Giants keep their fans on edge

Twins fans with their "Circle me, Bert" signs will find themselves being parodied this week at San Francisco's AT&T Park.

Giants diehards have their own signs, saying, "Eliminate me, Kruk."

When the teams met at the Metrodome in 2005, Giants broadcaster Mike Krukow noticed Bert Blyleven's telestrator bit and offered his own twist. When the cameras catch patrons talking on cell phones, dropping foul balls or wearing Dodgers gear to San Francisco, Krukow eliminates them from the screen by scribbling them out.

There's a certain edge to Giants telecasts that resonates with a fan base that endured 52 seasons without a World Series title after the team moved from New York to San Francisco.

The dry spell ended last year, but it took seven stressful months. The 2010 Giants rarely made it look easy.

Early last season, Krukow's broadcasting partner, Duane Kuiper, was summing up a 1-0 loss to San Diego when he said, "Giants baseball ... torture."

It became an unofficial team slogan, as the Bay Area chewed through fingernails watching all these close, low-scoring games. The Giants had a dynamite pitching staff led by Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain and closer Brian Wilson, but their playoff fate was undecided until the regular season's final day.

At 39-33, the Giants sit atop a mediocre division with a half-game lead over Arizona. Their pitching has been terrific again, but with injuries ravaging the lineup, they rank 29th in the majors in scoring, at 3.44 runs per game. That's down from 4.30 runs per game last year.

Pablo Sandoval (broken hand) and Andres Torres (strained Achilles' tendon) have returned from long stints on the disabled list, but catcher Buster Posey (broken ankle) and second baseman Freddy Sanchez (dislocated shoulder) have been lost for the season. Highly touted rookie first baseman Brandon Belt (broken wrist) could be out until the All-Star break.

Among the healthy players, Miguel Tejada (.539 on-base-plus-slugging percentage this year vs. .793 for his career) and Aubrey Huff (.682 OPS this year vs. .891 in 2010) have been the most disappointing. In their current four-game losing streak, the Giants are 0-for-26
with runners in scoring position.

So the hair-pulling continues. The Dodgers and Padres are struggling, and it's hard to see Arizona challenging for an NL West title all season, but Colorado is a dangerous third-place team.

Giants General Manager Brian Sabean usually has a few moves up his sleeve — Pat Burrell and Cody Ross arrived midseason last year — yet pitching will have to carry this team again.

This stretch started right after Lincecum, 27, fired 133 pitches in a three-hit shutout against Oakland on May 27. He says he feels good, and his velocity remains better than last year, but he's having trouble commanding his fastball. Over his past three starts, he has issued 12 walks in 15 innings.

Of course, Lincecum raised all kinds of red flags last August, when he went 0-5 with a 7.82 ERA. All the shaggy-haired, 5-11 righthander did over his final 11 starts was go 9-2 with a 2.18 ERA.

That included his 14-strikeout, two-hit masterpiece against Atlanta in Game 1 of the Division Series, and his eight-inning,
10-strikeout performance against Texas in the World Series clincher.

Lincecum is lined up to pitch Thursday's series finale against the Twins, who first will face Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong.

Bumgarner was terrific as a 21-year-old last September and October, and this year's 3.21 ERA is proof he has pitched better than his 3-8 record. Vogelsong, 33, has been among baseball's biggest surprises. He hadn't won a major league game since 2005, and suddenly he's 4-1 with a 1.92 ERA.