Highlights, Headlines, and Notes from Week 1

• The Giants are 5-1 thanks to two dominating outings from Mr. Cy Young, Tim Lincecum (highlights here and here - check out his strikeout of Infante in the 7th inning for the 2nd out.. he threw like a wicked cut changeup or something on accident), a heroic two run 9th inning homer by the red hot Renteria, and some very timely hitting from the lineup as a whole.  Is this finally our year?  It's certainly starting to look like it.  The pitching has been superb - I dare say that we have the best pitching staff in the majors, rotation and bullpen combined.  Wilson has been nothing but lights out (save for that moment on Friday where he needed Romo to get him out of a bases loaded jam, but we can blame that on exhaustion), Affeldt is the reigning NL setup man of the year, Runzler and Romo  are excellent young relievers, and Lincecum continues to anchor an outstanding rotation. (How many teams have #3 starter as good as Cain and a #5 starter that can give you 6 strong innings?)  Especially noteworthy is Zito's performance in Houston - 6 IP, 0 ER, and a W.  If Zito can continue his success from the second half of last year and the offense can stay out of all those DPs (which might become a serious problem later... the Giants are by far the league leaders in GIDPs with 12) and continue the recent string of timely hits, there's no reason they don't have a legitimate shot at not only the NL West title, but the National League pennant as well.
• I hope Larry Dobrow knows how retarded he looks right now for ranking the Giants 19th in his pre-season power rankings.  "Aaron Rowand's .429/.492/.625 performance during spring training somehow doesn't carry over into games that matter ... Tim Lincecum's do-the-hokey-pokey mechanics start to work against him ... Pablo Sandoval inadvertently creates a sinkhole in the batter's box." Well... okay, to give him credit, he's right about the Rowand thing.  Something tells me though that even after this week, ESPN will refuse to recognize the Giants as an elite team...

• Dodgers stink it up.  They got blown out by the Pirates on Monday, they saw the Pirates walkoff with  another win on Wednesday (not only that, they lost to a team that had a starting pitcher named Ross Ohlendorf.. Yes, Ohlendorf.) , they blew a 2-run lead in the 9th and saw another walkoff on Saturday, and blew another late lead today.  Life could not be any better - it's still early, but they're now sitting at the bottom of the NL West with the Padres, a good 3 games back.  Oh, and did I mention that their opening day starter was actually Vicente Padilla? That's like asking to lose.
• Diamondbacks score 13 runs in one inning, including three homeruns - one of which from a pitcher who spent his entire career in the AL.
• Buerhle may already have a Gold Glove and a Play of the Year locked up after this defensive gem.
• The A's are 5-2? What is this?
• With all the talk about the Yankees, the Red Sox, and the Rays, it's the Blue Jays that sit atop the AL East with a 5-1 record right now.
• The Astros are now 0-6.  Halladay threw a complete game today, as he looks to possibly dethrone Lincecum from the Cy Young seat.
• Pujols is still a monster.  Evidence here, here, here, and here.
• Heyward makes a splash, hitting a 3 run homer in his first Major League at bat.  He now has 3 on the year and looks to make a powerful presence in the Braves lineup. He struck out 4 times on Friday, but he's still adjusting and is maintaining a respectable .292 average as of right now.
• Closer drama:  Both Mike Gonzalez and Frank Francisco have blown two saves already.  Jim Johnson and Neftali Feliz (<-- especially this guy) look poised to unseat them from the closer role.  Hoffman also has two blown saves, both against the Cardinals, giving up three homeruns (one, two, three) in two appearances against them this weekend.  Maybe his days have finally become numbered... the Brewers lost as a result on Friday, but managed to pull out a win tonight despite Hoffman's performance with a walkoff homerun from Casey McGehee.

And now for some non-baseball related news/notes:

• Sharks have the #1 seed again in the West.  They will play the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the NHL playoffs.  As always, the question is: when will they choke this time?
• Steelers trade Santonio Holmes to the Jets for a 5th round pick - who does Roethlisberger have to throw to now?
• Warriors coach Don Nelson becomes the all-time NBA leader in coaching wins, winning #1333 last Wednesday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.  Too bad they aren't anywhere close to the playoffs.
• Tiger Woods is playing golf again.
• Less nukes?? Nooo!!!
• And lastly, I got hired as a tutor! Woohoo! $12.50/hour here I come.

Photos from Yahoo.