The Giants are home until the All-Star break and aren't just looking up at the Dodgers in the NL West.

They're looking up at the Manny-led Dodgers.

The Giants didn't gain ground on Los Angeles after Manny Ramirez was suspended. On the other hand, they didn't fall off the face of the earth. They enter their weekend series against Houston trailing the Dodgers by 7 1/2 games.

When Ramirez was suspended for violating baseball's drug program in early May, the Giants trailed by 6 1/2 games.

Had they won Thursday, it would have been 6 1/2 again. But they took a 5-2 loss in St. Louis.

Giants fans had hoped Ramirez's absence would drastically hurt the Dodgers, but the Dodgers still own the majors' best record.

So while the Giants have stayed about the...

A 30-minute talk with two coaches and some intense film study helped Todd Wellemeyer rebound impressively from his worst start of the season. On Saturday, the right-hander lasted just 2 1-3 innings, giving up three runs against Minnesota. The half-hour conversation with pitching coach Dave Duncan and bullpen coach Marty Mason and looking at some tapes worked well as Wellemeyer allowed two runs and...

Colby Rasmus got a break when third baseman Pablo Sandoval dropped his foul pop in the 10th inning. Then Bob Howry had to come after the rookie with a full count and Albert Pujols on deck. None of that was on Rasmus' mind when he led off the 10th inning with his first game-ending home run, lifting the St.

Albert Pujols has more home runs than strikeouts against Randy Johnson after going deep two more times off the big left-hander. So what if the St. Louis Cardinals' star is 11 for 24 with five homers, 14 RBIs and four strikeouts against the Big Unit? Johnson did enough against everybody else to earn his third straight decision and 303rd of his career in the San Francisco Giants' 6-3 victory...

Ryan Sadowski collected three game balls, not one, to remember his first major league victory. Sadowski kept his first major league pitch, first strikeout and first hit after pitching six scoreless innings in his debut, helping the San Francisco Giants avoid a three-game sweep with a 7-0 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Sunday.

Down by two runs in the ninth, Milwaukee refused to give in to the San Francisco Giants. Prince Fielder hit a three-run homer in the sixth and then knocked in the winning run as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied with three runs in the ninth for a wild 7-6 win over the Giants on Saturday night. "The odds of us coming back, I wouldn't say were slim, but real low," Fielder said.

Trying to rebound from a recent losing streak with a patchwork starting rotation, the Milwaukee Brewers turned to Yovani Gallardo. And starting opposite another one of the National League's best young pitchers, Gallardo didn't disappoint. Milwaukee's 23-year-old burgeoning ace outdueled San Francisco's Matt Cain, lifting the Brewers to a 5-1 victory over the Giants on Friday night.

Randy Johnson is rejuvenated with the San Francisco Giants. He follows reigning NL Cy Young Award winner Tim Lincecum in the rotation, then sees nine-game winner Matt Cain pitch after him. "I can't say I feel any younger watching them pitch," Johnson said. "I'm enjoying this year as much as any year I've ever enjoyed because I'm making my pitches." Johnson earned...

Tim Lincecum had to work a little harder for this one. Even a few jams weren't enough to faze him. The reigning NL Cy Young Award winner pitched a seven-hitter in another complete game against Oakland, Pablo Sandoval and Edgar Renteria each hit RBI doubles and the San Francisco Giants beat the Athletics 4-1 on Tuesday night.