San Francisco Giants Notes: Romo, Pagan, Low-score Wins

The San Francisco Giants bullpen is expecting to get its second-best reliever back by next week. Sergio Romo, who has been out since April 10 with a strained elbow flexor tendon, began a minor league rehab assignment on Monday.

Not that rehab stats mean much, but it was an interesting outing for Romo, who gave up a home run to top Milwaukee Brewers prospect Orlando Arcia but struck out the side and earned the win. Manager Bruce Bochy said that Romo is expected back with the big club for next week’s series with the Atlanta Braves.

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While Romo is expected to soon be back from the disabled list, Angel Pagan could soon be heading there. The Giants left fielder missed 11 games earlier this month with a strained left hamstring, and he is again nursing the same muscle, after tweaking it in Monday’s 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres. He was scheduled to have an MRI on his hammy today.

Pagan ailing again

It’s not certain that Angel Pagan will land on the DL, but a reoccurring hamstring strain usually calls for extended rest. Even if he stays on the active roster, Pagan will likely take a few days off. That means Gregor Blanco is in line for some starts in left.

It won’t really be a step down in production. After a hot April, Pagan has not hit much in May, going 5-for-31. Blanco is a good fourth outfielder, but he doesn’t inspire much as a regular in the batting order. Given the Giants’ options, Blanco’s defense is probably too good to keep him on the bench, but it would be interesting to see what Jarrett Parker or Mac Williamson could do with some consistent play.

Giants winning in unlikely fashion

The Giants have won 11 of their last 12 games. It’s an amazing run, for sure. But even more amazing: they haven’t scored more than five runs in any of those games. I don’t how to check historical data to see how many teams have won that much in a 12-game block while only averaging a tad over 3 runs per game, but I would be curious to know just how rare it is. (It doesn’t have to be a 12-game block, per se. Maybe 10 or more games.) If anyone has an idea how to do that research, please let me know.

In seven of those games, Giants pitching has allowed either one or no runs. That includes shutouts in the two most recent games, and four consecutive games of allowing one run. They will try to continue their winning ways (perhaps with a few more runs…?) Tuesday night, when Jeff Samardzija takes on Andrew Cashner for the second game of the series at AT&T Park.

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