San Francisco Giants Notes: Pat Burrell sratched from lineup vs. Tigers

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San Francisco Giants' slugger Pat Burrell was scratched from the lineup with right-foot soreness during Friday night's game versus the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park.


Burrell was originally supposed to hit sixth in the Giants' Friday lineup as the designated hitter, but he was scratched just before the game. The news came via Jim Moorehead from the Giants' public relations department.

Bill Hall replaced Burrell as the designated hitter, hitting in the seventh spot.

Burrell is hitting .236 with seven home runs and 20 RBIs this season.

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Is this do or die time for Bill Hall? The Giants have Brandon Belt and Mike Fontenot coming back soon, and someone will have to go. The consequence could be a left-out Bill Hall.

Hall is hitting just .223 with two home runs and 14 RBIs this season.

San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers 5/19 Preview, Lineups, and More

VS.

Tonight's Giants lineup against Chad Billingsley looks like this:

Torres cf
Sanchez 2b
Huff 1b
Posey c
Schierholtz rf
Ross lf
Fontenot ss
Tejada 3b
Bumgarner p

Nate Schierholtz batting fifth here has to leave fans scratching their heads. He is hitting .282, with three home runs and 11 RBIs, but he is not your typical RBI power hitter. Pat Burrell might have been a better fifth-place hitter in the lineup because he brings something to the table that the Giants lack and is much needed -- patience and a legitimate home run threat.

Nonetheless, it is good to see Miguel Tejada out of shortstop. He just did not look comfortable there so far this year.

With the Rockies winning big against Philadelphia right now, this is a big game tonight for the Giants. If the Giants win, they would stay in first. If they lose, the Rockies would claim the National League West lead by a half game.

Madison Bumgarner (0-6, 4.25 ERA) is looking for his first win of the year tonight. If he is to get it, the Giants will need to play solid defensive baseball since Bumgarner makes hitters put the ball in play. This may be one advantage of having Schierholtz in there over Burrell.

Billingsley has been tough on the Giants in his career, but if they play their game (pitching, pitching, and more pitching), they should be just fine tonight at Chavez Ravine.





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Chris Haft/MLB.com: Two-homer inning lifts Giants past Dodgers

SAN FRANCISCO -- If the Giants' initial homestand was any indication, get ready for another wild ride this season...

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Like Tuesday night, the San Francisco Giants played like the 2010 Giants on Wednesday night.

Jonathan Sanchez grinned out another gutsy performance, pitching six good innings of three-run ball. Two swings of the bat put a dent in his run column -- a two-out, two-strike mistake pitch at the belt to Rod Barajas that tied the game at two, and a RBI triple by Aaron Miles.

Sanchez's velocity dipped to the high 80s by the sixth inning, but he used what he had to keep the Giants in the game. In years past, if Sanchez's stuff was not all there, he would fall apart. His maturity from a thrower to a pitcher really showed in last night's game in the way he made the best of what he had stuff-wise at the time.

The Giants got clutch home runs from two unlikely heroes. Pablo Sandoval proved that he is back to his 2009 form from the right-side, and Mike Fontenot showed why he is a good, little player.

A concern has got to be Pat Burrell. He has four home runs so far this year, but just four RBIs. He is hitting only .182, and his starting job is in jeopardy when Cody Ross is activated from the disabled list.

Another nod to the 2010 Giants was the Giants' tremendous relief pitching last night. In three innings of work, the bullpen held the Los Angeles Dodgers to two hits, no walks, and no runs.

It should also be noted that the Giants' defense came through with no errors in last night's game. The earlier defensive struggles were probably a result of the team still getting used to each other, and of course, the lack of defensive talent in the outfield.

The Giants will spend the weekend in Arizona. If the Giants can take two out of three and win their third series in a row, they should enter Colorado with a lot of confidence.

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Tonight's Lineup: San Francisco Giants vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

The Giants will try another variation of Thursday's and Friday's lineup, with a little twist.

CF Torres
2B Sanchez
RF Huff
C Posey
3B Sandoval
LF Burrell
1B Belt
SS Tejada
P Zito

Pablo Sandoval was moved to the five hole, and Pat Burrell was moved down to the six hole.

It's a shame. I would have liked to see Mark DeRosa have another go at it.

Bay Area Ball: The Giants and A's Return to the Bay Area

It's a late night tonight, and I got a ton of eBay items to sell, so here's a good summary on tonight's game from a very good blogger. Follow him on twitter @BayCityBall08.

Quick thought from me: The Giants looked good tonight. Aubrey Huff crushed a high fastball into the port walk tonight (off a lefty), and Pat Burrell showed opposite-field power, crushing a two-run double to right field off Brett Anderson. That is a sign they are right.

Belt didn't get a hit, but I still want him on the team to replace Ross in the lineup.

If Rowand is in there, that would be a big mistake by Bochy. He just cannot make contact and looked horrible in his lone plate appearance tonight striking out.

Cain was solid. He gave up three runs and left in the fifth, but he had good command. That's all that matters in spring training. One of the runs came on two cheap bloop hits.

Anyway, on to the article.

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Bay Area Ball: The Giants and A's Return to the Bay Area: " The Cactus league is finally over, and it's almost time to get some meaningful baseball going... Put that on hold for a few more day..."

San Francisco Giants Re-sign Guillermo Mota, 2011 Season Thoughts

The Giants have agreed to re-sign hard-throwing righty Guillermo Mota to a minor-league contract. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays were reportedly going after Mota, but he decided to ultimately return to the world champion San Francisco Giants.

The 37-year-old Mota posted a 4.33 ERA in 56 games with San Francisco, including 2.1 scoreless innings in the postseason. Even during the playoffs, Mota had a mid-90's fastball.

Mota was serviceable out of the bullpen in 2010. When Brian Wilson was unavailable to close, Mota stepped up and got the job done. One of his notable outings was a dominant win out of the bullpen against the Dodgers when Brian Wilson was unable to pitch the ninth. Highlights from that outing can be found here

This is a good deal. You get an experienced veteran out of the bullpen for virtually minimum salary. He can come through nicely in a mop-up roll or can even fill a more important gap if a setup man or closer got hurt. Let's just hope he doesn't face Juan Uribe too much if he indeed makes the big club.

Most importantly, he does not walk people, which is a recipe for success out of the bullpen.

Although I'm all for bringing back as much as the 2010 championship team as possible, the Giants need to get some youth, speed, and energy into the lineup. Cody Ross provided a little bit of that at the end of the season, but the Giants can still upgrade at left field and third base, granted Sandoval doesn't lose weight. Pat Burrell, who played the bulk of the time in left field, is a good player and can contribute, but his inability to put the bat on the ball in the World Series was worrisome.

As for Edgar Renteria, I think it is fine to bring him back as a back-up infielder, but for no more than the $1 million they offered. He, like Mota, can fill a hole if say Freddy Sanchez or Miguel Tejada were lost to injury. He can be a short-term solution, since he is streaky, but is not ideal for a starting role. Still, he has a flare for the clutch as shown by the World Series, and his game-tying home run during the home opener. Despite him feeling disrespected about the Giants' contract offer, Renteria needs to realize the Giants did anything but that, considering they were the only team thus far to offer him a major league contract.

What do you guys think the Giants should do to improve their team for 2011? Please leave a comment below. I am curious to hear your thoughts.

Photo courtesy of Anthony Zappia

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