Game Wrap 5/12/2011: Giants 3 D'Backs 2 First Place!

The Giants got a typically superb performance from Matt Cain then held on for the W to gain sole possession of first place in the NL West. Key Lines:

Nate Schierholtz- 3 for 4, 2B, SB(3), Assist(Parra at 2B)- Nate continues to state his case for a starting gig game by game. Here he demonstrated all 5 of his tools. I didn't see the game because I was at work, but Carl Steward has a great description of how Nate played the carom off the wall perfectly and threw a strike to 2B to nail Parra. Great stuff.

Eli Whiteside- 2 for 4, 2 2B. BA= .208. Posey got a much needed day off. Whiteside responded 2 doubles. What more can you ask for?

Matt Cain- 7.2 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 1 BB, 7 K's. ERA= 3.22. Cainer was sailing along when he gave up two 2-out singles in the 8'th. Affeldt gave up a single to plate one of the runners and then Ramirez gave up another single to plate the other. Ramirez managed to get the last out without further damage.

Sergio Romo- 0 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 0 K. ERA= 0.93. Bochy apparently does not have a lot of confidence in Romo right now. I don't think that's a short leash he has him on. I think he has ahold of him by the collar! In fairness to Bochy though, 3 of the next 4 batters were lefthanded.

Javier Lopez- 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 2 K's, Save(1). ERA= 0.59. Anybody want to undo that trade and have Bowker back? Wilson was unavailable after pitching several days in a row. Lopez gave the crossed arms and finger to the sky sign after nailing down the W.

The Giants completed their second consecutive sweep of a series and swept the 6 game homestand. I think Bacci found a stat that this was the first time in MLB history that a team swept a 6 game homestand without scoring more than 4 runs in any one game. I'm tellin' ya. The Giants pitching isn't just good, it's historically good! Didn't they set a record for consecutive games allowing 3 runs or less last year, at least since the dead ball era?

The Reeling Rockies lost again, this time to the Mets 9-5 to allow the Giants to take over sole possession of first place in the NL West. The Dodgers were rained out and the Padres were idle.

The Giants go back out on the road with Madison Bumgarner opening up a weekend series in Chicago against the Cubbies. Ryan Dempster will be the opponent. He got off to a very rough start to the season, but has been much better in his last 2 starts.