Results:

5-1 (30-24, 3 GB in NL West)

4-2 W vs. ARI; 3-1 W vs. ARI; 4-1 L vs. ARI; 4-3 W vs. CHC; 2-1 W vs. CHC; 2-0 W vs. CHC

Well, there we go. A nice week, coupled with a bad run (finally) from the Dodgers, and the Giants are suddenly just 3 games out. The Giants also never scored more than 4 runs in any game this week and went 5-1. The pitching has been so good, for so long now that this isn’t even a story any more.

I was thinking a little bit about All-Stars today and I think you could argue that Melky, Angel, and Buster (from a positional standpoint) are deserving of consideration, and from the pitchers Cain, Bumgarner, Vogelsong, Romo, Casilla, and…wait for it…ZITO are in the conversation as well. Now, obviously they won’t all make it, but a case can be made for each of them. Which is pretty incredible when you think about it…8 players! And Pablo would probably be in the convo too if he’d been healthy this whole time. Anytime a third of your roster is in consideration for the All-Star game you are doing well.

Hitter of the Week:

All Melky Cabrera did this week was hit .391, set the SF record for most hits in a month, and he doesn’t win HOW. But he is firmly in the convo week in and week out and that is awesome.

But, this week, let’s highlight Ryan Theriot. He just might be the answer at 2B. He hit .375, including a double, and scored 4 runs. In March I would not have been excited about this, but right now, I couldn’t be happier. Keep it up Ryan.

Pitcher of the Week:

Barry Zito: All Star? Really? Probably not, but if he has a good June, runs his record to, say, 8-3, and keeps his ratios down, how do you not really ask the question? Look at this week: 2 starts, 2 wins. 15.1 innings, 14 base runners, 2 earned runs, 8 strikeouts. That’s a 1.17 ERA and 0.91 WHIP. He’s had some help from the defense and the ballpark, but the dude is pitching REALLY well. The question is, of course, how long can he keep this up. Right now it looks like a while.

One other thing…if you would have said when the season opened that by June between Zito and Lincecum one of them would have a 5.82 ERA and the other 2.98 (or that one would have a 1.25 WHIP and the other 1.57) how would have thought that worked out? Exactly. Baseball’s wierd.

Looking Ahead:

One more game with the Cubbies, the off to San Diego, and back home for a very interesting series with the Texas Rangers. Keep the pressure on the Dodgers!

(-SB)