Every MLB team seems to have two or three regular season series that end up defining their season. Those games can happen early in a season or during the final week; they can be played against really good teams or teams going nowhere.

In reality, these season-defining match-ups are almost always clearly identified only after the season ends. Of course that doesn't stop the endless declarations that dozens of Giant series and games are "critically important" throughout the season.

Broadcasters are paid to hype every series ("they're all critical...") and fans tend to focus on certain teams-- has there ever been a Dodgers series that Giant fans didn't feel was extremely important?

But I think the importance of these kinds of games and series are really about the state of your team. What's happening with the roster, is the team climbing, wallowing, or falling in the standings. Are expectations being met or are systemic failures beginning to pile up.

For the San Francisco Giants I think this weekend's three game series with the Colorado Rockies could be one of the most important series of the first half of the season for a number of reasons strictly about the Giants:

>  the Giants just lost starter Ryan Vogelsong for the equivalent of half a season;
>  they seem to be stuck in a first place mudpile with Arizona and Colorado and can't create any separation;
>  reliever Santiago Casilla just went on the DL and the Giants' bullpen is not the same without him;
>  the jury is still out on just what Tim Lincecum is bringing to the table this year, and this is also a demonstration year for Barry Zito, who faces a potential team buyout option after October.

On the positive side, the Giants are second in the Majors in home wins at 17-8 (the Pirates have won 18 home games), and Colorado pitchers have often seen their ERAs inflate by the inning when taking the mound at AT&T Park. Add to that Pablo Sandoval, Marco Scutaro, Buster Posey, and Hunter Pence are simply smacking the bejesus out of the ball.

Lincecum and Zito will pitch, respectively, tonight and Saturday with Matt Cain throwing the finale on Sunday. Three starters with a lot on the line and a team with significant injury issues.

In the middle of it all, an excellent opportunity to pull out the defibrillator paddles and jump some much-needed life into this 2013 season.

Note: I will add brief analysis and comments here after each of the Colorado games this weekend.

Game 1 - SFG vs COL Friday 5/24/13  --  COL 5 SFG 0
Three things defined this lackluster performance by the Giants:

1. Tim Lincecum gave up 4 earned runs in 7 innings. That's a 5.12 ERA, so forget the 8 strikeouts because they really didn't matter in this game.
2. Colorado had 3 RBIs with 2 out; the Giants went 0-4 with runners in scoring position (RISP).
3. Giants' left fielder Gregor Blanco went 1 for 4 (a single with 2 out in the 2nd inning).
Left field has to be a run-producing position for San Francisco and it has not been all year long. Blanco and Andres Torres are killing the offense.
Whenever your left fielder is batting 7th in the line-up (strike 1), and his one hit is a single (strike 2), with none on and two outs (strike 3) = you are f--ked.
On competitive MLB teams, the left fielder is batting 3-4-5 in the line-up and the offense doesn't stop after the #6 hitter. Like it does with the Giants.

Game 2 - SFG vs COL Saturday 5/25/13

This was the season the San Francisco Giants planned to give the 2012 World Championship team a chance to repeat the magic in 2013.

Other than improving the bullpen (Chad Gaudin for Guillermo Mota), changing back-up catchers (Guillermo Quiroz for Hector Sanchez) and back-up infielders (Nick Noonan for Ryan Theriot), this season's squad was the essentially same one that swept the Detroit Tigers four straight games last October.

2013 is the final contract year for starters Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito, and Ryan Vogelsong, so Giants' management knew they had to prepare for potentially huge changes to the team's celebrated starting pitching staff.

But, in the time it takes to throw one pitch, 2014 just got bumped up.

In last night's 8-0 win over the Washington Nationals starter Ryan Vogelsong swung at a Craig Stammem fastball in the 5th inning and it connected with his right little finger. Two bones in Vogelsong's right pinkie were broken and a knuckle on the same finger was dislocated.

(Ryan Vogelsong is a tough competetor and one tough dude. If anyone can bounce back from an injury like this, he can and hopefully will.)

Vogelsong is expected to out for a month and a half following surgery on his finger, with maybe another six weeks of rehab-- which puts him out until about August 20th. That's up to 18 missed starts if everything goes well.

Which is why long reliever Chad Gaudin should not be "filling in" for Vogelsong until his return. Not only would that be way too much to ask of Gaudin, more importantly it would disrupt the balanced bullpen GM Brian Sabean and Manager Bruce Bochy crafted going into the 2013 season.

Fans often suggest that bullpen pitchers should easily be able to start whenever needed, not realizing the damaging domino effect that can have on the bullpen, and the season. Chad Gaudin fills a critical role in San Francisco's bullpen, so even if you thought he could take on 15-18 starts the rest of the season, his spot in the bullpen would have to be replaced by a quality long reliever.

Attempting to turn Gaudin into a starter at this point would mean that Vogelsong's injury would end up hurting both the starting rotation and the bullpen. Which is not a good long term plan.

The Giants do have options. Speculation is already out there about bringing up one of two Triple-A Fresno starters: 25 year old Chris Heston (5-2, 5.33, 1.66, 46 SO in 50.2 IP) or 24 year old Michael Kickham (2-4, 4.72, 1.53, 50 SO in 47.2 IP).

And it could well be that Heston or Kickham (or more likely veteran Shane Loux) is brought up for a couple of starts to give the team time to do what it really needs to do: trade for a competent veteran starting pitcher.

The Giants aren't just a world championship team-- they are a world class organization with the resources and commitment to overcome losing any starting player on the team. In this case you're talking about replacing a starting pitcher for nearly half a season.

The only logical solution here is to make the best deal for the best available starting pitcher and continue what has so far been a successful, although somewhat bumpy, 2013 season.

The Vogelsong injury is just the type of scenario that should remind Giants' fans that this organization has the financial resources to go out and get almost any player(s) they need to succeed, without having to depend on their poorly-rated minor league system.

Even in the unlikely case the Giants did end up cutting ties with Lincecum, Zito, and/or Vogelsong at the end of 2013, this franchise is one of the wealthiest and most successful in professional sports.

They may still hope their fans believe the myth that San Francisco is a "small market" team, but in reality they are fully capable of entering the trade or free agent markets to solve just about any roster problem.

The 2013 National League West simply will not stand still and cooperate. And it's annoying to the national sports media who are scrambling to do their best to write this season's pre-packaged NL West story-- i.e., which team will finish ahead of the San Francisco Giants.

Most pre-season predictions about the NL West are disappearing faster than executive careers at the IRS.

In March virtually everyone with a laptop anointed the Los Angeles Dodgers and their newly purchased team as the favorites to take the West this season.

When that appeared to not be happening by the end of April, the nation's sports media mavens moved on to their next NL Western Division "big story"-- the Colorado Rockies were for real and it looked like they just might make a big move in 2013.

But a topsy-turvy April is slowly sorting itself out and actual performance is beginning to replace wishful thinking:

> The early favorite Los Angeles Dodgers and their $220 million payroll are in last place at 15-22 and the team's 9-13 home record is giving their easily distracted fans more reasons to stay home and watch reality shows on their 72" TVs. 

>  LA Manager Don Mattingly seems to be a wonderful guy-- but while Dodger ownership can apparently print and shred money, they can't win with Mattingly. He's as laid back as a Santa Monica surfer and there are sharks in the water.  

>  Oh, and this breaking news just in from CNN: the Colorado Rockies are probably not going to outplay the San Francisco Giants or the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2013 and take the National League West. The Rockies actual "big story" this season would be to try to finish in third place ahead of the flashy Dodgers and the young and talented San Diego Padres.      

>  The San Francisco Giants at 23-15 have the second best record in the National League (St. Louis is 24-13) and are scoring an average of 4.58 runs per game-- just enough to support their pitching.

>  Giant pitching is only 8th out of 16 NL teams in WHIP (1.27) and ERA (3.71). Still, they lead the NL in strikeouts (320), are in second place with 13 saves (the Pirates have 16), and are 2nd in NL shutouts with 5 (St. Louis has 7 shutouts).

But the broken record plays on: the Giants have to increase run production.

>  Giant rookie outfielder Francisco Peguero was just sent back to Triple-A Fresno after 16 at-bats and three hits. GM Brian Sabean has always over-valued veteran ballplayers, so he is holding on to the Gregor Blanco/Andres Torres solution to the left field problem.

Torres and Blanco have a collective .678 OPS this season and they've combined to hit into 6 double plays in only five weeks of baseball. Let's hope Peguero gets a longer look sooner than later and is given a chance to contribute the real offense San Francisco needs.

>  The Giants called up minor league first baseman Brett Pill from Fresno. Pill has put up good numbers at Fresno (batting .341) but his MO has always been that he hits well in the minors and then can't get it done at the Major League level. Pill had several call-ups in 2011 and 2012, but he hit .239 with a mediocre .702 OPS in 62 games for San Francisco over that time.

Brett Pill will be 29 this year and it's not a coincidence that he isn't listed on any top 20 (or 30) lists of Giant prospects. Worse, since Pill can only play first base his presence on the roster means that Brandon Belt will lose playing time, which is not good for Belt or for the team.

Belt could be moved to left field, but here's the problem: the possibility that Pill has magically morphed into a very good hitter, after a history of being an underperforming hitter, is slight. To disrupt Brandon Belt's development to get a temporarily hot bat into the line-up seems short-sighted at best.

Brandon Belt brings world class defense at first base and is starting to be the extra base power hitter the Giants desperately need in their everyday line-up. Why mess with that?

In a move reported by San Francisco Chronicle beat writer Henry Schulman, the Giants have called up outfielder Francisco Peguero from Triple-A Fresno, where he was batting .415 and scorching the baseball.

To make room on the roster San Francisco optioned their #3 catcher, Hector Sanchez, to Fresno. The 23 year old Sanchez was Buster Posey's back-up throughout the team's 2012 Championship season and a switch-hitting pinch hitter off the bench who had shown great promise.

But management was not pleased when Sanchez reported to Spring Training out of condition and then proceeded to go into a hitting slump. His OPS in 11 April games was .411 and he was less than agile behind the plate.

Francisco Peguero, 24, had an outstanding 2013 Spring, hitting .328 with an .833 OPS. and would likely have made the team but the math worked against him. Hoping that Sanchez would straighten out at the plate, the Giants took the rare step of going with three catchers to start the 2013 season. And Peguero was shipped to Fresno.

Despite a good 16-12 start to the Giants' season, two things have become very clear: first, the Andres Torres/Gregor Blanco platoon in left field is not only hurting the offense but Torres' average-at-best defense is declining right before our eyes.

Secondly, veteran catcher Guillermo Quiroz demonstrated to management he could be a solid defensive back-up to Posey and was not lost at the plate.

So Francisco Peguero, who had a 1.017 OPS and .433 OBP so far this season for the Fresno Grizzlies, will have a chance to to add power, speed and defense to the Giants attack.

Peguero will likely start out platooning with Gregor Blanco in left field, but the hope is that he will step up and take over full-time in left and bring another potent bat to the everyday line-up. Gregor Blanco's potential role as the fourth outfielder would also improve the team's bench with the addition of his excellent defense and pinch running abilities.

Francisco Peguero's call-up should not be a short-term audition. This is a serious promotion for a top-notch organizational prospect and the Giants should be all-in with Peguero until at least the All Star break. No matter how he starts out.

For now, the pressure is off. San Francisco's positive start to the season should allow management to relax and really see what this potentially outstanding young hitter can do.

The San Francisco Giants had no idea the Dog Days of August would make an ugly guest appearance in late April.

A promising 13-7 record kicked off the 2013 season but that delicious ice cream cake quickly melted into a sticky 13-12 mess, courtesy of the Giants' current 5 game losing streak. For diehard fans, stamp the word "Titanic" on the outside of AT&T Park, sprinkle some ice cubes on the ground and many would feel the disaster is complete.

First, San Francisco's celebrated starters seem to be giving up more runs than Caribbean cruise line passengers. And the offense has dipped to 4.28 runs per game. If that number doesn't change Giants' players will have to contact StubHub to attend October baseball.  

Of course the local sport talk radio waves are awash with the kind of desperate, delusional rantings you'd normally expect to hear either from a locked psychiatric facility or Chicago Cub fans. "Trade Lincecum", "move Brandon Crawford to clean-up", "bring Brett Pill up from the Minors to play 1st base", "dump Scutaro".

Someone needs to tell Bruce Bochy to stop calling the talk shows.

But there's good news. Actually great news. Even a brief peek at the numbers beyond wins/losses and Matt Cain's  0-2 6.59 ERA start suggests the San Francisco Giants are having a temporary hic-cup and will shortly rearrange the deck chairs in the National League West.

April Pitching
San Francisco's pitchers have put up a 1.22 WHIP, third best among sixteen National League Clubs. Their strikeouts to walks ratio is 2.86, second only to the Reds (3.52). Which means they're pitching really well and an uptweak in run support will have a huge impact on their win-loss lines.

And the bullpen? Giants relievers are doing their usual outstanding work: 4th in WHIP (1.12) among 30 Major League teams and 4th in ERA (2.62) in the NL. Pittsburgh's bullpen leads the Majors with a 1.09 WHIP and the Atlanta bullpen leads the Majors with a 2.18 ERA.

Bottom line here: sure, Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong may have a combined 1-4 record, but Madison Bumgarner and Barry Zito are 6-1. When Cain and Vogelsong start to come around National League hitters will have to pad their stats somewhere other than AT&T Park the rest of the season.   

April Run Scoring
In their first 25 games of the season the Giants have had 16 games decided by 2 runs or less, 10 games by 1 run. While San Francisco batters are 6th in the National League in runs scored with 107 (Colorado has 127), there are several offensive problems that need to be fixed sooner than later.

Since the 2010 Championship season, the Giants' offensive has been built around extra base hits. Just enough home runs, but a boatload of doubles and triples to drive the offensive engine. In 2010, the Giants were 7th in NL XBH with 475; in 2012 they came in at 9th with 447.

Currently San Francisco's offense ranks 27th among 30 MLB teams in extra base hits with 60. That projects out to 388 for the year and that would define an offensive collapse.

Marco Scutaro (.215/.260/.269) and Brandon Belt (.231/.287/.321) have had slow starts to the season with the predictable impact on run scoring. But time and ABs will eventually bring Scutaro and Belt back as productive hitters.

Meanwhile Angel Pagan (.280, 19 runs), Pablo Sandoval (.812 OPS, 19 RBI), Buster Posey (.877 OPS, 10 XBH), and Hunter Pence (13 RBI, 9 XBH) have been excellent in April, and Brandon Crawford has had a stunning start (.907 OPS, 14 RBI, 11 XBH).

So this is not a systemic line-up crisis.

The Problem
The problem is left field, where the tandem of Gregor Blanco (.664 OPS, 6 RS) and Andres Torres (.587 OPS, .260 OBP) are just dragging the offense down.

Although part time players, Torres and Blanco have already grounded into 5 double plays this season (Michael Young of the Phillies leads the NL with 6 GDP).

Successful teams use left field as a high run-production position because you can put an average defensive player in left and not be hurt. For San Francisco, left field is the weakest link in their hitting attack and one they can't afford to sustain.

A large number of those extra base hits the Giants depend on getting each year should be coming from left field, and right now it's a black hole. That's something that Brian Sabean will have to address before the trading deadline, or sooner if an opportunity comes up.

Because this thing ain't getting any easier. The upcoming May schedule is going to be a tough test of this team's grit and talent-- they have 11 games against baseball's best teams: Atlanta (4), Oakland (4), the Nationals (3); and also the Dodgers (3).

So we will know a lot more about the 2013 San Francisco Giants on June 1st.

I recently got an email query from Bryan O'Connor of the Replacement Level Baseball Blog. Bryan was asking members of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance (BBA) to answer the following question about the 2013 MLB season:

"What five baseball teams would you most like to see succeed in 2013, and which five teams would you most like to see fail?"

Providing commentary rather than simply a list of teams in each category makes this a fascinating question. Baseball bloggers tend to be fans of specific teams and detached analysis about their favorite team, or the rest of Major League Baseball, is often not a priority.

Maybe that's why they routinely get thousands more hits than I do.

Anyway, here is my response to Bryan O'Connor's query (and check his website to read all the responses when they're posted):

Five MLB teams I would like to see succeed in 2013:
1. Tampa Bay Rays
Maybe the smartest and best organized franchise top to bottom in the game. Manager Joe Maddon has old school crustiness but may be the most innovative manager in baseball-- the Rays actually have different defensive set-ups for every batter their pitchers face. Tampa also has a continual array of super talented minor league players coming up through the ranks, the front office is expert at knowing who to trade and when, and this is a team that actually utilizes sabermetric research on a day-to-day basis.
2. San Francisco Giants
Historic chance to win 3 of the last 4 World Series. San Francisco's dedication to a pitching+defense attack runs counter to modern baseball's increasing (and tedious) reliance on home runs to win games. For decades a poorly managed franchise, the Giants have been reborn and are thriving in the Peter Magowan/Larry Baer era.
3. San Diego Padres
An organization without focus for years, winning just two NL pennants in 45 years. In the past two years the Padres have assembled a fascinating group of talented home-grown players and failed phenoms discarded by other teams. They could be poised to take the next big step.  
4. Oakland A's
GMs are rarely innovative, brilliant, and chance-takers. A's GM Billy Beane is all that and more. The team has a legendary history of success, and is a low payroll team of hard-nosed players who routinely dominate high-priced high-profile teams. And this organization succeeds and makes money despite being ignored and mishandled by Oakland's clueless elected officials.
5. Washington Nationals
A franchise that failed for decades in Montreal is reborn in DC and now poised to be a dominant National League team. The Nats have two of the most exciting young players in the game, Bryce Harper and Stephen Strasburg. This is a story that deserves a successful ending.

Special Mention: Is there anyone who isn't rooting for the Boston Red Sox to have a great 2013 season after the terrible events surrounding the Boston Marathon bombing? Ease their pain... . 

Five MLB teams I would like to see fail in 2013:
[Note: I don't spend time hoping for failure for anyone or any entity. For the sake of this survey I will list five teams that either annoy me or for which I don't have a high level of respect.]
1. Los Angeles Dodgers
Just because. And now that the new Dodgers' ownership has been tossing millions of dollars into various shredders (doing their best imitation of the 1999 New York Yankees) there are even more reasons to dislike the entire organization from top to bottom.
2. New York Yankees
Decades of arrogance, money to burn, and incredible success have made millions of MLB fans both envious and resentful of the New York Yankees. And now that the Yankees are stumbling in their own poo, there is smug contentment across the land. The MLB revenues distributed to all 30 teams have permanently eliminated the old "big market/small market" models; in the future the Yankees will have to use their heads instead of their wallets to build championship teams.
3. New York Mets
Rarely has a high revenue, high profile MLB organization been so ineptly run. In the decade before the brilliant Sandy Alderson finally took over in 2011, virtually every aspect of the Mets' franchise was mismanaged at levels that would take your breath away. All of which deserves several more years of desultory bottom-feeding in the NL East.
4. Miami Marlins
Marlins ownership has routinely and arrogantly mistreated its fans over the years. There is a trust factor involved in the partnership between sport teams and their fan base. The Florida franchise has trampled on that trust by repeatedly building championship teams then selling off the players for profit the following year. This is not a business model taught in MBA graduate schools, but it's normal (and profitable) operating procedure in Miami.
5. Pittsburgh Pirates
In my lifetime I would like to see an MLB team post 25 consecutive losing seasons. A quarter of a century. And the Pirates only have 5 seasons to go.

Information about Jackie Robinson's Major League Baseball career and stats.

The 2013 season opening schedule for the World Champion San Francisco Giants looked like it was put together during a blind tasting of Walmart brand vodkas.

That might explain why the winners of the 2012 World Series, a) opened on the road in Los Angeles (I suppose because Modesto doesn't have an MLB team); b) were almost immediately sent on another road trip, this time to the frozen north (Chicago and Milwaukee); and, c) have an early stretch of 19 games and one off day.

Welcome to the top of the MLB heap. Now pick up your gear and walk through the snow to the visiting dugout.

The good news is the Giants converted their first 13 games into a 9-4 record thanks in large part to being on the right side of 6 games decided by 2 runs or less and throwing three shutouts at, variously, the Dodgers, the Cardinals, and the Rockies.

As the ancient cliche goes, great teams are made in large part by dominating lesser teams throughout a given season. Play the real good teams head-to-head and hope for the best, but pound the bad teams to pad your win column.

There are few teams in the game worse than the Chicago Cubs (61-101 in 2012) and the Colorado Rockies (64-98 in 2012). In fact, I'll go out on a limb and openly identify the Houston Astros as the only team worse than the Rockies and Cubs. (Although the Miami Marlins are on a mission to make the Cubs look good.) 

San Francisco played 7 of their first 13 games against Chicago and Colorado and came out the other end of those contests 6-1. Put a check next to "old baseball cliche".

They got shut out by Clayton Kershaw in the season opener in LA then proceeded to teach the Dodgers the Giants Way in the final two games of the 3 game set. Put a check by next to "must beat the Dodgers".

That made losing two of three at home to the St. Louis Cardinals palatable. Especially considering Barry Zito's brilliant 1-0 home opener win-- Zito went 7 scoreless innings giving up 3 hits and 3 walks with four strike-outs.

Three other highlights at the start of the 2013 season should be noted:

> Madison Bumgarner's dominating win in LA-- 8 scoreless innings pitched, 2 hits, no walks and 6 SOs;

> Hunter Pence in the batter's box at top of the 9th inning in Chicago. Giants down 7-6, with two outs and Pence down two strikes. Pence then hit a home run to tie the game, which the Giants went on to win in the 10th 10-7;

> rookie Nick Noonan's two-run single in the 6th inning of the same game against the Cubs that gave San Francisco its first lead of the day.

As always, "runs produced" will be the #1 critical measure of this team throughout the season. San Francisco put up a nice two week offensive burst with 61 runs scored, placing them the middle of the NL pack at 7th overall.

The question will be, can the Giants average at least 4.5 runs per game to keep their dominating pitching in play. In the first 13 games of the season they're averaging 4.69 runs per game; in 2012 San Francisco averaged 4.43 runs per game.

Somewhere in between those numbers lies a very important category: Just Enough to Win.

Nick Noonan's journey from 1st round pick in the 2007 amateur baseball draft (32nd overall) to getting his first Major League start as a San Francisco Giant this week could be described as circuitous.

In the same way that a Barry Zito curve ball drifts up, describes a parabola, then drops through that 17 inch square target umpires hopefully recognize as a strike.

A star shortstop out of Parker High School in San Diego, Nick Noonan was San Francisco's 4th overall pick (a pitcher named Madison Bumgarner was 1st). Known as a very good contact hitter with speed, after signing with the Giants Noonan soon found himself on a minor league roller coaster ride in the field and at the plate.

It's unclear whether the Giants' organization simply didn't know where they wanted to play Noonan and 2006 1st round pick shortstop Emmanuel Burriss in the infield, or that the front office wanted both players to get experience at multiple positions. Because for some reason the decision was made to turn Noonan into a second baseman and Burriss into a shortstop.

For Nick Noonan, the switch seemed to have a negative effect on his hitting. In 2007 he hit .316 with a .809 OPS in 52 games (first as a shortstop then a second baseman). His numbers dropped in 2008 (.279/.730), then the bottom fell out.

From 2009 to 2011 Nick Noonan's hitting regressed : 2009-- .259 AVG/.727 OPS; 2010-- .237/.584; 2011-- .229/.621. Particularly crazy was Noonan's 2011 season in professional baseball which found him at three different levels playing three different positions:

24 games at Single A+ San Jose as a third baseman, 3 games at second, 1 game at short. Then 71 games as a shortstop at Double A Richmond, and finally 13 games at shortstop for the Triple A Fresno Grizzlies. (At this point I just took a break to figure out where the hell I was in this piece.)

The turnaround came in 2012 when Noonan put up an improved slash line of .296/.347/.763 playing mostly shortstop for the Fresno Grizzlies. Then came Spring Training 2013.

The Giants had targeted 28 year old Tony Abreu as the guy they wanted to make the team out of Spring as a back-up infielder. Abreu, signed as an amateur free agent by the Dodgers in 2002, had six years of MLB experience at second, short and third base for the Dodgers, Arizona and Kansas City Royals. And Giants GM Brian Sabean already had Abreu on his radar for several years looking for the right opening.

After only two Spring ABs Tony Abreu went on the DL with strained quadriceps, the other back-up candidates faded somewhat, and Nick Noonan stepped up. In 27 games and 68 at-bats Noonan put up a .796 OPS. Most important of all for the Giants, Noonan's minor league experience at short, second and third were just what the team needed from a back-up.

In the end, being on a defensive merry-go-round for six years and sticking with it paid off for Nick Noonan.

And how, you ask, did Noonan's first career Major League start go? On Thursday April 11, 2013 Nick Noonan was the starting second baseman for the San Francisco Giants against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The Giants won 7-6 and Noonan went 3 for 5.

Twelve days into the 2013 season he has five hits in 11 at-bats-- which slashes out at a nice .455/.500/.455 start.

The newly purchased Los Angeles Dodgers started the 2013 season by rolling up to their home stadium in a fleet of high end BMWs, Lamborghinis, and Porsches.

Three games later the San Francisco Giants had those vehicles tagged, towed and impounded in the 2013 National League West cellar. And while it's not likely the Dodgers will continue to lose two of every three games, San Francisco sent a clear message about real high end value: having truly great starting and bullpen pitching is priceless.

In game one of the three game set San Francisco quietly took their latest loss at the hands of Dodger ace Clayton Kershaw 4-0. Kershaw has something in common with SF Giants' Principal Partner Charles Johnson-- they both own a big piece of the Giants.

San Francisco will be getting regularly scheduled visits from Kershaw throughout the next decade, and they will be extremely annoying.

Luckily these games tend to come in threes, and the Giants took the next two games 3-0 and 5-3.

Of special note in game two was Madison Bumgarner's eight inning, no runs, no walks masterpiece against the Dodgers' newly purchased South Korean starter Hyun-Jin Ryu. Bumgarner also hit a run scoring single and Giants closer Sergio Romo earned his first save of the season.

The final game against LA was a series of all out battles. It was Tim Lincecum battling the Dodgers, Lincecum versus his catcher Hector Sanchez, and Lincecum trying to wrestle down his wild fastball. It wasn't pretty but fans certainly got their money's worth:

Tim Lincecum pitched 5 innings, threw 91 pitches, walked 7, struck out 4, did not give up an earned run, and knocked in one of the Giants' five runs.

When the dust settled, third baseman Pablo Sandoval had a two run homer off of recently purchased Dodger starter Josh Beckett in the 3rd inning and Hunter Pence added a solo shot in the 6th. Angel Pagan followed the script for the evening by scoring a run and knocking in an RBI without getting a hit.

Particularly sweet in this first meeting of the season were the performances of LA's two big sluggers: center fielder Matt Kemp went 0-10 in the series, first baseman Adrian Gonzalez went 1-9.

But don't be fooled-- this will be a challenging season for the San Francisco Giants.

Many smart baseball writers picked the Los Angeles Dodgers to win the National League West title. Monster teams like the Washington Nationals, the Cincinnati Reds and the Atlanta Braves are out there waiting for their turn to tame the 2012 World Champions and grab the 2013 National League pennant.

But they should be careful where they park their fancy cars on game days.