Bochy touts balanced strength of NL West

SAN FRANCISCO -- With his club 48 games into the season and the second in the Majors to reach 30 wins, manager Bruce Bochy likes where the Giants stand. He also remains bullish on the National League West.

Entering Saturday, the Giants (30-18) had the best record in the NL and sat four games ahead of second-place Colorado in the division.

Bochy's praise is partly because of his team's timely hitting. San Francisco leads the Majors with 94 RBIs with two outs.

"We've gotten a lot of clutch hits," Bochy said. "A big hit when we need it."

The Rockies (27-22 after beating Atlanta on Saturday) and the Dodgers (26-24 after Saturday's loss to the Phillies) are the other division teams with a winning record. But don't sell short the Padres (22-27) or the struggling D-backs (19-31), Bochy said.

"It's a strong division," he said. "There's a lot of good pitching in this division. ... We're fortunate that we came out of the chute well. Arizona, they're too good, they just got off to a rough start. San Diego is very similar. I feel the same way I felt in Spring Training. It's a very balanced division."