Sergio Romo's oh-no moment; Fred Lewis has a red light saber
Andrew Baggarly on August 3rd,

Taking off the first two games of the Atlanta series, will be back on lineup-posting, blogging duty Wednesday. Wanted to share a couple of quick things that couldn't make it into print Sunday:

I'd been hoping all week to write about Sergio Romo after his first major league victory Friday night. He
received the requisite beer shower and the lineup card " though not at the same time, thankfully.

Romo told me a pretty funny story prior to Friday's game.


A native of Brawley, on the shores of the Salton Sea, Romo had his immediate family in attendance for most of the LA-SD road trip. They were there for his big victory Friday night at Petco Park, all decked out in Giants caps and shirts " which was a change from earlier in the week.

They showed up at Dodger Stadium wearing all their Dodgers gear,” Romo said. I saw them and was, like, `Oh no, guys”

Romo's oh-no moment got worse. After one of the games in Los Angeles, Manager Bruce Bochy and General Manager Brian Sabean caught Romo chatting with his blue crew. This would be like being a McDonalds executive caught in the In-N-Out drive thru. (Not that I could blame them.)

They both said, `What the heck is this? Romo said. But Bochy gave me some good advice. When he leaves tickets for people, he tells them, `If I see you wearing the other team's colors, it will be the last ticket from me you get.”

Romo is bound to pick up a few more victories if he keeps pitching this way. Tyler Walker remarked that Romo has a little front-door cutter/slider that starts out on the hands of batters and swoops over the plate.

It's a great pitch, but it's dangerous if you miss with it,” Walker said. Tim Worrell saved a lot of games with that pitch.”

One other note: This morning, I talked to Fred Lewis for the first time since he was officially moved from leadoff into a run-producing slot. I told him that his transition to the Dark Side is complete. He's the left fielder and the No.3 hitter. He laughed at that. Lewis is a confident guy, but I don't think he's going to ask for No.25, predict a 70-homer season or draw 100 intentional walks. But he does agree with Bochy's observation that he can be a 25-homer guy in this league.

Just wait,” he said.

Lewis bunion on his right foot is a problem, though. He said he might have surgery on it after the season because he wants to make 100 percent certain he is healthy for what he predicts will be a big year next season. His career path would indicate that to be true.

The Giants moved Lewis slowly through the minor leagues, repeating him at each level for a second year, and he eventually broke out each time.