Pacquiao throws a strike, Cain 2-0, Hinshaw demoted & I threw a wild pitch

April 21, 11:41 PMSan Francisco Giants ExaminerTheo Fightmaster

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"Pacman" delivered a KO from the mound. Marcio Jose Sanchez, AP

First things first. I mistakenly referred to the worlds best pound for pound boxer as "the reigning WBC lightweight champion." But as it was kindly pointed out to me by San Francisco Boxing Examiner Colin Seymour, Manny Pacquiao is not the reigning WBC lightweight champion. As Seymour explained to me "He (Pacquiao) abdicated to sign for the Hatton fight (choosing not to make a mandatory defense of the WBC belt), and the vacant title was filled by Edwin Valero a few weeks ago. Pacquiao holds no sanctioned title at the moment, despite his being recognized by The Ring Magazine and others as the best fighter in the world pound-for-pound."

So, sorry for that. Clearly there is a reason I write about the Giants and not the sweet science.

Tuesday night was a great night all around for the Giants. Manny Pacquiao brought a buzz to the park that Giants fans have longed for for several years now. Admittedly, however, at the beginning little of the hysteria was baseball related. Pacquiao strolled to the mound, all the way to the pitching rubber, then  fired the ceremonial first pitch with a left jab for a crisp strike to his battery mate, and fellow Filipino, Tim Lincecum (Lincecum's mother is Filipino, his father is American).

As for the pitches that mattered, for the two teams on the diamond at least, Matt Cain looked good, not great, but he earned the win and improved to 2-0.

Cain again got some run support, which is all the more impressive considering Jake Peavy was on the hill for San Diego. And though it wasn't his ideal stuff, as the Padres had nine hits and runners aboard in each inning, Cain pitched through the threats and only gave up two runs in six innings and allowed no walks. The walks are a big deal, if Cain can improve on that category it may not matter if the team scores for him or not.

The runs however did come, eight of them. They also came from a bit of an unexpected source, and were manufactured in a way that had never been done before.

Much maligned short stop Edgar Renteria was 3 for 4 with 5 RBI's, and two runs scored. He also hit a grand slam in the fourth (the seventh of his career), that erased San Diego's 2-1 lead and made the score 5-2 in favor of the Giants.  Interestingly enough it was the first ever grand slam given up by Peavy who had made 203 career starts and pitched1284 innings in the big leagues without giving up a bases loaded homer. Prior to the grand slam the Giants had been terrible with the bases juiced this season, 1 for 8. Additionally, Tuesday night's eight run outburst was the most they've scored since opening day.

There were a couple other lines in the box score that are positive signs. These came from slumping first baseman Travis Ishikawa and the rarely used reserve outfielder Nate Schierholtz.  

Ishikawa was 2 for 3, with two RBI's and two runs scored. He also had a great at bat off of Peavy that saw him fall behind 0-2 and eventually drew a walk.

Schireholtz  was sent in as a pinch hitter and promptly laced a double to left. Eventually he came around to score an insurance run.

The Giants have played far better at home thus far in 2009. This is a good sign as the team was miserable in San Francisco last season; 37-44. I guess the case could be made they were miserable on the road too, but considering what a great home field advantage AT&T Park had once been, it's promising to see the Giants playing well at the cove. Now if they can win one on the road that would be nice. They will have three more tries this weekend in Arizona before they come back home to host the Dodgers.

♦

Just heard from the Giants post game show that the Giants have made a roster move. Alex Hinshaw has been sent to Triple-A Fresno, and catcher Steve Holm has been recalled. Pablo Sandoval will get the start tomorrow behind the plate and Bengie Molina will get a day off. I'll expound on that later, but basically Bruce Bochy was simply hand tied far too often already this season as he could never take either Molina or Sandoval out of a game being they were the only catchers.  With the schedule being what it is right now the Giants didn't really need a 12th pitcher on the staff, especially considering the how the starters have been working. Also Hinshaw has struggled throwing strikes, five walks to one strikeout, and after a one on one "meeting" last weekend on the mound in San Diego between he and Bochy this move may have also been a punitive one.