A Bum and a shark keep the Giants rolling

You might be wondering A) what the shark reference is about, and B) why I chose to put Gregor Blanco (hint: he's who the shark reference is about) as practically an equal contributor with Madison Bumgarner when "MadBum" had a one-hit shutout. I can explain.

For those who don't know, Blanco's nickname is "white shark." ("Blanco" is Spanish for "white", by the way. You learn something new everyday!). While I was watching tonight's game against the Reds, the great Giants broadcasters Mike Krukow and Duane Kuiper were talking about a conversation they overheard between Blanco and Pablo Sandoval before the game. Sandoval was telling Blanco that he should put his hand on the top of his head in the shape of a shark fin whenever he got a hit.

Blanco hit a triple in the bottom of the 7th inning, and as you can see at 0:24 in the clip, he flashes the fin. He and Sandoval do more fin-tastic stunts after Blanco scores and comes back into the dugout. Pablo must be so boring to play with...

Anyway, to make a short story long, I thought this shark fin stuff was fun. Also, my favorite animal has always been the shark, so Blanco and Sandoval's shenanigans struck a special cord with me.

All this being said, I didn't let the shark fun distract me from the shellacking Bumgarner put on the Reds' lineup. One hit, 2 walks, 8 Ks, and an impressive first-to-home sprint on Blanco's triple made this what has to be Bumgarner's best game as a professional, other than Game 4 of the 2010 World Series. The craziest part: he's only 22!

This game was also the 4th straight shutout for the Giants, as well as 36 straight shutout innings, which are both SF Giants records. This is a hot pitching staff right now, and the lineup is providing more than enough runs, which I'm sure makes the pitchers ever more confident.

As long as the injury bug doesn't bite the Giants too hard for the rest of the season, there's no reason this team shouldn't win the division. I worry about Arizona (the Dodgers need more than Matt Kemp being healthy to pose a real threat in this division), but the Giants have a much better lineup than last year's even when Buster Posey was healthy. I'm by no means declaring the Giants NL West winners this early in the season, but making the playoffs is definitely a realistic expectation.

Excuse me while I go knock on some wood.