San Francisco Giants Month in Review - June

After a historic month of May for the San Francisco Giants which briefly saw the team make the jump from worst to first, the reigning World Series champions got off to a sluggish start in the month of June by getting swept at the hands of the Pittsburgh Pirates at AT&T Park. With the three game sweep, the Giants would endure their second five-game losing-streak of the season before hitting the road and winning four of six versus the Philadelphia Phillies and New York Mets respectively, failing to complete the sweep both times in the series finale. But just as their impressive mark while on the road continued which ranked tops in the NL, their woes at home also showed no signs of slowing.

Following a three-game series versus the Arizona Diamondbacks which ended in a sweep, the Giants saw their first 8-game skid at home sine September of 1993. With a loss the following day to the visiting Seattle Mariners, the Giants' home losing skid hit nine games. It would be the franchise's first losing streak of its kind since 1940, long before they began calling San Francisco home. Thankfully, they would put an end to the dry spell the following day with a win over the Mariners to split the two-game set. The win also halted their third five-game losing streak of 2015. After splitting another pair of games on the road in Seattle, the Giants would claim three straight series victories against division rivals with the first coming in L.A. against the Dodgers and the latter two at home versus the Padres and Rockies, taking two of three in each series. 

With rookie pitcher Chris Heston hurling a no-hitter on the road against the Mets and the team paying a visit to the White House where they were congratulated for a third time during President Obama's presidency, June was without a doubt a busy month for the ball club. It wasn't all parties and celebrations in the month, however, as both Hunter Pence (wrist) and Nori Aoki (ankle) hit the disabled list with injuries, sapping the team's offensive production. While the outfield duo isn't expected to be on the shelf for much longer, they'll likely be joined on the DL by pitcher Tim Lincecum who was hit hard both figuratively and literally in his last outing against Colorado after allowing 3 earned runs in 1.2 innings and taking a line drive to the forearm which caused him to exit the game. Lincecum missing a period of time does however open the window for Matt Cain and Jake Peavy who will both be called up from Triple-A before the weekend.

Cain, who hasn't pitched since last August while dealing with a flexor tendon injury, will make his season debut Thursday on the road in Miami against Marlins ace Jose Fernandez who will also be making his 2015 debut. As for Peavy, he'll be making his first start since April 17 when he takes the mound in Washington against the red-hot Nationals who have won 9 of their last 10 games. Giants skipper Bruce Bochy is hoping the duo of Cain and Peavy can both be effective enough to the point where the team can approach July's trade deadline without needing another starting pitcher. With a record of 12-14 in June, the G-Men currently stand 1.5 games behind the archrival Dodgers in the NL West at 42-36 overall, thanks in large part to the sizzling numbers put up by catcher Buster Posey as of late. The All-Star hopeful who currently leads all NL catchers in All-Star voting, tallied 28 RBI's in the month of June alone, giving him 54 on the year. He also clubbed five Home Runs in the month, including a pair of Grand Slams. With Posey swinging a hot stick at the perfect time and the team less than two weeks away from the All-Star break, the Giants could very well find themselves atop the division at the midway point.

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