Baily's Sports & Stuff

Carlos Beltran was expected to jump right in and make a contribution at the plate. Instead, he went to defense and the advice column. Beltran made a sliding catch and gave Pablo Sandoval some good advice (which he used), Tim Lincecum pitched six shutout innings, and the Giants beat the Phillies 4-1. Beltran told Sandoval to focus on hitting to the opposite field instead of pulling the ball, and what do you know: Sandoval went deep opposite-field. Nate Schierholtz hit an RBI single, and two scored on Michael Martinez's error. Philadelphia scored on a Chase Utley double in the seventh. In the first, Beltran got his first at-bat as a Giant. He didn't get a hit, and he got out all four times he came to the plate, but Sandoval didn't. Although Sandoval only had one hit on the day, he made it count. In the second, Sandoval hit an outside breaking ball into the first row in left field. Lincecum needed that run badly, because he was on. Lincecum got out of many jams,

Ervin Santana was the odd man out in the Angels rotation. You have Jered Weaver, owner of the league's lowest ERA. Dan Haren, the workhorse who gives you too many wins. And now, we can welcome Ervin Santana to that category. Santana no-hit the Cleveland Indians Wednesday afternoon, striking out 10 batters in a 3-1 victory. Santana gave up an unearned run, but nothing else. In the ninth inning, Ervin Santana recorded a strikeout, groundout, and flyout. His last K was on a 94 mph fastball on the outside corner, getting Travis Buck. Ezquillel Cabrera came up, looking to end the gem, but he grounded out to second on a slider. Santana was one out away, but he had to face Michael Brantley. However, Brantley induced weak contact on a fly ball to center field, and Santana's last outside fastball gave him the no-hitter. Ervin Santana started the year 3-8, but he has gotten the win in his last three decisions. Santana took a no-hitter into the sixth inning in his last start

The Seattle Mariners have gone through a lot of pain. For instance, sixteen straight losses. C.C Sabathia did nothing to help that. Sabathia struck out 14 in 7+ innings of work, Mark Texiara and Curtis Granderson homered and the Yankees extended Seattle's losing streak to 17 with a 4-1 triumph. The game was scoreless until Curtis Granderson went yard, an opposite-field shot barely clearing the left field wall. But the focus was on C.C. Sabathia struck out seven in a row at one point, and he retired the first nineteen batters. While he was on his game, New York gave him two more runs. In the sixth, Sabathia struck out Mike Carp on a bouncer, then the game was delayed due to rain, for about 30 minutes. But it didn't disrupt C.C. Sabathia got Greg Halman to pop up and Chone Figgins to ground out to short. In the seventh, he got Ichiro Suziki, who looked nothing like Ichiro, to strike out on a breaking ball. But while he was cruising, Brendan Ryan was on a streak hims

Giants fans all know the story of Buster Posey. The kid from Leesburg, Georgia, was drafted out of Florida State, and made his debut in 2009. In 17 at-bats, he had just two hits (a .118 batting average). But in 2010, his second time at the helm, he hit .305, won NL Rookie of the Year, and led the Giants to a World Series title. See a little of the same in Brandon Belt? Belt struggled early this year, was sent down to the minors, came back, continued his struggles, then got hit on the wrist with a pitch. After lots of rehab time (where he was great in Triple-AAA), it became clear to Brian Sabean that the real Brandon Belt was in Triple-AAA, desperate to go to the Majors. In his first start back, Belt made a huge impression on Giants fans. He hit an inside changeup over Levi's Landing to give the Giants a 1-0 lead last night, then hit a tiebreaking, two-run double down the line as the Giants took a 5-3 lead. Belt's big game couldn't have come at a better time fo

At the end of 2010, Ryan Vogelsong didn't know if he would ever pitch again. Vogelsong had struggled in 2010 with the Phillies and Angels minor league teams, and the righty who just got back from Japan thought he'd never pitch again. Now, he's the Giants best pitcher (this year). Vogelsong pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings on Monday to improve his record to 7-1 and his ERA to a National League best 2.02, helping the Giants beat the Dodgers 5-0. Although he gave up seven hits and got into five jams, Vogelsong didn't give up a single run, while picking up his seventh win of the season. Like I said, Vogelsong has been one of the most surprising players in baseball. He is in his second stint with the Giants, and this one is much better for Vogelsong. With the Pirates and Giants, Vogelsong suffered a couple injuries, and he went to Japan for three years. After that, he signed a minor league contract with the Phillies. Vogelsong struggled with the Lehigh Valley Trip

The defending champion San Francisco Giants are on a run right now, and the L.A. Dodgers are on a slump. Can the Giants take advantage of that, and can Pablo Sandoval and Nate Schierholtz co L.A. Dodgers Other than Kershaw, center fielder Matt Kemp, and right fielder Andre Either, the Dodgers have been pathetic. The team currently is 42-53, eleven-and a half games behind the Giants. Right now, Dioner Navarro is starting at catcher, and Aaron Miles is starting at second. Los Angeles has gotten solid seasons from Kershaw and Chad Billingsley, but Jon Garland, Ted Lilly, Hiroki Kuroda, and Rubby De La Rosa have struggled to find their mark. The starters have combined for a 35-41 mark, while the bullpen is 7-12. Matt Kemp leads the Dodgers with 24 homers, 72 RBI’s, and 107 hits. Andre Either has 9 homers and 44 RBI’s, second on the team in both categories. While both have stepped up, other guys for L.A. haven’t stepped up. Juan Uribe was picked up by the Dodgers with high expecta

When Aubrey Huff went over to catch a foul ball, Mat Latos had some words for him. Huff, who was 0-3 on the night, was being teased by Latos. Little did Latos know what would come next. Huff's home run in the ninth tied the game at one, and the Giants scored five runs in the sixth to win 6-2. Pablo Sandoval extended his hitting streak to 22. With Heath Bell pitching in the ninth, Huff lined a change-up deep to right, where his hit barely cleared the fence, and stayed fair. In the twelfth, Cody Ross walked, and Emmanuel Burriss pinch-ran for him. Burriss stole a base, Eli Whiteside walked, and Brandon Crawford's bunt got all runners on base safely. Unfortunately, Miguel Tejada and Andres Torress got out, with no runners advancing, but Mike Fontenot's walk knocked in a run. Pablo Sandoval added two with a single to left. When the Padres and Giants thought it was over, Nate Schierholtz lined another single, and so did Aubrey Huff. Each one knocked in a run, and San

Prince Fielder was booed by fans from his own league heading into the All-Star game. After the All-Star game, Arizona fans might want to change their opinions. Fielder's three-run bomb gave the National League a 3-1 lead and helped the NL to a 5-1 win, their second straight. Andre Either and Pablo Sandoval knocked in runs. Although the only batter he faced got a hit, Tyler Clippard got the win, C.J Wilson got the loss, and Brian Wilson got the save. The National League allowed just six hits. Four of those hits were in one inning, as with two outs in the fourth and a no-hitter going for the National League, Cliff Lee gave up a home run to Adrian Gonzalez. Two hits followed, and Lee was out. Tyler Clippard came in, and although he gave up a hit to Adrian Beltre, Hunter Pence got Jose Bautista out at the plate, and the NL was out of a jam. They would strike back, however. After Carlos Beltran and Matt Kemp singled, Prince Fielder hit an outside slider deep to left-center fie

The Giants were getting nothing out of Barry Zito. Then, all of the sudden, Zito sprained his foot. He made some changes to his pitching. And now, the guy we used to see in Oakland is back in San Francisco. Welcome back, Barry Zito. After two straight spectacular starts, Zito followed by allowing just one run in eight innings as the Giants beat the Padres 2-1. Eli Whiteside homered. Two struggling players, Eli Whiteside and Pat Burrell, were thrust into the lineup tonight with expectations. Whiteside and Burrell each knocked in a run, and Miguel Tejada scored. In twenty-one innings since returning from the disabled list, Zito has picked up three wins and given up just three runs, while the Giants have given him enough run support. Zito got in a lot of jams, just like he did against Detroit in his last start, but he got out of every one. With runners on first and third and no one out, Eli Whiteside got Bill Hall stealing, then Zito got Chase Headley to pop up and Ryan Ludwick

On offense (and a little on defense), the San Francisco Giants are best known for their depth. One day Freddy Sanchez is playing second, then it's Emmanuel Burriss, then Bill Hall, then Miguel Tejada. But sometimes, San Francisco just has to fall back on their back-ups for pinch-hit duties and injury replacements. One guy, like Pablo Sandoval (who has a seventeen-game hit streak) plays every day. But who else should? Let's find out. Leadoff Hitter: Andres Torres, CF Once Cody Ross fully recovers from his mild hamstring strain (about two more days), he'll be back in left field, leaving only two outfield spots available. While Aaron Rowand has done well from the middle outfield spot, Torres is heating up. Torres scored three runs and racked up four hits in his last ten at-bats, and he is ready for a big second half. Bruce Bochy has had patience this year with Torres, and it's about to pay off. As for Aaron Rowand, the same goes. Rowand's ten-game hitting st

After Nate Schierholtz doubled in the top of the twelfth and couldn't score, he didn't think he would have a chance to be the hero. Instead, he was the only hero. Schierholtz hit a walk-off home run in the 14th inning to power the Giants to a huge 6-5 win over the Padres, avoiding a four-game losing streak. Pablo Sandoval knocked in three runs. The Padres led 4-1 in the fourth inning, but Nate Schierholtz cut the deficit to one with a two- run home run to right. The Padres added another run, but the Panda knocked in two with a double in the eighth to tie the game. Pablo made another big play in the ninth. With runners on first and third, he made a diving stop to rob the Padres of two runs in the ninth. The Giants threatened in the 11th, 12th, and 13th, but they couldn't score. Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, and Javier Lopez each pitched two spectacular innings, and they combined for seventeen straight outs to end the game. Schierholtz scored his third RBI of the night

Barry Zito turned in his second straight good performance for the Giants. This time, he didn't give up any runs. If he had gone the distance, he only would've needed one. Instead, the Giants gave him fifteen. Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Crawford, and Miguel Tejada (grand slam) homered, Barry Zito pitched six scoreless innings, and the Giants dominated the Tigers 15-3. Aubrey Huff and Eli Whiteside also knocked in two runs. SF gave Zito all the support he needed in the first inning, as Sandoval and Crawford went yard. With Emmanuel Burriss on first, the Panda smacked a slider outside into the left field seats. If that wasn't enough, Crawford added extra. He smacked a curveball into the right field seats for his second homer of the year, and gave SF a 5-0 lead. Zito was on as well, as his breaking ball, fastball, and change-up were working. If he allowed a leadoff hit, he'd just get a double play. In the fourth, Miguel Cabrera came up with two on and no outs. If C

Usually, when Fear the Beard blows two saves in a row, the Giants are in deep trouble. Instead, they're in much better position then last year, and they have fought through Brian Wilson's struggles. A three-run ninth helped the Giants hold off a Tigers rally and defeat Detroit 4-3. Pablo Sandoval hit two RBI doubles to help the Giants stop a two-game losing streak and improve to three games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. The game was scoreless until the fifth inning, when Pablo Sandoval doubled on an outside breaking ball to score Aaron Rowand and give San Francisco the lead, 1-0. On the flip side, Madison Bumgarner pitched well for San Francisco, until he allowed Brandon Inge to get on base. Inge scored on Maggilo Ordonez's single, which Wilson allowed. However, in the ninth, Panda hit an RBI double on an outside pitch, and after Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked, Nate Schierholtz was unintentionally walked. The Giants led 3-1. Tigers closer Jose Va