Baily's Sports & Stuff

The Giants motto is torture, right? They win torturous games. But for most of August, they weren't. They hadn't won a one-run game in August since Wednesday, but they can still win them. As we all know, the Giants can pitch. From Tim Lincecum to Eric Surkamp, they can always rely on someone to get the win. But even with Pablo Sanodval, Carlos Beltran, Cody Ross, and Aubrey Huff, they can't seem to score. Last year's offense was bad. This year's offense is horrible. Sure, they are 71-62. But that's because they win close games. Their pitching is spectacular. Even Eric Surkamp was able to keep that going. The Giants have won back-to-back games for the first time since August 13 and 14. And it's all thanks to the pitching-and a little bit of offense. Surkamp went six innings and gave up just one run, striking out three and using his nasty breaking ball to get out of jams. In the tenth, Mark DeRosa flared a single to center, stole a base (barely) and

You guys know the Giants. They don't make things easy, right? Usually, they don't get many runs. Not many hits. It's all about the pitching. And that's what happened Friday night. The Giants won the same type of game they won all last year, and they scored their thirtieth one-run win on the year. They are three games back in the NL West, but they still have a great chance. San Francisco still has their next eight games and fourteen of their next seventeen games at home, and the toughest opponent they face is Arizona, by far. The Giants will have Brian Wilson, Sergio Romo, Pat Burrell, Jonathan Sanchez, and Andres Torres back before season's end. The Giants are 8-4 against their Arizona rivals this year, as a couple tortuous wins have been thrown into the mix. They have superior pitching, as Tim Lincecum is at his best, and Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong, and Madison Bumgarner have been stellar. With Carlos Beltran, Aubrey Huff, Pablo Sandoval, Brandon Belt, Cod

We all know the Giants score few runs and give up few runs. It's the way things work in San Francisco. And Tim Lincecum isn't happy with it. Lincecum is pitching very well for San Francisco. He has a 2.46 ERA, 189 strikeouts, and just 49 earned runs allowed in 179 innings pitched. But his record? 12-10. How can someone that good have a losing record. Lincecum has lost 1-0, 2-1, 3-0, you name it. He has pitched well in all but one start. Yet he has just twelve wins to show. On Wednesday night, Lincecum allowed just one run in eight innings, and he only got two runs of support. Yes, he got win number twelve, but hardly any support. The only time Timmy got lucky to come away with a win was after giving up three runs in seven innings and winning thanks to Brandon Crawford's grand slam. He's gotten unlucky to win many more times. Forget the win-loss record, and Tim Lincecum is among the best in baseball. He still is, as his ERA has dropped lower then Ryan Vogelso

The Chicago Bears have weapons. Weapons on both sides of the ball. As we saw last year, the Bears have a good defense. They didn't allow more than twenty points until Week 12; and they won that game. Julius Peppers' great pressure definitely helped the Bears, and while he isn't what he used to be, Brian Urlacher can still deliver hard hits. Charles Tillman is a solid cornerback. On the offensive side of the ball, you have Jay Cutler, a guy who is mobile and can make just about any throw. You have two new additions in Marion Barber (running back) and Roy Williams (wide receiver). But can the Bears really put that together, plus a terrible offensive line, a mediocre receiving core (Roy Williams doesn't help much), and a running back core without explosiveness (the offensive line)? Last year, they pieced it together. Cutler had some good options in Johnny Knox, Earl Bennett, Devin Hester, and Greg Olsen, and they got open for him. But can this offensive line gi

On Sunday, you saw an example of the San Francisco Giants. If you haven't seen them since May 24, you may have some questions. Where's Andres Torres? Where's Jonathan Sanchez? What about Sergio Romo? Buster Posey? Pat Burrell? Freddy Sanchez? Brian Wilson? The answer: they're all on the DL. Just about every Giant has hit the disabled list, or at least missed a couple games, due to injury. Right now, Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez are out for the year (as we all know, except the guy who hasn't seen them play since May 24). But they can still win, and they showed an example Sunday. Brandon Belt, who probably would see limited playing time if Andres Torres, Carlos Beltran, and Pat Burrell weren't hurt, has been doing well. He hit a three-run homer to help the Giants. And Pablo Sandoval, who was on the DL for a month and a half, hit the game-winning two-run homer in the eleventh. If Freddy Sanchez was back, Pablo would see a few less at-bats. While th

The Giants are known for being a team of torture. This past three weeks, their fans have been given torture. But not the way they wanted it. San Francisco has won six of their last twenty games, dropped their last six one run games, and been held to one run or less seven times (four of those shutouts). Wasn't this the team that went 6-1 in one-run games last postseason? The team with 28 one-run wins? The team with all the castoffs and misfits? I can answer that question. No, it's not. Right now, the only player playing the same position as he was on Opening Day is Pablo Sandoval, who batted eighth on Opening Day, and now bats third. Pablo Sandoval was the Giants weak spot on Opening Day. Now, he's their strong spot. Sure, the Giants have Jeff Keppinger. They have Orlando Cabrera. They have Carlos Beltran. Cody Ross is back from injury. But what about Buster Posey? Injured. Freddy Sanchez? Injured. Carlos Beltran? Injured. Pat Burrell? Injured. Andres Torres?

After Brandon Belt grounded out and struck out, some Giants fans wondered why they sat Aubrey Huff. In his next two at-bats, he made Giants fans wonder why he doesn't play more. Belt hit consecutive solo homers in the sixth and eighth innings, Ryan Vogelsong got his tenth win of the year, and the Giants beat Florida 5-2 to stay two games back of Arizona. Belt, who has been on the Giants team four different times, was sent down August 5, and called up Saturday morning. He has played first base and outfield for the Giants, and Belt has come up big at times. Against the Dodgers on July 19, he was called up that morning, hit a home run and knocked in three runs as the Giants won 5-3. Although the Giants outfield is crowded, and Aubrey Huff plays first, Belt will likely find playing time as a left-handed pinch-hitter in the absence of Andres Torres, or in the outfield. In the sixth inning, Belt drove a pitch to left-center field, right next to the 434 foot marker, and it end

The Arizona Diamondbacks. The Cleveland Indians. The Pittsburgh Pirates. Last year, these three were at the cellar of the division. Now, they have become contenders. Are they still hanging around? Yes. In fact, Cleveland is just three games back in the AL Central, and the surging D-Backs are now up by one game in the NL West. While the Pirates are tied for third place and ten games back, they still have a legitimate chance. So do the Red Sox and Yankees. The Phillies? Of course. Milwaukee and St. Louis have a chance. San Francisco and Atlanta have a shot. Texas and the Angels are in the mix. Detroit isn't out of it. Here are my playoff picks. NLDS Matchups (1) Philadelphia vs (3) Arizona (2) Milwaukee vs (4) Atlanta ALDS Matchups (1) NY Yankees vs (3) Detroit (2) Texas vs (4) Boston NLDS Preview: (1) Philadelphia vs (3) Arizona The Diamondbacks will bring a challenge with Justin Upton and their bats, and Ian Kennedy and their stellar staff, but Cliff Lee, Roy H

Jonathan Sanchez came into the game with one mentality: throw strikes. Did it start well? No. Did it end well? No. Sanchez gave up five runs and didn't make it out of the fifth, Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run bomb and the Pirates beat the Giants 9-2. Pittsburgh came in to San Francisco with a 10-game losing streak, but they took game one in San Francisco, and they dominated this one. Ronny Cedeno, Brandon Wood, Matt Diaz, Ryan Ludwick, and Garrett Jones each knocked in a run for Pittsburgh. Pablo Sandoval homered for San Francisco, who's solo home run streak was extended to 19, tying a major league record. Jeff Karstens pitched for Pittsburgh, and he pitched well, using his curveball to fool hitters and his fastball as a nice compliment. Karstens got out of jams, gave up just two runs and picked up his ninth win of the season. Jonathan Sanchez fell to 4-7. In the first inning, Andrew McCutchen walked, stole second, and scored on Ryan Ludwick's bloop single. Ho

At 12 o'clock on Tuesday, Chris Stewart was signing autographs for fans. About eight and a half hours later, he hit his first big league home run. Stewart hit his first career home run, Madison Bumgarner went seven scoreless innings and the Giants took down the Pirates 6-0. Aubrey Huff homered and knocked in two runs, while Nate Schierholtz, Cody Ross, and Orlando Cabrera knocked in runs. Sergio Romo continued his 13 inning scoreless streak with a scoreless eighth. The game was scoreless until the fourth, and the Giants were hitless. Pittsburgh had chances, but Bumgarner's dominating fastball to get ahead in counts and breaking ball to finish off hitters was working. In the fourth, Jeff Keppinger lead off with a double, which probably would've been a home run in Houston. Pablo Sandoval got him to third with a groundout, and Huff plated Keppinger with an RBI double just over shortstop Ronny Cedeno's head. Pittsburgh threatened to tie the game in the fifth, as

Tim Lincecum knew what was going on. The long-haired ace knew that the Giants fans were getting mad. The ace wouldn't start a good streak. He would stop a bad one. Did San Francisco have the right guy on the mound? Yes. Lincecum pitched 7 2/3 strong innings, Brian Wilson got the save on his jersey day and the Giants stopped a three-game slide with a 3-1 win over Philadelphia. Jeff Keppinger had four hits and a sacrifice fly, and Chris Stewart had a run and an RBI. The Giants got 12 hits off Roy Oswalt and 13 in the game. Although San Francisco continued to struggle with runners in scoring position, Chris Stewart, Orlando Cabrera, and Jeff Keppinger, who were all not on the opening day roster, knocked in runs, and the Giants were able to steal a win. San Francisco received a scare when Chase Utley accidentally lost his grip on a bat and it hit Lincecum. Lincecum would be OK, however, and he wouldn't come out until Hunter Pence reached on an error. The struggling

Jeff Keppinger, Carlos Beltran, and Orlando Cabrera had hardly done anything for the Giants. Since their acquisitions, mainly to replace big bats and fill holes, the three new players have failed to make an impact. Until now. Orlando Cabrera had 3 RBI's, Carlos Beltran had two runs and 1 RBI, and Jeff Keppinger had a run as the Giants beat the D-Backs 8-1 and reclaimed the NL West lead. Ryan Vogelsong went 6+ innings and lowered his ERA to 2.19, while improving his record to 9-1. Jason Marquis took the loss in his Diamondback debut. Brad Ziegler made his Arizona debut, and he gave up a two-run double on his first pitch with his new club. Cody Ross hit that double, and he knocked in three runs. San Francisco snapped a five-game slide with the win, and they regained first place back. San Francisco now heads into a series with Philadelphia, then against Pittsburgh. In his debut, Marquis gave up eight runs in 4+ innings, not the way you want to start with your new team. Z

The MLB Trade Deadline is over. At the deadline, there are some teams coming away knowing they have what it takes to come through and become, or remain contenders. But there are others knowing they should have done this or should have done that. And those teams normally fall out of contention. Not the 2010 Giants, but every other team that won the title. Let's analyze the deadline deals, who won, and who lost. Winners: Philadelphia Phillies The Phillies only made one trade, but was it ever big? They acquired Hunter Pence, the right-handed bat they've been missing since Jayson Werth signed with the Nationals. Pence is fast, a great hitter, a great fielder, and he has a great work ethic. Pence will be a major upgrade to the right field hole that was filled by Domonic Brown. Pence hurt the National League with Houston, but only got 35 wins. Now, he's ready to help Philadelphia on their quest for a second championship in four years. Winners: San Francisco Giants Altho