May 30, 2011
URBAN ARCHIVEGIANTS PAGEGIANTS VIDEOMychael UrbanCSNBayArea.com
Our MLB Insider takes a look at the Giants' 7-3 victory over the host Cardinals on Monday at Busch Stadium.
Double duty: Despite having pitched himself out of an early season funk with a series of rock-solid outings, Madison Bumgarner entered the Memorial Day matinee with one win over his past six starts -- all of them "quality." One of the reasons for his "Bum" luck was a lack of run support; the Giants were blanked in two of those games. So in addition to firing seven strong innings to give himself a 2.21 ERA in May, Bumgarner took offensive matters into his own hands to a degree by drilling a leadoff double and scoring to give himself a 2-0 lead in the third. He also was on base, via walk, in the fourth when the game was broken open with one swing of the bat.
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Unloading: With the memory of rookie Brandon Crawford's game-breaking grand slam at Milwaukee on Friday still fairly fresh in everyone's mind, Andres Torres did the same thing to Monday's game with a bases-juiced blast off Kyle McClellan, who has been one of the pleasant surprises on the St. Louis pitching staff this season. Torres was anything but surprised by the get-me-over, belt-high fastball McCllellan offered him, pushing the Giants' lead from 3-2 to 7-2.About that kid: Crawford got another start at shortstop and continued to impress on both sides of the ball. His footwork is outstanding, his arm above-average, and if he keeps putting up swings like the one that broke a 2-2 tie in the fourth ahead of Torres' slam, he's going to see his name in the lineup more often than not. Nobody's saying the guy's going to challenge for NL Rookie of the Year, but he looks awfully comfortable as a big leaguer right now. Like he belongs.Truly foul: It cost Bumgarner a couple of runs, but at least it didn't cost the Giants the game. After two quick outs in the bottom of the third, Ryan Theriot hit a legit double into the left-field corner. The subsequent double by Allen Craig was not legit. It was a foul ball, ruled fair by third-base umpire Tim Welke, who chose not to heed the animated advice of San Francisco skipper Bruce Bochy and ask for help on the line-hugger. Craig's "double" scored Theriot, and Albert Pujols followed with a gorgeous piece of hitting -- a shot into right field -- to tie the game. Random thought: Don't the Giants feel like a way better team on the days that Cody Ross homers? His shot in the second inning opened the scoring.Ramirez in a rut: Remember when right-handed hitters had a better shot at picking up a rattlesnake with his teeth than getting a hit off Ramon Ramirez? Gone. At least lately. Pujols' Pujolsian home run off Ramirez in the eighth inning was victory No. 6 for the hitters in the past eight Ramirez-vs.-righties battles.