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NL West: Fortunate Giants search for life at home

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05/24/2010 - (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - It's still early in the season and division titles aren't won in May, so luckily the San Francisco Giants still have a pulse for National League West supremacy.

It's hard to believe the Giants are 3 1/2 games behind San Diego for the division lead despite playing darker than a Stephen King novel as of late. They lost the last five tests of a seven-game road swing through San Diego, Arizona and Oakland, finishing 1-6 on the trek.

San Francisco (22-21) was outscored 10-1 in the three-game series against the Athletics and was shut out in each of the last two meetings. The five consecutive losses are a season high for the Giants, who haven't scored in 20 straight innings.

"It's going to come down to two or three guys putting some hits together, and I think as a group they'll relax," Giants manager Bruce Bochy told the team's website. "We have to have something fall, too. In this game you do take a little luck, and today we didn't have any."

Bad luck has plagued starter Jonathan Sanchez. Sanchez has lost on three separate occasions this season when holding the opposition to two runs or less through seven innings or more. His most memorable moment was losing a 1-0 decision versus the Padres on May 18 despite lasting eight innings and giving up the only run of the game.

Sanchez said to 'leave it in the past' in reference to tough-luck setbacks after losing again on Sunday to the A's. The lefty hurled seven innings and was reached for two runs on three hits.

A little run support wouldn't hurt either. Entering Sunday's contest, San Francisco was batting .161 with runners in scoring position over the past seven games. It was batting an NL-worst .234 with RISP for the season.

Speaking of hurt, the Giants, who have lost 11 of 16 games and will open a nine-game homestand Tuesday versus Washington, Arizona and Colorado, may be without left-hander Jeremy Affeldt after he pulled his left hamstring in Sunday's loss. Affeldt wasn't sure on the severity of the problem and is expected to be evaluated on Monday. He is 2-3 with two saves and a 3.12 earned run average in 2010.

Giants outfielder Nate Schierholtz missed his third consecutive start with a bruised right shoulder on Sunday. He's not at 100 percent, according to Bochy.

D'BACKS CAN GAIN GROUND IN UPCOMING WEEKS

The Arizona Diamondbacks appear to have turned the corner since a seven-game losing streak, but are still stuck in the cellar of the National League West.

Arizona is 6 1/2 games off the lead and three games out of third place in the standings, and is hoping an upcoming stretch of division games will shave some of the deficit down. The Diamondbacks will visit Colorado, San Francisco and Los Angeles before hosting the Rockies for three games in the desert.

While Colorado is four games off the NL West lead, either the Rockies or Diamondbacks will be in the basement barring inclement weather after their three-game series at Coors Field which begins Tuesday night. Arizona just went 4-1 on a five-game homestand and had a season-high four-game winning streak come to an end in Sunday's 12-4 loss versus the Toronto Blue Jays.

The D'Backs (20-25), who went 0-6 on their previous residency, scored at least eight runs during their recent four-game winning streak. They totaled 59 runs and averaged 6.6 runs in the past nine games before the Jays exploded in the series finale.

"Not a great day today," Arizona manager A.J. Hinch said. "But it's not going to spoil a really good showing at home, for what feels like has been a while."

It's been a while since Justin Upton was a threat at the plate. Upton hit .213 with three homers and 10 RBI in April, but is starting to earn every penny of the second-richest contract in franchise history this month. Before yesterday's loss versus Toronto, Upton was batting .329 with four doubles, two triples, four homers and 12 RBI in 16-of-21 May contests.

Upton probably wishes he could play every game at Chase Field, where the Diamondbacks have hit 74 home runs in 23 games.

ROCKIES LIKE WHAT THEY SEE IN FRANCIS

Jim Tracy's rotation in Colorado is slowly coming back together, but he can't be more relieved of the progress Jeff Francis is making in his return from left shoulder surgery.

Francis missed all of last season because of the issue and made his first start since September of the 2008 campaign on May 16 with seven strong innings of one-run ball in a 2-1 victory over Washington. He did not record a decision that day, but finally reached the win column in Saturday's win at Kansas City.

The left-hander held the Royals to five hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings of a 3-0 triumph, and is 1-0 with a 0.68 earned run average and nine strikeouts in two appearances in 2010. He moved within one win of tying Pedro Astacio for third place on the franchise wins list at 52 career victories. Aaron Cook is the team's all-time wins leader with 64, while Jason Jennings is second with 58 career wins.

"He's been real good this both outings, but this outing I definitely think he was better than he was his last outing," said Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki. "Last outing his arm-side fastball, which I watched real closely and always do, he was missing a lot high. Today he really was down in the zone on pretty much everything."

Colorado's first-round pick in 2002, Francis won a career-high 17 games over 34 starts in 2007 to help lead the Rockies to the World Series. He made just 24 starts in 2008 before stiffness and pain in the shoulder ruined 2009.

Jorge De La Rosa is the only starter on the disabled list and is battling a torn tendon band on his left middle finger. Tracy will be ecstatic when he has Ubaldo Jimenez, Cook, Francis, Jason Hammel and De La Rosa all together again at full strength. Closer Huston Street is still on the DL with right shoulder inflammation, while saves leader Franklin Morales is disabled with left shoulder weakness.

The Rockies (22-22) are back at the .500 mark and have hit at least one home run in six straight games. They went 3-4 on a seven-game road trip and will begin a six-game homestand Tuesday versus the Los Angeles Dodgers. Colorado is four games off the lead in the NL West and 2 1/2 games in front of last-place Arizona in the division standings.

SAN DIEGO'S ECKSTEIN DOUBLING HIS PLEASURE

San Diego Padres infielder David Eckstein leads the team with 16 multi-hit games and recorded his sixth in the past seven by going 2-for-5 in Sunday's 8-1 win at Seattle.

Eckstein has hit safely in 19 of his last 25 games, going 36-for-103 over that time with a .350 batting average. Since late April, Eckstein is near the top in the National League in hits with 36 and leads the Padres with a .310 batting average. Only Adrian Gonzalez has a batter on-base percentage among every day players at .401. Eckstein's is .370.

The NL West-leading Padres (26-18) are first in the majors with 52 stolen bases, with Will Venable leading the club with 12 swipes. Chase Headley isn't too far behind with nine stolen bases.

Since beginning the season 1-3 with a 5.47 ERA in five starts, Padres young starter Mat Latos has bounced back in a big way. Latos is 3-0 with a microscopic 0.93 earned run average in his last four starts and tossed six innings of one-run ball in Sunday's triumph at Seattle. The right-hander battled through a migraine headache in his 19th major league start.

"He came in with a little migraine, but wanted to pitch," said Padres manager Bud Black. "I don't think he had his overall best stuff today. But he had a good changeup and a good slider and elevated some fastballs. I'm proud of him."

Latos has allowed a total of three earned runs over his last four starts covering 29 innings.

The Padres went 3-2 on a five-game road trip and will begin a tough nine-game homestand Tuesday versus the Cardinals, Nationals and Mets. They're currently one game ahead of Los Angeles in the NL West standings.

DODGERS ANTICIPATE FURCAL'S RETURN

Out of the lineup since late April because of a hamstring injury, Los Angeles Dodgers veteran shortstop Rafael Furcal is eyeing a possible return this week when the club begins a six-game road trip against the Cubs and Rockies.

Furcal took some at-bats this weekend in extended spring training, and was hitting .309 with six RBI and 16 runs scored before the injury.

"He's fine, we're going to wait until Tuesday to activate him," Dodgers manager Joe Torre said on the team's site. "He came back today had a real good day yesterday, did about everything ... he felt good today. [We're waiting] to let him just have the insurance of a couple days extra rest and the fact that we have to decide what we're doing."

Torre will have to make room for the strong-armed infielder, and that could be either a pitcher or reserve player being demoted.

Speaking of pitchers, Clayton Kershaw will shoot for his fourth straight winning start when he takes the ball against the Cubs on Tuesday. Kershaw was 1-2 with a 4.99 ERA in his first six starts, but is 3-0 with a 0.81 earned run average over his previous three outings. He has lasted at least seven innings in each of his previous three trips to the hill, striking out a total of 23 batters in that period.

Los Angeles (25-19) will follow Kershaw with another streaking starting pitcher in Chad Billingsley. Billingsley has won three straight and four of five starts, and is expected to pitch Wednesday against Chicago. He owns a 1.37 ERA during his personal winning streak.

The Dodgers, who are one game behind San Diego for the top spot in the National League West, lost a member of the family when it was learned that pitcher Jose Lima passed away due to a heart attack Sunday morning. Lima went 13-5 with a 4.07 ERA for LA in 2004 and helped the club to a division title.

A recent member of the Dodger Alumni Association, Lima's death hit home with Dodgers owner Frank McCourt.

"We are shocked and saddened to learn of the tragic loss of Jose Lima," McCourt said on LA's site. "Though he was taken from us way too soon, he truly lived his life to the fullest and his personality was simply unforgettable."