The Original Game » usch surrendered the lead only once -- when he pitt

PHOENIX -- The National League West seems to be slowly slipping away from the San Francisco Giants, and even a postseason spot is in jeopardy. Adidas Matt Stajan Jersey .After posting the best record in the majors at the All-Star break, the Giants have had the worst record since.San Franciscos seemingly secure four-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers five weeks ago has evaporated, to the point where the Giants find themselves five games behind the Dodgers with 25 games to play in the regular season and clinging to a tenuous lead in the NL wild card race. The Dodgers have gained ground despite the fact that ace Clayton Kershaw has been out since June 26 with a herniated disk.The Giants enter a three-game series at the Arizona Diamondbacks this weekend trying to right matters after falling three more games behind the Dodgers in the last 10 days.Arizona had had a little bit to do with the recent shift in the balance of power.The Diamondbacks split a two-game series in San Francisco on the final two days of August in the first stop of a three-city road trip that concluded when they were swept in Los Angeles in a three-game set that ended Wednesday. The Giants, meanwhile, lost two of three in Colorado, giving up three runs in the ninth inning of a 6-5 loss Wednesday.You have to win games youre supposed to win, Giants manager Bruce Bochy told reporters.The Giants could look at this as a supposed-to-win series close to a must-win one, although the Giants and Dodgers do meet six times in the final 13 games of the season.San Francisco is 10-6 against the Diamondbacks this season and has won 10 of 12 against them since being swept in a four-game series at home during the second week of April. Arizona is 25-43 at home.Madison Bumgarner, a top NL Cy Young candidate, will oppose Arizona right-hander Rubby De La Rosa in Fridays series opener. De La Rosa will make his first start since going on the disabled list in late May with right elbow soreness. He threw 30 pitches in his most recent rehab assignment on Monday for Class A Visalia, so he is likely on a severe pitch limit.Bumgarner, 14-8 with a 2.51 ERA, has won four of his last five starts but has a 4.20 ERA over that span. He beat the Chicago Cubs last Saturday -- the only game the Giants won in that four-game series -- and is 2/3 with a 1.22 ERA in his last five starts against Arizona.The day before the All-Star break, Bumgarner beat Arizona with one of the best games of his career, striking out 14 and giving up only one hit, an eight-inning single by Jake Lamb, in a 4-0 victory on July 10.Part of San Franciscos trouble is a lack of offense. The Giants have only 39 homers since the All-Star beak, the second-fewest in the majors. Brandon Belts homer in Colorado on Wednesday broke a streak of 254 homerless at-bats for Belt, Brandon Crawford and Buster Posey, the top three home run hitters on the team. Posey has gone 150 at-bats without a blast.Arizona did not hit well in Los Angeles, scoring only five runs in the sweep while facing three rookie starters.Diamondbacks second baseman Jean Segura had 30 hits in each of the first five months of the season, the first player in franchise history to do that. Luis Gonzalez had five straight 30-hit months from May to September in 2000. Segura has 35 doubles and 30 stolen bases, joining Jonathan Villar and Starling Marte as the only 30-30 players in the majors. Brett Kulak Jersey . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Adidas Michael Stone Jersey . -- Tony Stewart is 20 pounds lighter and has a titanium rod in his surgically repaired right leg. http://www.cheapflamesjerseys.com/?tag=a...macinnis-jersey . Team physician Dr. Steve Traina performed the surgery Friday. Robinson was injured in a spill underneath the Nuggets basket during the first quarter of Wednesday nights loss to the Charlotte Bobcats. INDIANAPOLIS -- Kyle Busch spent Saturday climbing in and out of brutally hot cars in Indianapolis.All that work finally got him back to a pretty cool spot in Victory Lane -- and some ice cold water.After claiming two poles Saturday afternoon, Busch returned to the track and led all but one lap to win his second straight NASCAR Xfinity Series race at the track by 0.415 seconds over hard-charging Kevin Harvick. Paul Menard was third, 1.338 seconds off the pace.Id like to hope so, the 2015 Cup season champion said after being asked if he can keep this up after earning his seventh Xfinity win this season and record-extending 83rd of his career. I dont know exactly how many [races] I have left, thats changing every day. But, hopefully, with whatever we have left, we can have the same amount of success weve had here.Busch has been virtually unbeatable on Indys 2.5-mile oval all weekend.He posted the fastest practice times in both the Xfinity and Sprint Cup Series on Friday, won the poles, captured the first of two heat races to establish the rest of the starting order and put himself in position to secure his second straight sweep of the two races in Indy.No NASCAR driver has ever won both poles and both races here.The only prize Busch didnt claim Saturday was the $100,000 dash-for-cash prize, for which he was ineligible. That payout went to fifth-place finisher Justin Allgaier, who was the best of the non-Cup regulars. Allgaier said the thermometer in his car reached 137 degrees.How dominant has Busch been?The Joe Gibbs Racing sttar held off two former Brickyard 400 winners and one, Harvick, couldnt even catch the leader after taking new tires during the final caution period, which extended the race to 63 laps. Jarome Iginla Jersey. The difference: Buschs perfectly timed restarts.New tires for those guys were good for them, not so much for us, Busch said after completing the final 36 laps without a stop. On the restarts, the second-to-last one was really good. The last one was OK.It was at least good enough.Busch surrendered the lead only once -- when he pitted after 27 laps -- and retook the lead when Brendan Gaughan made his pit stop.The only other time Buschs lead was even in jeopardy occurred after rookie Roy Black Jr. hit the wall in the second turn, slid down the track and was hit by Harrison Rhodes, bringing out a caution with six laps to go.Harvick, who drives for Stewart-Haas Racing, and Kyle Larson, who drives for Chip Ganassi Racing, both stopped and changed tires. But they wound up battling each other so hard that they couldnt catch Busch.Our goal was to overachieve today, and we did that, Harvick said. We had a couple of good restarts and wound up second. Not a bad day.Even if Buschs day was much more rewarding.I think our chances are pretty good, Busch said, referring to the Brickyard 400. Starting up front means a lot here in Indy. I think our Toyota today was strong. I think our Toyota tomorrow will be even stronger. 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