Ok. So if this was the presidential election, the Giants would be raked over the coals for being Wishy Washy. Talk about a Flip Flop.

The Giants announced the re-signing of Jose Uribe and now Bengie Molina.  Apparently Bengie didn’t get the length or money he wanted from the Mets, so he decided playing for the Giants wouldn’t be that bad.  It is only one year, so he can go seek a longer deal after.  It is good for the Giants as it will give Buster Posey a little more time in the minors, but also because they got their cleanup hitter back….

This news isn’t great for Dodger fans because Jose Uribe and Bengie Molina both had their number last year, so there could be more disappointments this year.

The Giants also recently added Aubrey Huff.  This one made the fans up here kind of scratch their heads.  He will play 1st base (which they have a rookie for), and can hit, but he definitely wasn’t the big bat the fans were hoping for.  

I talked to a Giants fan this week who had an interesting perspective on this year.  Molina and Huff are signed only for one year as well as Jonathan Sanchez.  Aaron Rowand and Edgar Renteria also only have one year left.  This means that in one year 5 of 9 position players (when Sanchez pitches) will be gone.  This signifies that the Giants are really “going for it” this year, or they are just trying to ”get through” this year until next year when they can clear payroll, get some veterans and bring up the rookies.  Given that Aubrey Huff and Mark DeRosa are not star hitters…I lean towards the “get through” approach.  They will have more power, but not that much.

What do you think – Wishy Washy or just frugal?  I’m going to take Wishy Washy and rub it in to Giants fans as long as I can.

The season seems to take so long, but then the end gets here quickly. After a long good year, the Dodgers and Giants play their last scheduled match up against each other. They may see each other in the playoffs, but this is the last regularly scheduled match.

It’s amazing what a week of baseball brought. The Dodgers gained 2 games on the Rockies and the Giants are still 3.5 games behind them. I like where the Dodgers stand.

I was talking to a Giants fan last night who said, “The Dodgers are in real good shape.” They know they did what they had to do against the Pirates and now if they can play well this weekend, they should definitely go to the playoffs.

Here are the pitching matchups and my take on who has the advantage.

Friday: Vicente Padilla, RHP (11-6, 4.42)  vs. Jonathan Sanchez, LHP (6-12, 4.16)

Advantage Dodgers.  He’s just pitching well right now, and the Dodgers seemed to have Sanchez’s number last weekend.

Saturday: Jon Garland, RHP (10-11, 4.19) vs Brad Penny, RHP (10-8, 5.04)

Having seen Penny first hand on Sunday, definitely advantage Giants.  He wants to win against the Dodgers.  Period.

Sunday: Randy Wolf, LHP (10-6, 3.24)  vs. Tim Lincecum, RHP (14-5, 2.30)

Wow.  Wolf is sharp right now, but Lincecum is still Cy Young level.  Advantage Giants.  If the Dodgers can get to him late, they have a chance, but that should be a great game.

Well – hopefully we can take 2 of 3 and keep the lead we have.  We’ll see.  Then again the bats seemed to jump out last weekend, so hopefully it will be the same this weekend.  At least if we lose 2 of 3 we can go back to playing the Pirates.  Go Blue.

Here’s the pitching match ups for the 3 games:

Friday
Hiroki Kuroda, RHP (5-6, 4.15)
Matt Cain, RHP (13-4, 2.51)

Saturday
Vicente Padilla, RHP (10-6, 4.63)
Jonathan Sanchez, LHP (6-11, 4.03)

Sunday
Chad Billingsley, RHP (12-9, 3.93)
Brad Penny, RHP (9-8, 5.15)

Learned something new tonight – The Dodgers have a great probable pitchers write up that gives a great comparison of each of these pitchers.  (Click Here)  It’s a good write up on their recent performance, but it stays nuetral on who will win….

I won’t stay neutral.  Here’s my picks.

Friday – Advantage Dodgers.  Matt Cain will out pitch Kuroda, but as always, the Dodgers will break it open against the bullpen.

Saturday – Advantage Dodgers.  I think Padilla can beat out Sanchez.  Sanchez is pitching well of late though.

Sunday – I hate to say it since I’ll be there, but Advantage Giants.  Billingsley just doesn’t seem to have it right now, and Penny is a man on a mission to stick it to the Dodgers.

Bottom line – they will be close…especially if Broxton does the closing.  The Dodgers again need to take 2 of 3 to stay on top and show who should take the division.  The Dodgers were fortunate not to face Lincecum this series.  That is the big concern up here is whether his back will be ok.  He is their Ace and they want him back.  There were even conspiracy theories up here that he was kept out a game to set him up against the Rockies on Monday.  It doesn’t ring true though because they need him to win every game he can…not sit on the bench.

I was hoping for a Padilla/Penny matchup to see if my brawl prediction comes through, but it could still happen.  If Padilla brushes someone back, Penny may try to finish it off the next day.  I should have plenty to write about if their is a brawl when I’m there on Sunday.

Keep coming back – more to come each day of the series.

Jonathan Sanchez - Ben Margot - AP

So the big news this week was the no-hitter by Jonathan Sanchez. Honestly I think Giants fans were as surprised about this one as the rest of baseball. He had a lot of promise last year, but this year, he just hasn’t had it. There was a lot of talk about trading him for a bat, but his record was so bad that no one thought there would be a taker.

He threw a no-hitter when he wasn’t even supposed to start. He had a 2-8 record with a 5.30 ERA, and had recently been demoted to the bullpen because he was throwing so bad. He only got to pitch because Randy Johnson got injured so they needed someone to jump in there.

Honestly, I’m glad for the guy. It truly has been a rough season for him, so to join the no hitter club is truly something special. Who knows how his next game will be, but he at least got this one. I thought it was interesting that his last pitch to win the game and strike out the batter, was really questionable. It looked pretty outside, but it was close enough. I wonder if as an umpire you start to pull for the pitcher too. You know it’s probably a little off, but it’s close, and you think, “This guy has pitched well enough to get the no-hitter, I’m going to give it to him.” We’ll never know, but it’s all good if that’s what happened. Baseball has always been a game of inches.

The other thing notable this week was that the Giants had the second best record in the National League, second only to the Dodgers. The Giants are exceeding all expectations and are proving that they are a real possibility for the wild card. The Dodgers better hold strong because if they slip for a few games, while the Giants win, this could be a very different race near the end. Popular opinion still thinks that the Giants need a bat (which I agree with), but their pitching has kept them in the race and they are a solid team. They’re new kid Pablo Sandoval is a real reason why they are still going strong.

This week – the All-Star game and the Homerun Derby. After seeing the Homerun Derby two years ago in San Francisco, the game will always be special to me.  I’m pulling for Albert Pujols.

Eric Stults - LA Times

I wasn’t quite sure what response I would get from my co-workers today with the Dodgers losing so bad to the Giants last night. I figured the loss would be rubbed in pretty good.

Ironically, it was pretty tame. It was an odd series. The Giants won the first game and I had all kinds of people rub it in, including sending me e-mail and facebook posts. Then the Dodgers won the second game and all was quiet(surprise..). Then today, quiet on the day that they had every right to boast.

The Giants don’t have a great team, but they have won at least the last 3 series and their pitching is coming around.   Lincecum is just a stud.  The Dodgers have an offense that doesn’t stop, but their pitching truly is the achilles heal. Last night was kind of like a bucket with a hole in it. It doesn’t matter how much water you put in, eventually it will leak out and you will lose.

To conclude this series I thought I include some of the conversations I did have with Giants fans over the series.

The first one happened after game 2. He’s a good Giants fan, but an even better baseball fan. He commented on just how good Manny is and how much he affects the other team. He really noticed just how well he hits to the other side, but how much he gets into the minds of pitchers. He noticed how Jonathan Sanchez blew down Furcal and Hudson, but then got lit up by Manny. He was just impressed by the quality of the player and how much an advantage the Dodgers have to have him. I couldn’t agree more.

Today I was talking with a Giants fan about last night’s game and how it seems that both teams have shaky bullpens.  He agreed somewhat, but thought the the Dodgers real problem was starting pitching.  Eric Stults gave up almost a run an inning and it caught up to him.  He was right.  The pitching is the issue and no matter how many runs you score, you have to hold the other team, or you lose.  Good wisdom even if he was a Giants fan.  Jon Weisman of Dodger Thoughts has a good perspective on potential changes to the pitching staff.  The bullpen may get better, but it isn’t guarenteed for starting pitching.

How about you, any comments from Giants fans about the series?