San Francisco Giants win, Tim Hudson & Joaquin Arias lead charge

The Giants continued to show how they have the best record in baseball by dominating the Cardinals Sunday afternoon. They scored early and often en route to a 8-0 victory over the Cards and took 3 out of 4 at Busch Stadium.

The Giants were 27-5 when scoring first heading into this game. The top of the order took care of that right away. Angel Pagan, Hunter Pence, and Buster Posey led the game off with 3-straight singles. The third one, by Posey, drove in Pagan for the game’s first run.

Making teams pay when they commit an error has been another strength of the Giants this season. Kelton Wong of the Cards booted a possible inning ending double play ball and the Giants pounced again. Brandon Crawford drove in Pence with a fielder’s choice setting the stage for Joaquin Arias.

You read that right. Mike Morse took the day off to rest a sore foot that he banged in batting practice the other day. So Arias decided to impersonate Morse and drove a single through the middle with 2 outs to score 2 more runs. His batting line was 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and a walk.

The Giants led 4-0 before the Cardinals even came to bat and the game was in their control. Well, Tim Hudson‘s control, because he has been pinpoint this season.

I didn’t forget about Hudson. He just keeps being a weapon on that mound. In 7 innings Hudson allowed 3 hits, 2 walks, struck out 6 and hit Allen Craig in the noggin (he’s ok and the Cards didn’t retaliate.). Hudson retired the last 11 batters he faced. His 7 shutout innings lowered Hudson’s ERA to 1.75, second in the majors behind Johnny Cueto.

That makes 9 of Hudson’s 11 starts in which he lasted into the 7th inning. The only 2 starts he didn’t? A six inning start in LA before missing his next game with a strained hip, and a 3 inning rain-shortened afternoon in Denver.

Buster Posey went 3 for 5 in his return after a few days off, all 3 hits were singles. Two were hard hit up the middle and the third was a base hit to right field. They came in his first 3 at bats as the Giants built their lead.

Pablo Sandoval‘s hitting streak is up to 12 games. He made sure of that with a 2nd inning 2-out double to right center field. He also had a memorable run around the bases scoring from first on Gregor Blanco‘s triple in the top of the 6th. I hope they had the oxygen tank running in the dugout.

The Giants are clicking on all cylinders right now. Even when big bats come out of the lineup, the back-ups are getting it done. Today the Giants scored 8 runs without hitting a ball out of the park. That’s actually a rarity in 2014.

Oh yea, the Giants also tied the Dodgers for best road record, 18-11 (.621), in baseball with the victory today.

The Giants are 37-20 and have the best record in baseball. They continue the 7-game road trip in Cincinnati with a 3-game series starting Tuesday. The Giants lead the Dodgers by 7 games in the NL West pending the outcome of their game tonight. Or, to put it another way, the Giants are very, very good.