Jerar Encarnacion makes his long awaited return to the Giants after a two month recovery from a broken hand. The news came with the shock that outfielder Luis Matos was sent to Sacramento, meaning LaMonte Wade Jr. stays with SF, to the chagrin of impatient fans. Also, I offer a scouting report for the series with San Diego, and some old school pitchers weigh in on MLB's misuse of pitchers.

Hitting remains impotent for the SF Giants as they get swept by the Detroit Tigers. What's at the heart of their miseries? They don't hit with count leverage. They pass up on "cookies," fastballs down the middle. They've stopped stealing bases. They don't score early or often. So, maybe a shipment of new bats will help.

Mark Kotsay continues to worship at the altar of the 100 pitch count limit, and it cost him again when he lifted Luis Severino after 98 pitches. The A's bullpen proceeded to blow another game en route to their 9th straight loss. Did the press ask Kotsay why he took Severino out, though he'd given up just 2 runs and 0 walks over 6 innings? No. Did they ask Severino if he could have gone another inning? No.

All the Giants had to do was wait til A's Manager Mark Kotsay made the call to the bullpen Sunday. After getting stifled by lefty starting pitcher Jeffrey Springs for 6 2/3 innings, the Giants went to work against the A's relievers and pulled off another late inning win, thanks to big contributions from struggling LaMonte Wade Jr., Patrick Bailey and Heliot Ramos.

A's Manager Mark Kotsay's decision to walk Mike Yastrzemski to load the bases in the bottom of the 10th inning backfired when closer Mason Miller walked the major league's top RBI guy Wilmer Flores for a 1-0 Giants win over the A's.

Wilmer Flores had gone 18 games without a home run, stuck on 7 since April 21. And then the A's Effed around with him and Found out. A breakdown of his grand slam, and how the Giants worked A's starting pitcher JP Sears to load the bases. Also, a look at the mastery of Logan Webb, who held Sacramento to 5 hits over 8 innings.

Some bitterness lingers over the fact that the Giants and A's "rivalry" continues in a new "I-80" format. But, this series is actually important for both teams, which are looking to rebound from recent skids. Plus, a trivia question about two players with the same name who played for SF and Oakland.

The Giants' losing streak is now at four; the hitters are in a crisis. Only Heliot Ramos seems to know what he's doing at the plate. Pitchers have got to be growing frustrated by going unrewarded with stellar performances. My trivia question goes back to the 2010 World Series championship series with echoes of similar hitting woes.