Giants’ spring home schedule

The San Francisco Giants will play 16 home games at Scottsdale Stadium for the 2012 Cactus League season:

March 3: Colorado Rockies.

March 5: Milwaukee Brewers.

March 7: Colorado Rockies.

March 9: Cincinnati Reds.

March 10: Milwaukee Brewers (ss).

March 11: Seattle Mariners.

March 13: Chicago Cubs.*

March 14: Cleveland Indians.

March 17: Oakland Athletics (ss).

March 18: San Diego Padres.

March 23: Texas Rangers.*

March 24: Colorado Rockies (ss).

March 26: Kansas City Royals.

March 27: Los Angeles Angels.

March 28: Los Angeles Dodgers.

March 31: Cincinnati Reds.**

Note: Games start at 1:05 p.m. except where noted. *Game time, 7:05 p.m. **Game time, 3:05 p.m. (ss) Split-squad game.

Information: sanfrancisco.giants.mlb.com

CINCINNATI (AP)—Orlando Cabrera(notes) welcomed his trade to the San Francisco
Giants because it will give him the opportunity to play regularly.

The Giants acquired Cabrera from the Cleveland Indians Saturday night for
Triple-A outfielder Thomas Neal.

The 36-year-old Cabrera took a flight early Sunday morning from Cleveland to
Cincinnati, arriving about 8:30 a.m., in time for Giants manager Bruce Bochy to
put him in the starting lineup for the series finale against the Reds.

That’s exactly what Cabrera was looking for after losing his starting job to
Cleveland rookie Jason Kipnis(notes).

“I was just watching,” said Cabrera, who hit .244 with four home runs and
38 RBIs in 91 games with the Indians. “I like to play. I was happy they were
trying to trade me because of the situation there, and I’m happy it was the
Giants.”

The Giants are Cabrera’s ninth team. He played Cincinnati last year, helping
the Reds to their first division championship and postseason appearance since
1995. They were the fourth consecutive team and sixth in the last seven years
he’d helped reach the playoffs.

He said San Francisco was one of the teams he talked with before signing
with Cleveland.

“Every time the world champion wants your services, you always have to feel
flattered,” said Cabrera, a 12-year veteran who won the 2004 World Series with
Boston. “Unfortunately, things didn’t work out at that moment.”

Manager Bruce Bochy expects Cabrera to be the Giants’ shortstop for quite a
while. Miguel Tejada(notes) is eligible to come off the disabled list on Thursday, but
Bochy doesn’t expect Tejada to recover from his lower abdominal strain for
several weeks.

“He’s not able to move very much,” Bochy said Sunday morning. “He’s at
least a week away from playing games, and he’s going to have to play games on
his rehab to get ready.”

The Giants optioned rookie shortstop Brandon Crawford(notes) to Triple-A Fresno to
make room on the roster for Cabrera.

CINCINNATI (AP)—Orlando Cabrera(notes) welcomed his trade to the San Francisco
Giants because it will give him the opportunity to play regularly.

The Giants acquired Cabrera from the Cleveland Indians Saturday night for
Triple-A outfielder Thomas Neal.

The 36-year-old Cabrera took a flight early Sunday morning from Cleveland to
Cincinnati, arriving about 8:30 a.m., in time for Giants manager Bruce Bochy to
put him in the starting lineup for the series finale against the Reds.

That’s exactly what Cabrera was looking for after losing his starting job to
Cleveland rookie Jason Kipnis(notes).

“I was just watching,” said Cabrera, who hit .244 with four home runs and
38 RBIs in 91 games with the Indians. “I like to play. I was happy they were
trying to trade me because of the situation there, and I’m happy it was the
Giants.”

The Giants are Cabrera’s ninth team. He played Cincinnati last year, helping
the Reds to their first division championship and postseason appearance since
1995. They were the fourth consecutive team and sixth in the last seven years
he’d helped reach the playoffs.

He said San Francisco was one of the teams he talked with before signing
with Cleveland.

“Every time the world champion wants your services, you always have to feel
flattered,” said Cabrera, a 12-year veteran who won the 2004 World Series with
Boston. “Unfortunately, things didn’t work out at that moment.”

Manager Bruce Bochy expects Cabrera to be the Giants’ shortstop for quite a
while. Miguel Tejada(notes) is eligible to come off the disabled list on Thursday, but
Bochy doesn’t expect Tejada to recover from his lower abdominal strain for
several weeks.

“He’s not able to move very much,” Bochy said Sunday morning. “He’s at
least a week away from playing games, and he’s going to have to play games on
his rehab to get ready.”

The Giants optioned rookie shortstop Brandon Crawford(notes) to Triple-A Fresno to
make room on the roster for Cabrera.

CINCINNATI (AP) — Edgar Renteria singled in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Cincinnati Reds a 4-3 win over the San Francisco Giants on Friday night.

Jay Bruce walked on a 3-2 pitch from Brian Wilson (6-3) to lead off the 13th. Miguel Cairo flied out, but pitcher Jose Arredondo — in his first career plate appearance — chopped a single over third baseman Pablo Sandoval and down the left-field line. Renteria, the World Series MVP for the Giants last season, lined a soft single down the right-field line to snap the Reds’ four-game losing streak.

Arredondo (2-3) pitched a perfect 13th.

Both teams escaped bases-loaded jams in the 10th. San Francisco left fielder Nate Schierholtz threw out Joey Votto at the plate to complete an inning-ending double play.

Carlos Beltran got his first hit with the Giants, driving in a run in the top of the first.

The Giants fell behind, then tied the game in the eighth when Aubrey Huff scored from first base on Eli Whiteside’s double up the left-center field gap off of Bill Bray.

They loaded the bases in the sixth, but only got Huff’s sacrifice fly.

Cincinnati went ahead 3-1 in the second inning. Ryan Vogelsong hit Paul Janish with a pitch, and Janish went from first to third on pitcher Dontrelle Willis‘ single to right. Janish scored on Drew Stubbs’ grounder to second.

The Reds scored twice in the bottom of the first after the Giants took a 1-0 lead on Beltran’s single.

The former Mets slugger went 0 for 4 in his Giants debut on Thursday, snapping at 32 his streak of consecutive games in which he reached base at least once.

In the bottom half, Brandon Phillips hit a sacrifice fly and Bruce singled to right to put Cincinnati ahead.

Willis and Vogelsong both lasted six innings. Willis allowed six hits and two runs with two walks and three strikeout, and hit a batter.

Vogelsong gave up seven hits and three runs with two walks and one strikeout. He also hit a batter.

NOTES: Willis has gotten at least one hit in each of his four starts since being called up from Triple-A Louisville by the Reds on July 10. … LHP Barry Zito will start Sunday for the Giants, manager Bruce Bochy said Friday. … Giants LHP Jonathan Sanchez, on the disabled list since June 25 with left biceps tendinitis, will be activated in time to start Aug. 5 against Philadelphia, Bochy said, adding that Sanchez might make one more rehab appearance before then. … Phillips’ first-inning RBI was the 500th RBI of his seven-year career. … Reds SS Zack Cozart, on the disabled list with a hyperextended left elbow, took some swings before Friday’s game for the first time since he was injured on July 23.

AP Photo/Ben Margot

San Francisco Giants manager Bruce Bochy, left, removes pitcher Tim Lincecum from the baseball game against the Cincinnati Reds during the fifth inning Saturday, June 11, 2011, in San Francisco.

Tim Lincecum believes its nothing more than a coincidence that he has looked more like a journeyman than a two-time Cy Young award winner since a 133-pitch masterpiece against Oakland last month.
Lincecum matched his career-worst performance with seven runs allowed in four-plus innings as the San Francisco Giants lost 10-2 to the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
“I don’t feel like it’s fatigue, I don’t feel like I’m getting tired,” Lincecum said. “I don’t feel like anything is broken. I just feel like it’s a matter of just getting back to being me.”
Lincecum (5-5) was far from it against Cincinnati, allowing seven earned runs for the first time since his rookie year in 2007. He allowed seven hits and walked four and struck out a career-low one batter.
He struggled with his control all afternoon, throwing 37 balls compared to 36 strikes, and had two wild pitches. He generated only two swings and misses all day — both to Drew Stubbs, who struck to open the game.
That was the high point for Lincecum who allowed an RBI single to Ryan Hanigan in the second inning, the two runs in the third and four runs in the fifth. Lincecum now has a 7.66 ERA in four starts since throwing 133 pitches in a shutout victory against Oakland last month.
“More than anything his fastball command’s off,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “It was an off day for Timmy, I don’t know how else to tell you, especially with his command. That’s a good hitting ballclub and you’re going to pay for it if you’re off. There’s not much else to it, really. He feels good, he’s healthy. He’s just having trouble getting the ball where he wants.”
Mike Leake (6-2) had no such trouble for the Reds. He pitched eight scoreless innings and even chipped in with his bat, starting a pair of rallies with hits off Lincecum in the third and fifth innings.
“I take pride in my hitting,” Leake said. “I don’t like to get out. It’s more fun to get hits than it is to pitch good sometimes. … Anytime I’m squaring balls up, it’s pretty fun.”
Brandon Phillips hit a two-run double and scored twice and Joey Votto knocked the San Francisco ace out with an RBI double in the fifth inning to give the Reds their second win in three games in San Francisco.
Leake allowed four hits — including an infield popup by Eli Whiteside that third baseman Scott Rolen lost for a single — and struck out a career-high eight. He improved to 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA in four starts since a brief stint back in the minors.
“Mainly my head is just back on straight a little bit,” Leake said. “I think I lost it there for a little.”
Leake had a 21.21 ERA in two previous outings against the Giants, including giving up six runs while retiring one batter in a relief outing in his final appearance of the season last August.
Leake doubled to lead off the two-run third inning when the Reds scored on a groundout by Jay Bruce and a wild pitch by Lincecum to make it 3-0.
Leake then singled to start the four-run fifth. Stubbs followed with a walk and both players scored on Phillips double to left field. Votto’s RBI double ended Lincecum’s briefest outing of the season and Rolen added a sacrifice fly to make it 7-0.
“That was a rare outing by Lincecum,” Reds manager Dusty Baker said. “That’s a two-time Cy Young award winner. He’s one of the best in the business. He wasn’t as sharp today as he usually is.”
The Reds, who went just 2-8 on their last road trip, have matched that total in three games in San Francisco. The pitching has had a big part in that with Johnny Cueto and two relievers combining on a 3-0 shutout Thursday night before Leake’s strong start. Pat Burrell broke up the shutout with a two-run homer in the ninth off Carlos Fisher — his first longball in 96 at-bats.
Cincinnati has gone a season-high four games without a home run, winning two of them.
Notes: Lincecum allowed seven runs, but only three earned runs, on May 16 against Colorado and seven earned runs to Toronto on June 13, 2007. … The Giants signed INF Bill Hall to replace injured 2B Freddy Sanchez. Hall entered the game in the fifth inning and walked in his first plate appearance for San Francisco. … The Reds are the only NL team that Lincecum has not beaten, excluding the Giants. He is 0-1 in three starts against Cincinnati.