Giants Salvage Finale Vs. Phillies

A wild weekend series that saw a bench clearing brawl and the Giants lose 3 out of 4 despite getting terrific starting pitching came to a close Sunday, and despite the rough weekend, the Giants escaped the mess still clinging to first place in the West.

Lincecum was huge as stopper on Sunday, going 7.2 innings allowing 7 hits and a run with 5 K's en route to his 10th victory on the season. The starting pitching was really strong all weekend outside of Jonathan Sanchez's blunder on Friday night. Bumgarner and Cain each gave up an early lead, but ended up with strong starts overall. The bats didn't step up until finally showing some signs of life Sunday. The Giants collected 13 base hits, but only 2 went for extra-bases, and they didn't hit well with runners in scoring position, so they only came up with 3 runs on those 13 hits. Two guys who haven't had a problem with runners on are a couple of the newest Giants, Orlando Cabrera and Jeff Keppinger. Their new second basemen led the team's offensive charge with a 4-4 afternoon and came up with a key sac fly in the 6th that put the Giants 2 runs ahead of Philly. Their new shortstop continues to have a knack for the clutch situations, as Cabrera had a double and a big sac fly in the 5th inning that put the Giants ahead of the Phillies for the first time all weekend. We talked about Cabrera's value to the team in our last post, and he just keeps impressing. He's a rare veteran who brings a burst of energy to the field like he's still a rookie. Plus, they haven't missed a beat defensively from Crawford to Cabrera, and he's more potent with the bat than I was expecting.

I can't necessarily say the same about fellow newcomer Carlos Beltran. The star right fielder has been especially quiet since trading in the blue and orange for the black and orange, and if you take away his 3-hit game vs. Arizona Wednesday, he'd be sub-.200 with the Giants with an OPS in the .500's. He's now played 11 games with San Francisco, and has 45 at-bats, so his transition period should be over with, and I'd be surprised and somewhat concerned if he doesn't fire up this week. Even though he himself hasn't hit since coming over to the Giants, he's had a positive effect on the middle of the order, Pablo Sandoval especially. The Panda has been a monster since moving into the 4th spot behind Beltran, and the guy in front of Beltran, Jeff Keppinger, is starting to reap the benefits as well. I think Carlos is still pressing just a bit and trying to do a little too much. I don't think it would be a bad idea for Bochy to sit him down for a game just to kind of settle him down. He's been on go and hasn't gotten a breather since the Giants traded for him and he arrived in Philly on the 28th. He was removed in the 7th inning of Sunday's game with a bothered wrist, but it's not anything that should cost him any games. Regardless, I hope Bochy gives him a much needed night off Monday vs. Pittsburgh and allow him to start fresh on Tuesday.