SAN FRANCISCO -- The Giants and Mets played a long one Thursday, and while Friday's game checked in under three hours, it also started late because of a birthday celebration. But Buster Posey is in there for the day-game-after-night-game.
"Buster feels great," said manager Bruce Bochy, who checked on all his starters.
Posey also wanted to catch Matt Moore for the first time as the left-hander looks to pick up his first win as a Giant. He'll also try to extend the winning streak to three games.
Bochy has finally found a consistent lineup, and he's starting to see consistency from key players, too. Hunter Pence looks like he's back to being Hunter Pence, and Joe Panik has found his swing on this homestand. Panik will not, however, move back to his familiar No. 2 spot anytime soon. Angel Pagan has a 17-game hitting streak.
"You can't move Angel," Bochy said. "What a terrific job this guy has done for us and he's been so steady and solid. He's not going anywhere. It's just been so consistent with him."
--- Josh Osich struck out three and gave up just one hit while going back-to-back for the River Cats the past two nights. Bochy said Osich is close to being ready to end his rehab assignment, but the thinking right now is that he'll be optioned to Triple-A once the rehab part is over. Osich is expected to return Sept. 1 when rosters expand.
This hasn't been a traditional rehab process for him, in part because he insisted from the beginning that he wanted to keep pitching. The Giants have used the break to overhaul some parts of his game, starting with a move on the rubber. He used to dig in all the way toward third base, but he's moved halfway across the rubber. The Giants eventually would like him to move even closer to the first base side. The point of all this: Find a better way to get right-handed hitters out.
Left-handed hitters have a .457 OPS against Osich. Right-handers are at 1.148, with a .674 slugging percentage. Osich was supposed to be the next Jeremy Affeldt, a pitcher capable of getting righties and lefties. The Giants don't want him to turn into a lefty specialist, and the thinking is that the move can allow his 98 mph fastball to run in on right-handers from a different angle. The hope is also that Osich can hit the outside corner more effectively from the new spot, forcing right-handed hitters to lean out over the plate.
In addition to that change, Osich has been instructed to throw a ton of changeups during his time in Triple-A.
"That's a big pitch for him" Bochy said. "It's hard to work on that here, because you go out and focus on getting outs."
--- For the weekend crowd, here is a podcast with Ryan Vogelsong.
