Ex-Giant Brad Penny to Start Series Against Former Team

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A year after watching the team he spurned in favor of the St. Louis Cardinals win a World Series, Brad Penny is set to take on his former team yet again, when the San Francisco Giants come to Detroit to play a three game set with the Tigers.

After going 4-1 with a 2.59 ERA, in six starts with the Giants in 2009, the journeyman right-hander, reject their offer to bring him back in 2010, signing the Cardinals' one-year offer instead. He went 3-4 with a 3.23 ERA in 9 starts for St. Louis including eight shutout innings against the Giants.

In the 2011 offseason, Penny inked another one-year deal, this time with the Detroit Tigers after St. Louis declined to invest in him and his bad back for another season. Penny is rebounding from the back injury that limited him to only 9 outings in 2010 and this season is 5-6 with a 4.66 ERA in 16 games for the Tigers.

Ironically, Penny's departure from the Giants paved the way for the pitcher opposing him, Madison Bumgarner (4-9 3.84 ERA), to get both a spot in the starting rotation and a World Series ring.

Penny has been inconsistent for the Tigers this year and since his 2009 sting with San Francisco, his ERA has climbed by nearly two points, his WHIP rose half point, and he now averages one more walk per game than during his time with the Orange and Black.

Despite his record, Penny's counterpart Madison Bumgarner has proven that his success last year wasn't a fluke, and with a bit more run support could easily have one of the National League's top records. Bumgarner rebounded from a historically bad start against the Minnesota Twins, which saw him surrender 8 runs before finishing one inning; to pick up a career high 11 strikeouts in seven stellar innings against the Cleveland Indians Sunday night.

Coming off two straight walk-off losses to the Chicago Cubs, the Giants—who won't face Tigers' ace Justin Verlander—could use another gem from the 21 year-old Bumgarner.

The Tigers will follow Penny with Max Scherzer (9-3, 4.47 ERA) and Rick Porcello (6-6, 5.06 ERA) and the Giants will counter with Barry Zito (1-1, 4.95 ERA) and Ryan Vogelsong (6-1, 2.09 ERA).

Zito is coming off a superb effort against the Cubs, while Vogelsong struggled but benefited from a rare offensive explosion to get the win. Both will be watched closely to see how they rebound from their last outings, with Zito still auditioning for another chance at the starting rotation, and Vogelsong maybe looking to prove that his last outing was an anomaly. On

Maybe most importantly: the Giants offense has to come out of its slumber and support the masterful pitching if they expect to stay in first place in the NL West, for long. The Giants made first 20 then 31 outs without recording a single hit in the final two games of the series at Wrigley.

The first game of the weekend set of three will be Friday at 4:05 pm PDT on CSN Bay Area for television and KNBR 680 for the radio.

Giants Lose 2nd Straight Game in Walk-Off Fashion

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The San Francisco Giants seem to only know how to play heart-attack baseball, and who can blame them, with the miraculous ways they seem to win baseball games.

But, for the second night in a row, the Giants watched as their opponent came up with late-inning magic as the Cubs pick up a dramatic 5-2 walk-off win in 13 innings.

Geovany Soto hit the game winner off Ramon Ramirez to give the Cubs their second straight walk-off win in as many games.

Cain, gave the Giants another gem but only got a no decision to show for his dominance. The right-hander tossed seven innings of four hit ball with a walk and six strikeouts—finishing the day with 1,001 for his career. But, for the second night in a row, the offense failed to deliver for Cain, tallying just one run until the 13^th inning.

Cubs starter Carlos Zambrano, left the game after just one plus innings with back soreness, but the bullpen picked him literally, flawlessly. Marcos Matteo cam in and didn't give up a hit in five relief innings as part of a 10 innings of no-hit ball from the Cubs bullpen.

Cain, gave the Giants another gem but only got a no decision to show for his dominance. The right-hander tossed seven innings of four hit ball with a walk and six strikeouts—finishing the day with 1,001 for his career. But, for the second night in a row, the offense failed to deliver, tallying just one run until the 13^th inning.

Despite watching the offense fail to get a hit after the third inning; Cain's 111 pitches held the Cubs in check for seven; and Sergio Romo rebounded from his first loss of the season, with a strong eighth inning.

The Giants nursed a 1-0 lead through eight frames before turning to Brian Wilson, hoping to seal the victory and leave the Windy City having taken three of four from the struggling Cubs. They followed the formula for winning tight, low scoring games to the letter, but unlike most nights, the recipe didn't work.

Wilson entered the game leading the Majors with 24 saves in 26 chances. The bearded closer got Starlin Castro to groundout to lead off the ninth before Aramis Ramirez stepped in. He waited as Wilson struggled to a 3-1 count, then became the first to take him deep this entire season, tying the game at 1.

Wilson would get out of the ninth with no more damage, and the game stayed deadlocked until the top half of the 13th. Pablo Sandoval stood in against John Grabow with two down and the Giants' lineup still suffocated by the Cubs' bullpen.

Grabow threw Sandoval two straight hittable changeups before the third one deep was planted deep into the left center field seats; ending the 10 inning hitting and scoring drought with one swing, and giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.

After the brief breakthrough, San Francisco turned to right-hander Ramon Ramirez(2-1 2.51 ERA), who got the first two outs on just five pitches.

With the Cubs down to their last strike, Jeff Baker, whose earlier double-play ball killed a 10^th inning Cubs rally, came to the plate and smashed a double to deep center field. Next came Darwin Barney and the Giants' outfield came in to keep a shallow base hit from bringing Baker home from second.

Down 1-2 in the count, Barney came through with a clutch ground ball single through the left side of the infield, that Cody Ross fielded before Baker rounded third. Ross had a chance to get Baker at the plate, but his throw was several feet over catcher Chris Stewart's head and the game was tied at 2, with Barney taking second on the throw.

After intentionally walking Starlin Castro, pinch-hitter Geovany Soto belted Ramirez's 3-2 changeup over the left field wall to seal it for Chicago.

The loss drops the Giants to 46-36 on the year, but they still lead the National League Western Division by a full game over the second-place Arizona Diamondbacks.
The walk-off loss was San Francisco's second in as many days and second in a row after winning seven straight. The normally stellar bullpen couldn't carry the offense to another heart-stopping win, as the Giants twice blew saves in Thursday's game.

The only silver lining in the defeat was the brilliance of Matt Cain. Cain joined teammate Tim Lincecum in the Giants' 1,000 strikeout club with a fifth inning punch-out of Koyie Hill, becoming the fourth San Francisco Giant and twelfth overall Giant to fan at least 1,000 in a career.

After leaving Chicago with a split of a four game series, San Francisco's next series is against the Detroit Bumgarner with Madison Bumgarner (4-9 3.84 ERA) on the mound against former Giant Brad Penny from Comerica Park in Detroit.

Giants Comeback Comes Up Short, Lose Nail Biter in the 9th

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For one day the San Francisco Giants chased away calls from fans for a trade to bring a big time power hitter to the City by the Bay. Then, just as quickly, the offense was back to its familiar torturous self, but fell just short of a magical finish.

One day removed from pounding out 30 hits en route to 19 runs in a doubleheader against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field; the bats fell silent, failing to support another strong outing by staff ace Tim Lincecum in a 2-1 loss. The Cubs got a pinch-hit walk-off single from Aramis Ramirez to end Giants' comeback bid and stop their win streak at seven games.

Court upholds Obama Healthcare Law

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President Barack Obama scored a major victory Wednesday, when a federal appeals court ruled that his Affordable Care Act, was constitutionally legal. Making the victory even sweeter, this was the first time a judge appointed by the opposing party voted to uphold the law.

After the world somehow avoided the end of days; Judge Jeffrey S. Sutton (appointed by President George W. Bush)—became the first judge to uphold the law that was not appointed by a President of his own party. The law was voted on twice before, getting upheld once and ruled unconstitutional each time federal judges sided unanimously with their own party.

Zito Shines, Vogelsong Shaky as Giants Sweep Doubleheader at Wrigley

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With a former Cy Young winner returning from injury, the San Francisco Giants offense decided to return from its time on the disabled list on Tuesday as well. Enigmatic and inconsistent pitcher Barry Zito made his return from the disabled list for the first time in his big league career against the Chicago Cubs Tuesday night and looked no worse for the time off.

Zito followed up his two-hit shutout in his final rehab start at Triple-A Fresno, allowing 2 runs and scattering 4 hits over seven strong innings in the second game of a day-night double header at Wrigley Field in a 6-3 Giants victory. His daytime counterpart, Ryan Vogelsong, was much shakier, but the Giants offense was the story in this one, combining for 30 hits and 19 runs in the Giants sweep of the twin-bill from the Windy City.

Zito Eyes Return and Rotation Spot

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Baseball is a game ruled by traditions and superstitions so sacred that stepping out of line from them is as sacrosanct as burning the American flag. San Francisco Giants pitcher Barry Zito has always been a prime example of our national pastime’s idiosyncrasies, with the elaborate pregame routine that has to be followed to the letter before he feels he can be a force on the mound. Tonight, however, a new wrinkle will be added to the warmup after 12 years in the majors—getting ready for a start after spending time on the disabled list.

The Giants' lefty had never missed a start due to injury in 12 full seasons until this year, when he suffered a right mid-foot sprain while trying to field a bunt against the Diamondbacks on Apr. 16 that landed him on the 15-day disabled list(DL). Tonight, Zito gets the start in the second game of a double-header against the Chicago Cubs, and presumably will get two more chances before fellow left-hander Jonathan Sanchez landing on the DL with soreness in his left biceps.

In his first rehab stint as a pro, Zito turned the clock back to near his 2002 Cy Young award-winning form, posting a 4-0 record with a 2.20 ERA while striking out 23 and only walking seven.

Supreme Court Strikes Down California Video Game Ban

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Another attempt at stretching censorship to violent video games was defeated today by the Supreme Court. In a 7-2 ruling, the Court struck down California's ban on selling minors violent video games on grounds that violent video games are subject to the same protections as any other violent material that minors can access. The law was ruled to be a violation of First Amendment rights of both the minors and the game manufacturers.

California's video game law was the legacy of former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, and similar laws exist in 11 other states. The statute would have required anyone found selling or renting prohibited games to minors to pay a $1,000 fine. However, since the laws came into use in 2005 they haven't been enforceable as lower courts have constantly rejected the constitutionality of the bans.

Justice Antonin Scalia, cited the various materials(movies, books, television, etc.) available to minors that are just as gory as violent video games. Scalia even went so far as to say that video games were simply the latest in a long line of media that their dissenters claim is having an adverse effect on the society and culture. Movies, books, television, even fairy tales were used as examples of approved—yet still violent, art that had been attacked as obscene.

Skateboarding's Newest Pro Talent

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While it may not have the fanfare of a college player draft, the introduction of new talent is just as big in professional skateboarding as it is with any of the major pro sports. It's always good to see hard work rewarded when any athlete turns pro in his sport; and whenever an amateur(am) finally breaks into the pro ranks it's an event worth celebration. The newest pro to hit the industry has been on the radar for a while now, and after three solid years, Girl Skateboards at last hooked Cory Kennedy up with his long deserved first pro deck.

Cory Kennedy, made his long awaited leap to the pro ranks after getting back from a showing at the NYC leg of the Maloof Money Cup. Girl has built a name for itself as a company that always goes the extra mile for its skate team and Kennedy's intro to professionalism was no exception.

He was invited to do a film session for Crailtap.com at the North Hollywood, CA skatepark on Monday morning. While Cory waited in traffic, some of the Girl team already there decided to pass out his brand new pro deck--which he didn't know existed, to everyone at the park, and see how long it took the 20 year-old Washingtonian to catch on.

He got to the park and started laying down his usual precision accuracy lines, with no clue that everyone there was skating a deck with his name printed on the bottom. While he got hydrated after laying down some solid footage, he talked to some kids at the park who all had the same color deck.

Cory eyed the boards for a few seconds before a big goofy grin spread across his face, when he realized life as an am was over.

That face has been in magazines, videos, posters, you name it since he started electrifying the scene after his epic part in 2010's “Beware of Sasquatch". If you haven't seen the footage, stop what you're doing and go watch this absolute gem of a video right now. It's a rare treat to see such a young skater be so technically solid, pick such great spots, and show such awesome progression in his tricks.

Girl's newest pro, is known for his penchant for innovation and this masterpiece is crafted with the typical flair of this skateboarding artiste. Even though he's still too young to buy a beer, the kid's already made his own signature trick—which he calls the "Merlin Twist", that will make your jaw drop every time you see it—guaranteed. The video also has great shots of David Gravette, Vince del Valle, as well as seven other talented skaters from the Pacific Northwest, and is well worth a few watches.

The promotion was well deserved for the insanely talented Kennedy, who first burst onto the radar screen with a win in The Berric's “Bang Yo'self 2” amateur online video submission contest in 2009, and a hard fought third place finish at “The Battle of the Berrics 2” SKATE contest that same year. He'd been am for Girl while picking up sponsorships from RVCA, Nike SB, Spitfire, and Royal, and last year he was barely edged by Collin Provost for Am of the Year.

Girl's team has been one of the best for years and adding Cory to the stable of pro talent gave their lineup another power hitter. He could have turned pro last year and still sold boards like hotcakes. He's that good. If you haven't seen him through his am career,(which is impossible if you follow skateboarding) get ready for Cory Kennedy to loudly announce his arrival in the pro ranks.

How Lying, Not 'Sexting' Ruined Anthony Weiner

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Yesterday, Democratic Rep. Anthony Weiner ended speculation about his immediate political future by resigning from his seat in Congress. Over the past three weeks there has been much debate about if, and why the New York lawmaker would vacate his position after news surfaced that he'd sent multiple lewd photos of himself to several women “followers” on Twitter as well as inappropriate text messages. Yet to many, his worst crime was the cover-up, not the foul deed itself.

House Votes Against Libyan War

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In his usual well-spoken manner, President Barack Obama told America of his plans for a 'significant' withdrawal of U.S. forces in Afghanistan on Wednesday night.

His withdrawal plan calls for nearly 10,000 of the nearly 70,000 troops currently stationed in the country to be returned home by the end of the year, and another 23,000 to be brought back stateside by summer's end in 2012. The total drawdown of 33,000 will remove all the remaining troops from the 2009 'surge', and start the end of America's involvement in Afghanistan. Or, in the plainer but more powerful terms the President used, “the tide of war is receding” at long last.