I Figured Out Bullets Tildes

Admittedly, the post mired in incredulity is a cliche at best (and the product of hacks in truth), but give me some credit here:

~ Rich Aurilia, he of a .351 June batting average, goes all "legitimate ML hitter" on us and nets 5 RBIs.
~ The Dirtiest of Them All continues his impression of an ace on any other team in baseball - you know, the ones without Tiny McHowdhedothat.
~ The Giants beat the A's.
~ For the second game in a row.
~ By a lot.
~ At 36-46, the Giants are 5 games out of first at the season's halfway point.

With the win, the Giants finish a .500 June and enter July with as good a chance as anyone to win the NL Worst, where the first-place D'Bags now sit at .500.

So yes - I'm incredulous (in a good way).

Comment-Mill: So do we still want Sabean to sell at the deadline?  What if we could get a legitimate cleanup hitter for a Tim Alderson?

Heady times, indeed.

The Three P's

Pitching, pitching, and pitching.  Lincecum, Walker, and Wilson were the story of the evening, holding the A's scoreless and preserving a narrow victory for the Orange & Black.

In one of the better pitching duels this season (and a possible preview of an All Star pitching matchup), Tiny Tim looked big fanning eleven batters in seven pitched to earn his ninth win. Tyler Walker pitched a gritty eigth and Brian Wilson avoided letting a one out walk to Raj Davis hurt the Giants in the end to pick up his 22nd save.

The honor of Shakespearean Tragedy of the Game belongs to Justin Duchscherer, who despite pitching eight
innings of two hit ball still took the loss.

Giants avoid the season sweep and order is returned to the universe.

ReTribeUtion

Heading into last night's matchup with the red-hot Cliff Lee, it was a foregone conclusion that Matt Cain would have to bring his best game.

Alas, he did not.

Thus, Giants loseth.

What, were you expecting the offense to pick him up?

Either way, I'm inclined to agree with the local rags on this one: the Giants crapped the bed in Kansas City and could have mailed this series in.  And to their credit, they didn't.

More positivity: after getting a handie from the entire populace of Cleveland, Omar Vizquel may finally be put out to pasture (read: bench), giving way to the ever-intriguing Manny Burriss.  The former NCAA stolen base champ will spark this lineup merely by hitting better than the league-average pitcher, a good initial benchmark for a kid who was supposed to get his first cup in 2009.

Even more positivity: I like Sergio Romo, and you should too.  Although I have to admit some disappointment watching him trot out there with a little beard growth to go along with that fantastic moustache.  Let's hope he wises up and takes a cue from Jason Giambi. (Gee, I'm never going to repeat that sentence again.)

Also, as absurd as the notion may be, the Giants can actually salvage a winning month if they take two of three from the A's this weekend.

I mean, technically, it's possible.

Most importantly, coming out of this series with even a glimmer of hope regarding the future of Barry Zito is a very nice development.  You know, until he goes all Bronson Arroyo on us.

Moment of Zen

The shot of Matt Cain up top is absolutely classic.

Clockwise from bottom: Tim Lincecum (in glasses), Dave Roberts, Noah Lowry, Matt "Disco" Cain, Rich Aurilia, Omar Vizquel, Kevin Frandsen (with beard), and lost Kiss member Jack Taschner.

Props to Logan's Freedom Ride.

Dirty Romo

Thought I'd post a nice video Greg posted on his Defenders blog of recent call-up Sergio Romo, who replaces the departed Vinnie Chulk.

Guy's definitely got some funky arm action. It also appears that there may now be a competition for the title of the true Dirty.

Bay City Ball had a nice writeup on him recently - sounds like an intriguing middle relief option:

RHP Sergio Romo - Romo dazzles opposing hitters with a variety of pitches coming out of a variety of arm slots and angles. On a pure “stuff” level, Romo’s “stuff” isn’t off the charts, it’s rather pedestrian. He works in the upper 80’s and his curveball is an average pitch but similar to Cowart, he has amazing control that allows him to spot his pitches wherever he wants them. Toss in some deception from his pitching motion — he sort of slings the ball in a low arm slot — and you’ve got Sergio Romo. He doesn’t walk hitters — BB% of 5.1 — and despite not having a huge velocity, has never had trouble striking out hitters — K% of 29.3 in AA this year. His ‘07 line from San Jose is just ridiculous: 65.2 IP, 33 H, 9 ER, 15 BB, 104 SO. He briefly had some struggles in AA when he came off of a injury — I believe it was a knee problem — but since giving up 3 earned runs on May 31st, he’s made 5 straight strong appearances. Over those 5 appearances his line looks like this: 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 12 SO. That’s a positively small sample but I’d like to think he’s adjusted from his injury and is back to pitching well again.

Lashawn Chaconwell

Wow.

Maybe he'll go after Sabean next.

ZitOptimistic?

Did this actually work, or was it a coincidence? Was Barry Zito actually throwing his fastball in the high 80s, or was the Cleveland gun hot? Or is it simply that the Indians offense truly sucks?

I hesitate to dare say it, but Zito looked, well, good.

No walks in his longest outing of the year. Getting ahead of hitters, pitching economically, and being aggressive with his suddenly average fastball.

And he (and the Giants) gets the deserved win.

I'm no sucker for these supposed glimmers of hope, I'll have the record show. So I'm loathe to buy into the notion that lightning struck and Dave Righetti somehow turned around Barry Zito's career.

But I can't be sure that he didn't, either.

Be sure to congratulate him.

- Despite not being called up until the middle of April and having roughly 80 less ABs than most regulars, John Bowker has pulled into a tie for the team lead in homers with 8.

- And in today's feel good story, Omar Vizquel got a hit!