Bay Area Buzz: Giants to Choose New Leadoff Hitter, Garza’s Tweets Taken as Joke, Lots of 49ers Receivers

July 24, 2013; San Francisco, CA, USA; San Francisco Giants right fielder Hunter Pence (8) hits a RBI-single to score second baseman Marco Scutaro (19, not pictured) in front of Cincinnati Reds catcher Devin Mesoraco (39, left) during the third inning at AT

Bochy will choose either Pence or Scutaro to lead off

"If you’re not going to hit home runs, and the Giants have just five of them in 16 games since the All-Star break, then you’d better get some action on the basepaths.You’d better get your leadoff man aboard.Instead, the No.1 hitter is the Giants’ No.1 problem right now. Gregor Blanco and Andres Torres have been in dry dock since the break.And Bruce Bochy is ready to jump ship.The manager will choose a new leadoff hitter Monday, when the Giants begin a seven-game homestand with the Brewers and Orioles. It’ll probably be Marco Scutaro. It could be Hunter Pence.It sure as heck won’t be Gregor Blanco or Andres Torres, who have combined to hit 6 for 61 (.098) with a .174 on-base percentage since the All-Star break. They’ve scored a paltry four runs from the No.1 spot over that span."

Sogard on Garza’s tweets: ‘We took it as a joke’

"Matt Garza apologized Sunday morning for his Twitter beef of Saturday night, when he took offense to Eric Sogard’s wife Kaycee Tweeting that her husband would not respond to being called names and shot multiple nasty Tweets at Sogard and his better half.“All I want to say is I let my competitive spirit cross outside the lines, and that shouldn’t happen,” Garza said. “I let my passion, my fire carry over, and that’s not how this game should be played. And for that I apologize to the Sogards for anything that was said through my Twitter. That’s all I have. I regret what happened, and I’m just looking forward to a great game today.”Garza, you’ll recall, was none too happy with the A’s in general, Sogard in particular, bunting on him so early and so often in Oakland’s 4-2 victory Saturday afternoon. Sogard’s safety squeeze gave the A’s their fourth run and Garza unleashed with a string of expletives at Sogard.“We took it as a joke,” Sogard said, “and that’s how we’ll handle it.”Paul Gutierrez, CSN Bay Area"

49ers camp report: Suddenly, an abundance of wideouts

"Practice summary: Two days ago, the 49ers had just five healthy wide receivers.Then, the club signed veterans Austin Collie and Lavelle Hawkins. On Sunday morning when the 49ers returned to practice after a day off, there were 12 wideouts on the field.A.J. Jenkins, Kyle Williams, Kassim Osgood and Ricardo Lockette returned to practice after missing time last week due to injuries. Jenkins, who returned to drills for the first time since Tuesday, had his most productive day of camp.“He was slowed by not practicing and he needs reps,” 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh said of Jenkins, the team’s first-round draft pick in 2012. “I’m looking forward to him getting those this week and in the ballgame (Thursday), as well. He needs play time.”Matt Maiocco, CSN Bay Area"