On a night where the San Francisco Giants won handily in Atlanta, scoring almost every inning, we find out that Messenger lied to us. Randy Messenger, the reliever who the Giants received in exchange for Benitez, had an injury before yesterday’s contest…so he said. Yesterday, Messenger claimed that a line drive in batting practice hit his left hand and broke his finger. Today he came clean and fessed up that he really punched a plastic equipment cart after giving up the winning hit in the 9th.

“I wanted to clear the table and let everyone know what really happened.” - Messenger

Well, thanks Randy for clearing the air…now you’re useless to us for the next 4-6 weeks. Up to this point I have felt that he’s been one of the most consistent relievers out of the pen for us. It’s disappointing to see him go down like this.

In other news, Lance Niekro decides that he’s not going to make it in the big leagues as a position player. Not shocking or much of a surprise. What intrigues me however, is that he’s trying to make a comeback as a pitcher at the triple A level. Now, typically, a kid in Niekro’s shoes becomes an all-time minor leaguer. But a kid with the geneology of Niekro gets a second chance. I know it’s not fair, but the kid does have the genes to make it happen. It’s probably a long shot and I’m even laughing at myself that I am even considering giving this some hope…but with the year we’re having…give his knuckle ball a chance!

Barry Zito took the mound today, delivered another quality start by a Giants pitcher, and yet the Giants still took the loss. The San Francisco Giants got blanked 5-0 today, ending their homestand at AT&T park, completing the sweep by the Bucs. They now head off to Pittsburgh where they have a double-header tomorrow. They begin a nine game road trip back east to face the Pirates, Braves and Marlins before returning home again.

The Giants record has now dropped to 49-67, a whole 18 games under .500. With little to look forward to the remainder of the season, the Giants should begin to give more of their youngsters playing time. “It’s definitely time to evaluate some of the young guys and begin the movement to making this team more youthful.” - Bruce Bochy

Tomorrow’s doubleheader features Matt Cain and Noah Lowry. They’ll need to put in some quality innings in order to help save the arms of the bullpen, which got taxed hard this weekend. Go Giants!

The San Francisco Giants have had a less than stellar year this year, that’s for sure. But when the one bright spot on the season, rookie starter Tim Lincecum, gets hammered, you’ve gotta hurt as a Giants fan.

Lincecum got off to a great start on the game striking out the first three batters he faced on just ten pitches. He then retired the next 9 of 10 batters he faced before the fourth inning which lead to his downfall. He gave up back to back HR’s and a triple as the Bucs scored 5 runs on their way to another Giants loss.

On Saturday night, Barry Bonds on a 2-1 count, hit an outside pitch 386 feet off the upper deck and into the stands for career home run number 755. He moved into a tie with Hank Aaron for the most home runs ever hit by a single player. What an amazing career this man has had. In my mind he is a first ballot hall of famer, steroid era and all. When looking at Bonds’ career, he holds so many MLB records it’s hard not to imagine him being inducted into Cooperstown. In my opinion, he’s the greatest baseball player to ever put on a uniform…period!

Here’s a list of some of the all-time records Bonds holds:

To me, the last one is the most telling of all…

Here’s a list of some of the single season records Bonds holds:

As you can see, Bonds has had an amazing career. It seems like every time I watch a Giants game I hear about some other record he’s obtained. Obviously, I didn’t list them all, but just some of the more important ones. He is for sure, the greatest player ever.