Kuzul

Ryan Cook allowed a ninth-inning game-tying home run for the second straight game. Toronto scored twice in the 11th inning to stun the Oakland A’s 3-1 Saturday afternoon at the Coliseum.

David Cooper blasted Cook’s 1-1 fastball to right center field to tie the game at one. The A’s had a chance to win in the 10th inning, but Josh Reddick struck out looking with the bases loaded. 

Oakland got a great performance from their bullpen until the ninth inning, as starter A.J. Griffin left after just 1.2 innings with tightness in his right shoulder.

Jordan Norberto was fantastic, going 3.2 shutout innings. The A’s scored their only run in the second inning after a Brandon Inge walk and wild pitch. Derek Norris hit an opposite-field slicing double to right field to make it 1-0.

With great relief from Norberto, Pat Neshek and Grant Balfour, it appeared the one run would hold up. But Cook could not hold the lead, blowing his seventh save in 18 chances.

Jerry Blevins took the tough loss, giving up two runs in the top of the 11th inning.

The A’s appeared to have a chance to escape damage, as Blevins struck out Jeff Mathis swinging with runners on first and second.

However, the throw by George Kottaras to third base was wild, allowing the running Edwin Encarnacion to score. On the next pitch, Moises Sierra doubled to left field, plating the final run of the game.

The loss drops the A’s to 58-49 and Oakland will try to win the series Sunday afternoon. Tom Milone looks for his 10th win and to bounce back from a rough start last weekend against the Blue Jays.

He will be opposed by fellow southpaw Aaron Laffey.

First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m.

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During a contest that saw the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim lose to the Chicago White Sox in extra innings, manager Mike Scioscia argued an umpire’s call so vehemently that he took the rather extreme step of filing an official protest.

With a 1-0 Angels lead in the bottom of the first inning at U.S. Cellular Field, White Sox first baseman Paul Konerko stepped to the plate against new Angel Zack Greinke with none out and the bases loaded. He clubbed a grounder to third baseman Alberto Callaspo, who then threw home to catcher Chris Iannetta for the easy force out.

What followed would result in one of the strangest first-inning sequences in recent baseball memory.

After receiving Callaspo’s throw, Iannetta spun and fired to first, taking great care to avoid batter-runner Konerko, who was sprinting down the first base line. The resulting throw was wide, pulling first baseman Albert Pujols off the base. Konerko was declared “safe” by first base umpire Paul Nauert, which would ultimately allow the inning to continue. Chicago scored four runs to put Anaheim in an early hole.

Sensing a potential rules gaffe, former catcher Scioscia went from the visitor’s dugout to meet home plate umpire Lance Barrett, knowing full well that Barrett had the power to make a key call from his angle near home plate.

Scioscia was determined and desperate to change the arbiter’s silence. Indeed, after the umpires convened and refused to oblige, Scioscia still felt so uneasy about the whole affair, he elected to file an official protest with Major League Baseball.

At issue was the umpires’ decision to declare Konerko “safe.”

Official Baseball Rule 6.05(k) states that a batter, in running the final 45 feet from home plate to first base, may not interfere with the fielder taking the throw at first base by running outside of the three-foot line outlined by a chalk or painted stripe. If the batter-runner does run outside of the running lane, and in doing so interferes with the fielder taking the throw at first base, he may be declared out.

Because OBR Rule 4.19 states that, “No protest shall ever be permitted on judgment decisions by the umpire,” Scioscia was prohibited from filing a protest alleging that the umpires incorrectly judged batter Konerko to be within the runner’s lane. Had the umpires explained that Konerko had been within the lane, the protest could not have been filed for it would have been a judgment call protest, which is prohibited by rule.

Instead, Rule 4.19 authorizes a protest “when a manager claims that an umpire’s decision is in violation of these rules.”

Judgment call? No. Rules interpretation? Yes.

Speaking after the contest, Scioscia explained his decision and basis with which to file the report. “The umpire set the parameter and told us that Konerko was running well inside the line. All of the umpires agreed with that.”

Meanwhile, umpiring crew chief Dana DeMuth countered, “[Ianentta] threw wild … Konerko [in] no way interfered with the play at first.”

Very well.

Scioscia and the umpires stipulated that Konerko was running inside (to the left of) the foul line, in fair territory, one of the criteria Rule 6.05(k) requires for a batter-runner’s lane interference call.

Though what of that second required element of Rule 6.05(k), the actual instance of interference?

Further complicating matters is an exception to Rule 6.05(k) interference: “The batter-runner is permitted to exit the three-foot lane … in the immediate vicinity of first base.”

According to DeMuth, that second benchmark was never satisfied: “Konerko going down to first was [in] no way interfering with the play at first…It doesn’t matter where is running.”

Per Rule 6.05(k), the interference must occur with the fielder taking the throw at first base—most likely the first baseman—for such a rule to be invoked.

By rule, the thrower (in this case Iannetta) may not be the beneficiary of a runner’s lane interference call; only the receiver (Pujols) may receive the reward if he is interfered with by the runner’s illegal action.

Because only the receiver may benefit from this interference call, the exception to Rule 6.05(k) applies only to the batter-runner’s position as the fielder receives the throw.

Replays indicate that while Konerko was conclusively over fair territory when Iannetta released his throw, Konerko was on his final stride toward first base when Pujols fielded the throw, which means Konerko was covered by the Rule 6.05(k) exception.

And even if Konerko was not covered by this exception, the umpires still got the call right because Pujols was not interfered with.

Herein lies Scioscia’s conundrum. Iannetta’s throw attempt may very well have been hindered by Konerko’s running in fair territory as the Angels catcher released the ball—for all intents and purposes, it was. However, given the quality of Iannetta’s throw, which was wide and pulled Pujols off the bag, Pujols could not have been interfered with by Konerko because the throw was significantly to the center field side of first base and Pujols nonetheless made the catch.

Had Iannetta’s throw been on-line, then interference might have been possible.

Had Iannetta’s throw nailed Konerko in the back while Konerko was inside fair territory and not protected by the Rule 6.05(k) exception, interference might have been possible if the umpires ruled Konerko’s action and position prevented Pujols from fielding the throw.

Had Iannetta’s throw been lost by Pujols in the sight of Konerko running at him while inside fair territory, interference might have been possible if the umpires ruled this batter-runner positioning constituted an impediment and hindered Pujols from making the play.

Unfortunately for the Angels, neither of these scenarios occurred—the throw was inaccurate and as athletic as Pujols may be, he was pulled off the first base bag by a wild throw from Iannetta, who—as catcher—was not protected by nor subject to the Rule 6.05(k) interference call.

When MLB reviews this filing, the League Office will uphold the umpires’ call on the field and deny the Angels’ protest not because judgment was right or wrong, but because the umpires’ rule interpretation was absolutely correct.

Gil Imber is Bleacher Report’s Rules Featured Columnist and owner of Close Call Sports, a website dedicated to the objective and fair analysis of close or controversial calls in sports.

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The Oakland Athletics recalled their surprise phenom Daniel Straily in time to start last night’s game. I wrote in a previous article that the element of surprise might benefit Oakland. The borderline prospect suddenly became a strikeout machine against Toronto.

It was smart to bring him to the majors to record punchouts before any scouting report caught up with him.

What Straily experienced in his debut against Toronto was a microcosm of the 2012 Oakland season.

Straily contributed his share to meeting Oakland’s expectations. He is a young pitcher who virtually nobody has heard of, and who contributed on the big league stage ahead of schedule. He fits in perfectly with Jarrod Parker, Tommy Milone and A.J. Griffin.

The 23-year-old right-hander was excellent in his debut last night against Toronto. He pitched six innings, let up a single earned run and five hits. He also struck out five batters while walking only one. And with the A’s cruising to a 4-1 ninth-inning lead, it was clear that Straily was the story.

Then Jeff Mathis homered with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning to tie the game. No doubt, a great number of sports writers were hitting “delete” on columns that were almost finished in the ninth.

The story was no longer Straily—now it was about a typical night in Oakland.

Runners were picked off by Oakland relievers. Ancient Omar Vizquel was thrown out at the plate. Each team put runners on. Oakland’s talented bullpen kept Toronto from scoring. The A’s left the bases loaded one inning.

Then Jemile Weeks tripled and Coco Crisp drove him home with a sacrifice fly. The A’s were walk-off winners again, keeping pace with Texas.

For the 13th time, the Athletics ended a game at home with the winning run crossing the plate. Thirteen out of 55 games there has been a reason to play “Celebration.” Twenty-three-and-a-half percent of all home games end with a walk-off hit.

I truly hope Straily stayed until the end. He would see 2012 A’s baseball perfectly laid out. The only thing predictable about this year in Oakland is that the hero of the game will never be who you are expecting.

Welcome to the club, Daniel Straily.

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It was if they were waiting for the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) to sound last call before winning. Either way, the Oakland A’s won their second 15-inning game this week, using a Coco Crisp sacrifice fly to beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-4 at the Coliseum. The win moved the A’s to 58-48, a game-and-a-half ahead of the Los Angeles Angels for the first AL Wild Card.

The game went on for so long that many had long since forgot about the solid debut of super prospect Dan Straily, who went six innings allowing only one run on five hits and striking out five. The A’s used single runs in the second through fifth innings to give Straily a 4-1 lead. That score would remain the same through the seventh and eighth thanks to a fantastic appearance by Grant Balfour, who struck out three in two perfect innings.

But Ryan Cook could not hold the lead in the ninth. After two quick strikeouts, Cook allowed singles to David Cooper and Rajai Davis. Against Jeff Mathis, Cook jumped to an 0-2 count before throwing a tailing fastball that Mathis hit just over the jagged wall in left center field to tie the score at four. Cook did finish the ninth without allowing any more runs, but the damage had been done. 

From the 10th inning on, both teams had opportunities to score. In the bottom of the 10th, Oakland loaded the bases with one out, but Josh Reddick struck out looking on an inside curveball and Brandon Moss grounded out to end the threat.

Toronto’s best chance to score was in the 12th. After a one out single by Omar Vizquel, Colby Rasmus hit an opposite-field double into the left field corner. Moss appeared to have a little trouble with it, but threw a bullet that Brandon Inge relayed to home plate gunning down Vizquel at the plate. 

In the top of the 15th, the Blue Jays put runners on first and second with two outs. Yan Gomes hit a ball that looked like an infield single at worst, but Eric Sogard made a great ranging play to snare the ball and then force out Edwin Encarnacion at third, setting the stage for Crisp’s heroics.

Each team will have to bounce back quickly as Saturday afternoon’s game has a 1:05 p.m. local start. The A’s will send A.J. Griffin to the mound to face Toronto’s Ricky Romero. 

Notes: Brandon Inge extended his career-high hitting streak to 13 games with an RBI single in the second inning. Yoenis Cespedes left the game after the top of the eighth inning with a sprained right wrist. Newly acquired reliever Pat Neshek made his Oakland debut, going 1.1 scoreless innings and striking out three. 

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Yoenis Cespedes drove in three runs, Chris Carter hit his eighth home run in just his 18th game and Bartolo Colon threw 5.2 shutout innings as the Oakland A’s rolled to a 6-1 win over Baltimore at Camden Yards. The win moved Oakland to a major league best 18-3 in July as they can move into first place in the Wild Card standings with a loss by the Los Angeles Angels tonight.

Colon was not exactly dominant, but he made enough quality pitches to keep Baltimore from scoring. He scattered seven hits with one walk in his 5.2 innings while striking out five hitters. Jordan Norberto and Evan Scribner pitched the final 3.1 innings with the only run coming on a Nick Markakis home run in the bottom of the ninth.

Oakland scored first when after a Jemile Weeks’ single, Cespedes mashed a 3-2 slider from Orioles‘ starter Tommy Hunter to make it 2-0 in the fourth inning. The A’s would make it 3-0 in the fifth when Eric Sogard singled home Kurt Suzuki, who doubled to the opposite field to start the rally. 

In the sixth inning, after Cespedes reached on a fielder’s choice, Carter crushed an inside fastball about nine rows up in the left field seats to give the A’s a 5-0 lead. Cespedes would end the scoring by hitting a triple to deep right field scoring Weeks and making it 6-0. 

At the 100-game mark, the A’s move 10 games over .500 for the first time at 55-45. They will look for the sweep Sunday afternoon as Travis Blackley will face Baltimore’s Wei-Yin Chen. First pitch is set for 10:35 a.m. 

Note: According to a tweet by CBSSports.com Insider Jon Heyman, the A’s have reached an agreement to acquire Milwaukee Brewers catcher George Kottaras. Kottaras has splits of .209/.409/.364 and bats left handed, giving manager Bob Melvin potentially more lineup flexibility as the season reaches the home stretch. It’s currently unknown what/who the Brewers will receive in exchange for Kottaras. 

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San Francisco Giants left-hander Madison Bumgarner (11-6, 3.12) started Tuesday night’s game against the San Diego Padres and their right-hander Edinson Volquez (6-7, 3.34).

The Giants, who have won five of their last seven, have a slim lead in the National League West Division while the Padres, who have won seven of their last nine on the road, are in fourth place.

Before the game, Giants manager Bruce Bochy said Pablo Sandoval was feeling comfortable at first base. He also said of Buster Posey, who was 3-for-4 with four RBI in Monday night’s 7-1 win over the Padres, “It’s fun to watch good hitters when they are locked in.”

Padres manager Bud Black said Alexi Amarista will be fine after leaving Monday’s game early with a jammed thumb. “I think we dodged a bullet,” Black said.

Sergio Romo replaces Bumgarner for the top of the eighth.

Updated Bumgarner season stats: 11-6, 3.10.

Updated Volquez season stats: 6-7, 3.10.

Melky Cabrera extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an infield single in the eighth inning.

End of eight innings: Giants 2, Padres 2

In Wednesday’s afternoon game, Tim Lincecum (4-10, 5.79) goes for the Giants against Padres’ Jason Marquis (3-5, 3.79).

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Atlanta Braves starter Ben Sheets showed he is in the rotation to stay after Saturday’s performance against the Nationals.

Sheets went six innings, gave up five hits, allowed no runs and struck out six.

But what showed me the most was Sheets’ fortitude to get through tough innings, when it looked like he was in trouble.

In four of the six innings, Sheets allowed Washington baserunners to get in scoring position.

But, each time that happened, the right-hander hunkered down and got the needed outs to get out of the inning.

In the first inning, it was a strikeout to Adam LaRoche. The second saw Danny Espinosa strike out, and Jesus Flores and Edwin Jackson fly out.

The third inning saw Michael Morse ground into a double play to end the inning, and the sixth had LaRoche striking out (again) and Ian Desmond flying out to center.

Although the frustration was evident on Sheets’ face when Washington runners got on, it didn’t affect him as he went after the hitters at the plate.

And, for a team that needed another veteran in the rotation, that’s very important.

For the season, Sheets has now pitched 12 innings, given up seven hits, no runs and struck out 11. Even more, his season WHIP is 0.92.

Although it’s only two starts, it’s still something the Braves have been looking for in terms of consistency.

In an article I wrote on July 17, I stated that after Sheets’ first start for the Braves, he deserved a longer look in the rotation.

After Saturday’s performance, I don’t think he deserves a longer look.

Instead, slot him in the No. 3 spot in the rotation behind Tim Hudson and Tommy Hanson. He’s earned it in just two starts.

Sheets’ next start will either be Wednesday against the Marlins or Friday at home against the Phillies, depending on if the Braves make a trade for another starter, or if they call up Randall Delgado or Julio Teheran to make a spot start on Wednesday to allow Sheets to get full rest.

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Clay Buchholz made a triumphant return Saturday (July 14) after being sidelined for almost a month with esophagitis. The bullpen and offense just could not back him up.

Before the illness, Buchholz was on fire. In his four starts prior to going down with esophagitis, he was 4-0, with a 2.40 ERA and 25 strikeouts in 30 innings pitched.

Before Saturday’s game, he was 8-2 with a 5.53 ERA. But it really is his last seven starts that have Red Sox fans excited. 

Tom Caron of NESN summed it best when he tweeted:

Clay Buchholz is proof that performance can’t be gauged by W-L rec. In 1st 7 starts, he was 4-1 w/ a 8.31 ERA. In last 7 he’s 4-1 w/ a 3.23

— Tom Caron (@TomCaron) July 14, 2012

Although his last start against Miami (on June 19) was a little bump in the road (when he allowed five earned runs), his numbers were trending in the right direction.

He continued that trend Saturday. 

Buchholz looked strong and struck out Elliot Johnson to start the night. He got Carlos Pena to fly out to left and struck out Ben Zobrist looking to end the first inning.  

Buchholz started the second inning by striking out B.J. Upton, got Luke Scott to ground out and got Jeff Keppinger to ground out to short. Buchholz was rolling. His control, in particular, was very impressive.

Tom Britton of The Providence Journal tweeted:

Buchholz’s three called strikeouts matches the number he had in the last three starts combined (called, specifically).

— Tim Britton (@TBritton_Projo) July 14, 2012

The only problem was that Tampa Bay ace David Price was having an equally great start to the game as he only allowed one baserunner in three innings. 

Buchholz gave up his first hit of the night to start the third inning as Desmond Jennings lined a shot to right field. Jose Molina followed with a single to right, sending Jennings to third. There were runners at the corners with no outs. Sean Rodriguez lined to center for a sac fly, and Johnson flied to right. Buchholz got Pena to fly to right, and Buchholz limited to damage to only one run.  

Boston responded in the top of the fourth. After Price struck out Pedro Ciriaco, David Ortiz singled to center. After Cody Ross struck out, it seemed Price was simply going to dominate the night. Then, Middlebrooks stepped to the plate and crushed his 11th home run of the season giving Boston a 2-1 lead. 

It was a much-needed boost for Middlebrooks, who has been struggling recently. Before Saturday’s game, Middlbrooks was hitting just .150 with one home run and one RBI in his previous five games. 

In the bottom of the fourth, Buchholz got Zobrist to pop out, struck out Upton and got Scott looking. 

The Red Sox almost blew it open in the fifth. Price walked Kelly Shoppach to start the inning, and Brent Lillibridge followed with a single to the centerfield. Nava followed with a hard shot to right field, but it was right to Zobrist.

Ellsbury hit a single to left field. The Red Sox had the bases loaded with only one out. Ciriaco lined one to right field, and Shoppach, looking impossibly slow, was gunned down at the plate after he tagged up at third. Actually, Shoppach never even touched the plate. 

Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe tweeted:

Jose Molina knows his business at the dish. Shoppach couldn’t get to the plate.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 15, 2012

Keppinger started the bottom of the fifth with a double, and Jennings placed a perfect sacrifice bunt down the the first base line to send Keppinger to third. Molina was back in the thick of things when he hit a hard grounder to short.

Mike Aviles botched the play, and Tampa Bay tied the game on his error. But Buchholz struck out Rodriguez and Johnson back to back, and once again, limited the damage to only one run. 

Price got Ortiz to pop out to start the sixth. Cody Ross followed with a walk and advanced to second on passed ball by Molina. Ross took third on a Middlebrooks groundout and scored when Price threw a wild ball to third base that sailed over Keppinger’s head. Ross was bluffing down the third base line and would have been out on a clean throw. 

Peter Abraham noted the base running play is a Bobby Valentine move:

The bluff down the third base line is something Bobby V likes that others call bush. But that’s 2 runs it has produced this year.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 15, 2012

Bush or not (and I’m not sure why it is a bush league move), it gave Boston a 3-2 lead against one of the best pitchers in the league. 

Buchholz picked up where he left off and had an easy 1-2-3 sixth. He only needed eight pitches to get through the inning. 

Price matched Buchholz’s sixth by cruising through the top of the seventh. He made easy work of Shoppach, Lillibridge and Nava. 

Buchholz seemed to lose a little steam to start the seventh as he walked Scott to start the inning. It was his first walk of the night. He followed by hitting Keppinger. Jennings placed yet another perfect sac bunt down the first base line advancing Scott and Keppinger.

With that, Buchholz’s night was over. There will be a debate in the days to come as to whether Buchholz should have been in the seventh inning in the first place. 

Matt Albers entered the game and intentionally walked pinch-hitter Hideki Matsui (Matsui pinch hit for Molina). But the intentional walk backfired as Albers walked pinch-hitter Jose Lobaton with the bases loaded to tie the game 3-3.

Johnson followed with a sac fly to centerfield to give Tampa Bay a 4-3 lead. Buchholz was on the hook for the baserunners, and his nice performance was largely wasted by the ineffective Albers. Andrew Miller replaced Albers with two outs in the seventh. Miller struck out Pena to end the seventh. 

The final line on Buchholz: 6.1IP, 3H, 4ER, BB, 8K, HBP.

It was the low point of the night for the Sox pitching staff as they gave up two runs without the Rays even needing the benefit of a hit. 

Ellsbury started the top of the eighth with a double down the right field line. Ciriaco was unable to to advance Ellsbury when he popped out on a bunt attempt. Ortiz walked, and that ended Price’s night. Joel Peralta came on in relief to face Cody Ross. Peralta made easy work of Ross and Middlebrooks, thus wasting the leadoff double by Ellsbury.

The big debate in the days to come is Valentine’s decision to have Ciriaco try to bunt with Ellsbury on second with no outs. 

Twitter responded immediately:

Peter Abraham tweeted:

6 outs left. Giving one away, even if it gets the runner over, is a mistake. Hated that call.

— Pete Abraham (@PeteAbe) July 15, 2012

Sean McAdam of CSNNE.com tweeted:

Agreed. Even w/ injuries to lineup, Sox have bunted far too much this year @stataz why bunt in that situation? Play for 1 run on the road?

— Sean McAdam(@Sean_McAdam) July 15, 2012

The bottom of the eighth was no better for the Red Sox as Miller gave up a home run to Upton and a double to Keppinger. Miller was lifted for Melancon. Melancon got Jennings to ground out to end the eighth. 

Fernando Rodney came in to try to close out the game in the ninth. Aviles greeted him with a single up the middle. Jarrod Saltalamacchia pinch hit for Shoppach and struck out. Lillibridge struck out, and Nava popped out to left to end the game.

It was an unfortunate loss for the Red Sox. Buchholz pitched extremely well coming off the DL, and the Red Sox squandered an opportunity to take the first two games of the series. As for Valentine’s decision to have Ciriaco bunt and put Buchholz out there in the seventh—let the debate begin.  

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Don’t look now, but there are two teams in the playoff hunt in the Bay Area. Tom Milone worked around 10 hits over six innings and was backed by four early runs as the A’s cruised to a 9-3 victory Saturday evening against the Minnesota Twins. The win ensures another series win, and Oakland will attempt to sweep Sunday afternoon. 

It was a power surge for the A’s offense as Chris Carter, Yoenis Cespedes, Brandon Moss and Seth Smith all went deep to pace the offense. Josh Reddick added three hits and scored two runs as the A’s had 12 hits total. That was more than enough for Milone, who worked out of multiple jams to hold the Twins to two runs despite 10 hits and a walk in six innings. 

Oakland still can’t seem to figure out Josh Willingham, who hit his fifth home run in as many games against his former team. However, tonight’s blast game, with the score 8-2, did not cause any real damage.

The A’s put the game away early as a two-out rally was started with back-to-back opposite field hits by Reddick and Cespedes whose double opened the scoring. After Moss was hit on an 0-2 pitch, Carter crushed a fastball into the left center field bullpen to make it 4-0. 

Cespedes added his 10th home run on an opposite field bomb in the third inning to make it 6-0. Home runs by Smith in the fifth and Moss in the sixth put the game well out of reach. Smith just missed his second home run in the ninth, instead plating Kurt Suzuki with a triple to close the scoring. 

Jordan Norberto, Evan Scribner and Jerry Blevins combined to allow a single run in the final three innings as the A’s continue to make noise and appear to be making a move to seriously compete for a wild-card spot in the American League.

With the win, the A’s moved to 45-43 on the year and will look to sweep the Twins Sunday afternoon at Target Field. First pitch is set for 11:10 a.m. as Jarrod Parker will look to bounce back against Minnesota starter Brian Duensing. 

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Madison Bumgarner (11-5) opened up the second half of the season for the San Francisco Giants on Friday night with a solid performance, holding the Houston Astros to just one run over seven innings while striking out five in the Giants’ 5-1 win. 

In command from the beginning, Bumgarner had a one-hit shutout through six. With Chris Snyder up and two out in the seventh, Bumgarner made his only mistake of the night. 

On a 3-1 count, Bumgarner threw a fastball that caught too much of the plate. The Astros catcher turned on it and drove a towering home run over the left field wall. 

That was one of two hits Bumgarner would surrender and the only run as he lowered his ERA to 3.15. The 22-year-old earned his 11th win of the year and has now won 15 of his last 18 starts at AT&T Park with a stellar 1.81 ERA. 

Bumgarner wasn’t the only Giant who was in command early on in the game. Fresh off his start in the All-Star game on Tuesday, Buster Posey slammed a two-run home run in the bottom of the first. 

On a 2-0 count, Posey slammed an 89 mph fastball from Wandy Rodriguez (7-7) over the center field wall, a majestic shot that was measured at 448 feet. 

The Giants would add two more in the second inning on three straight singles by Angel Pagan, Brandon Belt and Joaquin Arias, giving Bumgarner the early four-run cushion which helped him settle in. 

After the game Bumgarner talked about pitching the first game after the break and how he would react after the layoff and change in routine.

“I felt pretty good, I was kind of nervous I didn’t know how I was going to feel after three days off…but it didn’t really feel like I missed anything.”

Bruce Bochy had nothing but praise for Bumgarner after the game, commenting on his performance and his dominance at home. 

“He’s thrown so well here, it’s a case where he’s feeding off the fans…that gets him going and keeps him pumped up.” Bochy continued, “This kid for 22 years old, it’s pretty incredible what he does, and the poise he has out there.”

The Giants added their fifth and final run in the eighth inning when Pablo Sandoval turned into a one-man highlight show. After legging out a one-out triple with a dramatic headfirst slide into third base, Sandoval tagged up on Pagan’s shallow line drive to left field.  

With Sandoval coming in like a freight train, Snyder never could get a handle on the ball as “the Panda” bowled over the Astros catcher, jarring the ball loose.   

Sandoval, a former catcher, downplayed his decision to run into Snyder after the game, saying “It was the only opportunity to be safe, I saw the throw coming and he didn’t handle the ball, so I just pushed him a little bit.”

Bochy, who’s also a former catcher, made light of Sandoval’s collision at the plate. 

“That’s a lot of mass coming into home plate, but he scored and that’s a big run. As you saw they were coming back…it’s always good to get that fourth run and give you a cushion and some margin of error.”

When asked about Sandoval legging out the triple, Bochy joked, “Yeah, I was getting on him, he hit a triple in the All-Star game and we hadn’t seen one.”

Another bright spot in the win was Santiago Casilla’s outing in the ninth. After a shaky two weeks leading up to the break, Casilla came in, located his pitches and looked in control.

The Giants continue their three-game series with the Astros tomorrow night as they send Tim Lincecum (3-10) to the hill to face Houston’s Lucas Harrell (7-6); game time is 6:05 p.m. PT, 9:05 p.m. ET.

Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first-hand. 

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