Giants Beat LA

The Giants did their part to help keep the Dodgers reeling by taking 2 of 3 over the weekend at AT&T Park. Sure, a Giants-Dodgers series' in September is a lot more interesting when both teams are fighting for something but this weekends series was entertaining nonetheless. The Giants won both Friday night's and Sunday's game with late inning heroics, 2 wins that push the fading Dodgers even further behind in the NL Wild Card race. The hero on Friday was Daniel Ortmeier as he untied the game in the bottom of the ninth with a shot to the deepest part of the ballpark of one of the better relievers in the league. Ortmeier has been getting a lot of time at first base recently and is performing better with the more consistent playing time. Sunday's game winner came off the bat of the struggling Ray Durham. Ray Durham came off the bench in the 8th inning to hit a go-ahead 3-run home run that gave the Giants a lead they didn't surrender. Durham had to feel some relief after that blast as he has struggled through his worst season of his career has been the biggest disappointment of the season as far as the Giants offense goes. Durham was supposed to be the man behind Bonds this season but his .216 average and .343 slugging percentage aren't quite what you look for in the middle of the order.

In a year with so many inconsistencies, the starting pitching and defense have been good enough to have this team fighting for a playoff spot. The Giants again received quality starting pitching this weekend as well as some nice defensive plays to help them take the series from LA. Rajai Davis had the web gem of the weekend Sunday in the ninth by saving extra bases with an amazing catch. Jonathon Sanchez had his best start of the year and maybe his career on Friday night by pitching a career-high 7 innings and keeping the Dodgers in check without walking anybody. The no walks really stuck out because Sanchez has always had issues with consistency in his delivery and release point, but to go 7 without walking a batter has to give Bruce Bochy and Dave Righetti some confidence. It was also nice to see Cain rebound nicely after a shortest outing of the year in Colorado last week. He looks like he has jumped back on the track that he was on in August in which he went 4-1 with a 2.18 era.