Angel Pagan injury: Giants CF out with knee injury

After one of the most stunning walk-off home runs in recent memory, Giants center fielder Angel Pagan is out of the lineup today with a knee injury. San Jose Mercury beat writer Alex Pavlovic noted that Pagan entered the clubhouse with a slight limp and was applying ice to his knee. This comes one day after Pagan’s inside-the-park home run completed a 10-inning defeat of the Colorado Rockies.

Gregor Blanco gets the start in center, moving over from his normal left field spot. Andres Torres, who had an equally big RBI in yesterday’s game, will start in left. After a 10-day hitless stretch, Torres is 6-11 and has given the Giants a huge boost off the bench. His speed and defense will always make him a valuable commodity, but the Giants bench needs a reliable bat late in games. Especially with their flair for the dramatic this season.

Here’s the lineup against RHB Jon Garland:

CF Blanco

2B Scutaro

3B Sandoval

C Posey

RF Pence

1B Belt

LF Torres

SS Crawford

P Cain

Postgame Wrap: Lincecum Bad, Giants Worse

These days, it’s almost more confusing when Tim Lincecum succeeds than when he screws up. If there’s one thing we’ve learned by watching Barry Zito’s ascent to mediocrity these past couple of years it’s that when Zito’s breaking pitches are working, even a lineup of the best and brightest can’t catch up to an 84 mph. If Zito can establish the ridiculous curveball and surprisingly deceptive cutter, even his modest “fast”ball can work be incredibly effective as Zito pitches “backwards,” leading with breaking balls and following up with heat.

The problem with Lincecum seems to be that he’s still trying to pitch forward, starting with heat in the zone and finishing with sliders and changeups in the dirt. This means that he has to lead off at-bats by throwing fastballs over the plate. When he was doing that in 2008 and winning Cy Youngs, he was averaging 94 mph. Tonight, averaging 90 mph, those pitches are way too hittable.

But velocity isn’t the whole story, because we’ve seen him equally terrible when throwing hard. It’s just that a slower fastball with terrible location is much easier to hit than a faster fastball with terrible location.

For example, Michael Cuddyer’s double in the first inning:

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SF Giants lineup: Belt, Sandoval to start Friday vs. Rockies

After being out of the starting lineup Wednesday against Washington, both Brandon Belt and Pablo Sandoval will start tonight against Colorado. Belt, suffering from back stiffness, was replaced at first base by recent call-up Brett Pill. Sandoval sat in favor of Joaquin Arias in an attempt to help the Panda recover from an illness.

Both players pinch-hit in Wednesday’s game, but were unable get on base as the Giants fell 2-1.

Belt and Sandoval have been part of an offensive resurgence in San Francisco, combining for 14 of the teams 37 home runs. Sandoval has been his usual self (2010 caveat) with a .306/.343/.475 line and a knack for destroying pitches out of the strike zone.

 After a prolonged illness plagued him in early April, Belt’s recent production has solidified his role as the No. 6 hitter. Since April 22, the Baby Giraffe is batting over .300 and has slugged six home runs. And before you release the regression hounds, Belt’s .333 BABIP (Batting Average on Balls in Play) over that span is just a notch above his .321 career total. Another month of similar production would be the death knell for the remaining Belt haters.

Here’s the rest of the lineup for the Giants, whose three games against the Rockies will complete a seven-game homestand:

vs. RHP Tyler Chatwood (2-0, 2.55 ERA)

CF Angel Pagan

2B Marco Scutaro

3B Pablo Sandoval

C Buster Posey

RF Hunter Pence

1B Brandon Belt

LF Gregor Blanco

SS Brandon Crawford

P Tim Lincecum