It sounded like a beautiful day in Scottsdale with a buzz in the air as I excitedly listened to the Giants first Cactus League game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on KNBR 680. Jon Miller and Dave Flemming sounded like they were in mid-season form already as they called quite the first game for the Giants, who held off the D’Backs for a 7-6 win.
Tim Lincecum had a rough start (but was looking good) giving up 5 hits and 3 earned runs in 1 and 2/3 innings pitched, prompting CSN’s Mychael Urban to tweet:
This is a huge blow to Lincecum’s Cactus League Cy Young Award hopes.
Sorry Timmy, maybe next spring.
Other highlights of the game included a 10 batter, 5 run 2nd inning for the G-Men with RBI hits by Pat Burrell, Pablo Sandoval, Aaron Rowand, Mark DeRosa, and Miguel Tejada, a two out, 2 run double by Buster Posey in the 4th, a Kung Fu Panda walk with him laying off a high fastball on a 3-2 count (maybe Barry Bonds is rubbing off on him), Javier Lopez pitching some unhittable filth in the 5th, and Brandon Belt turning a nice double play in the 8th.
The game also had some late inning drama with the Giants holding a 1 run lead with 2 outs and 2 on, but youngster Casey Daigle held on to give the Giants their first win. Even in the Cactus League the Giants stay true to form with some tourtureous baseball.
Another funny tweet came from the San Jose Mercury News’ Andrew Baggerly:
Edgar Renteria just walked into Giants clubhouse for a visit. Getting huge hugs. “Where’s my locker?” he joked.
Nice to hear Edgar still has love for the G-Men. But will Juan Uribe? We’ll find out tomorrow as the Giants take on their perennial antagonists the Los Angeles Dodgers at Scottsdale Stadium, with Jonathan Sanchez getting the start. Game starts at 12:05 PT (1:05 MT) on KNBR 680.