Dirty Dismissal

For Jonathan Sanchez, a season that started with so much promise ended with a whimper.

And if I were a betting man, which I am, I'd wager that Kevin Correia may have thrown his last pitch as a Giant. With all the young pitchers in the system, it makes little economic sense to keep the six year vet.

Plus, he kinda sucks.

Kudos to Andy Baggarly for this awesome find from last night's otherwise nausea-inducing proceedings:

They fielded nine rookies in the seventh inning: Catcher Steve Holm, pitcher Billy Sadler, first baseman Pablo Sandoval, second baseman Ryan Rohlinger, shortstop Ivan Ochoa, third baseman Conor Gillaspie, left fielder John Bowker, center fielder Eugenio Velez and right fielder Nate Schierholtz.

How long has it been since a major league team simultaneously fielded nine rookies in a major league game? [Snip]

Almost 25 years to the date, according to the hard-working folks at the Elias Sports Bureau. The Los Angeles Dodgers fielded nine rookies on Sept. 20, 1983, in a home game against the Houston Astros.

To counter this uncharacteristically youthphilic behavior, the Giants signed J.T. Snow to keep the average roster age at a Brian Sabean mandated minimum.

But seriously, folks, in case you didn't hear, he'll take the field this weekend with the starting lineup and get a nice sendoff from the fans. Class move.

Baggs also reports that Travis Ishikawa took the night off to be with his brand new baby. Congrats to Travis, and huge props to Baggs for using the occasion to recall tales of Harry Caray lore.

HEY! This provides me the perfect opportunity to link one of the best impersonations of all time!

A Tale of Two Yetis

Bengie "Sas-Squat" Molina lifted a three-run blast and drove in five runs, while up-and-coming catcher/possible third base solution Pablominable Snowmandoval added two hits and one RBI to come from behind and beat the more-miserable-than-ever Padres.

Randy Winn also notched three hits and was on base four times, raising his batting average to a team-leading .306 for the season.

Kevin Correia worked a solid six innings lasting long enough to get himself and the team one more W in a nice stretch of baseball.

Having won five in a row, the Giants now seem poised to make a run at Colorado for the third spot in the NL West.  The pennant it ain't, but at least it's something to shoot for.

Seismic Happenings Exclude Giants Trade Front

Further proof that these aren't your parents' Giants: wins over the Dodgers are almost wholly unsettling.

The singles-fest that led to a five-run fourth was almost immediately answered to Four and Done Kevin Correia. Luckily, the bullpen largely held, and Brian "Servin' U A K" Wilson converted his 19th straight save in an epic display of triple digit MPH fastballs.

Meanwhile, on the trade front, not much way in the of new rumors.

The intrepid Andrew Baggarly has a most interesting blog post today out of LA. Besides the continued silence on the trade front, check out this passage:

So what do the Giants do? Take infield again today? Make everyone run laps? Get J.T. Snow on the first Southworst flight out of ….

Holy crap, as I’m typing this, pretty significant earthquake happening. I’m in a hotel in Pasadena. Still going. Shoud (sic) I get under a desk? Wow.

OK, totally lost my train of thought. More later.

My first thought if I was blogging in an earthquake (or, in this case, fire)?

Down for Keeps

Not sure how many of you had younger siblings, but I clearly remember getting an extra piece of candy and dangling over my baby brother's head, just high enough for to him reach if he jumped to get it.  Leap he did, hand outstretched clutching for this tiny piece of concentrated happiness.  As soon as he reached the apex of his jump, the fun-size bar was magically yanked out of the range of his grasp, and he descended back to Earth empty-handed and crestfallen.

No, kids.  That douchey big brother isn't Eric Roberts, it's the Giants bullpen stealing joy from the hands of Giants fans everywhere.  Each time the boys in blue hats (not the Cubs in this case) clawed their way back into the game, our illustrious relievers seemed to wag a Dikembe-sized finger in our collective face.

In the sixth inning, with the Giants trailing 3-0, John Bowker clobbered a 2-run shot that ended up swimming in the Bay to bring the Giants within one. [JUMP]

However, in the top of the seventh, Sergio Romo and a no-throw by starting catcher Eliezer Alfonzo conspired to allow two runs to score on a Soto single.  All of a sudden, it was once again a three-run deficit. [YOINK]

Then, in an exciting turn of events, the Giants got a little two-out magic when  Ray Durham (3-for-4, 3 RBI, 2 runs) snuck a shot over the right field wall to tie the game at five apiece. [JUMP]

Unfortunately for the guys in mismatched hats, Mike Fontenot, a lefty who weighs 160 lbs soaking wet, somehow managed to muscle a Tyler Walker fastball over the green tin roof in right to put the Cubs up by one going into the bottom of the eighth. [YOINK]

The rest, as they say, is history as the Giants four, five, and six hitters went up-n-down in the bottom of the inning, quieting the good half of the crowd.  Though a glimmer of hope did shine on a two-out, pinch-hit triple by Jose "Shrek" Castillo in the bottom of nine [JUMP], Freddie Lewis snuffed it when he struck out looking to end the game [YOINK].

This has to be one of the most frustrating losses of the season.  Just ask Kevin Correia, who looked good enough to win through 6.1 innings and still took the no-decision.  Just ask Ray-Ray who wants to win and look good doing it so he can get traded to a contender.  Just ask AaRow, who has shaved 52 points off his average in the last 26 games.  Hell, ask the whole team, as they've now lost 16 of their last 20 at home.

At least when I was growing up, I was the big brother and got to enjoy this sort of torture.  Now it seems all too painful.

Home Offensive

Matt Cain starting + Oakland A's + Pac Bell Park = Yuck.

The Giants simply suck at home. Unfortunate, because Matt Cain was dominant, fanning 11 A's in 7+.

And, although I hoped I was wrong, Omar is completely done as a hitter.

On the plus side, Kevin Correia makes his long awaited return today. Thankfully, Pat will take his Mischuga self back to Fresno.

Links Cure All

We never really had a chance given tonight's matchup. Luckily, the Pat Misch experiment looks to be nearing its merciful end, as Kevin Correia looks fired up and ready to go.

Credit Aaron Cook, who is turning into a legitimate ace for the Rockies, and improves to a nice 9-3.

Too bad the Giants couldn't get into the shaky Rockies bullpen early - they absolutely hammered the Rox relievers and were only a few feet away from a ninth inning Fred Lewis homer that would have cut the lead to three with none out.

We won't have to grasp at straws looking for positives for too much longer: Lincecum goes tomorrow.

In the meantime, LINK DUMP!

- Oft-injured Merkin Valdez has suffered a setback and will get a dreaded MRI.

Unfortunate, as it looked like Valdez was back on track after striking out the side for San Jose in a rehab assignment on Saturday.

From within that piece, Bochy is impressed by Dirty Sanchez's focus.

- Not so fast, says Noah Lowry. Lowry's chutzpah aside, his return is looking more and more like a longshot, but here's hoping.

- Baggarly has a nice piece on Burriss, who reflects on his return to D.C.

- More encouraging news from the farm as the single-A Giants have five players named to the All-Star team, including 19 year old Tim Alderson, the second of our 2007 first-rounders, as well as mashing 21 year old catcher Pablo Sandoval.

- In other San Jose Giants news, the little Giants are getting in on the 50th anniversary festivities of the big league club. They seem to have assembled an impressive roster of attendees.

- Last Thursday's top two draft picks are named to the All-American squad - Posey is first-team and Gillaspie second.

- 47th round pick Abe Ruiz has committed to ASU, but leaves the door open if the Giants show him the money.

Meanwhile, an undrafted UOP second baseman waits for a call.

- And finally, a few Giants react to Griffey's 600th homer.

OBnB Programming Note: Please note that I have updated the social bookmarklets that appear below every post next to "SHARE!" If you're at all a regular reader and use the sites listed, such as Digg, Facebook, Ballhype or Yardbarker (you can hover over the icons to see what they mean), please click on any and all and spread the word.

The act of sharing will be rewarded karmically (I stole that from a fortune cookie, but it applies).

Misch-cast

Good news for the pitching staff as Kevin Correia and Merkin look to be progressing. Correia could even be back by the second week of June, if I'm reading correctly - which, between the glass eye and the early morning cocktail, I'm probably not.

KC and The Sunshine Band's return might spell the end of one of my favorite pun-jockeys in Pat Misch. Love the guy, but I'll be happy to see him either slide to long relief or (more likely) go back to Fresno.

Hope that Merkin can stay healthy once he's back. If he came back today, I'd guess Sadler would go down - but there's still plenty of time to think of a fake injury!

(I'm looking at you, Ray.)

0.00 Bullpen ERA Earns Zito Promotion

BREAKING NEWS: Following a highly successful bullpen stint in which Barry Zito allowed no runs (none earned) on no hits and no walks, the Giants decided to finally pull the trigger and add Zito to their injury-stung rotation.

Interesting move to say the least. And just when I thought management was starting to get a clue.

In fairness, the questionable injury situations surrounding Noah Lowry and Kevin Correia has left the rotation thin. I guess the calculus is that starting the mediocre Pat Misch is not a big enough upgrade to keep Zito out. I guess...

Still, a bizarre turn of events.