Week 8: Posey, Cain spark San Fran renaissance; Doc paints perfection in Florida

• A 5-1 week places the Giants back in the realm of competence as the Giants finished off a sweep of the Diamondbacks with a thrilling come-from-behind win that featured a 2-run 9th-inning rally and a walkoff hit from outfielder Andres Torres.  Offense highlighted the final two innings, but it was the defense that set them up - Schierholtz and Sanchez threw out key runners (highlights here and here) trying to take an extra base, keeping the game within reach.  Lincecum had a bad day on Wednesday and the Giants needed a 3-run rally in the 7th inning off former Giant Tyler Walker to overcome a semi-poor start from Zito on Thursday, but the bottom of the rotation rose to the occasion.  Wellemeyer preserved his job status with two quality starts at home to start off and end the week, Sanchez held the Diamondbacks to one run in 5 innings in a 12-1 rout on Saturday, and Cain topped them all with a dominating one-hit shutout of the Diamondbacks on Friday.  Other notes:
• Perhaps the headline of the week, if not Cain's one hitter, should be the call-up of long awaited prospect Buster Posey - tasked with providing a stimulus to an oft dormant offense.  The result? Two three-hit games (highlights here and here) and 4 RBIs.  When can we start calling him our savior?
• Andres Torres appears to have turned a corner, seemingly becoming the leadoff hitter the Giants desperately need.  Torres batted .417 this week, scored 9 runs, and stole 2 bases.  His season average is now at .307 and he currently leads the team in both doubles and stolen bases.  Combined with apparent resurgences from Freddy Sanchez and Pablo Sandoval, the Giants have a very solid 1-2-3 punch in the top of their lineup right now.
• Aaron Rowand continues to struggle - I believe that it's time to bench him.  The Giants need to put Torres in center and Schierholtz in right.  This gives them their optimal lineup of: Torres (CF), Sanchez (2B), Sandoval (3B), Huff (LF), Uribe (SS), Posey (1B), Molina (C), and Schierholtz (RF).  Schierholtz has done well at the plate this year and his defense in right field - especially that cannon of an arm - cannot be understated.  Perhaps Rowand will regain his stroke again with some time off.
• Of course, the other big story: Roy Halladay, who I've always thought of as a workhorse rather than a no-hit type pitcher, etched his name in history with a perfecto - 27 up and 27 down in Miami against the Florida Marlins.  (Let's not forget the effort of his counterpart Josh Johnson either - he pitched 7 stellar innings himself, giving up just one unearned run.) It's the second perfect game this month (the other being Braden's perfect game in Oakland on Mother's day).  This a bit of a surprising statistic, considering that there have only been 20 perfect games in over a century of baseball.  In fact, 3 of those perfect games have actually occurred within the last year (see Buerhle vs. Rays last season).   Coincidence?  Maybe...
• Not really sure what to say about this.  Joe West  (if you remember, he also called out the Yankees and Red Sox for taking too long during games - I completely agree with him on that, but I'm not so sure about this.) comes under fire again after ejecting Buerhle and hotheaded manager Ozzie Guillen for arguing two questionable balk calls.  Heck, even the announcer called him out, saying that he "deserved a suspension."
• The Nationals survived a 9th inning scare on Friday with some wild pitching from Capps, who gave up 4 singles to start the inning but retired the next 3 to preserve the save.  That didn't save them from dropping the next two games against the Padres, however; the Pads still hold the division lead, 2 games over the Dodgers and 2.5 over the Giants.
• Santana throws 8 shutout innings - and loses.  Brewers countered with a complete game shutout from Gallardo and two-run walkoff homerun in the 9th to win it.
• Greinke gives up one run, loses.
• Max Scherzer made the most of his 5.2 inning start today, striking out just about everybody he faced (14 to be exact) without giving up a run.
• Pujols hit 3 homers today, perhaps his "slump" is finally over.
• Perhaps the catch of the year: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8476941
• How to hit a game winning homerun: http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8527779
• How not to hit a game winning homerun: http://losangeles.angels.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?content_id=8493341
• Squirrels are evil.  Not only have they attacked neighborhoods, now they're trying to invade our national pastime.  They must be stopped - join the war, end the terrorism.

Other news:

• Another Lakers-Celtics matchup for the NBA finals... it's getting old guys, just about anybody else would've been less boring.
• Blackhawks took a 1-0 lead in the NHL finals on Saturday... hard to get interested in though, now that the Sharks have choked again.
• Heartwarming story of a boy and his childhood hero........ wait, what? Ochocinco?
• Jet + fast = awesome.
• Iron Man 2 was good, but not as good as the first one.
• Season finale of Chuck was AWESOME.  Can't wait for next year.
• Tomorrow is Memorial Day.

Weeks 6 and 7: How Quickly Things Change...

I got lazy last week after a weekend up in Davis.. so yeah, here's two weeks packed into one post.

• A terrible two weeks that included five painfully-difficult-to-watch losses against the Diamondbacks and the A's have the Giants barely treading above the .500 mark with a 22-21 record.  Pieces just aren't meshing together.  It seems like every time the starting pitching has a good day, the offense is nowhere to be found, and whenever the offense finally breaks through, the pitching gives it right back.  But in a way, that's a good thing - it's a sign that this might just be a slump, that they'll figure it out eventually.  Well, we can hope for that to come true, but right now, with the way the offense has been going (1 run in 3 games against the A's? WTF?) it seems like this guy might make a ton of money.   The Giants absolutely need a spark - whether its a callup of Posey and/or Bumgarner or a firing of Bochy (highly unlikely), something needs to change.
• The Reds, a surprise success story early on, are continuing to give the Cardinals a heated battle in the Central, and remain half a game out of the division lead.
• To add to the miserable week, the Dodgers have begun to heat up.  Their offense has been hot all season long, and now, their pitching seems to be getting it together... it doesn't take a genius to figure out that this isn't good for us.
• Why you should never walk the bases loaded in front of A-rod, even if he hasn't been all that great: http://sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=8017143&query=game_pk%3D264332
• While we're on the topic of grand slams, proof that Mariano Rivera is human: http://mlb.mlb.com/video/play.jsp?c_id=mlb&content_id=8059633&query=game_pk%3D264362
• With offensive powerhouses such as New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, nobody could have predicted that at this point in the season, the Toronto Blue Jays are far and away the league leaders in home runs.
• Zach Greinke finally won a game... and then promptly proceeded to earn another no decision in a quality start.
• Why wins are meaningless: Tyler Clippard, a Nationals reliever, has more wins (seven) than all but two starting pitchers.  He also has 5 blown saves and 3 losses accredited to him.
• The Rays continue to rule the AL East, having put up an incredible 32-12 record and sweeping the Yankees in a two game set this week.
• Speaking of the Yankees losing, the Mets took 2 out of 3 in the subway series at home this weekend thanks to timely hitting and strong outings from Mike Pelfrey and Johan Santana.  Mets continue to sit at the bottom of the NL East, however.
• Random fact: Nomar is Ramon backwards.
• As epic as the Braves comeback was, it does not excuse this pre-game abomination:

(He's wearing a Hannah Montana backpack, if you can't tell. Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/games/300520115/photos;_ylt=Am4eWjVy9doyfbFmuuRsJ8O4u7YF?slug=reds_braves_baseball )

Other News:

• Phoenix finally won one against the baby killers.  Lakers continue to lead the series 2-1, however.
• Sharks choke again... yep.
• 7th seeded Philadelphia has taken a 3-1 series lead behind backup goalie Michael Leighton's three shutouts in the Eastern Conference finals.  They will look to wrap up the series at home tomorrow and move on to face the Chicago Blackhawks for the Stanley Cup.
• Summer school is starting...... one week after school ended.  This'll be fun..... ha-ha-ha...

Week 5: East Coast Swing

I have finals to study for so I'll try to keep this brief...

• Giants went 4-2 this week, sweeping the Marlins in Florida and squeaking out an ugly win today in New York to avoid being swept themselves.  The Giants won on both Lincecum starts, but he failed to get the win in either one of them, thanks to defensive and bullpen meltdowns.  On Tuesday, the Giants survived two three-run shots thanks to a game tying homerun with 2 down in the ninth from Aaron Rowand and a 12th inning rally.  On Wednesday, Sergio Romo preserved a shaky 3-1 Giants lead in the 8th by escaping Zito's bases loaded 0 outs jam without giving up a single run.  On Thursday, Cain's stellar pitching allowed the Giants to cruise to a series sweep.  Two consecutive walkoff losses would dampen the Giants' roadtrip in New York, but the Giants rallied for a win today, despite blowing a 4-0 lead and trailing 5-4 heading into the 8th.  Rowand hit a 2 run shot that put the Giants up for good and Wilson solved the bullpen problem himself, recording a 5 out save with 5 strikeouts.
• More good news: Dodgers still suck.  The pitching continues to be a problem, as Kershaw got lit up by Milwaukee on Tuesday, giving up 7 runs in just 1.1 innings, and Charlie Haeger could not record a single out in the first inning last night against the Rockies.
• Padres are still on top of the NL West, but the Giants were able to pick up a game on them today thanks to Pedro Feliz's (Remember him?) game-tying sacrifice fly in the 9th inning.  Giants are now half a game back in the NL West and will play the Padres at home in a 3 game set on Monday.
• Surprise: Scott Olsen (who??) almost pitched a no-hitter for the Nationals (What??) on Thursday, lasting 7 innings before giving up his first hit.  The Nationals would go on to win in the bottom of the 9th despite blowing a 2-0 lead.
• Bigger Surprise: Livan Hernandez is now 4-1 with a 1.04 ERA.  WTF?
• Sign that the end of the world is coming: Nationals are tied for second place in the NL East and only two back of the Phillies.
• Ubaldo Jimenez is now 6-0, and going for his 7th win against the Dodgers as I type this.  Dodgers are currently leading 1-0 in the 7th, however.
• Brad Lidge is back - recording his first save of 2010 today.  Question is: will we see 2008 Lidge or the Pujols/injury-scarred Lidge?
• UPDATE: Dallas "GET OFF MY MOUND" Braden has just thrown a perfect game in Oakland against the Rays.

Other news:

• Sharks made it to the conference finals.  Seriously.  No joke here.  They wrapped up their series against Detroit at home last night with a remarkable performance from goalie Evgeni Nabokov despite his horrific play in Game 4.  They will await the winner of the Chicago-Vancouver series.
• Awesome quote from my SI calendar: "Bayarmaa Tsogtbaatar, Mongolian beach volleyball player, on how she expects her country to fare at this week's Asian games: "Beach volleyball in Mongolia is very difficult, because we don't have any beaches." "
• Oil spill still uncontained in the Gulf of Mexico.. BP is in some serious trouble.
• Iron Man 2 is out.. I haven't seen it though...

A Divergence from Fate

Last night, a story was written - but not the usual story.  No, it wasn't the usual inspirational triumph of the underdog David over the mighty Goliath or the magical tale of a young knight going up against a big bad dragon.   No, this time our task was not to pull off an improbable upset, but to keep little David down, to quash the hopes of the naive young knight.  The Sharks and the Giants were by no means underdogs last night- neither Davids nor unknowns.  The Sharks went into Detroit with a 2-0 series lead for Game 2 of the NHL conference semifinals, looking to build on its already formidable lead, while the Giants sent its best to the mound - Tim Lincecum - to make a statement in the first of a three game set in Florida.  We were not just hoping to win - we expected to win.

And in the beginning, things appeared to be going our way.  The Sharks, despite trailing 2-1 after the first period, clearly had momentum their side.  Setoguchi had scored yet another goal from the seemingly unstoppable San Jose second line with just seconds remaining in the first period and Nabokov made a nifty save on a Zetteberg penalty shot to keep the score close.  They looked poised to make a surge after intermission and to take a commanding 3-0 lead in the series over the desperate Red Wings.  The Giants had a 3-0 lead thanks to timely hits from Aaron Rowand and the usual superb pitching from 2-time Cy-Young Award winner Tim Lincecum, who had racked up 11 strikeouts in just 5 innings.  Nobody in their right mind would believe that the Florida Marlins could have any chance at winning this game.

But, as you all know, these are also the beginnings from which underdog stories are told - the longer the odds, the greater the story.  And so, it began, like any underdog story - the weaker team fighting valiently to win over the hearts of viewers, to unravel what was surely expected to be a night of triumph for the stronger team.  The Red Wings scored early in the second period to regain the momentum and to take a 3-1 lead.  The Marlins, seemingly with fate on their side, got two runners on board thanks to a ground ball that found a hole and a perfectly placed unintentional swinging bunt.  Hanley Ramirez would capitalize on Lincecum's only mistake of the day (and it wasn't even much of a mistake) and blast it over the wall for a three run homer.

Of course, as no great underdog story is without continued adversity, the Giants and Sharks made sure the fight would not be easy.  The Sharks outshot the Red Wings 12-9 in the second period and drew three power play opportunities.  The Giants negated the Marlins' strategy of intentionally walking Huff and retook the lead with Uribe's two-run double, setting up ace Tim Lincecum once again for the win.

The underdog, assuming its own role as well, however, would continue to play its part.  The Red Wings, despite all the opportunities for the Sharks to score, held their ground and would allow no goals in the second period, going into intermission with their two goal lead in tact.  The Marlins had plenty of magic left in their hat, hitting yet another three-run homer - this time coming off the bat of Dan Uggla.

All signs pointed toward a triumph for David, and another day of disappointment and regret for the Goliath, who had let the games get away.  It appeared to be just one of those nights where you shake your head and move on - the story seemed to be coming to a close, the unsung heroes had made their say, and on this day, on this night, fate wanted the underdog to win.  Had things gone as usual, the Sharks would have just faded away, conceding victory to the more desperate team, and the Giants would have been too shaken by the barrage of three-run homers to do anything more.  The Davids of the world would have a night to celebrate and journalists were ready to publish their underdog stories for the world to clamor over.  The last pages were finally being written...

...but, wait.  It didn't turn out that way.  Not this night, not this year.

No, the Sharks and the Giants refused to let fate dictate their destinies.  These were not the same teams as last year - not the same perennial primetime chokers, not the same good-but-not-quite-there-yet teams.  These teams were different.  They refused to accept their storylines - they refused to accept their supposed fate.  Not this night, not this year.

On a night where what could have gone wrong - allowing a desperate underdog at home to take a solid lead and the momentum into the final period, giving up two three run homers to make all of Lincecum's strikeouts go for naught - did go wrong, the Sharks and the Giants did not give in.  Instead, they rebounded, doing everything possible to make sure that what could go right did go right.  The Red Wings, looking to stamp out another scoring opportunity for the Sharks in the heat of the 3rd period, were ready with Thornton sitting in behind the goal.  They knew that Thornton loved to make assists from behind the goal, and they were ready for it.  In Florida, the Marlins brought in their closer Leo Nunez and were within one out away from a thrilling 6-5 victory over the great Lincecum and the Giants.  Things looked bleak, and by all means, two losses were in order, but that was not the case.  Not this night, and not this year.

Thornton, as if knowing he had to do something different to shed his playoff curse, took the puck himself, skated in front of goalie Jimmy Howard, and scored to bring San Jose within one.  Logan Couture would add a goal of his own minutes later, capitalizing on Howard's rookie mistake of not protecting the goalpost.  And just like that, the game was tied. In Florida, Rowand, with two already gone in the top of the ninth, launched a ball into the left field bleachers - no save for Nunez.  The games would go on, as the Sharks and the Giants refused to give in.  Not this night, not this year.

But of course, many expected the underdog story to continue.  The games headed to overtime and the bottom of the 9th, respectively.  The Red Wings and the Marlins were set up for thrilling walk-off victories to complete their tales, but things didn't turn out that way.  Not this night, not this year.

The Sharks and the Giants made sure of that.  Thornton, looking to further dispel his image as poor playoff contender, made a perfect pass on a 2-on-1 breakaway to Marleau, and just like that, it was the Sharks who would be celebrating a thrilling overtime victory.  In the other arena, Wilson, Runzler, and Mota made sure the Marlins wouldn't get their say, shutting down Hanley and company over the final three and a third innings.  Aubrey Huff delivered a clutch two run single in the top of the 12th inning to put the Giants up for good.

And just like that, it was over.  No underdog tale, just the story of two great teams that recorded expected wins - two teams that battled and battled - two teams that decided their own destinies, that refused to let momentum and fate dictate their futures.  And this is why I'm excited for this year.  These aren't the same Sharks and the Giants of last year - these are true playoff teams.  They're going to do great things - I can just feel it.

Let this also be a lesson for your own life.  Don't let a situation dictate what you can or cannot do.  Greatness is born from what you make of the situation, not from what the situation makes of you.  Create your own destiny, and let nothing get in your way.  No story is prewritten - nothing is scripted.  The only question is: Will you let someone write the story for you, or will you write it yourself?

Best T-shirt Ever

http://a323.yahoofs.com/ymg/ept_sports_fantasy_experts__27/ept_sports_fantasy_experts-260145914-1272904445.jpg?ym.7IFDDMY3ALELn

2 puns in one for those of you that aren't baseball literate or don't see it:
1.  The best pitcher on a team is usually referred to as the "ace."  Greinke was a Cy-Young Award winner last year (given to the best pitcher in each league).
2.  He plays on a team called the Royals... it's a ROYAL flush.. get it?

Credit to Nam for finding this.

Week 4: A Passing Grade

• The Giants have passed their litmus test - a 9 game stretch featuring three of last year's playoff contenders - the Cardinals, Phillies, and the Rockies.  The Giants took two of the first three against all three opponents (though the bullpen and Velez really blew it on Wednesday, costing Lincecum a much deserved win), going 6-3 in the stretch.  This bodes well for the Giants, who look to make the playoffs for the first time since 2003.  Lincecum will lead the team into Florida on Tuesday (Wellemeyer's start to be skipped to prevent Lincecum from getting too much rest - Wellemeyer pitched 2.1 innings in relief in a loss today) for a three game series, and they'll head to New York for a three game weekend series after that.  Notes:
• Zito continues to roll, as he limited the Rockies to two runs in 8 innings on Saturday.  For the second game in a row, he brought the AT&T crowd to their feet, as fans filled the stadium with chants of "BAR-RY! BAR-RY! BAR-RY!"
• Jonathan Sanchez was wild today, walking 5 batters, and was unable to pitch past the 5th.  Medders came in for "relief" and promptly allowed both inherited baserunners to score.  The troubling issue here is whether Sanchez is headed toward another May slump - his career ERA in May (5.54) is over 2.5 points higher than his career ERA in April (3.01).
• Speaking of Sanchez-es, Freddy Sanchez is expected back soon, while Aaron Rowand returned to the lineup for the first time since being hit in the head by Vicente Padilla.  Hopefully, the return of Sanchez will give the Giants a much needed offensive boost.
• Huff hit another homer today (albeit a useless one) and now has 4 on the year.  Huff has always been a slow starter in his career, so hopefully this is a sign of good things to come.
• Don't test Schierholtz's arm.  Here's why.
• The Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a 22-game losing streak in Milwaukee (yes, 22 games.), thanks to more struggles from Trevor Hoffman.  Ronny Cedeno led off the 9th with a game-tying homerun and Ryan Doumit put the Pirates on top for good with a grand slam to end their misery in Milwaukee.  Hoffman would proceed to blow a second straight save against Pittsburgh the following day, prompting a temporary change in closers in Milwaukee and putting his quest for 600 saves at a standstill for now. Latroy Hawkins will most likely manage closing duties for the time being.
• The A's snapped a 4 game losing streak against Toronto yesterday, but they have certainly fallen from their quick start.  They are now 13-13, having gone 1-5 this week, but they're still only half a game back in an AL West where nobody seems to want to take control of the division.  Look for the Mariners to make a move now that they have Cliff Lee back... although, they're going to need their offense to do better than it has of late.  Mariners starters tossed 26 scoreless innings this weekend, and yet they lost all three games.
• Ubaldo Jimenez is now 5-0.
• Tuesday was a good day.  Why?  The Dodgers lost not once, but twice!
• Astros and Orioles still suck.
• Lidge is back - he'll be eased back into the role, however, despite Ryan Madsen's self-inflicted anger tantrum injury.
• Padres stay hot, winning 5 of 7 and holding their ground atop the NL West.
• Greinke remains winless this year, despite throwing 8 innings of 1-run ball today.  The Royals offense was shut down by Wade Davis and the Rays bullpen.  Evan Longoria's homerun accounted for the only run.  Meanwhile, Jaime Moyer won again, despite holding a 5+ ERA, and now is 3-2 on the year.  I wonder how pissed Greinke must be.

Other news:

• Sharks performed admirably this week in the second round of the playoffs.  In Game 1, the Sharks got to rookie goalie Jimmy Howard early, scoring 3 goals in a span of about 90 seconds in the 1st period, and managed to hang on for a 4-3 win.  In Game 2, the Sharks won another game by the score of 4-3, but this time they played from behind, needing to overcome a 3-2 deficit in the third period; 10 power plays as well as 43 faceoff wins out of 69 faceoffs allowed the Sharks to dominate play throughout the game, while Joe Thornton chose an opportune time to score his first goal of the playoffs, giving the Sharks a 4-3 lead 12:37 into the third period.  Overall, however, it was the other Joe - "Little Joe" Pavelski - that proved to be the hero on both nights, scoring two goals and notching an assist in both contests.  He became the first player since 1992 to have three consecutive multi-goal games in the playoffs, the first player since 1996 to get three points in three straight playoff games, and now leads all of the NHL with 9 playoff goals this year.  (Check out this awesome Pavelski commercial by the way.)  San Jose will now head into Detroit with a 2-0 series lead, looking to put an end to their playoff ineptitude.  (Highlights from the first two games here and here.)
• March madness will now consist of 68 teams instead of 65.
• Tiger Woods is struggling.
• Only two more weeks of school left for me, I'm actually not really looking forward to summer since nobody gets out of school this early except Berkeley kids...