San Francisco Giants

Is the end of the line for the Unit?

Randy Johnson was in a chipper mood for a 45-year-old pitcher who just learned he has a slight rotator-cuff tear in his left shoulder and will not pitch until September. Johnson was placed on the 60-day disabled list Tuesday to clear a 40-man spot for Ryan Garko, which means he will not be able to return before Sept. 4.

"The first thing I thought of was I won't be able to do my instructional hitting video. That will be on the backburner for a while," Johnson said, before getting serious and adding, "I've overcome three back surgeries, there or four knee surgeries. I've been on the DL and rehabbed and know what that's all about. It's one more speed bump in the road of my career."

sf chron

An MRI performed Monday revealed a slight muscle tear in Aaron Rowand's right (throwing) forearm, forcing the Giants' leadoff hitter to miss his seventh straight start as his team faced the Pittsburgh Pirates at AT&T Park. Rowand said he planned to take two days of rest and continue receiving treatment. The injury doesn't affect his ability to swing the bat -- he's pinch-hit three times in the past six games -- but throwing remains an issue.

Prior to Monday's series opener against the Pirates, manager Bruce Bochy said placing his starting center fielder on the 15-day disabled list was not yet a necessity. Rowand added: "They don't want to put me out there in a game situation where, [with] the adrenaline flowing ... [I] end up hurting it longer and spending more time out."

SFGiants.com

Barry the Motivator.

Barry Bonds stopped Tim Lincecum before the game with some orders for the pitcher: Beat my old team, or I'll beat you. "I think he was joking," Lincecum said with a grin. He made sure he didn't have to find out.

Lincecum looked like his old self, pitching a four-hitter and bouncing back from a rough outing with a career-high 15 strikeouts in the Giants' 4-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night.The reigning National Cy Young Award winner provided the Giants with a much-needed boost on the heels of a 3-7 trip that cost them the wild-card lead. He posted his fourth complete game this season and sixth of his career, finishing his 115-pitch gem in 2 hours, 6 minutes.

"It was right up there with one of his better games," Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. "He looked like he was excited to be home, excited to get us back on track. He was on a mission out there."

Sacramento Bee

Andy Marte is up!

Ryan Garko was traded to the Aints for Scott Barnes, no relation to Priscilla. Not sure why the Indians traded a cheap guy with 11 homers and a .285/.362/.464 line. Maybe the Giants offered some trinkets to the Indians. Besides his season line, Garko has been hot recently (.429 in his last seven games with two homers). Pac Bell/AT&T/The Fridge That Sandoval Raids is not a hitter’s haven, but Garko should hit in the heart of the order and see every day playing time. Definitely worth pursuing in NL-Only leagues and 12 team leagues, if you’re hurting at corner. The other name worth mentioning is Andy Marte, who was called up by the Indians yesterday.

Razzball.com

Shapiro said Marte will play mostly first base. Marte played mostly third base in Columbus.

cleveland.com

I am guessing the Freak has no issues with Pittsburgh's bat. Except Garrett Jones of course, that guy is a monster.

Lincecum has made two starts since the All-Star break and the Giants lost both times. They’ll open a critical homestand behind their ace Monday, and I don’t have to tell you that a third consecutive loss in a Lincecum start would be devastating. The Giants are learning that Lincecum’s laid-back persona disappears and he can get downright ornery on the mound when something doesn’t go his way. In Atlanta, he gave up a three-run home run to Yunel Escobar. The next time up, Lincecum bit his lip and blew a fastball past Escobar’s bat.

So will Lincecum pitch with a little more edge against the Pittsburgh Pirates? “You know me,” he said. “It takes me a little while to get excited for the game. But when the time comes, I’m amped up and ready to go. It’s in the back of your mind that we’re in a slump and the team isn’t doing so well, but you have to pitch with the same mentality all the time.”

Extra Baggs

The most optimistic prognosis for Randy Johnson's return was three weeks. Sunday will mark 21 days since he strained his pitching shoulder, and the Giants still cannot even guess when the Big Unit will return.

Manager Bruce Bochy said Friday that Johnson, who has been strengthening the shoulder in Arizona, will return to San Francisco for an MRI exam on Monday "to see where we're at. It's going to take some time. I couldn't give you a date till Monday."

sf chron.

Matt the Master goes to 12-2

It probably wouldn't be a bad idea to shop Molina if you own him, maybe even try for an upgrade. Sell him on his name, and that he is batting cleanup ..

Have I mentioned the problem with Bengie Molina in the cleanup spot? Yes, I believe I have. But here’s another: You could argue that the Giants would rather have Eli Whiteside catch three-fifths of the current rotation. We know that Bruce Bochy has looked to match his backup catcher with Barry Zito whenever possible. Whiteside has been working with Ryan Sadowski, whom he caught in the minor leagues. And let’s not forget who was behind the plate for Jonathan Sanchez’s no-hitter.

Bochy raised a few eyebrows when he told the beat writers he intended to sit Molina in two of four games here, with Whiteside catching Sadowski Tuesday and Zito on Thursday.

But after Molina had two hits Wednesday against Jair Jurrjens, Bochy changed his mind. He’ll start Molina alongside Zito in the series finale, saying his frontline catcher should be relatively fresher than he expected.

Extra Baggs

We have a couple of great National League match-ups today.

Both the Giants and Braves are fighting for their bid at the National League's Wild Card, and today we'll get the Freak versus Jair Jurrjens. Call me crazy, but I think Jurrjens takes this one. Why? Well not because he is the better pitcher, but because Jurrjens has faced better competition recently, (Boston twice, Philly, Chicago, and @Coors) and the San Fransisco bats will be no match for his talents.

You have about a one in five chance of correctly predicting the winner in the National League Central. Carpenter and Oswalt look to change those odds today. Should be a fun matchup, no?

Giants (50-43) @ Braves (48-46), 7:00pm
  SFG: Tim Lincecum (25, RHP, 10-2, 2.27)
  ATL: Jair Jurrjens (23, RHP, 8-7, 2.77)
Cardinals (51-45) @ Astros (48-46), 8:05pm
  STL: Chris Carpenter (34, RHP, 8-3, 2.26)
  HOU: Roy Oswalt (31, RHP, 6-4, 3.65)

Baseball-Reference.com

Not much to get excited about here with "Downsie".

The Giants also optioned infielder Kevin Frandsen and recalled Matt Downs, who had been on a hot streak for Triple-A Fresno. Downs arrived from Salt Lake City and is in the lineup at second base, where Bochy plans to get him regular playing time.

The Frandsen/Downs move was due largely to the struggles of Juan Uribe, who will return to more of a utility infield role, Bochy said. The manager referred to Frandsen as “more of a stopgap guy.”

“When Frandsen came up, we needed help up the middle,” Bochy said. “This is more of where Downsie is going to get playing time at second. He’s been very consistent with his play and at-bats. He had three hits the other day. We’ll see if we can’t get some offense going here.”

Extra Baggs

Giants post All-Star slump deepens

Hear Hear!

The NL Worst. The NL Weak Division. We've heard it all. After a 2007 NLCS matchup pitting two West teams, we hoped that would change, but a brutal 2008 revitalized that reputation. With San Diego set to field an epicly bad team coming into the 2009, the division's reputation didn't get better in the eyes of many. Times have changed. Don't believe what your TV says. The Mets and Phillies can eat my shorts. Outside of the AL East and their monstrous payrolls, the best baseball is being played in the West. Here's some fun factoids for you:

* 9 teams have 50 wins. 3 are in the AL East, 3 in in the NL West, and one each in the AL West, NL East, and NL Central.
* 7 teams have a run differential of +40 or more. 3 are in the AL East, 3 in in the NL West, and one in the NL East.
* 4 teams have 30 home wins. 2 are in the AL East, 2 in the NL West.
* 3 teams have at least 27 road victories. 2 are in the NL West, one in the NL East, and NONE in the AL East.
* 6 NL teams were .500 or better in interleague. 3 of those are in the NL West.
* T3 of the top 4 teams in the NL by win percentage are in the West.
* The best team in MLB is in the NL West.

Purple Row