The month of May will not be kind to the San Francisco Giants during the 2012 regular season. During those 31 days, the team will play 29 games with only one off-day. Numerous postseason contenders and division rivals are on the slate. The rest of the months in the season are hypothetically not nearly as tough for the team. In any case, the second month of the season is going to prove to be a vital one for the organization. A major slip-up is the last thing the Giants need.

To start things off, the Miami Marlins come to AT&T Park for a three-game set from May 1-3. It remains to be seen whether that team’s offseason signings will make it a contender. It will likely not be a pushover by any means though. From there, the Milwaukee Brewers will roll into town for three games. The Brewers did taste the postseason in 2011, but they could be without Prince Fielder at this point. Knocking around opponents from the other divisions is always good for obvious reasons.

Can the San Francisco Giants do that?

After opening the month with six games at AT&T Park, the Giants will hit the road for six games. The Los Angeles Dodgers and Arizona Diamondbacks are the opponents on that road trip. Los Angeles did manage a winning record and were only a handful of games behind San Francisco in the NL West. Of course, that could make the series go either way. All Giants’ fans know that the D-Backs are not a team to take lightly. That club did upgrade its pitching and retained the same potent offense from last season.

Returning home, the San Francisco Giants will play a two-game set against the Colorado Rockies. I would not call this an easy series, but it should be the simplest task for the team during the month. We should see two wins for the Giants here. At that point, the 2011 World Series champs come to town for a two-game series. The St. Louis Cardinals will lack Albert Pujols, but that will not make both games any easier. A three-game set against the Oakland Athletics will wrap up that homestead and should be somewhat easy.

The Giants will then take to the road again on a seven-game road trip. During that time, the team will face the Brewers again for three games and the Marlins for four games. Once again, both clubs should prove to be a challenge. May then ends with three games against the Diamondbacks back at AT&T Park. There could probably be a tougher schedule, but it is not like the Giants need that at all.

How will the team do with such a grueling schedule in May?

In reality, the San Francisco Giants are no pushovers, so cracking a winning record during the month should not be too hard. Going 15-14 would be nice, but it would not be anything too noteworthy. The club absolutely needs to reach that mark for the month at the very least. Without a doubt, anything less would be more than disappointing. This is a club that cannot afford to post any losing months.

Winning 15 games in a month is always nice, but the Giants will need to go above and beyond that against such a tough slate of opponents. The schedule will only give the team one other month with 29 games in it, which will come in August with a much weaker list of opposing teams. With that in mind, posting a record too far south from 15-14 is really going to do harm to the team. That will show that it cannot beat potential postseason teams or even the clubs within its own division.

Fortunately, the San Francisco Giants are backed by a top-notch pitching squad and an average offense. It is not like the team is likely to fail during the first couple months of the season and then just nosedive in the standings. Well, it could happen, but who expects that to be the result? April, May, June, and the rest of the months should be all right for the Giants no matter who the opponents are.

Errick D. Williams is a lifelong fan of the San Francisco Giants who has attended over 200 games at AT&T Park. He lives in San Diego but regularly travels back up to the Bay Area to catch a game with friends and family members.

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Featuring the likes of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, Buster Posey, Pablo Sandoval, and Brian Wilson, the San Francisco Giants will play 16 home games and 17 away games during the 2012 Cactus League Spring Training.

Note: All game times for Pacific Standard Time. (SS) represents split squad game. All games are part of Cactus League Spring Training and home games are played at Scottsdale Stadium, the exclusive home of the San Francisco Giants.

San Francisco Giants 2012 Spring Training Schedule

Saturday, Mar. 3: vs. Arizona Diamondbacks, 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, 4: at Milwaukee Brewers, 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, 4: at Arizona Diamondbacks (SS), 1:10 p.m.

Monday, 5: vs. Milwaukee Brewers (SS), 1:05 p.m.

Tuesday, 6: at Los Angeles Dodgers, TBD

Wednesday, 7: vs. Colorado Rockies, 1:05 p.m.

Thursday, 8: at San Diego Padres, 1:05 p.m.

Friday, 9: vs. Cincinnati Reds, 1:05 p.m.

Saturday, 10: vs. Milwaukee Brewers (SS), 1:05 p.m.

Saturday, 10: at Los Angeles Angels (SS), 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, 11: vs. Seattle Mariners, 1:05 p.m.

Monday, 12: at Kansas City Royals, 1:05 p.m.

Tuesday, 13: vs. Chicago Cubs, 7:05 p.m.

Wednesday, 14: vs. Cleveland Indians, 1:05 p.m.

Thursday, 15: at Seattle Mariners, 7:05 p.m.

Friday, 16: at Chicago Cubs, 1:05 p.m.

Saturday, 17: vs. Oakland Athletics (SS), 1:05 p.m.

Saturday, 17: at Los Angeles Dodgers (SS), 7:05 p.m.

Sunday, 18: vs. San Diego Padres, 1:05 p.m.

Tuesday, 20: at Arizona Diamondbacks, 1:10 p.m.

Wednesday, 21: at Cleveland Indians, 1:10 p.m.

Thursday, 22: at Colorado Rockies, 7:10 p.m.

Friday, 23: vs. Texas Rangers, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, 24: vs. Colorado Rockies (SS), 1:05 p.m.

Saturday, 24: at Cincinnati Reds (SS), 1:05 p.m.

Sunday, 25: at Chicago White Sox, 1:05 p.m.

Monday, 26: vs. Kansas City Royals, 1:05 p.m.

Tuesday, 27: vs. Los Angeles Angels, 1:05 p.m.

Wednesday, 28: vs. Los Angeles Dodgers, 1:05 p.m.

Thursday, 29: at Texas Rangers, 6:05 p.m.

Friday, 30: at San Diego Padres, 7:05 p.m.

Saturday, 31: vs. Cincinnati Reds, 3:05 p.m.

Sunday, Apr. 1: at Milwaukee Brewers, 1:05 p.m.

Sources:

San Francisco Giants Spring Training Tentative Schedule, SFGiants.com

San Francisco Giants Spring Training Ballpark, SFGiants.com

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SAN FRANCISCO (AP)—The San Francisco Giants were working Wednesday to
finalize a $1 million, one-year contract with free agent reliever Guillermo Mota
to bring him back for a third season.

The sides had agreed to terms and were waiting to complete a physical and
final paperwork. Giants general manager Brian Sabean is committed to keeping his
talented pitching staff intact—and not just aces Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain,
who he hopes to lock up in long-term deals.

Mota, a 38-year-old right-hander, has become a reliable option for manager
Bruce Bochy. He went 2-2 with a 3.81 ERA in 52 outings last season for the NL
West runners-up.

Mota’s 80 1-3 innings last season were his third highest in 13 big league
seasons and most since 2004, when he pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the
Marlins.

Mota made one appearance against Texas during the 2010 World Series, when
the Giants wrapped up the franchise’s first championship since moving West in
1958.

With Mota returning, Bochy has much of his bullpen intact. In late October,
San Francisco gave left-handed reliever Javier Lopez an $8.5 million, two-year
contract and also picked up the $5 million contract option for fellow lefty
reliever Jeremy Affeldt.

On Monday night, the Giants tendered contracts to two-time NL Cy Young Award
winner Lincecum, fellow starting pitcher Ryan Vogelsong and relievers Sergio
Romo and Santiago Casilla.

SAN FRANCISCO, California – The San Francisco Giants fan who was severely beaten outside Dodgers Stadium was transferred to a rehabilitation facility Tuesday after nearly seven months in hospitals, doctors said.

Bryan Stow’s move into rehab is a step forward in his recovery after he suffered serious brain injuries in the March attack that had left him barely clinging to life. Doctors at San Francisco General Hospital, where he had been treated since May, predicted a long and rocky road ahead for the 42-year-old Santa Cruz paramedic.

“Bryan has been an extremely challenging patient,” said Dr. Geoff Manley, who is the hospital’s chief of neurosurgery and has been overseeing Stow’s care. “It has been a roller coaster, but he is young and strong and has made tremendous advances.”

Stow’s family recently reported on its website that he is speaking and moving his limbs again.

Manley said Tuesday that Stow is “starting to get up but not quite walking.”

The family requested that the name of Stow’s rehab facility not be released, according to Manley. The family released a statement saying, “We feel immense relief today, knowing that Bryan is ready to start the next chapter of his story.”

Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, have been charged in the attack, which police describe as the culmination of a string of confrontations they had with randomly selected Giants fans at the stadium during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ March 31 home opener.

Sanchez and Norwood both have pleaded not guilty to mayhem, assault by means likely to produce great bodily injury, and battery with serious bodily injury in Los Angeles County Superior Court.