Posey Out With Hamstring Injury: Lineups, Preview

Buster Posey, who was originally in the starting lineup for tonight's series finale against the Dodgers, was scratched with a hamstring injury according to multiple sources. According to reports, the injury was suffered during the game on Tuesday night, but Bruce Bochy said that it's not serious.

The absence of Posey will increase the pressure on Matt Cain to limit a potent Dodgers' offense to minimal damage. However, he will be without his battery mate for the first time this season as Posey has caught all 24 of Cain's starts this year.

 Cain (12-5, 2.90 ERA), hasn't fared well against the Dodgers in his eight year career, though. He comes into the game with a 3-8 record lifetime against Los Angeles with a 3.58 ERA.

Cain will be opposed Chris Capuano whose been a surprisingly successful piece in the Dodgers' rotation this season. Capuano (11-5, 3.14 ERA), who hasn't faced San Francisco this season, is 1-5 lifetime against the Giants, including a sub-par 5.00 ERA.

Here is the Giants Lineup Minus Posey:


1. Angel Pagan (S) CF
2. Marco Scutaro (R) 2B
3. Pablo Sandoval (S) 3B
4. Buster Posey (R) C
5. Hunter Pence (R) RF
6. Joaquin Arias (R) SS
7. Brandon Belt (L) 1B
8. Justin Christian (R) LF
9. Matt Cain (R) P

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Bumgarner Fans 10 as Giants Hold On to Take Sole Possession Of First Place

Two of the game’s best southpaws took center stage on Monday night in Los Angeles, and only one prevailed. Behind Madison Bumgarner, the Giants held on to take game one of this crucial three game series, 2-1.

Bumgarner, who came into Monday’s game with a 4-2 record against Los Angeles, cruised through eight dominant innings against the quiet Dodgers’ bats. The southpaw fanned ten over eight eight innings. In the process, he threw a season-high 123 pitches, one short of his career-high of 124.

The Dodgers’ 1-5 hitters united to produce an 0-16 line off Bumgarner. He induced four strikeouts to Matt Kemp, Hanley Ramirez, and Andre Ethier combined.

Angel Pagan jumpstarted the Giants’ offense with a leadoff double to leadoff the game. Pablo Sandoval would drive him home with a shallow sacrifice fly two batters later. Pagan, who came into the game 4-16 off Clayton Kershaw, collected two hits and scored the only two Giants’ runs in the game.

A leadoff single off the bat of Clayton Kershaw dribbled into right field to spark a stressful inning for Bumgarner. Shane Victorino followed the pitcher by reaching on a fielders choice, then swiped second base with the bat in Matt Kemp’s hands. On a full count, Bumgarner got Kemp to chase a slider in the dirt to end the threat.

However, a rematch shaped up in the bottom of the ninth inning. With two outs, Hanley Ramirez stepped in to face Sergio Romo. And Ramirez’s game-winning two-run homer off Ramirez earlier in the season wasn’t forgotten. However, Ramirez got the best of Romo once again, as he smacked a solo shot that pulled the Dodgers within one.

Javier Lopez came into the game to face Ethier, and he would induce a slow roller to first base to close the game.

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Giants Fall 14-2 to the Nationals In Game 1 of the Series

I'll try to make this short and sweet.

Ryan Vogelsong didn't have his stuff or luck on his side on Monday night. If it wasn't for a couple of bloop hits, questionable calls, and bad defense, we might be talking about a different game. That my friend is baseball, though.

Vogelsong didn't even make it into the third inning. He allowed a season-high eight earned runs, and just like that, his 22 game streak of making it into at least the sixth inning was snapped.

Behind 21 hits, the Nationals scored 14 runs. A seven-run third inning ultimately put a damper on the Giants hopes of posing a comeback.

Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman, Danny Espinosa, Roger Bernadina, Steve Lombardozzi, and Kurt Suzuki all had at least three hits in the game. Suzuki cleared the bases in the third with a game opening three-run double.

The Nationals then went on two have two back to back three run innings in fourth and fifth. Brad Penny was taxed for six runs and seven hits in two innings.

Brandon Crawford broke up the shutout with a two-run homer in the seventh. Otherwise, the Giants' offense was relatively quite.

With the loss, the Giants are now tied with the Dodgers for first place in the N.L West.

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