San Francisco Giants Month in Review - July

With the San Francisco Giants struggling to maintain the dominance they opened the season with for the first time in June, the month of July saw much of the same. Though they would finish the dog days of July by going 12-14, winning two more games than they did the previous month, manager Bruce Bochy would witness his ball club boast a sub .500 record for a second consecutive month. However, the team would continue their winning ways on the road where the Giants have clearly been more productive at the plate, winning 7 of 12 games. As for the friendly confines of AT&T Park, the Giants' home would be anything but friendly to the orange and black as they finished with 5-wins and 9-losses.

After stumbling into the All-Star break with series losses against the St. Louis Cardinals and Oakland A's and wins against two of their mediocre division rivals in San Diego and Arizona, the Giants bounced back by highlighting a successful road trip out east with two wins in three games in Miami and by taking three of four in Philly. But the G-Men would fail to bring that magic back home with them as they were swept at AT&T against the archrival Dodgers in a three-game series before avoiding nearly being swept by Pittsburgh. The sluggish home stand resulted in the Giants falling as many as three games behind L.A. in the NL West. And with injuries to Matt Cain and Joe Panik as well as the uncertainty revolving veteran second baseman Marco Scutaro, Giants general manager Brian Sabean was forced to make a move.

Hoping one team's trash would be another team's treasure, Sabean signed second baseman Dan Uggla to a Minor League deal. But Uggla, who was released earlier this year by the Atlanta Braves, would be called up much earlier than anticipated as Panik went down with an injury. The acquisition would prove to be a short lived experiment as Uggla failed to log a single hit in his 11 at-bats while also committing a handful of errors. With Matt Cain likely to undergo surgery to remove bone chips in his throwing elbow which would sideline him for the remainder of the season, Sabean went out and acquired Jake Peavy from the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Minor League pitchers Heath Hembree and Edwin Escobar. Having spent the better half of his eight seasons with the San Diego Padres under Giants skipper Bruce Bochy, few pitchers in the game today know the NL West as well as Peavy where he won the NL Cy Young Award in 2007 as a Triple Crown winner.

Peavy, a victim of little to no run support this season (received two runs or fewer in support in each of his last 8 starts) while with the Red Sox, went 1-9 with the defending World Series champs this year while posting a 4.72 ERA. But returning to pitch in the division he grew up in and had plenty of success, could result in a second half rebound. The 33-year old Peavy is a 3-time All-Star that plays with his emotions on his sleeve and will supply a fiery mentality while providing stability to the rotation. Perhaps the most important note of all is that he's been known as a Dodger killer throughout his career with a record of 14-2 and an ERA of 2.21 against L.A. That wouldn't be the case in his Giants debut, however, as the Dodgers tagged him for three runs in six innings in a losing effort.

Many thought San Francisco would be a bit more active at this year's July 31st trade deadline but instead the Giants braintrust decided to stay put following the acquisition for Peavy while adding that, "Bad deals were to be made." And while Sabean has been known as somewhat of a genius for making key deals at or near the deadline, only time will tell whether or not the same could be said regarding his latest transaction. Perhaps the highlight of the month just because of its rarity would belong to Tim Lincecum who stole the spotlight as the Giants' headline for the month of June as well. After continuing his brilliance with a stellar first half of July, the Freak treated fans to a bizarre sighting they aren't used to seeing as Timmy recorded his first career save, becoming only the 9th pitcher since 1969 with a no-hitter and a save in the same season. With ugly outings in each of his last two starts, Timmy and the rest of his pitching mates will be counted on to pick it up the rest of the way if the Giants plan to fend off the rival Dodgers for the top spot in the West. The Giants' bullpen, meanwhile, was lights out in the month of July, boasting the best ERA and opponent average against in the NL.

The Giants will kick off a 10-game road trip to begin the month of August with a trip to New York to face the Mets and stops at Milwaukee and Kansas City as the NL Central division leading Brewers and playoff hopeful Royals look to make a push for the postseason. A homestand vs the White Sox and Phillies will take place before the G-Men hit the road again to meet with the Cubs and Nationals before returning home and rounding out the month of August with a series vs the Rockies and Brewers at AT&T Park.


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