Game Wrap 8/3/2011: Giants 8 D'Backs 1

Today's game was more like what the Giants and their fans envisioned after making their moves at the trading deadline. The pitching was excellent, as usual, but the offense came to life with a multi-player, multi-hit attack that beat a Giants Killer and beat back the evil Snakes from slithering under the door to claim sole possession of first place in the NL West. Key Lines:

Jeff Keppinger- 2 for 5. BA= .300. Steady as she goes. Kepp seems to be reliable for 1-3 hits almost every game. Doesn't walk a lot but seems to get good pitches to hit and squares them up.

Pablo Sandoval- 2 for 5. BA= .309. Pablo is a guy who seems to have bonded with Carlos Beltran and in the process relaxed and let the game come to him. I think Sandoval hitting in front of Beltran is the more natural order of things.

Carlos Beltran- 3 for 5, 3B. BA= .287. Beltran seems to have settled in and relaxed and we all hope to see a lot more games like this down the stretch.

Orlando Cabrera- 1 for 4, 2B. BA= .243. Cabrera hitting 5'th? Really? Hey, it worked out this time but here's hoping Bochy doesn't try this too often!

Aubrey Huff- 2 for 4. BA= .243. Batting Cabrera 5'th may have been more about sending a message to Huff than batting Cabrera 5'th. Ross was even further down in the order though(scratches head).

Cody Ross- 1 for 2, 2B, 2 BB. BA= .250. Ross may have been lobbying to get the leadoff spot back. Anyway, his bat seems to be back.

Ryan Vogelsong- 6 IP, 5 H, 1 R, 3 BB, 7 K's, GO/AO= 8/0. ERA= 2.19. Maybe the 3 walks is a bit much for the sabermetric crowd, but it's totally manageable if you put up a K/9>9 along with keeping the ball on the ground. Where would this team be without Ryan Vogelsong? He ran his season record to 9-1 and pitched his 17'th QS out of his 20 starts. If he keeps this up, I really think he deserves some consideration for Cy Young. This totally reminds me of Mike McCormick's 1967 season although McCormick's success was due mainly to his discovery of the screwball, Vogelsong has been more of a power pitcher making it all the more impressive in my mind. God bless Ryan Vogelsong! Just a great, great story.

Guillermo Mota- 2 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 6 K's. ERA= 4.14. I guess I don't get why a lot of fans want to dump Mota and call him a gascan. Yeah, his ERA is a little higher than most of the other relievers, but it's a respectable ERA and he's saved the bacon more than once with multi-inning efforts. I hope the Giants would not consider dropping him to make room for Zito. Since Zito is probably out until at least September, I doubt that would be a consideration.

With the Win, the Giants regained sole possession of first place in the NL West, 1 game over the Dangerous D'Backs. Rockies and Dodgers are 11 back as this is being written and the Pathetic Padres are bringing up the rear at 15 back.

The Giants now kick off a 4 game series at home against the Phearsome Phillies with Madison Bumgarner hoping to shake off his last rough start against Cliff Lee.