, beating him twice in five games, Thursday night served as a reminder of just how good the veteran left-hander can be.

Lee scattered seven hits and struck out eight in his Major League-leading fifth shutout of the season, shutting down a Giants lineup nearly identical to the one that put up eight runs a day before, as the Phillies prevailed, 3-0, in AT&T Park despite one of Madison Bumgarner's best starts this season.

Bumgarner gave up back-to-back solo home runs in the second inning, but with Lee on the mound, that was all the Phillies needed.

"I've never seen him off," Giants shortstop Orlando Cabrera said. "That's the truth. Not even on TV."

Lee retired 10 straight batters between the fourth and seventh innings, throwing 29 of 33 first-pitch strikes as he demonstrated pinpoint command of all his pitches. The lefty said after the game he wasn't thinking about last year's World Series, instead focusing on the current group of Giants hitters, and his performance reflected that.

"That was probably the best game I've had as far as commanding the ball," said Lee, who is now 4-0 with a 0.82 ERA in four regular-season starts against the Giants. "Basically, everything was working. It was one of those nights where I was locating everything. That was it."

Lee needed only 106 pitches -- 76 of them strikes -- to shut out the Giants, leaving them with nothing to do but tip their caps toward the dominant lefty.

"He's tough," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "When he's on, he's as good as anybody, and he showed it tonight."

Bumgarner was about as good as he's been all year, though he left pitches up in the zone that resulted in consecutive second-inning homers by Hunter Pence and John Mayberry. After that, however, Bumgarner was on his game.

He retired 12 straight batters until Shane Victorino singled in the sixth, striking out seven batters over that span. He exited after eight strong innings, giving up six hits and two walks while striking out nine.

Bumgarner entered the game tied with Pittsburgh's Charlie Morton for the fewest home runs allowed in the Majors this season by qualifiers, with five. The back-to-back shots to left field by Pence and Mayberry pushed his total to seven, still tied for second fewest in the Majors.

"He made a couple mistakes there in that second inning, but after that, he really did a nice job. Eight innings of great work by Bum," Bochy said. "He should feel good about that outing."

As well as Bumgarner recovered, Lee never faltered. The veteran left-hander, who took the loss for the Rangers in the first and final games of the 2010 World Series, made sure the Giants stayed off the board. He struck out Cody Ross four times, allowed only one extra-base hit -- a Carlos Beltran double in the ninth -- and forced the Giants to strand six runners.

"I think he's one of the best left-handed pitchers in the big leagues right now," Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval said. "It's good to face those guys right now because you know it could happen in the National League finals."

It appeared the Giants might rally in the eighth, as Aubrey Huff led off with a single and Andres Torres reached on an infield single, but Lee struck out Aaron Rowand and induced a groundout by Jeff Keppinger to escape unscathed. Right-hander Santiago Casilla entered for Bumgarner, giving up an RBI single by Pence, a Trade Deadline acquisition by the Phillies who has added a potent right-handed bat to an already imposing lineup.

"Anytime you pick up a player like Pence, you're going to be a better club all around," Bochy said.

And Beltran gave the Giants a chance to score in the ninth, knocking a one-out double to left field, but Lee forced Cabrera to pop out and struck out Ross, putting the finishing touches on a dominant performance.

The lack of support was certainly nothing new for Bumgarner, as he has now been backed by three runs or fewer in 20 of his 23 starts this season. Thursday was the eighth time this year the left-hander received no run support.

But at the end of the night, Bumgarner -- different mechanically but with a similar array of pitches -- was simply impressed with Lee.

"The way he was throwing, it looked like he could've thrown 14 innings," Bumgarner said. "He's somebody that you'd definitely like to model yourself after. He's one of the best pitchers in the game."

Box Score

San Francisco Giants, Ryan Vogelsong turn back Arizona Diamondbacks

Andrew Baggarly
Mercury News

Statistically speaking, Ryan Vogelsong is better than any pitcher in the major leagues at home. For once, the Giants' lineup posted some robust numbers at AT&T Park, too.

The result was an 8-1 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday afternoon that kept the Giants from slipping into second place in the National League West. It also broke their five-game losing streak, which could have turned into a double-digit panic with the fearsome Philadelphia Phillies coming to town next.

For all those reasons, Giants manager Bruce Bochy called the victory "probably our biggest to this point in the season. We had to stop the bleeding."

Vogelsong (9-1) took a shutout into the seventh inning before walking off to a standing ovation, and the new-look offense had its best day of the year at the ballpark beside McCovey Cove.

Hard to believe, but the Giants hadn't scored more than six runs in any of their first 52 home games. They topped that figure by the fifth inning, as Carlos Beltran had three hits -- including his second triple in three home games -- and Orlando Cabrera hit a two-run double to help the Giants avoid being swept by their only challengers in the N.L. West.

Before the game, Bochy was asked why he maintained the belief his offense would turn it around.

"Because I think we have the talent. That's where I'll start," he said. "It's a better lineup, a better offense than we were. You look at our new additions, and they're professional hitters."

Bochy also switched Nos. 3-4 hitters Pablo Sandoval and Beltran in the order, "just to break it up. That's the best way I can put it."

The Giants needed more than an icebreaker. They faced something more resembling a mile-thick glacier while going 53 innings without scoring multiple runs. That streak finally ended in a four-run third, when leadoff man Andres Torres began a parade of four consecutive singles. All came against Jason Marquis, a tough right-hander whom the Diamondbacks acquired because of his success against the Giants.

The former Washington Nationals pitcher gave up Cabrera's double before getting knocked out in the fifth. Then Arizona's other pitching pickup, former A's right-hander Brad Ziegler, gave up a two-run double to Cody Ross on the first pitch he threw with his new team.

The Giants' new guys did better than Arizona's new guys. Jeff Keppinger also had two hits for the Giants; their three trade-deadline acquisitions combined for six hits, four runs and four RBIs.

"You're joining a new team, you're moving your family -- there's a grace period there," Bochy said. "As they get to know each other, they pull for one another.

"These guys are pros. That's why I didn't think the transition would take long, and that's why I'm hoping this game will get us going."

The Diamondbacks had forged a tie atop the division by beating Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum in the first two games of the series. But the Diamondbacks could not conquer Vogelsong, who has a 1.30 ERA in 10 games at AT&T Park this season and rediscovered his cutter along with a hard-breaking curve to disarm a powerful Arizona lineup.

Vogelsong allowed one run. Guillermo Mota struck out three consecutive batters in the seventh to strand two runners and keep Vogelsong's ERA as pretty as possible.

Vogelsong leads the N.L.'s qualifying starters with a 2.19 ERA.

"It's been crazy, definitely something I'm not used to," he said, of all the newfound recognition. "I'm just trying to stay grounded and keep throwing good games."

Bochy said: "The guy on the hill sets the tone."

The difference this time: The offense followed that tone with more than crickets.

"I like to believe if you win the World Series, you have to hit at some point," Cabrera said. "It's pretty much the same team. So eventually, we'll put runs on the scoreboard."

The Giants beat a pitcher who was targeted to face them. Now they'll have their hands full with the Phillies in a four-game series. Roy Halladay is not listed to pitch in the series, but the Giants will get Cliff Lee in the first game.

Beltran faced the Phillies tons in his N.L. East career with the Mets. He'll preach more of the same approach.

"Today was a good example," he said. "Take the walk, try to use the hole, go first to third, put yourself in position for the next guy to drive you in."

And if not?

"Doesn't matter," Sandoval said. "You can still get there. You can score one and win."

Box Score

Skid continues as Giants fall into tie for first

Chris Haft
MLB.com

SAN FRANCISCO -- Here's when everybody finds out whether the Giants relish a challenge.

The reigning World Series champions fell into a first-place tie in the National League West with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who rode two-run homers by Paul Goldschmidt and Justin Upton to a 6-1 victory Tuesday night.

Just last Thursday, the Giants were brimming with confidence after defeating Philadelphia, widely considered the league's elite ballclub, for the second consecutive night. Since then, San Francisco has lost five in a row, matching a season high and enabling the D-backs to dissolve a four-game deficit. San Francisco had held sole possession of first place since June 25.

Asked if he thought the Giants have been pressing during their skid, Tim Lincecum replied, "I don't think anything more than usual. We're just trying to play good ball. We know the position that we're at. To maintain the lead in the West, we have to manufacture runs and pitch better than we have been. ... It's not a big adjustment for us."

Perhaps fittingly, the D-backs resemble last year's Giants. They possess excellent pitching, decent power (remember last season's second half, when San Francisco shared the NL lead in homers after the All-Star break) and the unquenchable spirit of their manager, Kirk Gibson.

"They have their confidence going and they're playing great," Giants manager Bruce Bochy admitted.

After defeating Matt Cain and Lincecum on back-to-back nights, the D-backs have every right to believe that they can complete the metamorphosis from 97-loss nonentities to division winners.

"It's a lot of fun, but we all know we have a long way to go," said Arizona right-hander Daniel Hudson, who limited the Giants to six hits in eight innings. "Our ultimate goal is to get into October and we've got to come through San Francisco to get there. We've got a long way to go and we've got a lot of games left against these guys and our division, so we're going to take the good with the bad and go to work every day."

Though 42 games remain, the deadlock between the Giants and D-backs adds significance to the rest of the season.

"This means it's going to be a fight," Bochy said. "It's going to be a tight race. Not that we didn't think it was going to be."

Said Lincecum, "I'm hoping nobody's hitting the panic button quite yet. ... I don't think we're going to take this too hard. We'll just come out tomorrow and play better."

As he typically does, Lincecum (9-9) poured his energy into trying to raise the Giants' game. He struck out eight in seven innings, permitted just six balls to be hit out of the infield, and allowed three hits, all in the fifth inning.

The right-hander was nursing a 1-0 lead when Goldschmidt, appearing in his second Major League game, followed Ryan Roberts' fifth-inning leadoff single by planting a 2-1 delivery two-thirds of the way up the left-field seats. It was Goldschmidt's first big league homer.

"With the exception of the location of that pitch, I thought I pitched very well," Lincecum said.

Upton padded Arizona's lead with another two-run homer, which he clobbered in the eighth inning off reliever Ramon Ramirez. Javier Lopez surrendered two more runs in the ninth.

The Giants opened the scoring in the fourth inning but wasted a chance for greater production. Three consecutive one-out hits -- singles by Jeff Keppinger and Carlos Beltran and Pablo Sandoval's double to left field -- generated a run. With Arizona conceding a run by playing the infield back, Aubrey Huff indeed hit a ground ball, but it was a harmless comebacker to Hudson. Nate Schierholtz struck out to end the inning.

Except for Sandoval, who went 3-for-4, the Giants maintained their typically spotty offense, despite the presence of Trade Deadline acquisitions Keppinger, Beltran and Cabrera, each of whom collected a token hit.

Beltran, the formidable No. 3 hitter who's batting .200 (5-for-25) as a Giant, continued to endure tough luck. With one out and San Francisco trailing by a run in the sixth inning, he hit a howling line drive to right field that Upton caught on the run. An easy double play ensued, since Keppinger had dashed nearly to third base.

"It shows how defense can win a game for you," Bochy said. "I didn't think he'd get to that."

Box Score