San Francisco Giants Month in Review - June

Following a dominant month of May which saw the San Francisco Giants jump out to a blazing start, manager Bruce Bochy saw his team continue their winning ways through the first week of June. After taking two of three on the road in Cincinnati where the Giants have struggled in recent years and sweeping a three-game series at home vs the Mets, San Francisco stood at 41-20 with the best record in all of baseball. It would also be the best 60-game start to a season for the Giants since 1973. And on June 8, the Giants would witness their lead in the NL Western Division hike up to 9 1/2 games over the second place Los Angeles Dodgers. But any hopes of running away with the division, would come crashing down by months end.

After going 6-1 to begin the month of June, it was almost as if someone flipped a switch as the Giants began struggling both offensively and with their pitching which up to that point had been clicking on all cylinders. Right-hander Tim Hudson who through the first two and a half months as a Giant, looked anything but human on the mound. But a trio of bad outings in June for Huddy, who still boasts an ERA of 2.59, and three blown saves in a two week span for reliever Sergio Romo who would be stripped of his closing duties, would highlight some of San Francisco's pitching woes. The Giants would also experience a power outage on offense as the long ball which played a key role in the team's early success, went missing. Also gone missing would be the Giants' lead-off hitter and spark plug in Angel Pagan who's been sidelined since June 14, while nursing a back injury.

Overall, the Giants would finish the month of June going 10-16, losing 5 of their last 6 series' in the month. Bochy and company would witness their reign of 2+ months in first place come to an end as San Francisco seized the top spot in the NL West on the last day of the month. With the Giants having a day off, the Dodgers took advantage by blanking the Cleveland Indians to take a 1/2 game lead in the division. That lead wouldn't last long, however, as the Giants reclaimed first place the very next day with a win copped with a Dodgers loss. Heading into July, the Giants had lost 15 of 19 games entering the month, but despite their struggles, they would still hang on to one of the best records in the league at 46-36. It wouldn't be all doom and gloom for the orange and black in the month of June, however, as the month also witnessed Tim Lincecum hurl his second career no-hitter. His historic outing would also be the first of back-to-back shutout outings for the 2-time Cy Young Award winner who would also be awarded Player of the Week honors for the performance.

For the Giants, the month of July will feature the halfway point as the All-Star break commences from July 14-17 with the MLB All-Star Game taking place on Tuesday July 15. As for San Francisco's opponents, unlike the month of June where all eight series' were against teams at or below the .500 mark, July will be a much harder task as five of their nine series' will be against teams with winning records. One of those teams the Giants will be meeting with is their Bay Area rival -- Oakland Athletics who currently own the best record in the league. 

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