| Douglas Benton. 24th May, 2011 - 1:39 pm
 The San Francisco Giants and Oakland Athletics came into the first of this year's Bay Bridge battles on opposite tracks. The trend continued as the Giants swept the home series to strengthen their lead in the National League West and push the A's into last place in the tight American League West.
San Francisco Giants
Right-hander Tim Lincecum is generally considered the top pitcher in baseball today and he didn't diminish that notion with a complete game shutout against Oakland in Game 2. He allowed just three hits with no walks, while striking out six. He threw 133 pitches for a high total, but was dominant throughout. On the year, he has just a 4-4 record, but an ERA of 2.06, which is good for a tie for fourth in the NL. As far as the momentum and confidence he gives the Giants, it is the best show in baseball since Pedro Martinez during his Red Sox days.
With Brian Wilson having an ERA in the high threes, one reliever who threw well was Sergio Romo. The right-hander threw 2.1 innings of shutout ball with four strikeouts, while getting the win in Game 3. Romo brings great control out of the bullpen in throwing 27 out of 37 pitches for strikes and has a season mark of one walk to 20 strikeouts to go with a 1.42 season ERA.
When San Francisco acquired second baseman Freddy Sanchez from the Pittsburgh Pirates, it was an offensive upgrade at a non-offensive position. After winning a batting title at .344 in 2006, has hung around the .290 range. In the series sweep against Oakland, he went 4-for-11 with a pair of doubles to push this year's average up to .281. He is one of the most consistent hitting second basemen in baseball for an offense lacking hitters.
Oakland A's
Oakland has a very talented young pitching staff with Trevor Cahill taking control of the No. 1 spot. In Game 1, he went six innings and gave up one hit, one run, two walks and six strikeouts for a no-decision though he wasn't an overly dominant strike thrower. This is his sixth quality start in his last seven showings and he has a 6-1 record with a 1.79 ERA.
With a lineup lacking a top notch hitter at any position, the A's offense is starting to catch up to this team as it only scored five runs in three losses. Coco Crisp went 3-for-15 at the top of the order and is hitting .270 on the year with some speed, but no other regular is hitting more than .255. It's tough to stay in the race with those types of numbers.
Considering the make-up of his team, Oakland needs to be strong late in games and Brian Fuentes is in a bad slump. He took the loss in Game 1 by giving up a run and three base runners while getting just one out and had the exact same line in taking the loss in Game 3. Over his last four appearances, he has given up five hits, four runs and three walks in two innings. Changes at the backend could be coming for the A's. |
