San Francisco Giants Month in Review - August

With consecutive sub .500 win percentages for the San Francisco Giants in June and July, Bruce Bochy's ball club would need to step it up in the month of August if they planned on making a true playoff push down the stretch. Backed by stellar starting pitching and a hint of explosive offense demonstrated in their three game sweep at the end of the month versus the visiting Milwaukee Brewers, the Giants did just that, posting an overall record of 16-13 to round out the month of August. With most of San Francisco's success coming on the road as of late, it was their home of AT&T Park which witnessed the G-Men close out the last full month of the MLB calendar on a strong note.

Aside from splitting a short two-game series vs the Chicago White Sox, the Giants won all three series in the city by the bay, taking two of three against the Phillies and three of four from the Rockies before completing a three game sweep of the Brew Crew to win 9 of 12 games at Home. Their time spent away from home wasn't as successful, however, as San Francisco dropped two of three in both Milwaukee and Washington while being on the receiving end of a three-game sweep at the hands of Kansas City. Splitting four games in Queens against the Mets and four on the north side of Chicago vs the Cubbies resulted in a 7-10 record on the road for the orange and black. But the Giants of the last week or so has looked a lot more like the team that jumped out to a 9 1/2 game division lead back in May with both pitching and timely hitting clicking on all cylinders. 

The Giants, who currently stand at 74-62 closed out the month of August winners of six straight and right back in the hunt for the NL West crown, only 2.5 games back of the rival Dodgers who they'll get to play six more times this season. After falling as many as 5 games back in the division, a red-hot Buster Posey at the plate and Madison Bumgarner on the mound has helped lead the Giants in climbing right back into the thick of things and close the gap while maintaining sole possession of the number one wild card spot. Collectively, the Giants starting pitching staff has been sensational as of late, boasting a 1.22 ERA, 0.60 WHIP and a 42 to 3 strikeout to walk ratio over their last five games heading into the weekend. Leading the way once again was Giants ace Madison Bumgarner who posted a league best in strikeouts for the month with 56 and 1.57 ERA while finishing 4-1 in six starts. MadBum even flirted with history when he took a no-hitter into the 8th inning. And though Bumgarner made a strong case to likely win his second NL Pitcher of the Month Award this season, he isn't the only one in a Giants uniform who's been dealing lately.

Jake Peavy who the Giants acquired near last month's trade deadline, has won 3 of his last 4 starts after logging only one win in 20 starts with Boston and has a 1.26 ERA in that span. It wasn't pure dominance for everyone, however, as arguably the Giants' most popular hurler saw a demotion to the bullpen. After appearing to have found his groove again, making several consecutive strong starts following his historic feat in June when he tossed his second career no-hitter, Tim Lincecum would be moved to the relief corps after struggling with an ERA over 9 in his last six starts. But that's not to discredit the man who was awarded Lincecum's spot in the rotation as Yusmeiro Petit who filled in at times for the injured Matt Cain, has pitched brilliantly of late, setting a Major League record by retiring 46 consecutive batters. In his latest outing, Petit retired the first eight Colorado Rockies batters he faced, surpassing the previous mark of 45 consecutive batters retired held by Mark Buehrle in 2009.

August wasn't all about pitching, though, as Bruce Bochy saw his ball club put up double-digits three times in the month, including twice over the weekend vs Milwaukee after failing to hit the double-digit mark in both June and July. The month of August also saw one of the true rarities in baseball when a game in Chicago against the Cubs was halted due to mother nature, causing a four-hour rain delay. But it's what the Wrigley Field grounds crew was unable to do that caught the attention of Giants skipper Bruce Bochy who decided to protest the game that was eventually called and ruled a 2-0 win for the Cubs after 5 1/2 innings. The Wrigley Field grounds crew mishandled the tarp when trying to save the field from getting drenched in the downpour and did little afterwards to try and make the field playable. This would result in only the second successful protest in MLB to be upheld since 1986. And though the Giants would eventually lose the game by a score of 2-1, it's an incident that won't be forgotten anytime soon for Giants fans.

As usual this time of year in baseball, the month of September is sure to be a treat with teams making call-ups and the down to the wire pennant races that are sure to unfold. With a pair of series on the road against the Colorado Rockies and Detroit Tigers respectively to kick off the month of September, the Giants will return home to face the Arizona Diamondbacks and Los Angeles Dodgers. A nine-game road trip within the division versus the D-Backs, Padres and Dodgers will round out the last of the Giants' regular season games away from San Francisco before finishing the season at home against San Diego. All in all, the upcoming month is a favorable one for the Giants and could help propel them back into the top spot out west in preparation for the Postseason.

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