Notes From the Luxury Suite

Last night, I had the good fortune of watching the Giants-Rockies contest from a Club Level luxury suite. It wasn't so fortunate that the Giants lost 4-2, but other than that it was a thrilling experience. I once sat in a luxury suite at Candlestick, but this was my first time seeing how the other half lives at AT&T. I managed to give myself a pretty good stomachache with all of the food I was enjoying - a mix of Chinese, Mexican, and hot dogs. I also enjoyed lots of cracker jacks, popcorn, and cookies. The suite is filled with televisions, one which had every major league game going. Despite the comforts, I wouldn't say this is the best way to watch a baseball game. Its actually quite difficult to focus on the game with so much happening. The folks in your luxury suite will likely not be paying attention, while discussing matters that don't relate to baseball. I am not going to complain, though. It really was pretty awesome.

Giant of the Week: The Giants

What a stretch it has been. After winning a season high five straight, including a sweep of the lowly San Diego Padres, I think its safe to say the 2008 Giants are fun to watch. I like seeing the young kids, the pitching remains top notch, and Rowand and Molina seem to be enjoying themselves as well. Rookie mistakes are still happening, but even with that, the team is on its way to their first winning month of the season. As the Giants easily took care of Atlanta, Florida, and then San Diego, we found it difficult to award just one player.

Here's a rundown of some players who have made an impact recently: Brian Wilson gave up three runs in the ninth, blowing a would-be win for Matt Cain. Still, he didn't give up the lead and the Giants still won. He returned the following day and pitched a scoreless tenth to earn the win. He saved the last two games against San Diego, to raise is league leading total to 35. Cain has certainly found his stride whether he earns wins or not. He's boasting a 2.14 ERA in his last ten starts.

Remember that talk of Tim Lincecum's "cover boy" curse? Didn't think so. "The Franchise" collected his 200th strikeout of the season, throwing eight shutout innings against the Padres. Pablo Sandoval has spent time at catcher, first and third. Also, five of his first nine major league games have been multi-hit games. Lastly, we can't forget Bengie Molina's five RBI day yesterday.

The Posey Era Begins

Buster Posey made his debut tonight, starting at designated hitter and hitting third for the Giants' rookie affiliate in Arizona. He singled in his first at-bat and finished 1-5 in a 6-0 Giants' win.

Lincecum Goes Into Stretch, Gets Same Results

With every start, it seems as though Tim Lincecum warrants a "We love this kid" post. A week after getting bruised in Houston, the Franchise was in fine form again in Atlanta. True to form, he did something quirky. In the sixth, Lincecum switched to pitching exclusively from the stretch, even though there was no one on base.

I didn't have a rhythm on the mound. I had to make an adjustment. I was more comfortable going to the stretch. It helped me out.

Seriously, whatever works. At this point, Lincecum can do no wrong, and we are not hearing any more murmurs of the "cover boy curse."

We know Brandon Webb has 18 wins, but we're still hoping our boy gets some Cy Young consideration.

Oh, and Brian Wilson has 24 consecutive saves - worth mentioning because we love Wilson almost as much as we love Lincecum.

Barry Zito Currently Throwing Shutout

Hot off the press ... Barry Zito is pitching in the seventh inning against Atlanta with a 5-0 lead.

Giant of the Week: Randy Winn

It was a dismal week for the Giants. After a joyful weekend against the Dodgers, the team suffered a four game sweep in Houston that could easily qualify for the worst series of the year. Really, the best things that happened this week were that some draft picks were signed and Tim Lincecum didn't get hurt too bad. But while the team flounders, one Giant is tearing it up at the plate this month. The right fielder is batting .446 for the month of August, and last night missed the cycle by a triple with a solid 4-for-4. His home run was also career dinger number 100.

Some Good News

I'm going to pretend that series with the Astros didn't happen, and instead focus on the Giants' future, which looks much better now. After signing sandwich pick Conor Gillaspie last week, the team has reportedly come to terms with fourth-rounder Brandon Crawford, third-rounder Roger Kieschnick, and most importantly, first-rounder and number five overall pick Buster Posey. The front office was almost universally praised for their draft in June, so it's great to see all the major picks locked up. According to Andrew Baggarly, Brian Sabean backed up the truck to sign Posey, who will reportedly get $7.5 million, the biggest signing bonus in team history and the most of any player this year (though significantly less than the $12 million Posey was reportedly asking for on draft day). Gillaspie's already playing short-season ball in Arizona, and I expect the rest to get some playing time as well. I can't wait to go to some games in San Jose next year.

Major Roster Shakeup

According to Andrew Baggarly, the Giants have made some major roster moves today. In an effort to jolt a struggling offense, John Bowker and Steve Holm were sent down to Triple-A Fresno, and Jose Castillo was designated for assignment. Replacing these three will be first baseman Travis Ishikawa, catcher Pablo Sandoval, and third baseman Ryan Rohlinger.

Despite showing some promise, Bowker has looked lost at the plate lately and will probably benefit from some minor-league at-bats. Castillo played well enough the first half of the year, but he's worn out his welcome. I guess the front office doesn't see him as a long-term solution any more. Holm was sent down simply to make room for Sandoval.

Ishikawa has hit 24 home runs between Double-A and Triple-A, and was slugging a ridiculous .737 since his call-up to Fresno. He's also a defensive upgrade. Sandoval, one of the biggest surprises of the year, has hit 20 home runs with a .972 OPS between Single-A and Double-A. I imagine he will also see some time at first base. Rohlinger doesn't have the gaudy numbers of the other two, but he held his own in Spring Training and had a respectable .811 OPS between San Jose and Connecticut. The Giants may be looking at him as the team's starting third baseman in 2009.

Lincecum Just Bruised

It appears that Lincecum - who left in the fifth yesterday after taking a line drive to the knee - is ok. John Shea sums it up perfectly: "Tim Lincecum is hurt. Four words no Giants fan wanted to read or hear. Or imagine." X-rays showed only bruising, though his next start remains up in the air. Even in his short stint yesterday, Lincecum struck out seven to raise his leading total to 182. Unfortunately, the Giants again couldn't hold the lead he left with, and I'm just going to try and forget that game ever happened.

Lincecum Leaves Early

Tim Lincecum was on another roll early this evening - 1 hit and seven strikeouts in the fifth - before taking a line drive to the knee. He left the game and was taken for x-rays. Bruce Bochy said:

It caught him in a good spot. It paralyzed him for a little bit. But he's walking around pretty good now. That's good news. That's the only good news we got tonight.

Final score: Astros 12, Giants 4.

D-Backs Get Dunn

Hoping to take charge once again in the NL West, the Arizona Diamondbacks acquired Adam Dunn from Cincinnati, sending over a minor league pitcher and two players to be named. Dunn has 32 homers this year and will be a free agent after the season.

Video: Bonds Returns to AT&T

Beat LA!

This weekend's heroics probably don't rank up there with Brian Johnson and Rod Beck. They may not even rank up there with Ray Durham's three-run homer. Still, didn't it feel good to beat the Dodgers twice in walk-off fashion. The West is pathetic but the Dodgers actually have a shot at winning this thing, especially with the arrival of Manny Ramirez. Any dent we can throw it that plan is a nice saving grace for the 2008 season. The Giants will able to hurt Dodger morale a little bit with a pair of come-from-behind wins, and actually happened to improve their own team chemistry in the process. The team didn't win either game with dramatic surges of power, instead doing "the little things," while also receiving help from poor Dodger defense. The Giants have now won three consecutive series and reportedly are actually having fun. That nine game deficit in the West is a bit to much to overcome, but perhaps we can ride a little wave into 2009.

Giant of the Week: Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson is the unsung hero of the 2008 San Francisco Giants. He has presence on the mound, without any flashiness, as if he prefers to let his fastballs do all the talking. While the bullpen around him has had plenty of ups and downs, he has held leads with remarkable consistency. With only two blown saves to his name (and only one resulting in a loss), who knows what this season would look like without Wilson. Last week, Wilson racked up four saves, preserving leads after great outings from Barry Zito and Tim Lincecum. He shut the Dodgers out for an inning on Saturday, as well, helping send the game into extra innings. Wilson has only improved as the season progresses, proving that he is a closer that you could build a bullpen around.

Barry's in the House

Over the last few days, it started to look more and more like Barry Bonds would show up for tonight's outfielder reunion. But it was still a thrill to watch him walk in from behind the left-field wall. It didn't look like he planned to say anything, but the crowd forced him to take the mic for some brief remarks. Barry made clear he is not retired. He stared into the Dodgers dugout and said, "I've beat you before and I'll beat you again." Classic.

One Year Ago Today

Doesn't feel like that long ago that Barry Bonds was circling the bases...

Gwenn Knapp thinks Bonds should attend Saturday's celebration of outfielders. Will we see him back at AT&T?

Air Guitar!

One of the many highlights of yesterday's Giants game (you know, besides Tim Lincecum's eight innings, Brian Wilson's 1-2-3 ninth, Aaron Rowand's homer and Randy Winn's four hits) was a half-inning air guitar performance. The national finals of the US Air Guitar Championships are taking place in San Francisco tomorrow night, and a handful of the finalists were invited to AT&T to perform. For more information on this competition, I suggest checking out the documentary Air Guitar Nation.

Live Twittering Today's Game

Follow me on Twitter, as I will be sending updates from today's game.

Bonds Invited Back

Who says the Giants are trying to erase the memory of Barry Bonds? Word is, number 25 was invited back to participate in a celebration of the team's best outfielders as part of the continuing 50th anniversary festivities. Maybe there will also be something special for Bonds. "We invited all the outfielders who played a certain number of games," team vice president for communications Staci Slaughter said. Well, maybe not.

Editor's note: Am I the only one who thinks this hardly qualifies as an ESPN top story?

Giant of the Week: Tim Lincecum

We're a few days late on our Giant of the Week. Still, the unrewarded efforts Tim Lincecum put up last week are worthy of praise. The All-Star turned in two brilliant performances, both of which resulted in no-decisions. Lincecum threw seven innings of three-hit ball last Friday, and left the game with a 2-1 lead. The bullpen could not hold it for him, but the Giants still won in 10. His 11 strikeouts that night also pushed his league-leading total to 167. A week earlier, Lincecum suffered a heartbreaker - he outdueled Brandon Webb for seven innings (while striking out 13) only to have the bullpen blow a one-run lead in the eighth. Lincecum's exit after the seventh proved to be a point of criticism directed at Bruce Bochy. Still, whether we're winning or losing, this kid remains a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

No Moves For Giants, Dodgers Get Manny

Post-Ray Durham, the Giants did not make any deadline deals. According to Brian Sabean, they were in a number of conversations and there is still a possibility of waiver deals. This proved to be one of the most exciting trade deadlines I can remember, with some major talent changing teams - sometimes unexpectedly. Picking up Manny seems like a no-brainer for the no-power Dodgers, considering Boston's still paying his contract and the prospects they gave up weren't top of the line. It does leave them with an over-crowded outfield, though Dodger fans can feel less frustrated about that money going to Andruw Jones. It does make the Dodgers look a bit more like contenders than they did before - though who knows what kind of attitude he will bring and how that will impact the team chemistry. Do the Dodgers have chemistry? Regardless, now the Dodgers have a fighting chance which will make their inevitable crash-and-burn more exciting.