88 down. 74 to go.

As has been noted on the Twitter and Facebook thingies, I spent the past weekend at Stillwater Cove just north of Bodega Bay attending the long-awaited wedding of a couple good friends. Cell reception was non-existent up there, and even my iPhone data plan wasn't happening, so I didn't get to watch any of the series in D.C. — including the Strasburg game. However, I did have my trusty pocket radio tuned to the ol' 50,000-watt blowtorch nearly all weekend, and now that I've had a chance to watch the highlights, I'm ready to make a few observations about the series:

1. Stephen Strasburg is, indeed, legit. I'm not saying the guy deserves to go to the All Star Game after less than two months in the Show, but he's obviously got some nasty stuff. Not that it takes much to quiet the Giants bats from time to time (see Arrieta, Jake).
2. Buster Posey will be your National League Rookie of the Year. Yes, others got off to faster starts (see, Heyward, Jayson), but even giving him a liberal four games off the rest of the way and barring any catastrophe, the Kid is on pace to hit .350, mash 20 homers, drive in 70 runs, and post an OPS in the .900s.
3. Madison Bumgarner is the most intimidating 20-year old I've ever seen in orange and black. This guy once threw behind a hitter in the minors because "he swung too hard" at the previous pitch. Everyone — including yours truly — was buggin' earlier in the year because he looked like Clark Kent instead of Kal-El. Shows what a little taste of Fresno can do to you. Maybe Pablo could use a trip down US-99 for a few weeks of extended Camp Panda.

I'll have more for you later including my first half report card and a look ahead to the second half. For now, I'll just say that the G's may have salvaged their season on this road trip. You'll recall I was none too optimistic following the 15-inning heart crusher in Denver — which eerily mimics my sentiments following a particularly rough series at Coors last year. The boys pretty much needed to win out going into the break to have any shot of catching anybody in the West, which they pretty much did. Meanwhile, the Fathers ran into a streaking Rock Pile over the weekend, and suddenly, the deficit is only 4 games. Of course, we've got three teams to climb over, but things were looking a lot worse a week and a half ago.