A Pitcher's Importance

Jack Taschner owes Wilson one-half of his salary for this game. He owes Lincecum the other half.

Remember that Tim was coming off a potentially freak injury to his knee from last game. Lincecum had two hit shutout going into the 8th inning and leading 3-0, when a walk and single after getting two outs was cause enough (?) for Bochy to replace him. With Jack Taschner. "Lefty specialist", is what they call Jack. He certainly isn't any better than against right-handers. With a three-run cushion, Tasch gave up a single and a run in his only batter faced: 3-1, S.F. Wilson was called in to clean up before closing, which he did in typical Manimal style, striking out the last two outs of three.

By far, the most notable players were Burriss, Winn and Ishikawa. Winn was only 1-3 today (he's hitting around .450 for the month), but it was a triple, and he scored because Burriss knocked him in. Burriss himself was 2-4. But the real note was Ishikawa. Not only does this guy know how to play defensively, but he's continuing his hot hitting from the minors: today, 2-4, with a HR in the 2nd inning. Did we mention this is his third major league game?

FINAL: 3-1, S.F.

Hurricaning Youth

For the first time this season, and that I can remember, the Giants had six out of nine starters under the age of 29, thanks to the Giants sending up three new Fresno sensations. The starters' ages for today are as follows:

Velez: 26
Ochoa: 26
Rohlinger: 25
Ishikawa: 25
Sandoval: 22
Correia: 28

Lewis got in during the 2nd inning as well, for Rowand. Notice please from the list above that the oldest is the starting pitcher; all the rest are position players. If you count Burriss who was on the bench today, this means that we have six position players aged 26 or under. This lineup shocks, is far overdue, and therefore worth the majority of the post itself. The possibility of winning is not worth even a good portion, since you've seen what we're doing in Houston already, and apparently the Astros had won 7 in a row, and were 17-8 since the All-Star Break.

What else can I say when the Giants got two runs in the top of the 1st? Velez-Ochoa-Ishikawa also turned a DP in the bottom of the 1st. Velez himself got two 2-out singles, that eventually led to runs. Even Sandoval, who didn't have a notable game offensively, was great for sacrifice contact. Ochoa and Rohlinger hit hard as well, and were simply robbed by great defense out of the Houston 2B.

The problem, since there naturally has to be one, was Correia's lack of control; it's mostly mental. So, in my mind I sense that he pitches like Zito: the minute the other team gets any kind of momentum at all, he relies completely on the defense and his pitches get all kinds of off-center. We had a 2-0 and 3-1 leads, but Correia blew that by the 3rd inning. In the 4th, Ochoa made a "fantabulous" DP by running to the bag and then throwing to Ishikawa while rolling to the ground. Proof of this Zito Effect for Correia: after that play, he struck a batter out.

In the 6th, Lewis (replacing Rowand earlier in the game) hit a HR and then Ishikawa finally settled the nerves and had a standup double, although he did keep from advancing easily. I'm not really sure what to say about Correia, except that he usually has trouble in the middle of his starts, but does quite well after the first troubling inning. He retired eight batters in a row, and had only 79 pitches through six full innings.

Velez was robbed of another up-the-middle hit because the ball hit the pitcher and bounced perfectly to the 2B. Otherwise, we didn't have much to speak of on the Astro bullpen. But I'll tell you this: these kids must feel for each other, because Ochoa made a diving catch to save the tying run on 3B in the bottom of the 7th. He was barely there, too; just as so many of our batters had been robbed. The defense for our team is stellar, whether young or old. Without question. Except for Sandoval. I'm glad he's in, but I wonder why Holm was sent down, because although Sandoval had a few sacrifice hits, the unfortunate thing about him is that he had two passed balls. Both of those PBs made things very difficult. Bochy has told the players that he doesn't mind them making mistakes after just coming up, which I think is a good attitude; relaxed players do better anyway. Of course, you know that relaxing only does so much. Like when Taschner came in to face a lefty, instead of leaving Correia in, and ended up with a one-pitch single - giving up the lead. Correia wouldn't get the win. Taschner threw just the one pitch. Yabu got out of the inning.

In the 8th, Ishi walked. That was it. When Yabu gave up a leadoff single, he was replaced by Hinshaw. In two pitches, Hinshaw gave up a HR to Berkman. Granted that the pitch wasn't bad, such an outing isn't normal for Alex, Berkman is strong, and this park favors Berkman's strength... but the game was pretty much up at that point. It was clear that the management thought so at least, because they put Walker in, who of course gave up yet another run. Ochoa made a nice play to Velez to finish the inning, but Jon and Dave had to joke about Michael Bourn's Class-A hitting performance by calling him "The Bourn Out" to make this inning an honest laugher. Which leaves the primary positive for the game the same as it should have been all year: "Yay For Youth."

FINAL: 7-4, Houston.

We were swept.

Hope B.S. wept.


-MSH

When The Pitcher Gets Hit

All you need to know for this game is that Lincecum limped off the field in fifth inning off a come-backer; he later went to get his right knee x-rayed.

We got a few runners home on sac flies as we should to lead 3-2, but we had over a dozen runners left on base. And when Timmy the Kid leaves the game the following facts from last night should be expected:

Yabu retires a side; gets replaced by Hinshaw.
Hinshaw retires a side; gets one out in the 7th, walks someone, gets replaced by Walker. (An eerie note for our OMS Conspiracy: this is a double-switch here, Castillo defensively replacing Hinshaw.) However, please be reminded that at this point the score is still 3-2; the Astros have only two hits all game.

You can guess what happens next.

Walker faces two batters, giving up a hit and two runs; Walker gets replaced by Taschner.
Taschner faces four batters, giving up a GRANDSLAM and a double; replaced by Espineli.
Espineli faces batters, giving up a HR in three pitches first, before getting an out (which was the same batter as the first out of the inning: Michael Bourn), and then finishing the inning.

How good is your scorekeeping? Did you just realize that in 2/3 of an inning, three pitchers gave up 8 runs on 6 hits? In the 8th Hunter Pence had a HR, and Tejada doubled another run home, just to rub it in.

FINAL: 12-4, Houston

Here's the wrap, if you really want to verify this monstrosity. I wouldn't recommend it. What I would recommend is the wrap for Texas v. Boston tonight, the final score of which will floor you.

Not that this game wouldn't do the same thing. Just want you to be happily floored instead.

-MSH

The Day After Caray

The title exists because it's more important to acknowledge the death of Skip Caray, and also to indicate the kind of feel this game had before it had even begun. No win on this particular day would be so important to overshadow the continuing Caray family legacy. He had his own personality on air, and he had just as much class off the field.

Nevertheless, there was a game to be played, and the Braves put on the mound a man who has been a diamond in the rough of injuries and trades, a 10-game winner that point: Jair Jurrjens. Jair came in winning his last four road starts with an ERA of 0.30. S.F., on the other hand, put the ball in the right hand of a should-be-at-least-a-10-game winner: Matt Cain; a man for whom the Giants have scored eight runs in his last seven starts. (Just to emphasize the tragedy of this, Cain is fifth in the NL for strikeouts; we've also won less than 50 games with Lincecum first and Sanchez tenth on that same list.) Even though Matt had given up only four runs in his last 29 innings, do you think the 0.30 ERA was going to be a toughie to continue for Jurrjens? Well guess what? It was. More on that later. But still, the only thing that could neutralize the fact that the Braves have the third-worst record on the road is the fact that we have the worst record at home.

This expectation about our offense when Matt starts is one of the reasons, most likely the primary one, you're not getting a perfectly-ordered per-inning rundown tonight. Here's the wrap, to compensate. If you're really upset about that lack of viewer-nuancing of mind, do something productive and write a letter to players like Randy Winn. Hey, Vizquel is man enough to encourage the youth to play in his spot and learn from him.

Beautiful once again to see, the youth were in full force: our "Great Frisco Hope". Ochoa (SS), Lewis (LF), Holm (C) and Burriss (2B) started, to join the 23-year old Cain. I really like Holm, and the fact both that he's been doing well offensively and catching Cain regularly (every time for the last three weeks, too), is telling me that both may be sticking around a long time. Burriss delights particularly of late - though each is worth seeing for this time in the franchise's transition. For example, he always looks for where the OFs are playing when he's on-base, to try and read the pitch and his ability to score given certain circumstances. His awareness, gutsy play and knowledge of little things like that make him "The Player To Be Watched" for us for the rest of the season, without question.

He and Ochoa turned a nice double-play in the 1st inning. Burriss' made a nice play to get a close out in the 3rd, the second of two such plays in a row.

Burriss got a hit early on; unfortunately he got the brunt of a close call on a pitchout and didn't get a chance to make good on his speed; he was clearly safe on the replay.

Oh My Scapegoat was in tonight at 3B. That's pretty much the only thing productive to know about him.

One hard luck occurrence at 3B on the other side of the ball as well: in the bottom of the 1st when after having runners at 1B and 2B with one out, Rowand - you Offensive Genius, you (you'll read why later) - grounded in such a way to have Winn thrown out at 3B. Bowker retired the side with a slow roller to 2B. Inning over.

The interesting thing is that Winn himself reached base in his first two ABs. He advanced the second time because Ochoa singled up the middle.

Another interesting thing tonight for the lineup was that Lewis was in the three-hole. Apparently, along with making a decision to start the youth almost every day, Bochy's also decided to make Lewis a run-producer. His seven HRs as a leadoff do make it a novel idea, but I wasn't complaining in the 3rd. Lewis showed his speed then (which is why he was a leadoff in the first place), and avoided being the second out of a DP. Lewis ran on the first pitch of the next AB, and Rowand showed a surprising RBI single. Winn scored easily from 3B, and Lewis made it to 3B as well.

So we were up 1-0, with one out and runners at the corners. A botched grounder to Escobar by Bowker led to Lewis scoring, 2-0 S.F. Castillo grounded out to Kotchman to end the inning, but two runs by the end of just three innings is never anything to cause disappointment. Especially when Cain is pitching. And he was pitching well.

It was at this point the fog rolled into the park. Yes, I'm being surreal, because McCann walked and then Kotchman was HBP - very rare for Matthew. Thankfully, Cain got a pop-up to Winn and a grounder to "The Man"ny Burriss to escape completely unscathed. Well, I do love the fog you know. Gotcha there, didn't I? The problem is that even my love of the fog couldn't keep Matt out of trouble.

There were two very unusual things to happen from that moment. We scored more than two runs, and Matt couldn't get out of trouble with his own control. Granted, this loss of control could have been because of all his action in the bottom of the 4th. Matthew singled in the bottom of the fourth with two out and no one on; Winn reached because of an error by the 2B; and because of a fielding error by the same guy on a hit by Ochoa and a late throw home, Cain scored to help his own cause - which, by the way, he does an awful lot. Matt is a perfect NL pitcher; he strikes people out, he has fantastic control (he's not all about one pitch), he gets out of most jams, and he hits. You can't take it easy on his ABs. End of four: 3-0.

Unfortunately, Kotchman got a 2-out triple in the top of the 5th (the first of only two baserunners allowed past second by Cain for the night), and Infante singled him home. Matt got out of it, but the seventh was not so kind, which brings us to another surprise: Winn's perfomance.

Randy went an amazing 3-4 with a 2-out RBI double in the bottom of the sixth, thanks again to another youngster showing up before him: Steve Holm. In addition to this, he possibly saved the game defensively by making an amazingly calculated catch on a deep drive by Norton in the seventh. This was important, because the next batter walked, the following batter doubled, and the third batter to follow Norton walked as well. Yes, that's bases loaded. So that would be all for Matthew, too, but he ended with 6 2/3 innings, 6 Ks, and only 1 ER. Thanks to going 1-3 with R on the other side of the plate, he also ended with a W. Congratulations Matt. You are no longer The Pitcher To Be Pitied.

7th: Cain was removed for Tasch, and Tasch got out of the inning. He got McCann with the bases loaded - the only guy who could have realistically done damage, and historically 3-7 (now) against Jack.

8th: Walker almost blew it after relieving Tasch in the eighth, but only gave up one run.



9th:
Brian Wilson. Is. The Shizzle. A ground ball out to compensate for a bad opening count for the first out; a called strikeout for the second; a low-low-high fastball combination for a swinging K. End of game. 22 saves in a row; 31 saves to lead the NL. To hell with the stats, this kid's on fire. Unreal. Say it with me, please: "Hit the deck; it's the ghost of Rod Beck."

A few awards now.

Player(s) To Be Pitied: NONE.

Player(s) To Be Noted: Ivan Ochoa (2-3, RBI, BB); Steve Holm (2-3, BB, R); Jack Taschner (huge final out in 7th)

Player(s) To Be Lauded: Randy Winn (3-4, BB, RBI, R, steal, defense); Matt Cain (W, 6.2IP, 6K, 1ER); Brian Wilson (SV - 31, 2K)

FINAL: 4-2, S.F.


We've won three of the last four,
and the fog keeps rolling.
Enough said.

-MSH

The Pitchers To Be Pitied

Last night in San Diego, we had a bit of a formidable opponent: the umpire.

His strike-zone was erratic; Jon Miller even had the guts to bring it up, multiple times, and Dave Flemming corroborated (naturally). Lincecum wasn't getting anything at the knees to speak of. (Hoffman got something at the knees in the tenth, which gave a very amusing reaction from Burriss. Good boy.) But because of that, he had to rely on that changeup again to strikeout people; he relied on it as late as the seventh. Which, he did. In the bottom of the first, he struck out the side. Of course, he struck out the last two after four reached in a row, and the Padres scored a run.

But fortunately for us, this tied the game instead of gaining a lead. That's right, the scoreless inning streak was over from the beginning. Thanks to the youth (big surprise), we hit the ball hard all night. Lewis sac-flied to allow Winn to score the first run. Then, he went 2-2; his base hit led off the sixth, Molina followed up with a single of his own, and even though Rowand double-played his AB, Lewis scored off a passed ball to take the lead. (This is the last time for the post that I will mention Rowand offensively, mind you: he did nothing.)

At this point, I'd like to bring up a few other immediate positives that made me happy about the team regardless of the outcome:

1) We FINALLY had youth at 2B and SS - at the same time! That's right; thank God, Burriss started at 2B and Ochoa started at SS. Ochoa started the game with a hit, and Burriss is solid defensively; he's finding 2B a warm home, I think, more so than SS.

2) The youth FINALLY had a game where they could show their stuff as a team. Everyone performed well, even though the stats didn't show it completely. Almost all the youth hit the ball hard at least once, and all of our scoring was because of at least one key contact-hit by a youngster or two.

3) Bowker was particularly interesting this time, because although Bowker made a baserunning error by advancing at a precarious fly ball, he hit the ball deep every time and led the seventh off with a double up the wall. I believe he's coming into his own, slowly, because surprise-surprise: he's being played every day.

However, naturally because of that last point being good, the management shocked me again and pulled Bowker after his baserunning naivete. They replaced him with Aurilia in the bottom of the seventh, defensively. I agree that Aurilia is better defensively with a slim lead, so I really don't have a problem with it. But I won't say I expected the switch. I would expect more of a double-switch from Bochy, actually. But so be it. Aurilia made the first out of the seventh himself, and I'm sorry, but I like Richie. He's the only vet I want to see playing for my team at this point (sorry Aaron). I mean, dude, look at how lame the rest of the players' walk-up music is, compared to Richie's that's given last.

For his own piece, Timmy The Kid still had 9 Ks through six innings himself. He would finish with 11, over seven full innings, with 114 total pitches. He didn't even allow a runner to reach scoring position since the first inning run. His being pulled out after seven innings and striking out most of the last two innings at least brought shades of his last start, I will admit. But an excellent showing nevertheless by Tim.

Bochy may have finally gotten the hint about Walker, using him for only a one-pitch groundout to start the eighth and then bringing in Jack [Taschner]; I know that Giles was next and it was lefty-lefty matchup. But, since Jack obviously didn't get traded, I have a feeling that Walker was being put on show to see, if he could hold well, what prospects we might have obtained for him. Shrewd, if it weren't for the fact that Walker wasn't viewed as desirable by others in the first place.

In contrast, Tasch struck Giles out with a 93mph fastball on the outside corner. Confident, and excellent. It's hard not to like the guy - except when he blows it. So of course, Tasch immediately gave up a one-pitch, bleachers-in-LCF HR to Adrian Gonzalez. Immediately, Romo was warmed up. That was the second HR Gonzalez hit against Jack this year. One should know that the one guy on SD who's having a good year, and is a real threat to Jack in particular, should have been walked - immediately. Instead, immediately Tim was robbed of another win.

It doesn't really matter what the outcome of the game was, or that at one point S.F. had doubled S.D.'s hit count. Although, a win is always nice and the game going into extras made putting Richie at 1B a prophetic move.

The thing that mattered primarily is that, I'm sure, Lincecum and Cain have a lot to talk about lately. Maybe my award can become "The Pitchers To Be Pitied" now. I suppose in a certain way, we can include the bullpen entire in that as well, though obviously they are pitiable because they keep ruining things for the starters - not because they earn something that they lose because of something other than their own doing. So maybe not. Just Tim and Matt will do, for that honor.

Come to think of it, there's at least one good young guy per game that deserves to be pitied. So perhaps that makes it a new "per-game award". Necessity is the mother of invention. And recognition.

-MSH


PS
OK, how we won does matter. Burriss knocked a hit off Hoffman in the tenth after reacting humorously to a bad call, and Velez came in as a PH (youth, I'm telling you, really, what did I say?). Velez doubled off the scoreboard to score Burriss (because youth is quick). Winn was intentionally walked. Ochoa's first swing at a strike was a foul-off. Unforunately, he lined out; but it looked solid.

Brian "The Animal" Wilson came on to get a ball - at the knees. Aurilia got the first out with a great backhander. Did I mention that I like Richie? I have no idea why, except for his usual precision and his attitude. Brian hit 97mph easily, multiple times in fact. He unfortunately gave up a liner single up the middle next, because the slider hung. He then gave up another single to Giles. Thank goodness Edgar Gonzalez had a horrible jump when his elder brother got the third straight hit.

I held my breath for the final outs; but I'll give you one reason why I was ecstatic about the double-play when it looked like Wilson was falling off the wagon: Ochoa, a youth, touched 2B and turned the double-play to Aurilia. The youth were responsible for every major game-saving pitch or double-play, and every single run in some direct way; Lincecum, Lewis, Wilson, Velez, Burriss, Ochoa: the youth.

Thank God.

How (And How Not) To Get It Done

S.F. is now 1 for 1 when I am at Dodger Stadium. For those who like it straight-up, here's the box and wrap. Thank you; I am quite proud of them, myself. Hence the title.

But the title also implies how not to get things done. And what I was not proud of, visibly and vocally (in an explanative, not expletive, fashion), was further proof of my "(mis)management conspiracy" theory to throw this team into the Bay with player rotation. In addition to Ralph Barbieri's fantastic tirade this afternoon which furthered my post on Lincecum's removal Saturday, I got to witness first-hand what Bochy's idiocy means for this team. More on that later.

We can allow a little indulgence into the good of the game itself, but it was honestly a weird game. Strange. Had a humid "feel" to it's weirdness. First of all, we scored seven runs without first allowing the Dodgers a hit. I was feeling proud of Kevin Correia. Especially since our own run seemed to start when he got a two-run single himself with two outs, after Vizquel struck out chasing (bad) sliders.

I was also feeling proud of the umpires from a biased point of view, because there were three consecutive, very close calls in a row that kept our run-streak alive in the fourth: a plate tag (couldn't see it), Lewis beating a throw at first (did see it and it looked a tie, which means I functionally didn't see it), and Ethier's "catch" in RF hitting the ground before his glove (which I couldn't see for other people in the way). After those were done, we played a contact-hitting game. This is really the only way we score, and it explains why we score in bunches. Think of it like the baseball equivalent to bopping squirrels on the head at an arcade. It's frenzied, and it's erratic, but you get on a roll.

However after the run amazement, and the umpiring amazement (which was not done for the night), came the necessary growing pains of our youth. In the fourth, we almost gave up a run. Bochy left Correia in. OK, maybe. Then in the fifth, the Dodgers actually scored five runs, with no one out. Righetti talks to Correia after the second run comes in. Nice talk. Lewis misfielded what should have been a single, making it a two run double.

Then on a bunt, Bowker starts towards the ball. Too bad the ball had only gone six inches - an easy play for Molina. Except Bowker wasn't at first, and because he was moving back while Molina had the ball, Castillo didn't know whether to stand at first or not. Bowker decided that for him by backing off but too late, and Molina threw it. Why? Who knows. But Castillo, who should have been there to back Bowker up anyway, was not in place for it and lost it entirely. Did I mention that earlier in the inning, Castillo had made an erroneous throw to let Loney on base in the first place? Let me say this: You shouldn't be surprised.

Given that Correia was still in at this point, the following is the second piece of evidence for the mismanagement theory: Castillo at 2B. Excuse me, but you already have Bowker to play 1B, and Rich Aurilia to play at 3B, and sometimes 1B. Castillo can split time at 3B, though everyone in their right mind prefers Richie, which they should. (He was one of the only consistent areas of hope on both sides of the ball tonight - he hit when he had to and fielded where it would be necessary to make the best play. And of course he still has the right spirit about him on the field: gritty, versatile, calculating, and unsung.) The point here is that you've just freed Durham so that Burriss and Velez can grow out of their youth. Castillo has no place at 2B, ever.

The third piece of evidence, and the rest of it actually, is pitching. After giving up five runs in the fifth, Bochy left Correia in to bat, and then in to get one out in the sixth. This was insane; when Correia left, a runner was on second and it was 7-6. Bochy gained nothing by leaving Correia in, except another way to self-destruct his team.

Fourth piece of evidence: bringing in Hinshaw, who has the best ERA in the 'pen, to face one batter. Yes, Hinshaw walked him; yes, lefty-to-lefty is a good matchup; but this was the bottom of the sixth. Let the man finish it out. Romo did that instead, and awkwardly. Romo did not return.

Instead (the fifth piece), Walker was given the ball in the seventh. Yes, Mr.-Blow-It. Did we have luck? Fortunately, yes. But the first out was a mistaken swing at a bad pitch in the dirt, the second out was a fly out, and the third out was Rowand at the track. Kent's hit for that out looked gone to me immediately. Toward any other place in that park except dead-center, it would be. Walker did not do that smoothly, at all.

Then came the fun (no more evidence for this game). Taschner is now the setup man, apparently, and so got the ball in the eighth. (By now, of course, the Giant offense had committed to its default attitude of forcing the pitching to win the game - I believe it possible that we were hitless for the last 5 1/3 innings.) The best out was the second one, because newcomer Casey Blake was called out on a check swing. Now, I don't have a problem with Dodger fans wanting to see it as a bad call; I understand it. But Blake both crossed the plate with his bat, and had his bat angled towards the pitcher - even if just for a split-second, either of those things counts. Blake had done both. I won't argue it, but I was looking right at it, from the first base side, perpendicular to the right face of the plate. Blake argued it, because it was appealed to the 1B umpire, and after going into the dugout was then thrown out for God-knows-what by the home plate umpire. Blake ran from the dugout to the 1B umpire, for a moment as if it were an impending brawl. Welcome to the rivalry, Mr. Casey-At-The-Bat.

Then Torre was there with him; soon - and also inevitably - Torre was thrown out. I understand that you need to stand up for your players, and argue, but getting thrown out when you still have a (very) realistic chance at winning apart from a possible (but not actual) bad call is a huge mistake. The Dodgers never recovered from it, though Torre left to a standing ovation.

Something to further the weirdness was the arrest and manhandling of an errant and surprising fan by four or five security officers, who had to follow the man into the Giants' dugout. It was actually a bit frightening. We were on the 1B side, as I mentioned, and it was an absolute treat to see the boys in orange that close again (the first time in years, actually, because of the proximity to the dugout itself). But it also gave a great view for the man getting cuffed and carried out like a hot dog, being held face-down and parallel to the ground. I have no clue what he wanted, but he had a black jacket on and if he was a S.F. fan, that's completely uncalled for. I can understand if a Dodger fan gets in there because, hey, it's rivalry. But don't do that to your own team when they're losing a huge lead and just barely hanging onto it.

There was also the incident with Vizquel tossing his hat from the dugout to a lucky guy in the premiere box. This poor man then had it taken from him by a security guard so that Vizquel, obviously a little confused, had to give the man a ball instead. What, a player's hat is illegal to give out? Why? "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't realize that could encourage a fan to keep being devoted to the game; I'll make sure not to do that ever again." What's next, no baseballs tossed to fans? I already miss the old-school gray on the under-bill of the cap, for autographing. Idiocy, everywhere. I don't get it.

But all is well that ends well. Brian Wilson is the workhorse of this team right now, without question. At least in his attitude. Aurilia has the attitude, and Lincecum and Cain have it by-default, but Wilson has it every day: the stonefire eyes, the chiseled stance, the passion, tenacity, and hardcore intensity that we've not seen since Nen, and perhaps Beck. For God's sake, the man threw one inning, struck out two, threw over 80% of his pitches for strikes, and hit 100mph or more on the radar at least five times. The man's a human animal.

I love it. I may even adopt his facial hair pattern.

-MSH

The Turnaround? [NB: The Game After Durham]

Some thoughts on last night's win as a potential turn-around, by person. Again, please note this is the first game of the first series without Sugar Ray's "I'm entitled to everything" attitude on the team:

Lewis: Went 1-4 with a leadoff HR in the first inning. He hit one of the Levi's poles in RF, preventing a splash. Kruk, Kuip, myself, and probably half the rest of the fans believe that he deserves a free pair of jeans for this.

Molina: 2 HR evening; the last time this kind of night happened for him, it was only April. Fantastic.

Zito: The crowd likes him again, and there's good reason why. He went a full six innings again, and while he allowed 3 runs he still got himself out of a few tough situations, holding on to get his fifth win of the season. Zito is now 2-0 at home, after starting the season 0-8 at home. A typical (and welcome) "second-half comeback" start for him.

Winn: Randy scored the sixth run of the game, after stealing a base and getting his first hit of the night in the eighth. However, he wasn't really what I would call a "factor" in this game. Why? Here's what the youth did prior to Winn's hit off of Washington middle relief: Ochoa 1-1 (PH); Velez 1-3 (R); Lewis 1-3 (HR). So, clearly, because Randy can still be productive without us really needing him to be, it's perfectly logical to trade him for prospects so that Nate [Schierholtz] can play.

Taschner: This is more Bochy's fault than anything. In the sixth, Bochy had Hinshaw and Espineli warming up. Taschner was put in in the seventh - without being warmed up. Taschner proceeded to get one out, then walk the next two batters after full counts before being pulled for Romo, who barely got out of the inning alive. Maybe Bochy might get the hint this time, just like the injury to Yabu has allowed him to call up Espineli. Normally, Bochy would appear perfectly calm to leave Taschner in - maybe send out Righetti. But no, Bochy went out himself, immediately.

Burriss: Put in at 2B in the ninth inning for his defense, it was clear why immediately. The first out was a sharp grounder hit to him; the second out was a Gold-Glove-caliber diving stop to catch a line out. This was done after sitting on the bench all night after warmup; he didn't even have a chance to hit. This kid is amazing.

Wilson: Got screwed on the strike zone for both of the first two hitters, so he just threw three heaters in a row to get the last out. That's called determined. That's Rod Beck. Wilson is now on pace for at least 40 saves. Hello? 40 saves.

Visquel: Sorry, pal. I love your defense, and your a historic, Hall of Fame SS; but when we're in a horrible slump, you can't be traded because you're hitting .161, and we have two fine young defensive middle IFs now, you get pulled next game.

Hooray!

-MSH