All Tied Up In The NL West

Up until this weekend, the Padres, the surprise team of the National League, had been alone in first place since early May. But they have company now, as the Giants forgot about their previous woes against the Padres, and won 3 out of 4 in a crucial road series in San Diego. Today's win capped in impressive 7-3 road trip through Los Angeles, Phoenix, and San Diego. With 18 games left, the Giants and Padres stand tied for first place in the NL West, with the Rockies, winners of 10 straight (they always do this!) only 1.5 games out.

Today's victory was the win of the 2010 season thus far. Considering that the Giants had won the first two games of the series, leaving San Diego with only a split would have been disappointing. Mat Latos had been dynamite against the Giants all season, posting a 0.96 ERA in 4 previous starts against the orange and black until today. He looked like he was going dominate the Giants again today, as he was throwing a crackling mid-90s fastball with sharp off-speed pitches. But after Aaron Rowand and Freddy Sanchez struck out in the 1st inning, Aubrey Huff, who had been hitless against Latos in his career, battled and stroked a single to right field to put Latos in the stretch. Buster Posey's homerun following Huff's hit was certainly the hit of the series, and he continues to amaze the baseball world with his talents. But Huff's single was just as important because prior to today's start because it clearly rattled Latos, who has a reputation of being a hot-head. The TV cameras showed Latos yelling at himself and furiously shaking his head after Huff's base hit. The Giants' offense, top to bottom, showed up to play today, and they made Latos earn every strike and every out. They played today like a team with lofty postseason aspirations.

The Giants needed Tim Lincecum to pitch like an ace today, and he responded with another brilliant outing, his third in a row. It's amazing what a flip of the calendar can do mentally for a pitcher. Lincecum had a forgettable August, going 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA and a 1.83 WHIP. But he's looked like a back-to-back Cy Young Award Winner in September. So far this month, he's 3-0 with a 2.12 ERA and a 0.90 WHIP, with a 29/2 K/BB ratio. The secret to his success? The rediscovery of his fastball, which he's now throwing consistently around 92-94 MPH with command on both sides of the plate.

As I've written many times, the Giants will live and die with their starting pitching. In August, the Giants' starting staff had an ERA that was only better than the 58-85 Cleveland Indians. But they've responded to the pressures of a pennant race, and have elevated their game in September. Matt Cain, who's by far been the most consistent starter on the Giants, set the tone this series with an impressive 8-inning effort on Thursday, and Jonathan Sanchez, Madison Bumgarner, and Lincecum followed his lead. Here are the numbers for the starting staff collectively in September:

72.3 IP, 47 hits, 19 ER, 19 BB, 79 K. That adds up to a 2.37 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP. Fantastic numbers.

The Giants received terrible news today as Andres Torres, one of the MVPs of the 2010 team, will probably miss the rest of the season after undergoing an appendectomy today. Torres, while being a fine leadoff man, has played Gold-Glove caliber defense, and the team is going to miss his presence. Aaron Rowand figures to get the majority of playing time, and it's time for him to step up to the plate and demonstrate that he can help this team win. Rowand is capable of going on hot streaks, and now would be a perfect time for one.

Kudos to all of the Giants fans who packed Petco Park and turned that stadium into a neutral site, if not one that favored the orange and black!!!

18 more games...

Giants One Game Out Of First Place

Guillermo Mota spoke the truth when the Giants lost of two of three to the Padres August 13-15: "Every team has a down time. Every team has its lumps. They haven't had their lumps. You don't think they're going to be playing like that all year, do you? If they do, congratulations."

The Padres have lost 10 in a row, and the Giants have gained 5.5 games in the standings in that stretch. After today's rubber-match victory against the Dodgers, the Giants now find themselves just one game out of 1st place, with a huge 4-game series in San Diego about to start this Thursday.

Jonathan Sanchez finally showed a glimmer of consistency, as he posted back-to-back quality starts for the first time since April 14th and April 20th. Over his last 15 innings, Sanchez has allowed only 1 run on 8 hits with 15 strikeouts against 3 walks. The walks, of course, are the key to Sanchez's success. With a robust .212 opponent's batting average, Sanchez is almost unbeatable as long as he's pounding the strike zone. He's had a consistent arm slot over his last two starts, and the evidence has been his ability to locate his fastball on both sides of the plate. The Giants will be a dangerous team in September if he keeps up this production because he's by far the best 4th starter in the National League.

The great Henry Schulman of the SF Chronicle wrote that Juan Uribe's go-ahead homerun (a homerun which is probably only landing now) off Jonathan Broxton in the 9th inning on Saturday was the "Brian Johnson moment" of the 2010 season. There have been many huge hits throughout this team's 30+ come-from-behind victories this season, but Uribe's homerun on Saturday tops them all. The Padres are floundering, and the Giants looked dead in the water against Ted Lilly, unable to capitalize on their great fortunes. But Uribe sent a jolt through the Giants dugout, and Saturday's win was the type of victory that can propel a team on a hot streak. With 19 of their remaining 25 games against teams from the NL West, the Giants could sure use a sustained run to get themselves into the playoffs.