Wraps are fun to write for games like today.

Remember in the second inning, when Brandon Crawford grounded into a double play to end a rally? It’s okay, the Giants won.

Remember when Madison Bumgarner gave up a first-inning homer to Josh Reddick and grooved one to Jonny Gomes in the third inning? It’s okay, the Giants won.

Remember when Brandon Belt hit .224/.340/.328 between April 6 and June 10, and the Bruce Bochy started talking about Hector Sanchez taking grounders at first? It’s okay, the Giants won

Remember when Sergio Romo struck out Yoenis Cespedes on a slider way below the zone? Yeah I do, it was awesome. Thanks for reminding me about that.

Today was awesome, because just when I thought that Bumgarner was going to lose this one, the Giants got their crap together and hit against Tyson Ross as though he were Tyson Ross, and not the second coming of Dennis Eckersley.

Remember when Shane Loux, Santiago Casilla and Javier Lopez allowed 7 baserunners and 4 runs in the 9th inning, and barely survived because the BALL BOUNCED OVER THE WALL? It’s okay, the Giants won.

Continue reading →

There was a point last year when Tim Lincecum would start games and look pretty bad. Keep in mind, this is back when Lincecum was generally a really good pitcher. Still, he had a tendency to give up a couple hits or walks before he got a good command of the strike zone and truly settle in. Typically at that point he’d be in great shape, but it led to quite a few antsy first innings for Giants fans. As a result, Lincecum started to spend more time warming up before games, trying to work out the kinks before the game started, rather than using the first inning as a de facto warmup.

So here’s the plan. On Tim Lincecum’s next start, he’s facing the Dodgers on June 27 at 12:45 pm. The Giants will hire a bunch of actors, dress them in blue, and tell them to stand in the batter’s box against Lincecum and do nothing except wave the bat menacingly and do their best to look like soulless Dodgers players. Then Bruce Bochy will tell Lincecum that the game starts at 12:30, and send him out there against the “Dodgers” players. He’ll walk a few, hit a few, but and then settle down. And that’s when the game really begins.

Because I don’t understand this crap, Timmy. I’ve seen Timmy look bad, but rarely that bad. And I’ve seen Timmy look good, but rarely that good. A Tim Lincecum start is becoming a soap opera all on its own, where the writers are so bored that they’ve turned every character into a caricature. Bad Timmy is horrendous. Good Timmy is glorious. There is no middle ground.

Continue reading →

4, 2, 2, 3, 5, 6, 8, 0, 6, 0, 6, 10, 3, 4, 4, 1, 5, 5, 0.

Those are the total runs scored by the Giants in each game they’ve played since the beginning of June. Before today’s game the Giants were averaging 4.01 runs per game, which is just below the league average of 4.17. They had an OPS+ of 101, and had managed to scrape together a perfectly cromulent offense. Weird.

Except that when you look at the numbers above, it’s not like they’ve been spacing out their runs very well. There have been blowouts, and there have been stinkers. Not many in between. So every now and then, when the Giants drop a goose egg like they did tonight, it’s not a huge surprise. Plus, Jered Weaver is really good, and the Angels bullpen is freakishly incredible.

So what can we take out of a 4-hit shutout?

Continue reading →