The Giants did sweep them, but the series was a lot closer than it would appear. The Dodgers lost all 3 games by a combined 4 runs, and their starting pitching did a very good job in keeping down the Giants lineup, but when the Giants starters are on, they're tough to beat, and they were on this weekend. We already discussed Tim Lincecum's solid outing Friday night, and he was followed up with a 7 inning, 3 hit, 1
run, 6 strikeout performance by Barry Zito on Saturday. Unfortunately for Zito, the Giants didn't score until Pat Burrell hit a go-ahead 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th inning, so Zito was once again left without a decision, but everybody had to be pleased with the way he threw the ball. Zito was followed up by Matt Cain, who won his 3rd consecutive decision, going 7.2 shutout innings, and striking out 7 Dodger hitters. Fortunately for Cain, he did get a little bit of support, not much, but all he needed, on an Edgar Renteria 2-RBI triple in the 6th. The Dodgers young lefty, Clayton Kershaw, had been matching Cain pitch for pitch until that inning, and the ball that Renteria hit wasn't even much of a mistake. Still though, whether it was a mistake or not, the Giants found ways to win those games without producing much offense. They got really good at that in July, and hopefully that's something they can keep going all year.Speaking of the offense, even though the July 31st trade deadline has passed, a big trade option may have just become available, as the Washington Nationals have placed Adam Dunn on waivers. What happens now, is the Giants have to wait for him to be cleared by each team in front of them, including the Dodgers and Rockies, before they could have a shot at attaining him. The one positive they do have going for them, is that the Dodgers and Rockies don't really have the funds available or the positional space to stick Adam Dunn at, so
they may shy away from getting to serious about claiming him. If he does manage to fall to the Giants though, they'd have to strongly consider the possibility of adding the left-handed slugger. They obviously wouldn't have to part with too much, although I don't think the Nats would just give him away, even if it does save them $4 million. This is where I think Jon Bowker would have had some value to a team like Washington. They could have at least been replacing some of the power lost in Dunn with a guy like Bowker, but he's no longer an option. Travis Ishikawa could be though. Is it worth to part with a possible future, cheap, effective first base option for a couple months of Adam Dunn? I actually think that with this particular team, it just may be. The Giants are approaching the 20-game above .500 mark, and that just hasn't happened too often in recent years (not since 2004 at least). They may want to make that one move to put them over the hump, cause the NL is really wide open right now and Adam Dunn is certainly the type of impact bat that could sway the balance of power in this league.Up Next: The Giants start another important 3-game set with a NL West foe on Tuesday night, as Jonathan Sanchez and Aaron Cook square off at Coors Field in Colorado. The Giants really put LA behind the 8-ball (they're now 9-games out of first) by sweeping them over the weekend, and can really do the same to the Rockies by at least taking the series from them. The Giants have suffered some heartbreaks in Colorado in recent years, and now that they're playing as good as they have in a long, long time, I think they're set for some revenge in the Rockies....
Also, we here at the Giants Baseball Blog encourage all Giants fans to check out the charity event being put on by Matt Cain and his wife, Chelsea, on August 14th. It's looks like there will be some great food and plenty to drink and you can enjoy it all for just $30, check out more information here: http://baseballwivesallstarcookoff.eventbrite.com/!
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