While usually the focus of a successful series is on the pitching staff, the offense deserves a ton of credit for the comeback victory on Friday and today's extra-inning win. The offense also had an even more remarkable comeback Saturday night, had Lastings Milledge not made the catch of the year.
The Giants in most surprising fashion won on Friday with the long ball, as Eli Whiteside, Juan Uribe, and Aubrey Huff all went deep. But the two main offensive catalysts this weekend were the guys at the top of the lineup: Andres Torres and Freddy Sanchez. Torres and Sanchez have formed a very nice 1-2 combination at the top of the lineup. Torres has posted a .292 average with a .377 OBP, and he's used his speed very effectively, swiping 11 bases so far. He's also played excellent defense, and he made two spectacular catches in the outfield this weekend. Sanchez had quite a series back at his old stomping grounds, going 7-13. Since May 26th, Sanchez has raised his batting average from .192 to .371. Torres and Sanchez are getting on base with great frequency, and it's up to the heart of the lineup to bring them home.
Tim Lincecum had a better outing today, going 7 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits, striking out 6 against 2 walks. It looks like he took a small step forward in getting back to his normal self, but he still did not have full command of his pitches. There were many instances where Lincecum pitched to the Pirates hitters behind in the count. The great Andy Baggarly of the San Jose Mercury News wrote a breakdown of the 50 fastballs that Tim Lincecum threw today. 40% were balls and he had no swings and misses on the fastball. However, I don't think it's an issue of velocity, as the radar gun in Pittsburgh had Lincecum's fastball in the 92-94 mph range. Lincecum needs to regain his pinpoint command of the fastball in order to make his offspeed more effective, and thus, a tougher at bat for his opponent.
The Giants head to Cincinnati to face the surprising 1st-place Reds, who have offensive stars such as Joey Votto and Brandon Phillips, a tough bullpen with Arthur Rhodes and Francisco Cordero, and a hot-shot rookie starting pitcher named Mike Leake, who's 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA. The Giants should shoot for a split of the 4-games series, which would give them a 4-3 record on this 7-game road trip.
Some final tid-bits:
*Quite a provocative move by Bruce Bochy, batting Pablo Sandoval 8th on Saturday. I don't know if I would have dropped Sandoval 8th, and put Molina 4th, but I'm glad that Bochy is sending Sandoval a message. Sandoval does have to realize how pitchers are attacking him and he needs to make the necessary adjustments. He's way too talented to be slugging only .429 with a .763 OPS. The Giants need him to be better.
*The Giants cannot possibly hand the ball to Todd Wellemeyer in Cincinnati on Thursday after yet another disastrous outing on the road. Wellemeyer has been good at home, but his road numbers are frightening: 0-4 with a 10.62 ERA, 24 ER in 20.1 innings, 9 homeruns, 20 walks against 16 strikeouts, and a .305 opponent's batting average. Baggs has a hunch that it's going to be Madison Bumgarner who takes the hill on Thursday.
*Aubrey Huff has been a nice addition for the Giants so far, hitting .298 with 7 HR and 26 RBIs with an .868 OPS. His defensive flexibility has also been good. It was well-documented this offseason that the Giants pursued Adam LaRoche, who's now on the Diamondbacks. The Giants offered LaRoche a 2 year, $17 million contract which he turned down to sign a 1-year deal with the DBacks. The Giants then signed Huff to a 1-year $3 million pact. LaRoche has 33 RBIs thus far and is a much better defensive 1st-baseman, but in more categories, Huff has been the better player, hitting for a higher batting average and posting a better OBP, slugging percentage, and OPS. Looks like the Giants are getting tremendous value from Huff considering the contract he signed.
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