Giants, Belt off to Hot Start

With the San Francisco Giants opening their 2014 season on the road with trips to face the division rival Arizona Diamondbacks as well as the Los Angeles Dodgers, the GMen ride a hot start into San Francisco for Tuesday's Home Opener. After taking 3 of 4 in the desert followed by 2 wins in 3 games vs L.A., the 5-2 Giants will host their first game of the season as they welcome the D-Backs for a three game set. Failing to complete the sweep against the archrival Dodgers on Sunday in a 6-2 loss, the Giants stand atop the NL Western Division standings in first place. For a team that's been better known for their pitching over the last few years, it's been the Giants' bats that have landed them in first place.

After placing dead last in the league in home runs last season and near the bottom of the pack the last few years, the Giants as a team have already belted 10 Home Runs on the year in just seven games. Something that took them 18 games to accomplish just a year ago. Four of which have come off the bat of first baseman Brandon Belt who has so far this year shown the Giants the power they've been expecting from him since drafting him in 2009. Through seven games, Belt who finished with 17 homers in 2013, trails only Arizona's Mark Trumbo who has five homers on the year including one off of Tim Lincecum in Thursday's D-Backs-Giants series finale. Giants All-Star catcher Buster Posey has also contributed a pair of Home Runs to start the year while Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence, Pablo Sandoval and newcomers Michael Morse and Brandon Hicks have all gone deep once.

While it's unlikely they'll be able to maintain their recent slugfest the rest of the way as the Giants get set to take to the much more pitcher friendly AT&T Park, I can easily see them putting up a decent Home Run total this year opposed to the last few seasons. But hitting the long ball won't be the only thing Giants fans hope to see an improvement from last year. Starting pitching which has been the bread and butter of the orange and black for the last several years, saw both former ace Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong take a step back from their 2012 output. While Vogelsong spent time on the disabled list, Cain struggled for much of the season and suffered from a rocky first half before bouncing back down the stretch. 2-time Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum had slightly better numbers in 2013 than he did in 2012, but still had an ERA north of 4.00 and has yet to regain the magic that put him among the top hurlers in the game.

Madison Bumgarner who was named the ace on this year's starting staff, would be the only bright spot in the rotation while logging a superb 2013 season and being named to his first All-Star Game. Last season also saw the last of Barry Zito in a Giants uniform as the Giants chose not to accept the 2014 option on the veteran southpaw's contract who was replaced with the elder but more consistent Tim Hudson. Hudson dazzled in his Giants debut, pitching 7.2 innings of 3-hit, shutout ball as the newest member of the rotation struck out 7 Arizona batters and was awarded with the Win in a 2-0 victory. The 38-year old Hudson will look to carry that momentum into Tuesday's game as he gets set to start the Giants' Home Opener against the same team he pitched against in his debut. Catch Hudson and the Giants kick things off at home for the first time this season as they take on the Trevor Cahill who will be seeking revenge for the (2-7) Arizona Diamondbacks at 1:35 p.m. 


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