Giants post series win at Miami (clip and save)

We’re probably due for another trip to the optometrist; we thought we saw the Giants win a series. We knew these damn glasses were garbage.

San Francisco will return home with a lead in the NL West, surviving a way-too-long-for-the-score 1-0 victory Wednesday afternoon in Miami. The Giants took two of three from the Fish, marking the first time since the All-Star Break they’d come out on top in a set.

The Giants regained the perch in the division after a one-day hiatus when Los Angeles's bullpen imploded in a 6-2 day baseball loss to Philadelphia down at Chavez Latrine.

The Giants still didn’t hit worth a lick, getting just six in the game, but they got the decisive one off the bat of Brandon Crawford. His fourth-inning solo homer and some solid defense made a winner of Jeff Samardzija, who hasn’t been  mentioned in that kind of sentence very often of late. Of course, that doesn’t mean we trust him.

The same might be said of Manager Bruce Bochy, who yanked the big right-hander at the first sign of trouble. When you’ve squandered a 6 ½-game lead in just a month, you start managing like it’s Game Seven.

Pagan contributes with the glove. (AP Photo)

Though four frames Samardzija (10-8) pitched like the guy we thought once was a $90 million bargain. But with two-out in the fifth, an epic battle with Giancarlo Stanton took its toll. Samardzija fell behind 3-1 but came back to get Stanton on a fly ball. The crisis was averted but Samardzija created another one by issuing two of his three bases on balls in the sixth (he also fanned three and allowed three hits on the day) and Bochy came out with the hook.

Will Smith, who hasn’t exactly been confidence-inspiring in his brief Giants tenure, struck out pinch-hitter Chris Johnson for the third out; and in the process ignited the most spirited confrontation of the day.

Plate umpire Corey Blaser employed a strike zone that didn’t exactly jibe with the rule book, and both teams felt the impact. Johnson got hosed, resulting in shouts of derision from the Marlins dugout and the ejection of hitting coach (and Giants legend) Barry Bonds.

This guy swung the big stick in Miami. AP Photo)

The Giants continued to struggle in clutch situations, and Wednesday’s prime villain was Buster Posey. The Face of MLB had a pair of those pesky RISP ground outs, leaving the bases filled in the third and two on in the fifth.

The Giants left nine on base and were 1-for-4 with runners in scoring position, and that “1” was a third-inning infield single from Angel Pagan that didn’t plate the run.

Pagan found other ways to contribute, however. He gunned down Derek Dietrich trying to stretch an extra base out of a single down the left field line in the second kept Samardzija out of trouble, and his sliding catch of a line drive in the fourth helped preserve the lead.

Miami was held in check late by Hunter Strickland, who got the final two outs of the seventh, and Derek Law, who pitched a perfect eighth.  Santiago Casilla pitched around a two-out, angina-inducing double in the ninth to get his 26^th save.

After a brutal stretch that saw them play 17 of 24 on the road, the Giants play their next 18 without leaving the Golden State. They get 15 of the 18 at home, the lone road trip a three-game showdown with the Dodgers staring August 23.

A day off awaits before the Orange and Black kick off a nine-game home stand on Friday against Baltimore. The Giants are scheduled to send Matt Cain (4-5, 5.16 ERA) against Orioles wunderkind Dylan Bundy (5-3, 3.05).

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