Say Hey, Happy Birthday!

Following what surely was a thrilling day of sightseeing in Alabama - I mean, Central Pennsylvania - the Giants visit the Frank to the Phillies' Sylvester in the Pittsburgh Pirates tonight at beautiful PNC Park.

In stark contrast to the Giants, the Bucs have wet the bed this year in spite of a good offense: their ERA is dead last in the majors. In doing their best 2003 St. Louis Rams impression, the predictable Pirates are (you guessed it) bringing up the rear in the NL Central at 12-19.

Fans of the Pirates, our compatriots in (dare we say it, deeper) gloom, seem to have accepted their playoff-less destiny as fait accompli. At a recent get-together, I tried relating the improbable, albeit temporary, Lazarian tale of the 2006-07 Golden State Warriors to some downtrodden Pirate fans. Although I couldn't quite interpret their Iron City Light-tinged retort, I think it had something to do with me performing a physical impossibility.

That being said, the Giants are in a good position to wash the bitter taste of Philadelphia out of their mouths this week, starting tonight as Dirty takes on the struggling (but talented) Zach Duke. In the five starts since his tough season debut against the Brew Crew, Sanchez has kept pace with the likes of The Franchise, going 2-0 with a 1.82 ERA with 32Ks in 29.2 innings. This kid may be a keeper.

Duke, you may remember, is a 25 year old finesse lefty who had a lights out debut in 2005 but has battled inconsistency ever since. In future news, the San Francisco Giants sign lefty Zach Duke to a 8 year $187M deal.

Tonight also marks the return of Jose Castillo to Pittsburgh. To put in perspective, think return of Todd Linden. (Ouch, that's a lot meaner once I see it on the page - oh well.)

Let's hope the good guys display a collective short memory and we can make a good start towards a split our trip to Pennsylvania.

And, yes, that shirt is real.

Other notes:

- A very happy 77th to the greatest of them all, Willie Mays. The author of The (First) Catch, 660 career HRs, a pioneering career, and so much more, we are lucky as fans to say that he did it for the Giants.

- Armchair Scouting Assignment: Rookie Pirates GM Neal Huntington is looking to move Jason Bay, who has been accused of looking less than engaged in recent years. Then again, he plays for the Pirates and really, who gets Canadians anyway?

This Canadian, however, can hit. Given that the Pirates need young pitching in the worst way, it's probably worth noting that Bay may be someone on the move this July, and, if somehow, someway, the Giants stay in the thick of things, he's a guy worth targeting.

Off Day Debate: Vizquel's Return

Here's some news to get your mind off this weekend's downer of a series - word from the Fresno Bee is that Omar Vizquel is targeting this Friday to make his long awaited season debut.

The question becomes, then, is this a good thing? Brian Bocock never had a chance with the bat in the majors, and this could very well be his ML swan song unless he really picks it up.

Manny Burriss, on the other hand, has shown flashes. Besides being DC's great baseball hope, he has proven a fluid shortstop if not in Bocock's league defensively. The former sandwich round pick (in the same draft that produced The Franchise) has done about as well as could be expected with the bat, which is to say he hasn't done particularly well. Keep in mind, in 2006, the speedy 23 year old did very well after signing early in short-season A ball. However, after a disastrous start in high A San Jose to open 2007, it took a midseason demotion to low A Augusta for him to find his stroke again. What would have been best would be to keep the kid on a slow track. Instead, due to an ensuing institutional oversight (not disclosing whether or not it regarded having a viable backup to a 41 year old shortstop), Burriss started 2008 in AAA. Check out his pro numbers, with thanks to our friends at FirstInning:

In essentially reproducing his underwhelming numbers in AAA this year at the major league level, Manny has really already outperformed what we could reasonably expect. Bear in mind, this isn't an indictment of his future potential, but more an indicator that he needs some more time for seasoning. After all, we're talking small sample sizes across the board.

Here's the thing, though, Omar, God bless him, wasn't very good last year. His .621 OPS, although it outpaces Manny's numbers thus far, doesn't quite hack it. Hate to break it, but "off-years" by 40 year olds are more likely the beginning of the end. Especially when the player in question is recovering from knee surgery at one of the more physically demanding positions out there.

Then again, if he can even split the difference between 2007 and 2006, Vizquel will be a huge boon to this team, particularly if his glove stays solid.

Really, this is yet another situation with no really good alternative. So what do you think? Is Vizquel coming back a good thing? Should we just throw the kid out there and hope for the best?

- Also, if you haven't read this story about our new best hitter, it's something. Give FLew his due, the guy's earned it. (No really, he really has - story's plain f'ed up.) Good report by Killion.

Defense Wins Championships, and Loses Games...

Another tough loss in a series the Giants could have swept. Instead, they come out of a helluva series losing 2 out of 3.

3 errors, including the fateful Velez oops, largely the culprit.

- Big relief as Cainer looks not to be seriously hurt. Given the nature of hammies and the fact that this is Matt Cain, still disconcerting. Within that piece is a sweet one-liner from Pedro Dangerfield:

Feliz has not seen his family since the last week of spring training. It's been hard, he said, "but it's not going to be forever. It's happened before. I came to the states and left my family behind, my mom, dad, brother and sister. Now, it's little kids that I love to be with, but that's part of life."

The third baseman wanted to return to the Giants, but according to sources felt they did not go far enough in contract negotiations to bring him back. Other sources said the Giants actually offered Feliz more guaranteed money than he took in Philadelphia.

He is not sure how the fans in San Francisco will treat him Friday, but he joked about it.

"Maybe," he said, "they'll look at my average, .185, and say, 'Yes! The Giants did the right thing.'"

Notwithstanding the dearth of SF-based Pete Happy loyalists, I think the fans will do the right thing come this weekend's series.

Mulligan!

Second chances are funny - sometimes you never get them and sometimes they smack you in the face while you're still smarting from the first screw-up. Fortunately, Brian Wilson comes up big following last night's debacle, getting the job done in the bottom of the 10th and giving the Giants a 3-2 win. Kudos to the kid for showing a short memory - and hey, I'm fine with the leadoff walk to Patty Burrell.

Also big props to the reliably clutch Bengie Molina, Cainer (with a season high 8 Ks in 7+), and the suddenly formidable pen.

Tomorrow: young stud Cole Hamels faces off against Cameron Fry in what should be a doozy of a rubber match.

No Smile Tonight

"Fastball after fastball. You don't see this very often."

Those were the famous last words on the Phillies broadcast before Pat the Bat deposited a Brian Wilson 3-2, 2 out fastball into the left field seats, sealing a crushing 10th inning comeback.

Unfortunate for a number of reasons, one major one being former Phillie Aaron Rowand stood to be the hero after his go-ahead solo shot in the top of 10. Also overshadows the temporary comeback of spurned wunderkind John Bowker, who collected the first 4 hit game of his career and flashed serious leather at his new home at first.

However, the takeaway is that you can't go 4 runs on 16 hits. Stranding that many will not cut it if this team has any chance at legitimacy.

For the record, I didn't think the fastballs only approach was the incorrect one - he simply did not hit his spot on the fateful pitch.

Let's see how the kid bounces back.

On the plus side, great matchup tomorrow as Cainer faces Brett Myers.

Grab Some Pine, Zit

After a May Day off-day, Giants resume play tonight in Philadelphia. Tonight's game will also officially signal the beginning of the Pat Misch Era, or, as some others might put it, the "Barry Zito, Long Reliever" Era. Check out the pitching matchups this weekend - this series should be a barn-burner.

For today's required Zitage, we turn to Jayson Stark, who solicited some more interesting viewpoints from some ominous, stealthy, and potentially deadly, high ranking officials. A couple excerpts:

So can Zito ever get straightened out? We surveyed a half-dozen scouts and executives, and we found only one who thought he could. And that was a scout who said his only hope was to get reunited with Rick Peterson, "the only [pitching coach] Barry Zito ever had success with."

And then there's this, slightly pie in the sky but interesting thought:

"Here's what they should do," he said. "They should go to Zito and say, 'Look, it's clear this is not going to work. Let's put together an NBA-type deferral package. We'll take the whole contract, defer it over 30 years with no interest and then we'll release you, to let you start fresh somewhere else.'

"The club could get significant cost savings that way. You take $112 million over 30 years, that's $3.7 million a year. You're better off paying him $3.7 million a year to not pitch than having him go out and do what he's doing. … In the NBA, this happens a lot. The union would never let him do that in our sport. But you know what? From the player's standpoint, he'd be better off."

There you have it.

Also, a tip of the cap to Stark for one of the better Zito-based puns I've seen: baked Zito. However, I think we find it funny for two entirely different reasons.

Jose Castillo Reads This Blog

Giants take the rubber match against the defending NL Champs, end up rebounding from a 1-6 start to go 12-10 the rest of the way in April. I have to say, I have been enjoying this team a lot, warts and all.

One of the great emblematic moments for this team was watching Fred Lewis, whose glove has been much maligned, make the defensive adjustment that allowed him to snag Willy Tavares's would-be game-tying RBI hit. With him playing every day and work with major league coaching, you can see him making huge strides with the glove. As for hitting, the team-leading .952 OPS (followed by Aaron Rowand at .866) speaks for itself.

I'm going to go ahead and take credit for Jose Castillo jacking an unexpected game-winner last night - I called our third base power production out yesterday morning. Yesterday afternoon, guy goes yard for the first time in 20 months. Let's put that in perspective: the last time Castillo hit one out (as a member of the Pirates), America mourned as it came to light that Mel "I Know What Women Want" Gibson was actually a belligerent racist. I can only imagine Danny Glover, his longtime Lethal Weapon cohort, was shocked and dismayed. Glover, of course, is a Giants fan.

See how I did that?

Also, requisite daily Barry Zito story from John Shea. Actually a fairly good read. The scouts are all over the map on what's up with bro hymn. From the article:

Two National League scouts provided The Chronicle with different reasons for Zito's decline, speaking on the condition of anonymity because teams don't want their scouts sharing information. One said it's because of the fastball. The other blamed the curve.

The first scout: "It's velocity, period. If he can throw 89, 90 like he used to, he could escalate the ball in the strike zone. That sets up the curve. Now, with that slower stuff, they can take it for a ball or go wild with it."

The second scout: "It's his curveball, bottom line. Losing 4 to 5 (mph) doesn't concern me as much as his inability to break the curveball as much as he used to. It was his bread-and-butter pitch. It used to break from your head to your ankle. Now it breaks from your chin to your belt. Only a few guys in the league have the ability to snap off a good curveball. Now, for some reason, he can't."

Don't know if that makes me more or less hopeful. I still see a tough road back for him if he can't pick up at least some of the MPHs. The only people who survive in the low 80s have unbelievable control, and I'm not sure Zito has it in him.

Speaking of soft-tossing lefties, Noah Lowry's return has been delayed at least another three weeks as he continues to feel numbness in his arm in fingers. Don't know much about nerves and such, but this whole thing starting to get a season-ending vibe to it. Everyone keep their fingers crossed - no offense, Noah.

In non-Giants news, I get the feeling that this guy is going to give us fits this year both on the mound and in the box; but man, is that a cool baseball story or what?

Check out this ESPN all-time chart of OPS leaders on the left. I mean, sure, it's a small sample size, but still! Pretty impressive.