The San Francisco Giants appear ready to begin the regular season. With a mixed lineup of regulars and roster hopefuls, San Francisco defeated the Texas Rangers 6-2 on March 29. San Francisco got the best of Texas with a lineup that included several regulars and one of their top starters, Matt Harrison.
Padres-Rangers 3/29/12
Kyle Rapoza
This game was typical Giant baseball from start to finish. They got good pitching from four different pitchers, solid defense, and hitting when it was necessary. While trailing, the team scored runs in the seventh, eighth, and ninth innings to win the game. Sitting in the stands for the game, it looked very much like the San Francisco team I have become accustomed to seeing the last few years.
Matt Cain showed that he is prepared for the start of the season and looked like the pitchers fans have come to expect. In what is likely his final spring training start, Cain pitched seven innings and allowed three hits and two runs to go along with six strikeouts. Two of the hits came on back-to-back home runs in the second inning by sluggers Mike Napoli and Mitch Moreland. This can put aside any talk that Cain is worried about his pending contract extension with the team. Cain pitched very well throughout and was also helped by solid defense behind him.
The buzz in the stadium from the large contingent of Giant fans was that this team is ready to begin the season. The pitchers all looked sharp, and the lineup hit and defended well. Fans throughout feel like the team is ready for the regular season to begin. They proved it with this winning performance in a rematch of the 2010 World Series. Texas is a very good team with a strong minor league roster and Cain and the other pitchers dominated them for much of the game.
This win won't mean anything in about a week but fans should be pleased that the team is rounding into shape and looking like they are ready to go. There are several roster decisions left to make that will shape the team, but fans see a team on the field that is playing solid baseball and appears prepared to challenge for the division once again in 2012.
Kyle Rapoza is a Featured Contributor for the Yahoo! Contributor Network and grew up in Northern California rooting for the San Francisco Giants. He enjoyed watching stars like Barry Bonds, Robby Thompson and Jeff Kent.
Source:
Giants vs. Rangers box score
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