ATLANTA — San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson was ruled out for the series finale against the Atlanta Braves because of an ailing elbow, the latest worry for the defending World Series champions.

Giants trainer Dave Groeschner said Wilson was getting extensive treatment and put his status as day to day. But the right-hander was definitely unavailable for Thursday night’s game against the Braves.

Wilson reported the pain after blowing a save Monday night. He gave up three runs in the ninth as the Braves pulled out a 5-4 victory.

Wilson flew to Pensacola, Fla., on Wednesday to get his elbow checked out by Dr. James Andrews, who performed major elbow surgery on the reliever eight years ago.

Andrews found no major problems, sending Wilson back to Atlanta with a recommendation of rest and treatment. But he will continue to monitor Wilson’s progress by telephone.

“Any time a guy says his elbow is tight and sore, you always worry about that,” Groeschner said. “I think Brian has the ultimate respect for Dr. Andrews, as do we. It was good for him to go see the man, put his mind at ease a little bit, too.”

Persuaded that Wilson won’t be out for an extended period, the Giants decided not to put him on the disabled list right away.

“He’s our closer,” the trainer said. “He’s the best guy we’ve got in the bullpen. Even if it takes a few extra days, we’d rather have him. If (the DL was) what we’d gotten from Dr. Andrews, we would have done it. But that wasn’t his recommendation.”

Still, there’s no timetable on when Wilson might be able to pitch again.

“He has a remarkable ability to recover, so I wouldn’t put anything past him,” Groeschner said. “But we also need to make sure he’s healthy.”

On Monday, the Giants placed outfielder Carlos Beltran and pitcher Sergio Romo on the DL. They already lost catcher Buster Posey, last year’s NL Rookie of the Year, to a season-ending injury.

___

AP freelancer Amy Jinkner-Lloyd contributed to this report.

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Brandon Crawford was called up to the major leagues very abruptly and without much warning following the season-ending injury to Giants catcher Buster Posey.

Not only was his call-up sudden, but it was also from San Jose, not Triple-A Fresno, meaning the elevation in level of play would be drastic.

Crawford didn’t blink.  In his first game, he delivered a clutch grand slam in Milwaukee to help the Giants, who were down 4-1, defeat the Brewers 5-4.

On June 8, with the Giants in a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning against the Nationals, Crawford hit a go-ahead triple to give San Francisco a 2-1 lead.  The Giants went on to win 3-1.

The rookie is currently hitting .268 with a home run and 8 RBI in 13 games, proving that he can hit big league pitching.

SAN FRANCISCO —
Giants 3, Rockies 1

Cody Ross hit a go-ahead two-run double in the fourth, Matt Cain pitched seven innings for his first win in more than three weeks and the San Francisco Giants beat the slumping Colorado Rockies 3-1 on Friday night.

Rookie Brandon Crawford added an RBI double and Emmanuel Burris had three hits for the Giants, who beat the Rockies for the sixth time in nine games this season between the NL West rivals.

Cain scattered four hits and had seven strikeouts while overcoming a season-high four walks. The right-hander pitched with runners in scoring position for four straight innings but allowed just the one run.

The Giants returned home after taking three of four from NL Central-leading St. Louis and picked up where they left off, sending the Rockies to their 11th loss in 14 games.

San Francisco did it much like it beat the Cardinals — with solid pitching and timely hitting.

Cain, who allowed a career-high 11 hits in a 6-0 loss to Milwaukee on Sunday, kept Colorado’s hitters silent most of the game while Ross and Crawford sparked the Giants’ three-run fourth.

That spoiled the road debut of Rockies rookie starter Juan Nicasio (1-1), who allowed nine hits in six innings with three strikeouts and an intentional walk.

Javier Lopez pitched a scoreless eighth and Brian Wilson worked the ninth for his 16th save in 18 chances.

It wasn’t easy, but that’s generally the case with Wilson. The two-time All-Star closer walked Chris Iannetta with one out then gave up a single to pinch-hitter Jason Giambi. Pinch-hitter Ryan Spilborghs flied out to center before Wilson struck out Seth Smith to end it.

Nicasio got the Rockies first hit off Cain when he doubled down the right field line with one out in the third. Cain returned the favor with a one-out single off Nicasio in the bottom of the inning.

Cain (4-4) matched his season-high for walks by the fourth inning, and Colorado cashed in one for a run. Carlos Gonzalez walked, took third on a double by Troy Tulowitzki and scored on Todd Helton’s groundout.

San Francisco responded quickly.

Ross hit a two-run double and Crawford added an RBI double to give the Giants a 3-1 lead in the fourth.

Nicasio became the first pitcher in the majors this season with two extra base hits in the same game when he doubled over the head of center fielder Andres Torres leading off the fifth. The Rockies later loaded the bases with two outs as rain began to fall but Cain retired Helton on a comebacker to escape the threat.

Cain retired the final seven batters he faced to earn only his second win since April 15. Cain improved to 15-0 over the past two seasons when receiving three runs or more of support.

Before the game the buzz at AT&T Park centered around controversial comments made by Giants general manager Brian Sabean on a local radio station on Thursday regarding the season-ending injury suffered by catcher Buster Posey following a collision with Florida’s Scott Cousins on May 25.

Sabean criticized Cousins on his weekly radio show on KNBR, calling the play malicious and unnecessary. Sabean also said “if I never hear from Cousins again, or he doesn’t play another day in the big leagues, I think we’ll all be happy.”

Those comments got the attention of Major League Baseball, and executive vice president of baseball operations Joe Torre spoke with Sabean on Friday. The Giants also issued a statement saying Sabean’s comments were made out of frustration.

“It’s still a pretty raw emotional time for us,” team president Larry Baer said. “I mean, to lose (Posey) for the season, a guy who means so much to us. Having said that, we’re looking forward and we’re looking forward to Buster’s recovery. We’re certainly out of the business of talking about the incident and revisiting it other than we think it’s healthy dialogue to talk about what can be done to protect the player.”

Notes: Giants 3B Pablo Sandoval began a rehab assignment with Class A San Jose and could rejoin the team soon. Manager Bruce Bochy said he wants Sandoval — on the DL since May 1 with a fractured hamate bone in his right wrist — to get 25-30 at-bats in the minors before returning to the big league club. … Struggling IF Miguel Tejada, who went 4 for 27 on the Giants’ recent trip, was not in the starting lineup but not because of his .211 average.

Bochy said he gave Tejada the day off to rest and will be back in the order Saturday. … Colorado LHP Jorge De La Rosa underwent Tommy John surgery in Los Angeles on Friday and results were good. “(It) was as diagnosed,” Rockies manager Jim Tracy. “The ligament was completely torn in half, and as a matter of fact part of it had rolled up and slid into the joint.” De La Rosa was placed on the DL May 25, the day after the left-hander left in the third inning against Arizona with elbow soreness. An MRI revealed De La Rosa had a torn ligament in his elbow. … RHP Aaron Cook, out since March 31 with a fractured right index finger, is penciled in to start for Colorado against San Diego on Wednesday. … Rockies RHP Esmil Rogers (lat strain) threw 67 pitches in extended spring training but the team is unsure where he’ll go next in his rehab.

(Copyright ©2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)

“If I never hear from Cousins again or he never plays another day in the big leagues, I think we’ll all be happy” was Giants GM Brian Sabean’s comment today on the play that shelved Buster Posey for the season.  He gave an interview today with “The Razor and Mr. T.” show on KNBR-680 AM, and he didn’t hold back at all with his opinions.

“[Cousins] chose to be a hero in my mind, and if that’s his flash of fame, then that’s as good as it’s gonna get, pal. We’ll have a long memory. We’ve talked to [former catcher Mike] Matheny and how this game works. You can’t be that out-and-out overly aggressive.”

Infield Chatter already sounded off on this, but we’re revisiting it today because of some harsh, and scornful comments made by the Giants top brass.  Let’s be clear; we love Buster, and we’re all saddened by his loss.  Losing Buster is in no way good for baseball.

With that said, the Cousins play wasn’t a dirty play, and he wasn’t out to hurt anybody.  It was the 12^th inning, and he had a ball game to win.

Sorry Brian, but when a guy rounds third and sprints for home, he doesn’t have time to evaluate who the catcher is, what the situation is, whether it’s a clear path to home, whether Posey has the ball, whether his feet are under him, etc. etc.  There were a 100 things going on during that play, and enough things went wrong that Posey is now on the DL.  That’s all there is to it; call it bad luck, call it a kick in the groin, but whatever it is, it’s still baseball and every time you step between the lines that’s the risks you’re taking.

At the very back of Cousins’ mind, back behind his to-do list of projects around the house and whether he did the math correctly on the tip for his meal the night before, somewhere behind all of that was fame.  If you want to call out the incident as being dicey or calling attention to other issues, fine, that’s your prerogative. 

But to suggest that Cousins chose to be a hero for a flash of fame is just ludicrous, and if anything it detracts from any argument of logical discussion the Giants have on this subject.

If the Giants want to solicit to change the rules, that’s their right; and according to the MLB article, that’s exactly what they want to communicate with Joe Torre about.

While the barreling over of the catcher would be difficult to spell out clearly, I doubt it would make or break this glorious sport of baseball.  But with that said, why do we draw the line at Buster Posey?  Why can any other catcher get barreled over and injured, but when it happens to a budding star, finally it’s too much?   It would be as though 1000 pitchers got hit by a line drive, but if it happened to Stephen Stasburg, suddenly that’s inexcusable and pitchers should be allowed to pitch from behind an L screen.

Buster Posey is only a second year player, but this may already define his legacy.  Does Buster Posey want to be remembered as the guy who couldn’t live with the current rules of baseball, and required a rules change in order to satisfy his career, or does Buster want to be that hard nosed player that accepts his fate, flips it off and comes back with a vengeance?

It’s all fresh, and wounds are still open and gushing.  I can see Buster’s refusal to accept Cousins’ apology as him being a guy who may have had his career derailed and who isn’t quite over it yet—and on lot of high end medical narcotics just so he can survive the day. 

But for the Giants top brass to come out with these comments, it’s doing less to encourage a change in baseball, and more to shed light on a situation of “our top guy got hurt, that isn’t fair at all!  Whaaa.”

Accept the injury, turn the page, and worry about winning.  Counter every question of “what do you think about the Posey play…” with “we’re looking ahead to the rest of the season and we’re evaluating what we need to in order to defend ourselves as the champions of baseball.”

Look ahead, don’t look back, and be positive instead of negative.  At the very least, assure people that your business is in order instead of whining about the money wrench that was thrust into your best laid plans.

It’s baseball, and it happens.  Don’t take it personal, Brian, just worry about repeating.  And Buster Posey has been written out of helping you for this season.

As Buster Posey’s fibula cracked and his ankle ligaments tore apart in the now infamous home plate collision at AT&T Park on May 25, a traumatic scene was seared into the memory of every Giants fan, one that placed the fate of the defending world champions in the balance and left them with no inkling as to what comes next.

The question now becomes, how will this story end?

Many observers of the game lamented the Posey injury as the end of the Giants’ title defense, effectively destroying any hopes San Francisco has of repeating as world champions after a magical postseason run last October.

But the doubters discount some compelling evidence that points to the contrary: the Giants still have the requisite tools to not only make the postseason, but to thrive once they get there.

 

With and Without Buster Posey

Buster Posey sparked the San Francisco Giants in 2010.  From the day he was called up a year ago last Sunday, Posey injected the fuel the Giants needed to morph from a .500 ball-club into a playoff contender and eventual World Series winner.

Posey’s rise is legendary.  His veteran demeanor and graceful display of pure baseball intuition, in just his first season in the big leagues, gave fans of the Giants and even fans of the game at large reason to pause and witness what they knew deep inside was the beginning of a historic career.

But even with his uncanny abilities and leadership qualities, Buster Posey would probably tell you that his Giants have what it takes to win and win consistently, even without him in the lineup.

And aside from skipper Bruce Bochy, Buster would be the best man to explain why: pitching, pitching, and … ah yes, pitching.

 

Remembering What Carried San Francisco in 2010

In 2009 the San Francisco Giants won 88 games and missed the postseason.  In 2010, they won 92 games and became world champions.  While the presence of Buster Posey in 2010 was much greater than just the four additional wins would indicate, the fact remains that San Francisco won 88 games without Posey in 2009.

That’s right, with all of the magic and excitement that embodied 2010 for San Francisco baseball, the difference between defeat and ultimate victory was a mere four games.

The Giants are not a team built to run away with a division title, and they proved that last season by clinching the NL West on the final day of the regular season.

But the number of wins a team records means little when it comes to the postseason.  The playoffs mark the beginning of a new season, a fresh start, a clean slate.

When a team reaches the playoffs, all that matters is winning eleven games, because that’s how many it takes to win the World Series.

So how did the 2010 Giants, who won just four more games than in 2009, manage to win it all?  Pitching.  Simply put, the Giants out-pitched every other team in the 2010 postseason and ended up with the commissioner’s trophy when all was said and done.

San Francisco’s arms produced four shutouts, posted a 2.47 ERA, and held opponents to a meager .196 batting average in the 2010 postseason.  Their performance was historic, and it led to a historic outcome.

The Giants also, believe it or not, scored the second-most runs out of any team in the postseason (59), showing just how hot they were in October.  Though as a team they only hit .235, the offensive production stood up because of the outstanding pitching.

While Buster Posey hit well in the postseason (.288), he was not the club’s leading run producer.  Cody Ross and Aubrey Huff were second and fourth, respectively, in the entire postseason field of players, in RBI.  Both remain in the lineup today for the Giants.

While Buster Posey is a huge presence for the Giants behind the plate and in the lineup, the Giants still have arguably the best pitching corps in all of baseball.

Tim Lincecum, Jonathan Sanchez, Matt Cain, Madison Bumgarner, and Ryan Vogelsong have all pitched extremely well this season, and there is no reason to think they won’t continue to perform well, or even better than they have thus far.

The staff is extremely comfortable with Posey’s replacement, Eli Whiteside, and as long as San Francisco’s arms put up zeros, the Giants are always within striking distance of a victory, day in and day out.

 

The Hits Will Come

The hitters in San Francisco’s lineup are good enough.  And that’s all the Giants’ pitching staff needs: enough.  Giants hitters will not light up the scoreboard, we all know that.  But even without Buster Posey, veteran hitters such as Freddy Sanchez and Aubrey Huff are going to get the job done, along with young infusions of energy from Brandon Belt and now Brandon Crawford.

The Giants won’t score much, but they’ll score enough.

 

It’s All About Being Hot At the Right Time

Last season the Giants made a huge push in September, playing very well and clinching a playoff spot on the last day of the regular season.  Once they got into the playoffs, they continued playing the best baseball Giants fans have seen in a long time, going 11-4 in the postseason and even blowing out opponents in some games (think games one and two of the World Series against the Rangers).

In the NL West this season, the Giants will always be in the running for a postseason berth, and what really matters is how the club is playing at the end of the regular season when they approach the finish line.

With the type of pitching this team has, from the starting rotation all the way through the bullpen down to Brian Wilson, the Giants should be (though they probably won’t, knowing the baseball media establishment) one of the favorites to go deep into the playoffs, and possibly repeat as world champions.

 

The Giants Have an Identity, and They Can’t Forget That

The Giants are a team built around pitching during an age of pitching.  As the steroid era has now come to a close, the era of the pitcher now reigns.

And the San Francisco Giants lead the charge, becoming the first team in the pitching-dominant era to win with the new formula: pitching + timely hitting = world championship.

To the Giants I would say this: Buster is your captain, but pitching is at the very core of your identity.  Remember that and you’ll be standing at the end.