114 down. 48 to go.

I know what's on your mind, but I'm not getting into it. I've already expended far too much energy, used far too many words, and wasted far too much space on the frankly frightening subject of the Amazing Disappearing Back-to-Back Cy Young Award Winner. Mediocre Merc sub Carl Steward already blogged about the need for Big Time Timmy Jim to consult his own personal Dr. Frankenstein. And Timmy himself has already addressed the issue of his rapidly waning success with the media types. So why bother? It's just gonna rile me up anyway, and I've got tickets for tonight's contest, so I need to be in positive spirits for Section 104. I will say that I called yesterday as the one game the Giants would likely lose in a series against one of the most pathetically struggling teams in professional ball right this minute. Long story short: Tim is the only G's starter in whom I do not have innate confidence, and Ryan Dempster has always given us hives. While I truly hate it when I'm right sometimes, there's a reason they call me #Butchtrodamus. Late-inning rallies and lucky breaks aside, this game was over the moment Team Hopey Changey 29th-round draft pick Kosuke Fukudome (pronounced Fuk-u-dome in Section 104) got wet off former THC teammate Timmy. (There was no pun intended there. The abbreviation of my fantasy team's name is THC. Purely coincidental. Swear to god.) I would have been remotely excited by that development had I not dumped Fukudome like a dirty diaper back in May. That's the best contact this guy's made in months, and that fact that it came off the Franchise should be another red flag — but I'm not gonna talk about that. Of course, there's not much else to talk about, so who the hell am I kidding? We need Timmy straight in the head and sound in the body. Right now, he's neither, and it scares the living piss out of me because that means Barry Zito is our de facto "ace". And while Baked Zitti looks like his usual second-half self, I'm not convinced he could lead off a short series against an Adam Wainwright or Tim Hudson — or Roy Halladay...

BTW...

> Buster's back, and Pablo didn't look too shabby either. Good to see some production from both of these guys after recent struggles — albeit Panda's a bit more pronounced and extended than Gerald's...

> Not to rag on the 'pen because they've been freaking stout lately, particularly former Hated One Guillermo Mota. But those two Cub runs with two out in the eighth were freaking back breakers and made the 9th inning rally by los Gigantes that much more bittersweet. Imagine if Panda's infield hit had tied the game...