Vogelsong broke two bones in his right pinkie area and also dislocated a knuckle in the hand on a swing May 20 and underwent surgery the next day. He had five pins inserted in his hand during the procedure at Stanford, performed by orthopedist Dr. Tim McAdams. He will examine Vogelsong on Tuesday at AT&T Park.

“Other than waving a magic wand to make it heal, we’re doing the right things,” Vogelsong said Monday, before the opener of a three-game series with San Diego.

The expected recovery time is six to eight weeks until Vogelsong is pitching again, but he likely would need a rehab assignment before re-joining the Giants.

Vogelsong said that if an X-ray on Tuesday shows increased healing, he could have a couple of the pins removed and begin additional mobility exercises. The pins poke through Vogelsong’s skin beneath a protective brace.

“Hopefully there’s some pins coming out tomorrow,” he said. “That’s the plan, but obviously I don’t know for sure until I get some X-rays tomorrow and see how things are healing. It’s good news, but I’m a little worried about getting pins pulled out of my hand. It’ll be a good thing. I’ll get over it. I should be able to start moving it around a little bit more.”

The journeyman Vogelsong, a 2011 All-Star who received an $8.3 million, two-year contract in January 2012, was hurt on a swing when he chased an inside fastball from Washington’s Craig Stammen during an 8-0 victory against the Nationals last month.

He is 2-4 with a 7.19 ERA in nine starts this season, but was injured during his best outing of the year. Vogelsong won three games during the postseason last fall for the World Series champion Giants, including one during a 4-0 sweep of the Tigers for the team’s second championship in three years.

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Freddie Freeman hit in the clutch. Justin Upton, Jason Heyward and Andrelton Simmons saved runs with their gloves. Julio Teheran escaped bases-loaded jams in the fourth and sixth innings.

Gonzalez decided, though, that Ramiro Pena’s baserunning in the bottom of the sixth was his favorite.

“I thought the play of the game was the hustle by Pena,” Gonzalez said. “(Andres) Torres misplays that ball, and (Pena) hustles all the way and gets to third base, and we were able to execute a squeeze with Schafer and get an extra run.”

Freeman singled three times and drove in one run, Teheran pitched six innings and the Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants 3-0 on Sunday night.

Atlanta won its second straight to take the three-game series and increase its NL East lead to 6 1/2 games.

San Francisco, the defending World Series champion, has lost 14 of its last 20 on the road, but the Giants remained 1 1/2 games behind Arizona in the NL West.

Braves closer Craig Kimbrel pitched a scoreless ninth to earn his 19th save in 22 chances. Kimbrel struck out Andres Torres and Joaquin Arias before retiring Nick Noonan on a flyout.

Freeman, who began the night hitless in 11 career appearances against Giants starter Tim Lincecum, singled in his first three at-bats and improved his average to .456 with runners in scoring position — third-best in the majors.

One night after he drove in the winning run off Giants closer Sergio Romo, Freeman made it 1-0 in the first when his RBI single scored Andrelton Simmons from second.

“Here’s a guy that, going into the game, didn’t have very good numbers against Lincecum, but he’s swinging it pretty good,” Gonzalez said. “Got us a run early in the game.”

Freeman’s single in the third moved Justin Upton to second. The next batter, B.J. Upton, drove in his brother Justin from second to put Atlanta up 2-0.

Teheran (5-3) allowed seven hits and one walk. The 22-year-old struck out eight and benefited from stellar plays in the fourth by Heyward in right field and Justin Upton in left, and by Simmons at shortstop in the sixth that kept a run from scoring with the Braves holding a two-run lead.

“I thought it was going to be trouble (on Upton’s play),” Teheran said, “but everybody starting clapping and I was pretty excited.”

Lincecum (4-7) gave up six hits and five walks in six innings. Two of his three runs were earned, and he struck out three.

Torres, San Francisco’s left fielder, hurt his team in the bottom of the sixth when Pena’s single appeared to bounce off his right foot and toward the wall.

“Obviously he can’t let that ball get by him, and it ended up being another run,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “But they pitched well and played good defense. We had a couple of great opportunities of people just missing a hit.”

Pena, who reached third on Torres’ two-base fielding error, scored when pinch-hitter Jordan Schafer drove him in with a sacrifice squeeze bunt to make it 3-0.

Teheran struggled in his previous outing, a 7-6 loss at San Diego last Monday, but he beat the Giants for the second time in two starts against them since May 9.

Lincecum, a two-time NL Cy Young Award winner, dropped to 0-6 in his last nine starts and has a 6.69 ERA over that span.

Luis Avilan and Jordan Walden pitched scoreless innings for Atlanta in the seventh and eighth.

Jose Mijares and rookie Jake Dunning, who made his major league debut, held the Braves to one hit in the seventh and eighth.

Notes: Giants CF Angel Pagan said before the game that he’s still hoping to avoid surgery on his left hamstring. Pagan took a platelet-rich plasma injection behind his knee last Sunday and is still unable to run the bases. He’s missed 20 straight games with the injury. … Gonzalez said rookie RHP Alex Wood will start the first game of Tuesday’s doubleheader opposite Mets RHP Matt Harvey. … The Giants’ 6-5 loss Saturday was their first when leading after eight innings since July 4, 2012 at Washington. … San Francisco 3B Pablo Sandoval, on the disabled list with a strained left foot, holds a narrow lead over Mets 3B David Wright in balloting for the July 16 All-Star Game in New York.

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Bumgarner (6-4) was dominant in earning his second straight win. The left-hander did not allow a baserunner for 4 2-3 innings before losing his bid for a perfect game in the fifth and shot at a no-hitter in the sixth.

Bumgarner matched his season high with 10 strikeouts while walking one.

Atlanta’s Kris Medlen (3-7) lasted six innings and gave up four runs on nine hits, including a homer by Gregor Blanco to lead off the game. The Giants had five doubles off Medlen.

Buster Posey had three doubles. Blanco had two hits, including a run-scoring single in the second.

Rosario allowed one hit in two scoreless innings. Andrelton Simmons singled with one out in the ninth and moved to second base on Jason Heyward’s groundout. Rosario struck out Justin Upton to end the game.

The Braves, who were swept in a three-game series at San Diego to end a 2-5 road trip, have lost four straight.

Bumgarner, pitching one year and one day after teammate Matt Cain’s perfect game against Houston, did not allow a baserunner until B.J. Upton walked with two outs in the fifth. Bumgarner then struck out Uggla, who remained at home plate to argue the called third strike with umpire Gary Darling.

Atlanta’s Brian McCann also disagreed with a called third strike by Darling earlier in the fifth inning.

Chris Johnson led off the sixth with a bloop single to right-center field for Atlanta’s first hit.

The Giants took a 2-0 lead in the second when Joaquin Arias doubled and scored on Blanco’s single. The Giants added a run in the third on back-to-back doubles by Posey and Hunter Pence. Two more doubles by Posey and Brandon Crawford in the fifth pushed the lead to 4-0.

San Francisco added two runs off Braves rookie Alex Wood in the seventh. Posey’s third double drove in Tony Abreu, who walked. Wood, who walked two more batters in the inning, forced in a run with his bases-loaded balk with Andres Torres at the plate.

Braves general manager Frank Wren announced during the game that right-hander Brandon Beachy will not make his scheduled 2013 debut in Tuesday’s doubleheader against the Mets.

Wren said Beachy, returning from elbow ligament-replacement surgery in June of last year, was “a little tender” following Thursday night’s rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett in Rochester. Beachy was back in Atlanta on Friday and was examined by a Braves doctor.

“We think it’s a very minor setback,” Wren said.

“We’re not sure exactly when we’ll insert him back in. It’s really a function of when he’s feeling good again.”

NOTES: Blanco’s homer was his first of the season and his first career leadoff shot. … Wren said the Braves would select a replacement starter for Beachy on Sunday. … Giants 2B Marco Scutaro, hit by a pitch on his left pinkie finger on Tuesday, played some catch before the game and hit in the cage. Manager Bruce Bochy said Scutaro is “coming around” but is in a “holding pattern” until the team returns to San Francisco on Monday. … Bochy said OF Angel Pagan (hamstring) is “not quite ready” to come off the 15-day DL but is improving. … Braves LHP Mike Minor will face Giants RHP Chad Gaudin on Saturday.

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So far in 2013, things are starting to unfold in an all too familiar way for Giants fans.

This year, while the injury bug hasn’t bit nearly as hard, injuries are starting to happen that are eerily similar to 2011.

While the injuries are mounting, this isn’t the only reason for the Giants’ recent struggles. Pitching, which has been the backbone of the team for the past five seasons, has been preventing them from going on any sort of run this season.

READ MORE from Bleacher Report on the Giants current struggles.

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Johnson, currently Washington’s skipper, managed the Mets to their last World Series title in 1986. They were picked Thursday by the San Francisco Giants’ Bruce Bochy, the NL’s manager.

Detroit’s Jim Leyland, the AL manager, also chose coaches with Mets’ ties: Robin Ventura of the Chicago White Sox and John Gibbons of the Toronto Blue Jays. Ventura played for the Mets’ last NL pennant winner in 2000 and Gibbons is a former Mets player and minor league manager.

The All-Star Game is July 16.

(Copyright 2013 by The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

A year to the day after throwing a perfect game against Houston, Cain (5-3) was nearly flawless again. He struck out three and walked two, giving up a single to Garrett Jones in the fifth and a double to Andrew McCutchen in the seventh.

Hunter Pence hit his 11th homer of the season, while Buster Posey, Gregor Blanco and Joaquin Arias had three hits apiece for San Francisco, which avoided a sweep by spoiling Charlie Morton’s return from Tommy John surgery.

Morton (0-1) surrendered four runs on seven hits, striking out five and walking one. The right-hander also hit three batters while making his first major league start in more than a year.

The Giants didn’t knock Morton around so much as chip away. San Francisco touched Morton for a run in each of the first two innings then added two more in the fifth before breaking things open with five runs in the sixth against reliever Mike Zagurski.

The romp was a welcome change for the defending World Series champions, who have struggled on the road. San Francisco came in just 4-12 in its last 16 games away from AT&T Park but had little trouble with Cain returning to form.

The three-time All-Star has run hot and cold this season, getting off to a horrific start in April before going 4-0 in May. The Giants lost both of his starts this month, scoring all of one run in the process.

There were no such problems against Morton.

Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle initially hinted the 29-year-old Morton might not have much time to prove himself for the surprising Pirates. A stream of injuries to the starting staff may change things. Staff ace A.J. Burnett joined Wandy Rodriguez, Jeanmar Gomez and James McDonald on the 15-day disabled list on Thursday afternoon with a strained right calf.

Morton, who became a father for the first time earlier this year, anticipated nerves — and it showed. He walked Blanco leading off then drilled Brandon Crawford before Posey followed with a single to left. Morton, his fastball topping out at 96 mph, settled down to end the inning with consecutive strikeouts, but by then Cain already had all the breathing room he would need.

Cain tossed a one-hitter against the Pirates last season, the lone mistake being a fastball in the sixth inning that McDonald turned into a single. Two months later he tossed the 22nd perfect game in baseball history against the overmatched Astros.

He didn’t overwhelm Pittsburgh this time, instead letting his defense do most of the work. Cain wasted little time between pitches and the Pirates could never seem to get comfortable.

San Francisco certainly looked at ease, pushing the lead to 4-0 during a weird fifth inning. Zagurski hit Crawford with one out and Posey smacked a ground-rule double to the gap in left-center. Crawford would have easily scored if the ball hadn’t hopped over the fence.

Things evened out when Pence hit a dribbler that turned into a rundown between third and home. Crawford smacked into Pittsburgh third baseman Pedro Alvarez during the chase, with home plate umpire Tim McClellan awarding Crawford home plate after ruling Alvarez impeded Crawford’s path.

Andres Torres hit a sacrifice fly, but a potentially big inning came undone when a liner by Arias went right at Pence standing off second base. The San Francisco outfielder dove forward to avoid the ball only to have it deflect off his helmet.

Pence earned a bit of revenge the next inning when he smoked a 3-run homer off Zagurski and the rout was on.

NOTES: San Francisco 2B Marco Scutaro is still in considerable pain after the pinky finger in his left hand was drilled by a pitch on Tuesday. Manager Bruce Bochy said there is considerable swelling and isn’t sure when Scutaro will play again … Jeff Locke (5-1, 2.39 ERA) will replace Burnett on Friday night against the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Pirates aren’t sure who will start Saturday’s game … The Giants begin a three-game series in Atlanta on Friday. Madison Bumgarner (5-4, 3.58) faces Atlanta’s Kris Medlen (3-6, 2.87) … San Francisco’s Nick Noonan appeared to have his first major league home run in the ninth inning when he hit a ball to right-center. The call was overturned when replay showed the ball hit the top of the fence but did not go over.

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The Giants placed the third baseman on the disabled list earlier this week. Sandoval will be out for at least 15 days after aggravating a foot strain.

Many have speculated that Sandoval’s nagging injuries are related to his ongoing weight issues.

Sandoval reportedly showed up to spring training out of shape to the dismay of the organization. He lost weight at the behest of the manager Bruce Bochy during the spring, but he’s drawn the ire of the Giants once again.

The Giants have asked Sandoval to prioritize losing weight while he’s on the disabled list.

READ MORE from Bleacher Report on Sandoval’s continued injury and weight problems.

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Neil Walker and Alex Presley homered for Pittsburgh. Jordy Mercer, Andrew McCutchen and Gaby Sanchez had three hits each as the Pirates set season highs for both runs and hits.

Francisco Liriano (5-2) survived six erratic innings to pick up the win.

Joaquin Arias knocked in three runs for the Giants and Hunter Pence doubled twice but San Francisco continued to struggle on the road. The defending World Series champions have lost 12 of 16 away from home.

Barry Zito (4-5) allowed eight runs and 11 hits in 4 2-3 innings as his ERA on the road ballooned to 11.28.

The veteran left-hander struggled all night against Marte, Mercer and McCutchen, the top third of Pittsburgh’s lineup. The trio combined to go 8 for 9 against Zito, touching the 2002 Cy Young Winner for a run in the first and keying a three-run rally in the third and a four-run outburst in the fifth.

Marte had cooled off since a strong April and entered the night just 11 for 60 (.183) in his past 16 games, dropping his batting average to .279.

He had little trouble pecking away at Zito’s looping curveball, slapping three singles to set the table for a Pirates offense that appears to be rounding into form.

A night after Pittsburgh lit up San Francisco in an 8-2 win in support of rookie pitcher Gerrit Cole, the Pirates kept it going.

McCutchen hit a two-run double in the third as the Pirates took a 4-1 lead. The Giants responded to briefly to tie the game on a two-run double by Arias in the top of the fifth.

It didn’t stay knotted long. Marte and Mercer led off the bottom of the inning with consecutive singles.

Marte scored on a fielder’s choice and Pedro Alvarez chased Zito for good with a double off the wall in right. Walker greeted reliever Jose Mijares with a two-run single and the Pirates were in control.

Pittsburgh’s lead grew to 10-4 after Presley’s pinch-hit homer and an RBI double by Gaby Sanchez, but the Giants hung in there on a night manager Bruce Bochy watched from the clubhouse.

Bochy was suspended one game and reliever George Kontos was suspended three games and fined after Kontos threw at Marte and McCutchen late in the loss on Tuesday night. Kontos was sent down to Triple-A before the suspension was announced.

San Francisco pulled within 11-8 after Buster Posey’s two-run single off Tony Watson in the eighth but Sanchez doubled in McCutchen in the bottom of the inning. Closer Jason Grilli worked a perfect ninth in a rare non-save situation.

Liriano lacked the firepower of his past two starts, when he combined for 19 strikeouts. The left-hander struck out just two and walked three while tying his season high with four runs allowed.

NOTES: Cole, who went 6 1-3 innings in his major league debut on Tuesday, will start again on Sunday when the Pirates host the Los Angeles Dodgers … San Francisco 2B Tony Abreu went 3 for 5 in his first start of the season. Abreu started in place of Marco Scutaro, who is out indefinitely after taking a pitch off the pinky finger of his left hand on Tuesday … Bochy said injured 3B Pablo Sandoval had a “hop in his step” the day after being placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained tendon in his left foot. Sandoval was hitting .289 at the time of the injury … Pittsburgh RHP Charlie Morton makes his first start since having Tommy John surgery a year ago on Thursday when he starts in the series finale. Hurdle indicated Morton won’t have much time to get his feet set with starters Wandy Rodriguez and Jeanmar Gomez on the mend from forearm tightness. Matt Cain (4-3, 5.09) starts for the Giants.

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Stow was the Giants fan who was savagely beaten outside Dodger Stadium two years ago and suffers from permanent brain damage and is confined to a wheelchair.

A letter from his family posted last week says he was in a 24-hour-a-day care facility where he was making some progress but now his insurance company has stopped paying. Now Stow has had to come home where his parents are struggling to provide the kind of constant care he needs.

The letter said Stow could have benefited from more time in rehab since he still has memory and speaking problems. Because of the lack of therapy they say he’s suffered a physical setback as well. But they say despite the difficult transition they are happy to have him home.

The two men arrested for Stow’s beating, Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood, are still awaiting trial in Los Angeles.

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They were role players, however, when Gerrit Cole made his major league debut Tuesday night, taking a shutout into the seventh inning and hitting a two-run single in his first at-bat to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to an 8-2 victory over San Francisco.

The top pick in the 2011 draft, the right-hander allowed two runs and seven hits in 6 1-3 innings after being called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day. He began his highly touted career with a three-pitch strikeout — all 96 mph fastballs — of Gregor Blanco and struck out two overall. He did not walk a batter.

“We knew he had big-time talent and he showed it,” San Francisco manager Bruce Bochy said. “He had good command of his pitches, he located pretty well and did a good job of keeping us off balance with his breaking pitch to go with the fastball.”

While Cole commanded his pitches, Pirates reliever Tony Watson gave the Giants a scare. The left-hander hit second baseman Marco Scutaro with a pitch on the left pinkie in the seventh inning.

The pitch bent the finger backward and Scutaro left for a pinch-runner. However, X-rays were negative and the Giants averted losing their second infielder to the disabled list in the same day. Third baseman Pablo Sandoval went on the DL before the game with a strained ligament in his left foot.

Scutaro thought his finger was broken and was concerned that he might miss some playing time.

“It was bent, like a snake,” Scutaro said. “If you try to pull it straight, it goes back down. It looks pretty bad. I guess what they said is it’s not broken but I don’t really know.”

Pedro Alvarez went 3 for 3 with a home run to back Cole. Starling Marte also homered and Andrew McCutchen and Russell Martin had two hits each.

San Francisco put two runners on in the first and loaded the bases in the second against Cole (1-0) but failed to score in either inning.

Cole then set down 13 in a row, starting with Scutaro’s flyout to end the second. The Giants finally broke through in the seventh inning, but the Pirates had built a 5-0 lead by then.

Many of the 30,614 in attendance cheered every move made by the pitcher who is expected to be the Pirates’ ace of the future.

“Really, I couldn’t have asked for anything better,” Cole said. “The guys played great defense and we scored a lot runs. I was able to take us pretty deep into the game and I even got lucky and got a hit. It’s tough to draw it up any better than this.”

The sizable crowd for a weekday game, though, caused problems for the organization, which instituted a new security measure for fans entering the stadium. The use of electronic wands slowed down the entrance procedure and Pirates President Frank Coonelly issued an apology during the game.

Tim Lincecum (4-6) gave up four runs — two earned — on seven hits in 4 2-3 innings while striking out four and walking two. It was the two-time Cy Young Award winner’s fourth loss in his last five starts.

“I kind of put myself in some holes with some pitches that weren’t really even close to the zone,” Lincecum said. “I really wasn’t challenging the zone with quality strikes. When I did throw quality strikes, they put them in play and hurt us.

San Francisco reliever George Kontos, who gave up a two-run home run to Alvarez in the seventh inning, was ejected for hitting McCutchen with a pitch in rear in the eighth. There were a total of four hit batters in the game.

“It was the right thing to do,” Bochy said of the ejection. “Both benches had been warned and George hit him. That’s the way it goes in that situation.”

Cole snapped a scoreless tie when he lined a two-run single into right field in the second inning with one out and the bases loaded. Cole did not have hit during his two seasons in the minor leagues, going 0 for 6 with three strikeouts.

“I got totally lucky there,” Cole said with a grin. “That’s my first hit since high school. It’s been a long time and I wasn’t expecting it.”

Martin, Alvarez and Walker singled to load the bases with no out. After first baseman Brandon Belt reached two rows into the stands to catch Clint Barmes’ foul pop, Cole delivered in his first plate appearance.

Lincecum was knocked out during a two-run fifth that pushed Pittsburgh to a 4-0 lead. Marte’s solo home run, his sixth, made it 5-0 in the sixth.

San Francisco closed to 5-2 in the seventh when pinch-hitter Brett Pill drove in a run with a ground out.

The Pirates answered with three runs in the bottom of the seventh to increase the lead to 8-2. Martin singled in a run and Alvarez hit his two-run homer, his 14th.

“We put some pressure on (Cole) early but we just couldn’t get the big two-out hits when we needed them,” Bochy said. “We didn’t take advantage of what opportunities we had.”

NOTES: San Francisco recalled INF Nick Noonan from Triple-A Fresno to take Sandoval’s roster spot. Joaquin Arias started at third base. … Pittsburgh placed LHP Wandy Rodriguez on the 15-day DL with tightness in his left forearm to open a roster spot for Cole. RHP Charlie Morton, who had Tommy John reconstructive elbow surgery last June, is expected to come off the DL and pitch Thursday against the Giants in Rodriguez’s place. … Giants LHP Barry Zito (4-4, 4.06) faces Pittsburgh LHP Francisco Liriano (4-2, 1.75) on Wednesday night.

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The reigning World Series MVP was sidelined before the Giants played Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.

Sandoval will wear a walking boot for one week then be reevaluated. Giants manager Bruce Bochy was hopeful Sandoval will be ready to play when he is eligible to come off the DL on June 25.

Giants head athletic trainer Dave Groeschner disputed reports that the injury was a hairline fracture. He said that was an old injury that had showed up on the X-ray.

Sandoval is hitting .289 with eight home runs in 57 games this season. He helped the Giants sweep the Detroit Tigers last October to win their second World Series in three years by hitting three home runs in Game 1.

Infielder Nick Noonan was recalled from Triple-A Fresno to take Sandoval’s roster spot. Noonan had just been optioned to Fresno on Saturday after spending the entire season with the Giants.

Noonan hit .203 with one double in 59 at-bats for San Francisco. In one game with Fresno, he went 3 for 5 with a double and two RBIs.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)lvani

Until now.

Baseball officials who speak regularly with Giants decision-makers said they’re already looking hard at the trade market in search of a starter.

“Anybody that’s trading pitching, they’re on,” one of the officials said. “They want somebody quality.”

READ MORE from CBS Sports examining what type of pitcher the Giants may be seeking.

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Sandoval had an MRI Sunday on his injured Left foot, which revealed a strain. Bochy also said the disabled list “is a possibility.” He said of the injury that “we need to get this calmed down.”

The injury is a re-aggravation of the injury Sandoval suffered in late May.

Sandoval aggravated his foot strain while running to first base in the fourth inning of Saturday’s 10-5 win. He hit .289 with eight homers and 37 RBI in 57 games played before getting hurt again.

The Giants have an off-day Monday before Tuesday’s series opener against Pittsburgh.

CLICK HERE to get the latest updates from CBS Sports on Sandoval’s condition.

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco and CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.)

If you believed Ryan Braun’s first alibi – and a lot of Milwaukee baseball fans did – then maybe his tale about showing up in the records of a Miami anti-aging clinic because his lawyers needed more expertise on performance-enhancing drugs isn’t so implausible after all.

Alex Rodriguez’s claim that he only used steroids while employed by the Texas Rangers seemed pretty convincing at the time, too. He went on national television to blame his drug use on being young and naive, saying he didn’t even know what he was taking.

There was a day when baseball would have taken both at their word, thanked them for their cooperation, and made sure they signed up for the next Home Run Derby. Bud Selig and the owners who pay his salary weren’t terribly interested in busting superstars for steroid use, not when new stadiums were going up everywhere and television money kept pouring in.

Just why that has changed is debatable. The fact that it has, isn’t.

Investigators are going after the biggest stars of the game, and they’ve reeled in a big catch to get them. The same snake oil salesman in the Miami area that Braun claimed his lawyer hired as a consultant has agreed to cooperate with Major League Baseball, a development that has to be making a lot of players nervous.

Among them should be Braun, who took the day off Wednesday not because of all the headlines, his manager insisted, but because of a sore thumb. The night before, Braun refused to talk about the investigation, declaring it little more than the kind of distraction all ballplayers face.

“The truth has not changed,” he said.

On that, we can all agree. And the truth is that Braun tested positive for elevated testosterone in October 2011, only to have a 50-game suspension overturned after his attorneys blamed it on a hapless sample collector who didn’t understand FedEx schedules.

No one declared him innocent of doping, though he acted as if that’s exactly what happened. He got off on a technicality, something so infuriating to baseball that the arbitrator in the case was later fired by management.

The truth is also that A-Rod scammed his way to not one, but two, huge contracts that made him rich beyond belief. He’s both an admitted juicer and a liar, and the fact he remains the highest-paid player in baseball at $28 million this year is something that’s wrong on so many levels.

Their day of reckoning may still come, though. MLB investigators now have persuaded clinic founder Anthony Bosch to talk, and there are reports that some 20 players could face possible suspensions for either using performance enhancing drugs or lying to baseball about them.

Whether any player ultimately is punished will depend a lot on the credibility of Bosch, the records he kept of transactions at the now-defunct Biogenesis of America clinic, and how hard the union representing baseball players will fight what may be the most widespread steroid scandal in the history of a sport long tarnished by drug use. Union chief Michael Weiner served notice Wednesday that there could be a fight ahead if baseball tries to impose suspensions on players who haven’t tested positive for drugs.

“Every player has been or will be represented by an attorney from the players’ association,” Weiner said. “The players’ association has every interest in both defending the rights of players and in defending the integrity of our joint (drug) program. We trust that the commissioner’s office shares these interests.”

Unfortunately for the players and the union, the commissioner’s office appears to have its own agenda. Selig seems determined to win a big battle in the steroid fight, and his investigators have done everything from going to court to buying documents from the Biogenesis clinic to do just that.

It might be out of anger of the Braun decision, or the embarrassment of no big stars being elected to the Hall of Fame this year because of steroids. Or simply that Selig, in the twilight of his career, finally understands that his legacy will forever be tied to the steroid era and he needs a major score.

Whatever it is, it’s a major turnaround for a commissioner who for years was more concerned with making owners money than making sure the playing field was level. Selig stood by silently as players made a mockery of the game, even going so far as congratulating Barry Bonds on breaking Henry Aaron’s career home run mark in 2007.

“I’m not passing judgment – nor should I,” he said when asked at the time about the legitimacy of the record.

Actually that’s exactly what he should have done, but he’s not alone. His owners keep rewarding players with big contracts – see Melky Cabrera and Bartolo Colon – on the basis of numbers skewed by steroid use. And fans forgive and forget with each home run, as evidenced by the 45 percent of Brewers faithful who responded affirmatively to an online poll in the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel asking if they still had faith in Braun.

The slugger may wiggle out of this one, too, though he’ll need a better excuse this time. Maybe he’ll throw a clubhouse attendant or someone else under the bus the way he did the poor sample collector.

As for A-Rod, who really cares? He’s an unpleasant reminder of everything that is wrong with baseball and pretty much washed up anyway. Even Yankees fans would rather see him leave and not return for any old-timers days.

The bottom line is baseball finally is doing something proactive, and for that some applause is in order. Selig and his minions could easily have ignored the Biogenesis reports or made only a token effort to investigate them, but they didn’t. It’s part of a seismic shift in attitude that goes hand-in-hand with last year’s implementation of blood testing for human growth hormone and the commissioner’s call in spring training for increasing the 50-game penalty for first offenders.

The fact that some 20 current players are under investigation shows we still can’t trust what we see on the field. Players have been using PEDs for at least a quarter century and they’ll continue to try to outwit the testers because the rewards that come with big numbers are big themselves.

Just maybe, though, this is a step toward regaining that trust again one day. This could be the turning point of a battle baseball joined far too late.

And if that ends up being part of Selig’s legacy, too, then more power to him.

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco and the Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— San Francisco Giants closer Sergio Romo has joined an online effort in support of giving undocumented youth a chance to earn U.S. citizenship.

The YouTube video for ‘The Dream is Now’ national campaign (seen above) was released Tuesday. In the video, Romo firmly states his support of the federal Dream Act.

“I strongly believe that there should be a pathway for approximately 2 million undocumented students to earn their United States citizenship so they can lead a productive life and give back to the only country that they know as home,” Romo said.

At AT&T Park before Tuesday’s game, Romo talked about being a first generation Mexican-American.

“Without…certain opportunities here in the United States, I myself probably wouldn’t have gotten to be able to live the life that I live and the upbringing that I was able to live through my parents,” he said.

Romo said he hopes his backing of the campaign helps boost the cause.

“Everyone needs the same opportunities and that’s kind of what I’m all for.”

Romo previously created a stir when he wore a shirt which read “I just look illegal” to the 2012 World Series Championship Parade.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Posey, with 1,275,956 total votes so far in Tuesday’s tallying, led Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals for the catcher position by more than 300,000 ballots. Posey won the starting nod in 2012.

The Giants’ third baseman Pablo Sandoval leads the New York Mets’ David Wright, a six-time All-Star, at his position.

The rest of the Giants infielders – first baseman Brandon Belt, second baseman Marco Scutaro and shortstop Brandon Crawford – all rank second in the voting for their respective positions.

Balloting ends July 4th. The All-Star Game is July 16 in New York.

You can click here to view an All-Star Game ballot.

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

Cabrera has returned to AT&T Park with Toronto this week for the first time since receiving a 50-game suspension last Aug. 15 following a positive testosterone test.

“That was an ugly time for me and my family,” Cabrera said in the dugout before batting practice on Tuesday. “I feel very sorry for what happened. I regret what happened. It’s in the past. … That was 2012. Now, it’s 2013 and I’m focused on playing baseball.”

A fan favorite during his brief stay in San Francisco, Cabrera encountered fans who recognized him during Monday’s off day and said they were welcoming and friendly.

Sour Melk? Maybe not.

Perhaps everybody has in fact moved forward – and it certainly didn’t hurt that the Giants went on to win a second World Series championship in three years despite Cabrera’s absence. Cabrera was batting .281 with two home runs and 21 RBIs for the Blue Jays entering the game Tuesday night, when he was leading off and playing left field against his former club.

“Melk doesn’t say much, all he does is smile,” Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said. “I’m sure he’s looking forward to it. I don’t know what the reception will be. He’s just that guy who shows up and he’s a fun-loving guy, he loves to play baseball and he’s good at it. I’m sure he listens to the kind of reaction he gets. He’s got the same demeanor every time.”

Fans dressed in costume calling themselves “Melk Men” frequented the waterfront ballpark last spring to cheer Cabrera. Then, suddenly, he was gone for the stretch run.

“I want to tell the fans I’m sorry,” Cabrera said. “They treated me great.”

Cabrera said he wishes he hadn’t used a performance-enhancing drug to fuel his sensational season, and was saddened to miss out on winning the World Series with the Giants and his “great teammates.” He spoke to many of them when the Giants played in Toronto from May 14-15.

San Francisco didn’t add him to the postseason roster once he was eligible for the NL championship series.

“I kept working and getting ready and they told me their decision,” Cabrera said. “I had to respect that. There was nothing I could do about it.”

Cabrera, the 2012 All-Star game MVP who had 51 hits in May last year, received his World Series ring when the Giants visited Toronto.

Cabrera is used to being booed at ballparks around baseball, so he wasn’t going to be too surprised by whatever reception he received.

“I’m sure it’s going to be mixed a little bit. It’s hard to say,” Giants manager Bruce Bochy said. “I think a lot of times initially a lot of them show their appreciation, but once the game starts they’re for the home team and they let them have it. He did a great job when he was out there, really, probably, was one of our better players. That’s fair to say. He kept us in it with his great play. I told him thanks. We all appreciate what he did for us when he was there on the field.”

Bochy didn’t understand why Cabrera’s return was a big deal. It certainly wasn’t for the Giants.

“The Melky thing, there’s not even a player in there thinking about it,” Bochy said. “We’ve moved on.”

And Cabrera will now be able to focus on the rest of his 2013 season without having to look back to the embarrassment that was last year.

“I’m very happy to be back,” he said. “My focus is just on playing the game.”

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco. All rights reserved.)

SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — The reason you won’t see any more 300-game winners is because of the set-up man and the closer. And when you have Sean Doolittle, Ryan Cook and Grant Balfour, who could blame Bob Melvin for pulling A.J. Griffin after seven shutout innings of four-hit baseball?

Well, I can. While fully aware of the A’s bullpen success, Griffin was pitching his best game of the year. Granted, I’m not privy to a possible conversation between Melvin and Griffin after the 7th inning, but Doolittle was coming off a rough outing and Griffin was dealin.’

Why not, at the very least, allow Griffin to start the 8th inning? Instead, Doolittle struggles again, A’s lose, drive home safely.

On the flip side, Bruce Bochy pulls Tim Linceum after 7 innings of one-run, three-hit baseball, and Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo slam the door, Giants win, drive home safely. Brilliant managing!

How nice it is to be a studio critic!

We can table the Lincecum-to-bullpen conversation, at least for a few more starts. That was easily his best start of the year and his location was the reason. His slider and his change-up were money pitches and he’s got to have them working. With his drop in velocity, he simply can’t get away with location mistakes anymore. Tonight, he made only one and you saw the result, a 2-1 victory and a reprieve for Timmy.

The latest drug scandal: Do we really need this? 20 more players going down for an association with a drug pusher? I can’t say I’m terribly surprised, I’m just sick of reporting this junk. I yearn for the simpler days of purple drank. You go, Jamarcus.

See you on TV.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

He only hopes this outing will carry into the next, and the one after that.

Lincecum ended a three-start losing streak, Andres Torres hit a two-run homer and the San Francisco Giants beat Melky Cabrera and the Toronto Blue Jays 2-1 on Tuesday night.

“I was able to hit my spots more often and more consistently, mechanically I felt sound and things just kind of got better,” Lincecum said. “It definitely feels good but we’ve still got a lot to do, a lot of work to do. I’ve said it before, I’m not jumping up and down right now, I’m just happy with what we did today. Tomorrow’s another day for work.”

Cabrera had two hits in his return to AT&T Park with Toronto for the first time since his 50-game suspension for a positive testosterone test last Aug. 15.

Lincecum (4-5) allowed Edwin Encarnacion’s first-inning solo home run, then retired the next 14 Blue Jays in order.

Coming off his shortest outing of the year of 4 1-3 innings last Wednesday in a 9-6 loss to Oakland, Lincecum allowed three hits and one run, struck out six and walked one in seven impressive innings.

“That is more the Timmy that we know,” manager Bruce Bochy said. “We needed it.”

The Giants handed Josh Johnson (0-2) a loss in his return from the disabled list.

Torres connected for his second homer in the second, and he also made a couple of nice catches in left field behind Lincecum.

The struggling right-hander looked more like his old self after losing four of five starts and five of his last six decisions—in which he had allowed 27 earned runs in 42 1-3 innings for a 5.74 ERA.

The two-time NL Cy Young Award winner quickly regrouped after Encarancion’s 17th home run and found a groove.

Cabrera apologized to the Giants and their fans during a dugout news conference before the game. He was eligible to return for the NL championship series, but the Giants decided in late September 2012 to keep him off the postseason roster the entire way.

Cabrera, the 2012 All-Star game MVP who produced a 51-hit May last year, received his World Series ring when the Giants visited Toronto last month.

Booed—with no sign of the “Melk Men” who used to cheer him—by the sellout crowd of 41,981 each time he stepped into the batter’s box.

“They have their reasons to do what they did. I just play my game,” Cabrera said.

Cabrera went 2 for 4 with a leadoff single in the first and another base hit in the sixth but flied out with the tying run at first for the first out in the ninth.

“A guy like that, when you’re getting boos, you know it’s for a reason,” Lincecum said. “He was a good player for us, and now he’s not, so you’re going to hear that here.”

The Blue Jays missed a chance in the sixth. With Johnson aboard on a walk and at second following Cabrera’s single, Jose Bautista hit into his second double play of the game with a liner to Pablo Sandoval at third base. Sandoval fired to second and Marco Scutaro made the play but dropped the ball as he tumbled forward, bringing Blue Jays manager John Gibbons out to argue.

Lincecum, knocked out of his only other start against the Blue Jays after 3 2-3 innings in 2007, pumped his fist as he walked off the mound.

The pitcher’s recent problems raised speculation of a possible move to the bullpen like the one last fall that was so successful for the club’s run to a second World Series championship in three years.

Jeremy Affeldt pitched the eighth and Sergio Romo finished for his 16th save in 18 chances to end the 2-hour, 16-minute game. It was the Giants’ fastest game of the year.

The Blue Jays snapped a three-game losing streak with Sunday’s win at San Diego, but dropped their seventh in 11 overall Tuesday and ninth of 13 on the road.

Johnson looked strong in his fifth start of the year and first back from since being sidelined April 22 with right triceps inflammation. He struck out six in seven innings and didn’t walk a batter, but dropped to 0-4 in eight career starts against the Giants.

“We missed him,” Gibbons said of Johnson. “You watch a performance like that, that’s what Josh Johnson is. And then Lincecum, we got on the board in the first and he did a heck of a job of shutting us down.”

Sandoval was back in the Giants’ lineup after missing three games with a strain in his left foot, while center fielder and leadoff hitter Angel Pagan sat out for the ninth straight game with a strained left hamstring.

But Sandoval was replaced late in the game by Joaquin Arias. The plan had been for him to play six or seven innings, and Bochy said Sandoval was a little bit sore but should be available Wednesday afternoon.

NOTES: Lincecum had been 0-4 in his previous five interleague outings. … Toronto also activated OF Rajai Davis from the DL and he grounded into an inning-ending double play as a pinch-hitter in the eighth against his former team. Fellow ex-Giant Mark DeRosa had a pinch-hit single. … The Blue Jays are 5-5 vs. the NL West and fell to 1-6 all-time at AT&T Park. … An MRI on injured Toronto pitcher Ramon Ortiz’s right elbow showed no significant damage after the 40-year-old righty was hurt Sunday at San Diego. … The Giants beat the Blue Jays for just the second time in the last seven meetings after struggling with the bouncy turf in Toronto in ugly 10-6 and 11-3 losses May 14-15.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)

Lincecum said that he’s 100 percent focused on remaining a starter this season but is very open to relieving in future.

“If my career takes that turn I’m definitely open to changes, especially if it’s beneficial to the team I’m playing for,” Lincecum said.

READ MORE from CBS Sports on Linceum’s openness to pitching out of the bullpen in future.

(Copyright 2013 CBS San Francisco and CBS Interactive. All rights reserved.)

Rookie Shelby Miller pitched six-hit ball for seven innings and backup catcher Tony Cruz hit two doubles and drove in a pair of runs for St. Louis in an 8-0 win in the opener.

Wainwright (8-3) allowed eight hits and one run without walking a batter to close out the first doubleheader between the Giants and Cardinals in St. Louis since July 16, 1978. Wainwright threw 106 pitches and 73 strikes.

Carlos Beltran and Ty Wigginton each had two hits and drove in two runs for the Cardinals. Jon Jay, Daniel Descalso and Shayne Robinson had the other RBIs.

Wainwright also helped with his bat when the Cardinals broke through against San Francisco’s Madison Burgarner (4-4) with three runs in the third.

Pete Kozma started the inning with a walk, and he advanced to third when Wainwright followed with a double to left-center. Kozma scored on a fielder’s choice to first by Jay, and one out later, Beltran drove Wainwright and Jay home with a single to center.

Burgarner lasted six innings and allowed five runs on six hits with one walk and six strikeouts.

In the opener, Miller (6-3) scattered six hits, stranding seven runners. His ERA dropped to 1.82. Miller struck out seven with one walk.

Matt Cain (4-3) allowed seven runs in six innings, falling to 0-3 at Busch Stadium with an 8.87 ERA in four starts.

Cain struggled in the third, when he threw 40 pitches. In the other five innings he pitched, Cain set the Cardinals down in order. He threw 101 pitches, striking out nine with no walks.

The Cardinals had seven runs on nine hits — seven singles and two doubles — in the third when St. Louis sent 12 men to the plate.

Cruz, starting at catcher instead of Yadier Molina, smacked a two-run double. Descalso hit a double and a single while Kozma had two singles in the outburst.

NOTES: This was the first time the Giants and Cardinals played a doubleheader since April 9, 1994, when the teams met at Candlestick Park and split. … David Freese extended his hitting streak to 11 games with an infield single in third in the nightcap. … San Francisco has lost its last seven road games and nine of its last 10. . . . Cardinals rookie Keith Butler, who was called up Thursday from Triple-A Memphis, pitched a scoreless ninth in the opener in his debut . He is the 10th rookie to debut for St. Louis this season.

(Copyright 2013 by CBS San Francisco. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)