SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS (again)!!!!!

Pictured:  The San Francisco Giants celebrate their second World Series championship in three years.

I know, I know.  If there was a time to update the blog, it's after my favorite baseball team wins the World Series.  However, don't take that as meaning I was any less excited about it.

I have to say... it's really, really awesome to see the Giants win another World Series title.  It's really cool to rack up another championship and now be able to say that I have seen my team win two of them.

This year's World Champion San Francisco Giants took a bit of different road than in 2010.  The 2010 version was in a dogfight in the regular season down to the very last day, when they finally beat the San Diego Padres to clinch the division (in one of my all-time favorite games).  That team played some tightly contested playoff games, but never came across an elimination game.

The 2012 version did it differently.  They clinched the West with a win over the Padres again, but it wasn't San Diego that was chasing them.  And it also came with several games to go in the regular season.  The playoffs, however, were not easy with the Giants successfully staving off six elimination games before sweeping the Detroit Tigers in the World Series.

There were so many great moments and games for Giants fans, but I'll focus on a few games that I particularly enjoyed.   Game 5 of the Division Series in Cincinnati is one for the ages for me just because of how intense that bottom of the 9th inning was.  Everything was on the line and Sergio Romo was in to try and close it down.  The Reds, however, had scored one run already to trim what had earlier in the game been a 6-0 deficit to 6-4.  Plus, they had 2 runners on base, meaning a home run would end the Giants' season (I was very aware of this as I watched).

With one out, Romo faced Reds slugger Jay Bruce who just kept fouling off pitch after pitch after pitch.  Just the anticipation for each pitch was beyond intense.  And to have so many fouled off in a row was quite something.  Thankfully Romo got Bruce to fly out to left field and struck out Scott Rolen to end it.

I also really enjoyed Barry Zito erasing the painful ghosts of years past with the Giants by going 7 2/3 shutout innings in Game 5 in St. Louis with Giants trailing the Cardinals 3 games to 1.  I've been a Zito fan for a while; he seems like a good guy and to try his best so it was really awesome to see him pitch so well on such a big stage.  It was also nice to see him outpitch Justin Verlander in Game 1 of the World Series.

Of course Game 4 of the World Series was a joy to watch.  It's less stressful when your team is up 3 games to none, but it's still a game you'd like to see your team win.  In what was a very entertaining back-and-forth game, the Giants pulled it out in 10 innings.  One of my favorite things to see was the joy on Buster Posey's face after strike three was called (of course all the guys wearing orange and black seemed to be pretty happy, too).  That's what it's all about, right there.  All hail the World Champion San Francisco Giants!

Matt Cain throws first perfect game in Giants history

Tonight Matt Cain threw the first perfect game in Giants history and just the 22nd in the history of baseball.  This was the first time (as far as I can remember) that I've ever watched a perfect game from start to finish and wow.  You just don't anticipate something like this happening when you turn on a game because, well, this was only the 22nd perfect game ever.

The Giants beat the Houston Astros 10-0 tonight and Cain was awesome right from the start, as you would imagine.  It's always something special to witness something like a no-hitter or a perfect game.  When it's your favorite team -- well, it's hard to use words to describe.  When the game got to the sixth or seventh inning, I had a nervous anxiousness with every pitch that Cain threw.  I wanted this to happen so badly and knew that opportunities like this don't come around every day.

In the 8th or 9th inning, I remarked to my wife that I hadn't been this nervous watching a Giants game since the 2010 World Series run.  The whole thing took on a playoffs sort of feel -- in a sense it was different because each pitch meant so much.  If even one thing were to go wrong -- a walk, a hit batter, an error defensively, and of course a hit -- the perfect game would be no more.  That's what makes it such an amazing achievement.  And I think that's what contributes to players and fans, myself included, being so happy when it does happen.

Of course there were a pair of nice defensive plays made, including an incredible catch by Gregor Blanco.  That just adds to it all.  I feel like I had to at least mention that.  What a great night.  

Cain is one of my favorite players.  In fact, I have a Cain jersey in my closet that I will be wearing tomorrow.  The script couldn't have been better than for a workhorse like Cain to throw the first perfect game in franchise history.  Awesome!

Zito goes the distance in Denver

Pictured: Barry Zito gets a hug from catcher Hector Sanchez after throwing a complete game shutout against the Rockies in Denver on Monday.

Can I just say that I was extremely thrilled to see Giants pitcher Barry Zito throw a complete game shutout today against the Rockies? Nobody could have seen that coming (I don't think Zito could have even seen that even if he expected to pitch well).

Zito has been much maligned since signing a 7 year, $126 million contract prior to the 2007 season. In my view, it hasn't been from lack of heart or effort. Things just haven't gone his way for the most part. It felt good to see him have some success today. I hope it's the start of more good things to come. I've always kind of been a fan of Zito, dating back to his days with the Athletics, so it was a good day for me to see him have some success.

Last night I read a quote from Zito following the Giants getting swept in Arizona to open the season saying something like "I look forward to picking the boys up tomorrow." Notice that the quote wasn't "Hopefully I'll turn it around for the team tomorrow," or "Hopefully I'll be able to give the guys a chance to win." Even as a Zito fan, I thought that his comments were perhaps a bit too optimistic after the struggles he's had the past five seasons since moving across the bay to San Francisco and particularly in light of the rough Spring Training he had. But I also thought it was good that he still has confidence in himself. And today, Zito turned in his best start since putting on the orange and black. Hopefully he'll be able to contribute to this team all season long.

Check out this link about Andres Torres

Andres Torres, one of my favorite baseball players, was traded last night from the Giants to the Mets. This tribute to Torres, pretty much sums up how I feel about him. I don't think I could say it better myself. Andres Torres is the man. I strongly encourage you to read the linked blog post.

San Francisco Giants run as World Champions will end

The San Francisco Giants' (84-75) reign as World Champions will sadly come to an end. The Giants were officially eliminated from playoff contention with a 15-2 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks (93-66), who won the National League West.

It's been a rough season for the Orange and Black on a lot of fronts, most notably that of the offense. Giving up 15 runs, as they did last night, was the extreme exception, not the norm. If the pitching had gone like last night, as Giants beat writer Andy Baggarly pointed out, the team could easily have lost 100 games this year.

The offense was that bad. First baseman Aubrey Huff was named the Least Valuable Player in the National League by a New York Times article after having a great season a year ago. Also performing worse than last year were, well, a number of players on offense.

Another big part of things was the injury bug, most notably affecting reigning Rookie of the Year Buster Posey, who was injured after being bowled over by Scott Cousins of the Florida Marlins (71-88) in May. But Posey was only one of several injuries, Huff was the only regular not to miss significant time due to injuries.

Despite everything, it's been a fun run as World Champions. I have thoroughly enjoyed referring to my team as the World Champion San Francisco Giants throughout this season. Winning the World Series is an incredible thing, and I'm glad my team was able to win it all. I'm also glad that I was able to thoroughly soak it up. Hopefully they will have another good run next year (with an improved offense).

Giants were World Champs for a reason

The San Francisco Giants (80-70) beat the Colorado Rockies (70-79) 8-5 tonight to capture their fifth win in a row. Pablo Sandoval had the big night, hitting for the cycle. Sandoval has had a great, comeback season after having a subpar year last season. I realize the Giants are a longshot for this season, but I want to talk about last year.

Now, people have been ragging about the Giants lately. But what particularly has stood out is when people have said the Giants weren't the best team last year or "just got hot at the right time." But, it's really not worth a lot of words since the Giants won the World Series. As I have blogged about before, in baseball you have to have a darn good season to make the playoffs, if you make it you have been consistent all year and deserve to be there.

If the Giants weren't the best team, how come nobody beat them in the playoffs? If they just got hot at the right time, how come teams didn't keep them from the playoffs? For example, they split the season series with the Phillies, who were widely regarded as the "best" National League team. There is a quote from long-time Ohio State football coach Woody Hayes that I often like to use in these situations: "The best team always wins: everything else is excuses." The Giants have the rings and the trophy and that means they were the best team last year. Case closed.

Giants in dire straights; more blackout garbage

The San Francisco Giants (73-67) lost 4-1 today to the Arizona Diamondbacks (80-60) to fall seven games out of first place with only 22 games to go in the season. It's looking like an impossibly tall order for the defending champs to get back into the postseason again. The Diamondbacks just took 2 of 3 in San Francisco, including roughing up ace Tim Lincecum last night.

The Giants still aren't mathematically eliminated, but it's looking pretty dire. The Diamondbacks have now won 11 of 12 and just don't seem like they ever lose. The Giants are lucky if they're playing .500 ball over any consistent stretch lately. Things have to turn around in a hurry and there will probably have to be some luck involved for the Orange and Black to return to October.

I was unable to watch the game due to MLB's ridiculous local blackout policy -- apparently living in Salt Lake City qualifies me as being in Arizona's "local" territory. With my cable system, however, there is no channel (even on premium packages) that carries D-Backs games.

The only way someone in Utah can watch the D-Backs play is to have the high-end Sports Pack on DirecTV. Sounds a bit like a monopoly to me and like some shady dealing between MLB and DirecTV. I was formerly a DirecTV customer, but they were unable to install it at my current apartment due to a line-of-sight problem with their satellite dish. This leaves me with no options to watch most Arizona games live, even though I am an mlb.tv subscriber. Hardly seems fair. But hey, maybe I should be thankful I didn't have the opportunity to watch today's game.

Giants fall to Astros again

The San Francisco Giants (71-63) just fell 4-3 in 11 innings to the Houston Astros (44-90), meaning they lost four out of seven to the worst team in baseball. And I mean by far the worst team in baseball. No other team even has 80 losses. The Astros have 90. In August. So, needless to say it's been a pretty sorry performance for the Giants lately. Two of the three they did win against Houston came in extra innings.

The Giants are now four back of the Arizona Diamondbacks (75-59) in the NL West. The D-Backs lost six in a row about a week ago to the Phillies (83-46) and Braves (79-54), but don't seem to lose at all to anyone else. They just completed a sweep of the San Diego Padres (60-74), meaning that Arizona has now won six in a row. The Giants will have to hope the Snakes cool off a bit or there may be no return trip to October. The big head-to-head series between the two is next weekend in San Francisco and it looks like the Giants will have to at least take two of three and probably sweep in order to feel good about things. The odds of that right now don't look so great.

Tough times for the World Champion Giants

When I last posted, the World Champion San Francisco Giants were 61-44 and coming off taking 2 out of 3 from the Phillies (78-42) in Philadelphia. And the Giants had just acquired slugger Carlos Beltran, the premier piece on the trade market, from the New York Mets (59-62). The Giants led the Arizona Diamondbacks in the National League West by 4 games. Things were looking up.

Now, Beltran is on the Disabled List and the Giants have gone 5-13 since my last post. Their record is 66-57 and they trail Arizona (69-53) by 3.5 games in the West. It doesn't help that the Diamondbacks never seem to lose anymore. The Giants are struggling and need to turn it around soon. Real soon. The schedule is approaching September, and the Giants don't want to be too far out of striking distance.

Beltran is far from the only one hurting right now. Stellar set-up man Sergio Romo is also on the DL, and starting pitcher Jonathan Sanchez left tonight's game at the Braves (72-51) with an apparent injury. Nate Schierholtz and Jeff Keppinger also have suffered injuries of some sort and their prognosis for return isn't totally certain. Not to mention, Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez are sidelined for the season. It seems the Giants have had more than their share of bad luck.

Still, all is not lost. It stands to reason that the Diamondbacks have to lose a few games and let's not forget, the Giants were even farther behind the Padres around this time last year. So, there's still hope, even if things are looking bleak right now and it kind of feels like this might not be the year. I'll keep paying attention and hoping for the best.

Charlie Manuel's sour grapes

Philadelphia Phillies (65-39) manager Charlie Manuel insists the World Champion San Francisco Giants (61-44) aren't in his team's heads after the Giants took two out of three from the Phillies in Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia this week. To me, his comments sounded like he was insecure. Additionally, he said that Giants pitchers Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain were good, but not great pitchers. Perhaps he thought both men throwing six and seven innings without giving up an earned run to his vaunted lineup was an abberation. Or maybe he's forgotten Cain's seven shutout innings against the Phils in Game 3 of the NLCS last year or Lincecum's Game 1 victory in the same series.

Manuel's statement that greatness comes with consistency (and his assertion that Lincecum and Cain have not yet achieved this) is almost laughable. Lincecum won back-to-back Cy Young Awards and the following year was the MVP of the Postseason while pitching his team to a World Series victory. If that's not consistent, I don't know what is. Cain, on the other hand, didn't surrender even one earned run the entire postseason and has a 3.39 career ERA in five full seasons, including 2.89 in 2009 and 3.14 last year. Cain's ERA is 2.91 this year, Lincecum's is 2.78. Both seem pretty consistent to me. All I'm hearing from Manuel's comments is sour grapes.

The blogging and tweeting will be limited at best until August 7th, when I return from vacation with a flourish.

Beltran looks to be headed to SF

Very sorry about the lack of blogging this month, it has been a crazy month for me (in a good way). Anyway, I thought I would just note that I'm happy to hear that the World Champion San Francisco Giants appear to be close to acquiring right fielder Carlos Beltran from the Mets in exchange for minor league pitcher Zach Wheeler. Wheeler is considered one of the Giants' top prospects. However, I think it's a good deal because Beltran gives the Giants a very realistic chance to repeat as champions -- at that's what it's all about.

National League wins second straight All-Star Game

The National League defeated the American League tonight 5-1 in the Major League Baseball All-Star Game in Phoenix. It was the second straight All-Star win for the NL after a long winless streak. Prince Fielder of the Milwaukee Brewers (49-43) had the decisive blow with a 3-run home run in the 4th inning. Fielder was a deserving recipient of the game's MVP Award.

I have long felt that baseball has the best of all the All-Star Games in professional sports. The players are competitive and look like they are actually trying to win. This year was no different, with the exception of a few players like Derek Jeter who claimed to be injured and didn't show up despite playing in his team's most recent game. Stuff like that just isn't acceptable; I know I wrote my last blog about Jeter's 3000th hit and what a moment was -- I stand by that, but it doesn't make it right for him to stiff the All-Star Game.

Anyway, the All-Star Game was an impressive display of pitching by the National League. It was cool to see Brian Wilson of the World Champion San Francisco Giants (52-40) get the save and look pretty impressive in doing it. I also enjoyed Pablo Sandoval's RBI double in his first All-Star appearance.

I'm glad the National League won to give it home field advantage for the World Series, particularly for the possibility of my World Champion Giants reaching the Fall Classic for the second straight year. It's dumb that the All-Star Game decides home field advantage, but it will be a plus that I'll be happy to see the Giants have should they advance to the World Series again.

Notes on the World Champs, MLB

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (48-39) lost tonight for the second straight day to the San Diego Padres (40-47) at AT&T Park. Tonight's game was by a 5-3 score. The Giants have now lost three straight overall, but still hold a one game lead over the Arizona Diamondbacks (47-40) in the National League West.

Miguel Tejada seems to be cranking it up for the Giants, having raised his average by roughly 40 points over where it was a couple of months ago. It may not be much to look at statistically right now, but he seems to be playing well. Hopefully Pat Burrell can get over this foot ailment that has been plaguing him the last few days; he's had successful pinch-hit at-bats off the bench in the last two games anyway.

Padres reliever Chad Qualls spiked the ball after tagging out Giants outfielder Andres Torres to end the 7th inning; Torres was attempting to score on a wild pitch. In my book, Qualls made a total bush league move and I hope the Giants can make him pay for it before too long.

It looks like the Diamondbacks may be sticking around for a while, after all. I'm still skeptical of their bullpen, but the longer they stay in the race, the more confidence they will have. They have won in Milwaukee the last two days, which is remarkably the first time the Brewers (45-42) have lost consecutive home games all season. It's an impressive achievement for the Diamondbacks, here's to hoping the Brewers end that losing streak tomorrow.

Speaking of the NL Central, how about the Pittsburgh Pirates (45-41)? They are only 1.5 games behind the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals (47-40). It looks like the Bucs may be over the .500 mark at the All-Star Break for the first time in almost as long as I can remember. Andrew McCutchen is having another strong year and if you ask me, belongs on the All-Star team. I still like the Brewers in that division, but they need to play better on the road, where they are 16-29 (they are a very impressive 29-13 at home).

Catching up

Apologies for the lack of blogging the last week and a half. I will be more consistent. As it has been some time since I was on here, I would like to catch up on the developments in sports during that time period.

First off, I was happy to see the Dallas Mavericks win the NBA Finals. Their zone defense seemed to be a riddle that the Heat couldn't solve with enough consistency throughout the series. Dirk Nowitzki was clutch down the stretch of the last few games and put up solid numbers the entire Finals. Jason Terry and the rest of the supporting cast really stepped it up the last three games of the series. I thought that was the key when Miami was up 2-1 and I thought it really swayed the series in Dallas' favor.

Dwyane Wade played outstanding the first three games of the series and played well the rest of the series, but not as well as he did in the 2006 NBA Finals. LeBron James had a poor series, particularly in the fourth quarters of games. He simply was not assertive enough when he had the ball. Chris Bosh played pretty well, but needed more from Wade and James. I think the Heat will be back next year and be a Finals contender again.

The Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup Final 4 games to 3 over the Vancouver Canucks, taking Game 7 by a 4-0 score in Vancouver. Before the series, I kind of wanted the Canucks to win, but the biting incident plus the Aaron Rome hit on Nathan Horton kind of pushed me more to the Bruins. Canucks fans booing during the U.S. National Anthem prior to Game 7 didn't help either. I realize there were some cheap plays on the part of the Bruins as well, but it didn't seem nearly as flagrant to me.

Roberto Luongo didn't measure up consistently enough in the Final as goaltender for the Canucks. He was absolutely destroyed all three games in Boston, which put too much pressure on the Canucks going back to home ice in Game 7. It's typically not a recipe for success if you just fall back on the attitude that you play well at home. The Bruins were in every game and looked like they wanted it more. Luongo said he would have made the save on the lone goal scored in Game 5 which was allowed by Bruins goalie Tim Thomas. Maybe he should have been more focused on the three he allowed in the first nine minutes of Game 6 or the three he allowed at home in Game 7.

It was a fun series to watch, but I do wish that Alex Burrows had been punished for his bite. The NHL has sent conflicting messages about these types of matters and needs to make sure this type of unsportsmanlike behavior is outlawed. I did think it was funny that Bruins players were taunting the Burrows and other Canucks by sticking fingers in their faces and asking if they wanted to bite them again.

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (39-30) just took two of three in Phoenix from the Arizona Diamondbacks (38-32) this week and hold a 1.5 game lead over the Snakes in the National League West. I think the Giants have the better team and will win the division. Remember when everyone said the Colorado Rockies (33-35) were going to run away with the division? Looks like that one's not going to happen. The Giants pitching staff will keep them in the race all season long and I believe will be enough to take the division crown for the second consecutive year.

Buster Posey's injury

Buster Posey, catcher for the World Champion San Francisco Giants (27-22), was injured in an ugly collision in the 12th inning of last night's game with the Florida Marlins (29-19). Scott Cousins of the Marlins was attempting to score on a sacrifice fly ahead of the throw from Giants right fielder Nate Schierholtz. Posey couldn't handle the throw on a hop, and Cousins ran over him. Posey suffered a broken fibula as well as strained ligaments in his left ankle. It is estimated he will be out six to eight weeks, and possibly longer.

Posey, the reigning National League Rookie of the Year, would be a huge loss for the Giants on a number of different levels. He is a great hitter who is smart and hits for average and has a little pop in his bat. He is also a great catcher, doing a great job of calling pitches and knowing the tendencies of hitters. And as if that wasn't enough, he is a great clubhouse presence and a leader on the team at a young age.

Posey should be able to spend time with the team as he rehabilitates and still contribute in leadership roles, but he will be immensely missed on the field, especially as he was just starting to find his groove offensively and was in the midst of a double digit game hitting streak. Eli Whiteside will take over behind the plate in the interim. Whiteside is a solid catcher defensively and can hit occasionally, but his offensive skills are not that of Posey.

Hopefully the Giants can ride out this injury and stay in the race; I think they are capable of doing this for at least a little while. Despite the Marlins finishing off the three game sweep this afternoon at AT&T Park, the Giants still lead the National League West by 2 games over the Arizona Diamondbacks (25-24) and 2.5 games over the Colorado Rockies (24-24), who are playing right now (the Diamondbacks lead 3-1 in the top of the 6th inning in Denver).

A lot of people were proclaiming that the Rockies were going to run away with the division after they got off to such a hot start, but they have cooled off considerably since then and recently lost starting pitcher Jorge De La Rosa for the season to an injury. The Diamondbacks have been playing very well lately, but I still think they lack the pitching depth to stay in the race all year. The Posey injury hurts the Giants' chances, no question about it, but I still think it could be a close race in the West. Hopefully he isn't out for too long. The Giants travel to Milwaukee to face the Brewers (27-23), who are riding a six game winning streak, for three games this weekend.

Lincecum pitches a gem

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (26-19) defeated the Oakland Athletics (22-24) by a score of 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at AT&T Park in San Francisco. Tim Lincecum pitched his fifth career complete-game shutout. Lincecum showed again why he is among the best in the game and why he has won two Cy Young awards. The Giants lead the Colorado Rockies (23-21) by 2.5 games in the National League West.

The Giants are looking good and are playing like the first-place team I expected them to be before the season started. The Rockies have a good team and particularly a couple of really good hitters, but I think the Giants are the better team overall based on their pitching staff from top to bottom. I expect it to be a relatively close race all summer, but I think the Giants will take the division. The Giants wrap up the bay-bridge series at 2:05 p.m. MT on MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

National FOX MLB broadcasts; World Champion Giants win in rain

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (22-17) defeated the Chicago Cubs (17-21) Saturday night at Wrigley Field by a score of 3-0 in a rain-shortened game that only got a few pitches into the top of the 7th inning.

Friday and Saturday night games are not allowed at Wrigley Field unless they are requested to be on national TV, as this one was by FOX Sports (allowing for it to be what is being reported as the first Saturday night game at Wrigley Field in 9 years). National TV being relative of course, since I, along with most of the country was force-fed the Red Sox (19-20)-Yankees (20-17) game. And since FOX has exclusive broadcast rights on Saturday, I was forbidden to watch the game live because of where I live. It didn't matter that I subscribe to MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv. It seems really ridiculous to me, FOX and MLB should work out a way to let the games be seen out-of-market via subscription services. Anyway, enough of that for now.

In an ironic statistic, Ryan Vogelsong (3-0, 2.36 ERA) picked up his first career complete game shutout in the victory, even though he only pitched six innings. Vogelsong has been very, very solid for the Giants since coming up from Triple-A Fresno and has really been a good story to this point. I'm just glad the Giants got out of this game with a win as the conditions looked absolutely miserable for players and fans alike and clearly affected the fielding in particular on a number of plays. The Giants and Cubs close out this three game weekend series Sunday at 12:20 p.m. MT. The game will be televised nationally on WGN and can also be seen via MLB Extra Innings and mlb.tv.

Sandoval out with fractured hamate bone

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (13-13) beat the Washington Nationals (12-14) today at Nationals Park 2-1, but that was not the story of the day. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval (.313 avg., 5 hr, 14 rbi) will be out 4 to 6 weeks with a fractured hamate bone in his right hand. This is really a tough break because Sandoval was off to a great start after working hard in the offseason to get into better shape.

The Giants have been rather putrid on offense lately and this only makes matters more difficult. It's actually pretty remarkable that the Giants are at .500 right now as well as 3-2 on this current road trip with how poorly they have been playing on offense at times. That is once again a testament to the pitching staff. I don't think everyone will stay cold forever, though. Andres Torres will hopefully be off the disabled list before long and Mark DeRosa shouldn't be out too long either. I think the team will be in the race throughout the summer.

Jonathan Sanchez was all over the place today, but only gave up one unearned run in five innings of work. Sanchez surrendered six walks, including four in the first inning, and hit two batters. He only gave up two hits, once again proving that his stuff is electric but that control is the central issue. Hopefully he works on that and is able to more consistently locate pitches.

Brian Wilson sure made things interesting in the bottom of the 9th, walking two and hitting another batter to load the bases. Wilson struck out Adam LaRoche on a 3-2 pitch to end the game. Just another day at the office, I suppose.

Darren Ford uses his wheels to give Giants a win

Darren Ford had a good night tonight. Since I'm tired, here's a link to read about his trip around the bases that may just become legendary.

World Champion Giants take 2 of 3 in Denver

The World Champion San Francisco Giants (10-8) took 2 of 3 from the Colorado Rockies (13-5) at Coors Field in Denver this week. I was impressed with the way the Giants won the first two games. I still feel good about the series overall, even though they got hammered today -- can't win them all. Matt Cain had an off day today it seemed, but Tim Lincecum and Jonathan Sanchez were lights out in their starts. Pablo Sandoval seems to be reverting to his 2009 form, which is a good omen of things to come. I'm excited about this team and still think the Giants should be considered favorites to win the National League West this year.