The Diamondbacks come to town with the best record in baseball.  And they aren’t going to let it go to their heads, especially not after last year.

The Diamondbacks, of course, won the NL West, but were swept by the wild card division rivals in the playoffs, teaching the young team that regular season success can’t be taken for granted.

The kids in Arizona have taken a measure of revenge, defeating the Rockies in their first five meetings this season.  The Rockies took game six on Sunday, break an eight-game win streak for the D-Backs.  Still, the team coming into AT&T Park has to be feeling good.

A lot of that comes from an offense that is piecing it together.  20-year old Justin Upton is looking like the star many think he will be, batting .400 with five home runs, tied for second in the majors.  That five home run mark is matched by 24-year old third baseman Mark Reynolds.  Along with 25-year old shortstop Stephen Drew (batting .317), the young core of this team has a lot of promise far into the future.

The pitching staff, not surprisingly, is being led by Brandon Webb, but the team has a second ace backing him up in Dan Haren.  Haren is not far off from many of Webb’s stats at the moment, and the two may have a friendly rivalry that will make them favorites throughout the year.

Arizona comes into San Francisco with the lowest team ERA in the majors, as well as the most runs scored, the 2nd-highest batting average and the highest OPS in the majors as well.  They are riding quite a high, and with legendary ace Randy Johnson returning to start the first game of the series, they will be tough to derail.


The Giants are running a little high of their own, but in relative terms.

The Giants faced the St. Louis Cardinals for four games.  When the Cardinals came into town, they had the second-lowest team ERA in the majors, and had the second-best record.  While they exit with the same claims to fame, the lines between them and the rest of the pack are a little thinner.  That’s due to the Giants splitting the series, and staying competitive throughout.

The Giants did it with pitching, but also with the young guys.  It’s easy to look at John Bowker (two games, two home runs, 4 for 6 batting), but Fred Lewis has been just as big.  He went 9 for 17 in the series with the Cardinals, with seven extra-base hits (all doubles except for one triple).

And, of course, there’s the pitching.  From Matt Cain carrying a no-hitter through six to Tim Lincecum striking out eleven batters to Kevin Correia’s nearly eight scoreless innings, the starting pitching is turning out to be as good as advertised.  The team’s starter ERA is 3.64, solidly in the middle of the pack, but it doesn’t truly describe how dominant it’s been in the past week.

The Giants will have to do more of the same, and it’ll be a tough task.  The streaking youngsters, Lewis and Bowker, are expected to sit against the Big Unit for game one.  Whether or not someone else will step up to the plate for the Giants, figuratively or literally, is a big question.


Randy Johnson needs no introduction, but some feel he may need the right exit cue.  The 44-year old is trying another season, and his fighting back issues.  The result is that Monday’s start is his first start of the season.  In 2007, he had a 3.81 ERA in just 10 starts for the eventual NL West champions, who didn’t really need him much.  He had a 5.01 ERA in 2006 for the Yankees, which doesn’t bode well for his ability to bounce back.

Sanchez is coming off of perhaps the best start of his career, a six inning affair in which he struck out ten while allowing just three hits and two walks.  However, his ERA is an indication of just how bad he was in his first start (four innings, seven earned runs).  That’s exactly what Sanchez is, a tantalizing mix of potential and power, but very inconsistent production.  He has a chance to showcase the former in this highly visible matchup with perhaps the greatest power southpaw in history.


Owings stepped into the Arizona rotation last season, his rookie year, and performed admirably.  He had a 4.30 ERA and an 8-8 record.  This year, he had a great start to open the season in Colorado, and was effective against the Dodgers the following week.  Owings has been a bit vulnerable to left-handed hitters, and young Giants outfielders Fred Lewis and John Bowker may look to take advantage of that.

Correia may be in a fight to keep his fifth starter job after Sanchez’s amazing start last week, for when Noah Lowry returns.  Correia was up to the challenge, pitching 7 2/3 shutout innings the next night against St. Louis, even if he did not match the strikeouts.  He has to prove he can also be consistent, and after a tough initial start, he’ll have to follow up against the Diamondbacks and their strong young offense.


Webb has established himself as one of the under-30 aces in the National League, icing that with a 3.01 ERA last year with a career-high in innings.  This year has been more of the same, with a solid string of early outings.  The sinkerballer is helped by his infield defense, which is younger and more athletic than years past, and he has had no more than six strikeouts in any of his three starts.

Barry Zito is becoming the story of how a bad contract can sabotage everything from salary to holding back other young players to destroying fan confidence.  Its possible that no Giants pitcher has been booed on Opening Day as loudly as Zito was.  Zito’s on-field performance has not helped things.  His third start was marginally better, giving up just one earned run, but four in all.  He has kept his walks down, but he remains very hittable, with 23 hits allowed in 16 innings pitched.  Arizona has the NL’s best team batting average at .283, so this matchup does not bode well.


Note: SFDugout.com will be simulating the Giants using MLB 2K8 and a popular console all season long.  These games are simulations, and do not involve any people playing the games at any point.  Reasonable care has been taken to match roster moves and injuries, but these simulations may not be 100% accurate with the big league team’s play at any time.

In the first game of the series, incredibly, it's Eugenio Velez who gets things going against Randy Johnson.  After a walk and a Fred Lewis single, Velez doubles in two runs to open the scoring in the third.  Aurilia would single home Velez and the Cyber-Giants had a 3-0 lead.  And that would be all it would take, as the Giants won 3-0.

Jonathan Sanchez went seven innings, allowing just two hits and three walks with 10 strikeouts, and Walker was perfect for the final two innings.  Velez would be the only Giant with two hits as the team just had six hits total.  Bowker would single in his first at-bat against the Big Unit.

Game 2 featured more pitching matchups.  Both teams scattered baserunners until Bengie Molina hit a two-out, fourth inning home run against Owings to make the game 1-0.

In the fifth, however, the D-Backs would come back.  Correia would hit Jackson with a pitch, and Montero singled.  Owings then came up and doubled home Jackson to tie it at 1.  Hudson and Byrnes each picked up RBI singles, and Justin Upton hit a bases-clearing double.  Stephen Drew then added a two-run home run, and Correia was lifted with the score 8-1 in the top of the fifth.

The Giants would come back in the 6th, highlighted by Velez's two RBI single, but the game would end 8-5.  Molina was 3 for 5 and Castillo was 3 for 4, but Correia's eight runs allowed on nine hits and two walks decided it.

In the third game, Winn got to Webb with a 2-out 2-RBI single in the second to make the game 2-0. But in the 6th inning, Zito would give up a 2-run home run to Eric Byrnes to allow the game to be tied.  In the ninth, closer Brian Wilson would load the bases, but it would be Merkin Valdez allowed a 2-RBI single to Byrnes to make it 4-2.

All was not lost, as Velez would single, Rowand would double, and Bengie Molina singled them both home to tie the game.  But Valdez would give up a bases loaded double to allow three more runs and the Giants would lose 7-4.

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