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.

Scottsdale Stadium, home of the San Francisco Giants Cactus League Spring Training
Wikimedia Commons

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

More from this contributor:

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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.

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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.

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CINCINNATI — The Cincinnati Reds took care of business early to help Mike Leake get a big win Saturday.

They scored five first-inning runs on their way to a 7-2 win against the San Francisco Giants.

Seven players each had a hit for the Reds on their way to a second consecutive win for just the second time since sweeping the Los Angeles Dodgers in a three-game series in Cincinnati June 13-15. Cincinnati won the series opener 4-3 in 13 innings Friday.

“It helped to score those first inning runs,” Dusty Baker said. “We haven’t been scoring a lot of runs lately.”

Leake, who leads the Reds in wins despite spending 13 days with Triple-A Louisville in May, earned his career-high ninth. The second-year right-hander, winner of eight games as a rookie in 2010, allowed eight hits and two runs — one earned — with no walks and seven strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings.

“I’m not going to stop there,” Leake said.

The right-hander had quality starts in his past two outings but both resulted in losses as his teammates scored just three runs total, including a shutout loss to Pittsburgh.

“As a pitcher you never complain about runs,” Leake said. “Our offense is coming around.”

The Giants loaded the bases with one out against Leake in the seventh, but left-hander Bill Bray came on to get Carlos Beltran to fly out to left and Pablo Sandoval to ground out to third.

“Bray was outstanding against the middle of their order,” Baker said.

Beltran flied out in the ninth and is 1-for-14 in three games with the Giants since being traded from the Mets on Thursday.

Logan Ondrusek and Nick Masset added a shutout inning for the Reds.

The Reds pounced on an uncharacteristically wild Madison Bumgarner for five hits and five runs in sending 11 batters to the plate in the first inning. Brandon Phillips drove in the first run with a single to left, and Jay Bruce and Chris Heisey followed with back-to-back two-run singles up the middle.

Heisey, who is seeing most of the playing time since Jonny Gomes was traded to Washington, can feel the offense heating up.

“At any point, I think our offense can take off,” Heisey said. “We didn’t have a lot of key hits lately but were able to sting them together tonight. As a hitter, you hate to see a guy battling out there when you’re not scoring runs.

Bumgarner, who hadn’t walked more than one batter in any of his previous 10 starts and none in his three most recent appearances, didn’t help himself with two walks in the inning. The left-hander also hit Miguel Cairo while throwing 40 pitches, 23 for strikes.

The Giants got one run back on Sandoval’s 446-foot home run into the right-center field seats leading off the second, his 11th homer of the season and second in three games, but the Reds capitalized on two Giants errors to add to two unearned runs in the fourth.

Then Reds shortstop Edgar Renteria committed two errors in the fifth to hand San Francisco a gift run.

The veteran went to talk to Leake after his second error.

“You know he doesn’t want to make them,” Leake said. “He came in just to pick me up. When I was younger, I would have gotten angry but at some point you learn to deal with it.”

Leake, who spent no time in the minor leagues until his stint in May worked out of the jam.

“That’s the sign of a good pitcher, when you can pitch yourself out of trouble,” Baker said. “He has a lot of weapons. He has the pitches to get a double play. He’s not a strikeout pitcher but can get them when he needs to.”

Bumgarner (6-10) lasted four innings, allowing seven hits and seven runs — five earned — with three walks and four strikeouts. He also was called for a balk.

Notes: Left-hander Aroldis Chapman hasn’t allowed a hit in 8-23 innings in his past seven appearances, the longest single-season stretch by a Reds reliever since Chuck McElroy went 11 1/3 innings from April 25-May 17, 1994, according to Elias Sports Bureau. Chapman has retired 25 of the past 26 batters he’s faced, with one walk and 13 strikeouts. … Giants manager Bruce Bochy planned to give first Aubrey Huff Saturday and today off after he played all 13 innings Friday after the team’s 2:30 a.m. arrival from Philadelphia. … Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips extended his hitting streak to nine games (13-for-38, .342), the team’s longest current streak.

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Anticipation was high for both fan bases of the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers Monday night as they renewed their rivalry on the shores of McCovey Cove. The Black and Orange came ready to play in front of another sold out crowd, and behind another superb outing from Ryan Vogelsong and a balanced offensive attack lead by Pablo Sandoval, the Giants shutout the Dodgers by a score of 5-0. 

Vogelsong (W 7-1) showed why he was a National League All-Star this season by throwing six and 2/3 of scoreless ball, along with seven hits, one walk, and five strikeouts. Vogey brought his game face tonight, making good adjustments when need be, all the while keeping the Dodgers bats to just one extra base hit the whole night. Jeremy Affeldt and Ramon Ramirez finished up the rest of the game, keeping the boys in blue hitless along the way. 

Pablo Sandoval’s solo shot in the fourth gave the Giants the lead and tied him with Aubrey Huff for a team high nine dingers. Nate Schierholtz and Cody Ross started a sixth inning rally with a pair of RBI base hits, followed by a Brandon Crawford RBI single to give the Giants the 5-0 lead. Both Ross and Schierholtz finsihed 2-4 on the night, while Pablo Sandoval was 3-4 with two runs scored. 

Chad Billingsley (L 8-8) was cruising along until Pablo’s homer, then came a bit unraveled as he allowed all five of the Giants runs on nine hits in five and 1/3 innings. He didn’t walk a single batter though, and fanned four Giants along the way as well. 

The injury bug has once again bit the Giants as Miguel Tejada left the game in the third with a lower abdominal strain, while Chris Stewart left after being hit in the head by Aaron Miles’ backswing while behind the plate. Both are thought to be day-to-day injuries. 

With the win the Giants move to 56-41 on the year. Full box score can be found here. 

The Giants will send out Madison Bumgarner (4-9 3.74 ERA) on Tuesday to face Rubby De La Rosa (3-4 3.74 ERA) for the Dodgers. First pitch is set for 7:15 pm PT with coverage on CSN Bay Area and KNBR 680 AM. 

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The San Francisco Giants have selected St. John’s shortstop Joe Panik with their first pick in the baseball draft.

Panik, a left-handed slugger who led the Red Storm with a .398 batting average, was taken with the 29th overall pick and may be a long-term solution in the middle infield.

“We see him as a shortstop, up the middle,” said Giants special assistant to the general manager John Barr who oversees the team’s scouting departments. “He walks more than he strikes out, he can swing the bat with some authority. There were a couple people in there and we were excited that he got to us.”

The defending World Series champs have Freddy Sanchez at second but have used a variety of players at shortstop this season, including Miguel Tejada. Rookie Brandon Crawford, recently called up from Class A San Jose, started Monday night’s game against Washington.

Barr said the team’s current situation with its infield had nothing to do with the decision to draft Panik, whom Barr called the “best available player.”

“That doesn’t enter the picture,” Barr said. “It’s not so much what do we need today. It’s that you’re bringing talent into the minor leagues, and the better talent you have in the minors, the better your big league team is.”

Panik underwent surgery for a torn labrum in his right shoulder during his freshman year at St. John’s but hasn’t had any lingering effects. He drove in 53 runs and had a .477 on-base percentage in 2010.

“I see myself as an offensive-minded shortstop,” Panik said during a conference call with San Francisco reporters. “I’m not a flashy player but I play the game hard. The Giants are a first-class organization who are coming off a World Series championship. To be their first-round pick is exciting.”

Panik can play both middle infield positions but San Francisco plans to keep him at shortstop for now. It’s the same position played by former Giant Rich Aurilia, who also attended St. John’s.

San Francisco later drafted right-handed high school pitcher Kyle Crick with the 49th overall selection. The pick was compensatory for the Giants losing infielder Juan Uribe after Uribe signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers as a free agent in the offseason.

Panik hit 10 home runs and boasted a .642 slugging percentage at St. John’s this season, though he grounded out to end the Red Storm’s season in the semifinal of the Charlottesville Regional on Sunday.

Crick, who went 7-2 with a 1.11 ERA for Sherman High School in Texas, committed to TCU last fall but the Giants are hoping to lure him into their system. The 6-foot-4, 225-pounder attracted numerous major league scouts during his senior year and for good reason. Crick’s fastball has been clocked at 95 mph while he also throws a 78 mph curve.

“What you’d picture those big Texas right-handers,” Barr said, describing Crick. “He developed a slider the last two weeks of the season. A big, physical player. We’re hoping he decides to become a Giant.

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Santiago Casilla #46 of the San Francisco Giants throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the eighth inning of Opening Day at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Getty Images file photo)

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May 24, 2011 – The San Francisco Giants are riding a five-game win streak at the moment, including a two-game sweep of the rival Los Angeles Dodgers and a three-game home sweep over the Bay Area rival Oakland Athletics. Needless to say, the defending World Series champions are feeling pretty good about themselves. Now, they’ll continue their homestand as they host the Florida Marlins for a three-game set.

The Marlins have been, at best, pretty inconsistent of late. They’re wrapping up a five-game homestand of their own, but they’ve gone two-and-three in that time. Florida did, however, take two-of-three from the Tampa Bay Rays and looked good doing it. Tampa Bay recovered in game three though, and shut the Marlins out 4-0, so they’re not riding a ton of momentum at this point.

However, these are two pretty even teams … the Giants sport a 27-19 record, while the Marlins are at 26-19, their inconsistencies are something of the present and recent times, as they started their season out pretty well. This is a matchup between two teams who could be very good on their best day, or really, really bad on just an “off day.” You don’t want to see either of them on their worst day.

It’s the bottom of the order for the Giants, who will be sending out Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner and Ryan Vogelsong to handle the pitching duties. They’ll be up against Ricky Nolasco, Chris Volstad and Anibal Sanchez.

Read More: Anibal Sanchez (P – FLA), Ricky Nolasco (P – FLA), Matt Cain (P – SFG), Chris Volstad (P – FLA), Ryan Vogelsong (P – SFG), Madison Bumgarner (P – SFG), San Francisco Giants, Florida Marlins, Florida Marlins at San Francisco Giants, May 24, 2011 7:15 PM PDT, Florida Marlins at San Francisco Giants, May 25, 2011 7:15 PM PDT, Florida Marlins at San Francisco Giants, May 26, 2011 12:45 PM PDT

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