San Francisco Giants Notebook: Tough pitching challenge in way of extending division lead

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There was no sweep of the struggling Philadelphia Phillies, but the San Francisco Giants (57-45) finally remembers what it's like to win some games.

After getting blown away by Oakland, San Francisco has won three consecutive series and boast a 7-3 record in their last 10 games. Sure, those series are against some of the worst competition in the National League at the moment, but after a horrendous June and all the nagging injuries that are piling up this team, the Giants will take anything positive.

The SF offense finally took a slide this week in the finale, losing a 2-1 decision that saw the team strand seven in scoring position. Tim Hudson had too high of a pitch count to get past six innings but pitched relatively well considering he gave up eight hits. Cole Hamels was a shade better with 10 strikeouts in eight innings.

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At least Jonathan Papelbon didn't give it up for Philly. He was the reason why Tuesday night's game turned into a 5+ hour long jaunt by giving up the game-tying run in the ninth inning. He was also responsible for giving up a three-run double to Hunter Pence on Wednesday night, the only runs scored in that game.

Papelbon's rough week was glorious for the Giants. Now taking a firm lead back in the NL West, they look to extend it in a weekend series against the Los Angeles Dodgers (56-47).

LA lost their final two games in Pittsburgh and have lost four of their last six. It could be a lot more if San Diego wasn't so insufferable on offense, barely scraping by with 1-0 wins on the weekend before the All-Star Break.

The offense has been a let down for most of the slide, but in the last two losses, both pitching and defense has been a problem as they gave up 18 total runs. But the Dodgers will have their great trifecta of starting pitchers coming to San Francisco. Runs could be at premium.

Notes

• Brandon Belt, who's still fighting concussion symptoms, will be returning to San Francisco with the team.
• It's possible that Yasiel Puig will be back as early as the series opener on Friday night.
• The Dodgers are 3-7 against the Giants this season.

Pitching Matchups

• Friday, July 25th - Zack Greinke (R, 11-6, 2.90) vs Tim Lincecum (L, 9-6, 3.65)
  First pitch - 10:15 PM ET | TV: NBC Bay Area, SportsNet LA
• Saturday, July 26th - Clayton Kershaw (L, 11-2, 1.92) vs Ryan Vogelsong (R, 5-7, 3.99)
  First pitch - 9:05 PM ET | TV: CSN Bay Area, SportsNet LA, MLB Network
• Sunday, July 27th - Hyun-Jin Ryu (L, 11-5, 3.39) vs Yusmeiro Petit (R, 3-3, 4.24)
  First pitch - 8:07 PM ET | TV: ESPN

WSD Sports Page: Cavaliers win the NBA Draft Lottery, so it's not rigged

Cleveland wins the NBA Draft Lottery again, an awful attempt at trolling Charles Barkley, and somebody during a Minor League Baseball game bit off a portion of a LA Dodgers' prospect's ear. All in today's sports page.

Photo via Flickr

Going into the NBA Draft Lottery last night, plenty of people poached on their soapbox and declared on Twitter, "Well that NBA wants the Lakers or Celtics to thrive again, so if they win the lottery this thing is rigged!!!!111!!1!"

Turns out something even worse happened. The Cleveland Cavaliers won it for the second straight year, so it's not rigged.

Anthony Bennett has been a trainwreck coming into the league. That's even factoring in the injuries he's dealt with. Sure, he could improve, but let's say he ends up being the bust he's projected to be. The Cavaliers essentially received a do-over if Bennett tanks.

Cleveland. In the bottom half of the league in terms of the NBA's smallest 15 cities. So for those that like to claim rigged activities are going on, you're saying that the NBA wants Cleveland to thrive. Sure.

No. Like that lucky person you know in your life (we all got a friend/acquaintance), the Cavaliers just seem to hit in the lottery while Boston gets sixth and the purple LA team got seventh.

So it's not rigged. But it still should make you upset. ESPN will horndogging the story of "Can the Cavaliers lure LeBron back in!?" on top of the Johnny Manziel mess.

Oh, Cleveland. The sports city that can't win anything will be hated by America after ESPN gets done with you this calendar year. It just never goes well, does it?

And the Cavaliers can take their next bust while the Philadelphia 76ers swoop in and take a traditionally better second overall pick.


Other Headlines

NBA: Heat even ECF with Pacers

Despite everybody saying that Miami needed this win, I trended the other way. Indiana really needed it, but they couldn't close the deal. The Heat overcame a surge by Lance Stephenson (25 points) and Roy Hibbert's all-around productive night (12 points, 13 boards). Miami's dynamic duo, especially Dwyane Wade down the stretch, got a big road win.

MLB: Romo blows second save in Giants' loss to Rockies

It's a big early-season series against the top two teams in the NL West. Colorado pulled the rug from under San Fran in the opener, coming back from a one-run deficit in the bottom of the 9th with a walk-off home run. Closer Sergio Romo brought none of the heat and was hanging up sliders for the Rockies to tee off on.

Madison Bumgarner left the game with a no-decision and wasn't his dominant self, but still got out of multiple jams -- Colorado went 2-of-12 with runners in scoring position. Pablo Sandoval's nine-game hitting streak was snapped as he went 0-for-4.

NBA: Morning zoo show tries to troll Charles Barkley, fails miserably

What a disaster this is. A local zoo crew from San Antonio's rock station tries to confront Barkley at his hotel and brought up the whole fat women in SA thing two weeks ago. Barkley simply shut them up and put them in their place breaking out the media totem pole, which is so Barkley. This whole bit could have been funny when done properly, but it just looked painfully awkward for the host and his sidekick was just muttering Barkley lines horribly.


But hey, the host was happy with it and high-fived his crew while they walked out the hotel. Now they can find something to talk about amongst giving girls free boob jobs, talking about how much they drank last night, and more on boobs in the actual 30 minutes of content they provide every morning.

MiLB: Dodgers prospect Alex Guerrero has ear bitten by teammate

Guerrero and Miguel Olivo got into it after Olivo was all pissed off that a base was stolen. They got into it during a pitching change and again while heading into the dugout, and that's wear the Mike Tyson incident occurred. Olivo, a 35-year-old man, bites the ear of a prospect. And you won't hear from him again.


Today's Slate
(Central times listed)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3
-Kings at Blackhawks (CHI 1-0) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS
Thunder at Spurs (SA 1-0) - 8:00 TNT

MLB
Dodgers at Mets - 6:10 ESPN
D'backs at Cardinals - 7:15 FSMW
-Giants at Rockies - 7:40 MLBTV
Twins at Padres - 8:10 FSNO

CBB - BIG 12 TOURNEY
Kansas vs West Virginia - 9:00a FSSW+/FCS
TCU vs Baylor - 12:30 FSSW+/FCS
Oklahoma St vs Oklahoma - 4:00 FSSW+/FCS
-Texas Tech at Texas - 7:30 FSSW+/FCS