S.F. Giants gear up for meaningful September

• Article
• Comments ()
• Click-2-Listen
• Videos

By

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) A pair of grand slams provided bookends to a crazy week in a crazy season for the San Francisco Giants.

All seemed lost following a heartbreaking, 14-inning defeat to the Rockies in Denver on Aug. 24, when Ryan Spilborghs' game-ending slam lifted Colorado to a 6-4 victory after the Giants scored three runs in the top of the inning.

A mere six days later, San Francisco rode the high of Edgar Renteria's go-ahead grand slam that carried the Giants to a home sweep of the Rockies and into a tie for the NL wild-card lead with Colorado. Boom, just like that, the Giants are right back in it.

"It's a huge boost for us," reliever Jeremy Affeldt said. "Big wins come in September. Any time right now they're going to rank up there. They all count, but these wins are big for momentum."

Speaking of September, it's been five years since San Francisco played for something in the season's final month. Now, the Giants are in the heart of a pennant race, the contender general manager Brian Sabean and skipper Bruce Bochy believed they could be from the start.

This is a club that desperately wants to be remembered for much more than Randy Johnson's 300th win in June or Jonathan Sanchez's no-hitter in July. That's because what people recall from recent seasons around here are the tremendous individual accomplishments: Barry Bonds' home run record in 2007 and a Cy Young Award season by Tim Lincecum last year.

"This is what you play for, what you talk about early in the season," Bochy said. "We're approaching September and playing a lot of important games."

Barry Zito can't quite believe it's been so long since the Giants were in the chase "Really?" he said in disbelief but he's only been part of the past two losing seasons in San Francisco.

The Giants have already exceeded expectations in a year that was supposed to be more about rebuilding with a young roster than challenging the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West.

Pablo Sandoval, the free-swinging slugger they call Kung Fu Panda, has sparked the lineup with a genuine enthusiasm and energy that undoubtedly makes him the anti-Bonds.