San Francisco Giants: Picking up the pieces after Los Angeles Dodgers sweep

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Well that was rough. Going into a series against the Los Angeles Dodgers a game and a half above them in the National League West, the San Francisco Giants (57-48) get rocked in two games and let the third one get away on Sunday Night Baseball to fall 1.5 games back in the division.

The Dodgers outscored the Giants 17-4, got to Tim Lincecum, Ryan Vogelsong, and eventually new starter Jake Peavy in the fifth inning. It was brutal to see the offense also sputter throughout the weekend, but that was expected with the pitching lineup coming in. Don Mattingly organized the pitching staff against the Giants after the All-Star break, and that proved to work wonders.

Now, San Francisco will have to get over it quickly as a three-game pack against the Pittsburgh Pirates (55-49) begins on Monday night, and they're also looking for a playoff spot. It's an important series in case either of these teams are looking for one of the wild card spots at the end of the season. If the Pirates sweep this, they'll have a better record than the Giants.

Pittsburgh is in the midst of a 16-game jaunt against NL West teams. After sweeping the Colorado Rockies earlier, they lost back-to-back 8-1 games before salvaging the final game. Now they'll have to face the beefy portion of the Giants' starting lineup with Madison Bumgarner, Tim Hudson, and Big Time Timmy Jim.

Andrew McCutchen is the only player hitting over .300 (.312) in the batting lineup for the Pirates. Neil Walker has been the second power hitter with 15 home runs and 48 RBIs; Pedro Alvarez has the same number of HRs and just one less RBI. Josh Harrison has reeled in seven hits, four RBIs, and two stolen bases in the last seven games.

Pitching Matchups

• Monday: Madison Bumgarner (L, 12-7, 3.19) vs Vance Worley (R, 3-1, 3.10)
  First pitch - 10:15 PM ET | TV: NBC Bay Area, ROOT Sports Pittsburgh
• Tuesday: Tim Hudson (R, 8-7, 2.65) vs Francisco Liriano (L, 2-7, 4.18)
  First pitch - 10:15 PM ET | TV: CSN Bay Area, ROOT Sports Pittsburgh, MLB Network
• Wednesday: Tim Lincecum (R, 9-7, 3.96) vs Charlie Morton (R, 5-10, 3.40)
  First pitch - 3:45 PM ET | TV: CSN Bay Area, ROOT Sports Pittsburgh, MLB Network

WSD Sports Page: Tim Hudson cruises as Giants blank Cubs

Tim Hudson is better than ever with the Giants, Stanley Cup Playoffs >>> NBA Playoffs again, and 50 Cent throws a horrible first pitch in today's sports page.

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MLB: Giants 4, Cubs 0

Tim Hudson returned to dominant form after pitching seven scoreless innings and giving up just six hits. San Francisco has been used to that dominance and haven't seen it since beating the Dodgers back on May 11th with his hip injury and Colorado's crazy weather.

On offense, the Giants got on the board early with two quick runs. Angel Pagan was able to get to third on Hunter Pence's single, and the teams' first out also came with a run as Buster Posey hit far enough to record a sacrifice fly to reel in Pagan. Pablo Sandoval grounded out, but Michael Morse brought in another 2-out RBI.

Two more runs were tagged on in the bottom of the fifth with another sac fly by Posey and Sandoval was able to reel in Pagan. The top five batters in the lineup combined for seven hits, all four RBIs, and just one strikeout.

NL West Rundown: The Giants were unable to improve their 1st place status as both the Dodgers and Rockies collected wins against the Reds and Phillies, respectively. They remain 4.5 games ahead of LA and 5 over Colorado.

Zack Greinke had 11 strikeouts, tying a career-best, for the Dodgers while Wilin Rosario drove in three runs (all with two outs) to aid in the Rockies' win.

• NHL: Canadiens fend off Rangers in wild 11-goal game -- Montreal went up 4-1 in the second period before New York tied it up in less than five minutes. Then the Habs responded quickly with a 5-4 lead and cruised to a 7-4 Game 5 victory to stave off elimination.
• MLB: 50 Cent pitches a disaster -- Sure, everyone laughs this off including Curtis Jackson himself, but that's a little embarrassing to go through life and never, ever throw anything. Ever.
• MiLB: Manny Ramirez tries to stay relevant with the Iowa Cubs -- He's some sort of player-coach dude that will coach players while taking at-bats when nothing is really happening on the team. Okie dokie.
• MLB: Andrew McCutchen, Juan Lagares rob each other in Pirates-Mets game -- Both players had incredible catches in the outfield to remove extra-base hits, and ironically, they were against each other.
• NBA: Sterlings not on same page with potential Clippers' sale -- Donald wants to fight to keep the team, but Shelly is on the move to sell it. She knows what ultimately will happen. The team will be sold, and she'd rather do it now than later.

Today's Slate
(Central times listed)

TENNIS
French Open - Currently playing on ESPN2/Tennis Channel and online on ESPN3

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3
-Kings at Blackhawks (LA 3-1) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS
Heat at Pacers (MIA 3-1) - 7:30 ESPN

MLB
-Cubs at Giants - 2:45 CSCH/CSBA
Rockies at Phillies - 6:05 RSRM/CSPH
Padres at D'backs - 8:40 FSSD/FSAZ
Reds at Dodgers  - 9:10 FSOH/SNLA