128 down. 34 to go.

I'm not going to begin to describe the insanity that was the Reds series because there's just no way to do it justice. I could write a Russian novel on the plethora of stats dug up by beat writers, broadcasters, players, and pundits over the past few days, but nothing could possibly come close to actually witnessing the events at 24 Willie Mays Plaza in person. Unfortunately, work prevented me from attending what had to be one of the most epic contests in the history of our New York Gothams, but the laughers on Monday and Tuesday night were just as dumbfounding. Who would've predicted a team that got straight up shut down by the Pads, Phils, and Cards while going 3-6 in a nine-game stretch would come home and put up three straight 11-run performances against a team currently sitting atop its division and possibly headed for October baseball? But what else should we expect from our Teflon Team? I've beat this point into the dirt over the past five months, but the 2010 Giants have shown more resiliency, more tenacity, more drive and will to win than any Giants team I've seen in the past decade. Even the '00-'04 teams would never, could never have come back from a nine-run deficit in the bottom of the fifth. No, something about the chemistry of this club, something about the way the dugout explodes whenever something positive happens on the field, something about the fans who don't seem content to just give up, something is happening at the Cove this season that goes beyond the stats, beyond the Splash Hits, beyond the K's. Maybe the marketing slogan I love to hate has been right all along. Maybe it really is magic inside...

BTW...

> In a rush to get out the door and get to the Park for Orange Friday and Timmy's latest attempt to revive Big Time Timmy Jim, so I don't have time to pour over every detail of our recent offensive onslaught, so I'll leave you with a link to Baggs' best effort to sum everything up. Live tweeting to commence in T-minus two hours...

> One thing that sticks out from watching Wednesday's game play out on MLB Gameday: I was at my grandmother's for a Labor Day BBQ in 1989 when our boys dug out of an 8-run hole to beat the very same Red Legs at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati — referenced in Baggs' blog. I remember watching them fall behind 8-0 as my family members slowly filtered outside for burgers and sodas and beers and smokes, leaving me alone to watch in misery. As our team started their comeback, I urged my family to watch along with me. "You might miss history!" I shouted out the patio door. But I was the only one in the room when they put the cherry on top of a 9-8 victory. I've never left a game early since... except for one time in L.A., but that was for a lady — and a good one at that...

126 down. 36 to go.

I don't know much, but I'll bet a dollar against a dime that Aubrey Huff was a steaming pile of pissed off watching little Andres Torres round the bases after depositing one over the centerfield wall in the bottom of the third. After all, back in the first, Huff Daddy cracked an Edinson Volquez pitch just about as hard as anyone could and gave it enough back spin to take it well out of almost any park in the majors. Unfortunately, Huff plays his home games at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, and even in the warm and windless conditions that greeted players on a rare comfortable Monday night in San Francisco, his bomb turned into a two-run double off the CF wall. Even from my perch in Section 104, I could feel Huff seething out at second base, staring into the abyss of the outfield as if to curse the park to its very foundation, the definition of AT&T'd. Yet, there was my fantasy superstar, Mr. Torres, with his unassuming swing — not exactly coming-out-of-his-shoes violent as you see with most little power hitters — and his tiny frame, doing what must sometimes feel like a wet dream for Aubrey: conquering the toughest field in one of the league's toughest parks with his 14th HR (tied for second on the team). So it was probably with no small amount of satisfaction that Huff watched his 8th-inning blast arc majestically into the deepest section of the Arcade, above the 20-foot wall, above the 421-foot marker. Bonds territory. I'm gonna add to all the other takes on Pablo Sandoval's resurgence in a moment, but the most welcome sight to my eyes in recent days has been Aubrey Huff's reclamation of his swing. More than anyone right now, we need this guy to be the MVP candidate he was in the first half. More and more, it looks like he's on his way there...

BTW...

> Pablo Sandoval went from Pablo to Panda to downright Kung Fu-Stylie with his four-rope, three-hit performance. Seemed like he squared everything up — aside from a weak fly to left in his only right-handed AB. More importantly: Dude wasn't waiting around for a written invitation. He saw the ball, he hit the ball. That's where Panda gets his strength. Asking this guy to take a pitch is like asking Joey Chestnut to stop eating...

> Fred Sanchez had his first four-hit game with Giants, and I barely noticed...

> Matt Cain was the horse we needed him to be to stop the bleeding. Take away three straight hits in the top of the third, and he's got a clean sheet and probably goes the distance. He retired the last 14 guys he faced and dropped down three sacrifice bunts, even though only one of them was ultimately successful. Blame it on Fred Sanchez's aging legs. It just goes to show how good this staff can be with the confidence that the offense is going to show up. Nothing scarier in baseball than Shotgun Cain with a lead...

> On the flip side, you gotta feel for Edinson Volquez, who pitched so poorly and was lifted so early with his team facing such a deficit that the hometown fans gave him a standing ovation. I didn't join in since I'm not one for kicking people when they're down, but I'll admit it made me smile...

> What didn't make me smile was the attempts at not one but two simultaneous waves smack in the middle of the game. What're we, Doyer fans? I'll have none of that in Section 104, thank you very much. War every fan who booed the wave as it labored around the park...

Let's hope the boys saved some offense for tonight...

Feast or Famine

And they say this place is a hitter's park...

Tuesday, August 18th
Giants 8, Redlegs 5 (10)
WP: Howry (1-5); LP: Cordero (1-3); S: Wilson (29)
HR: SF - Uribe (6); CIN - Votto (18)

Whatever pipe our Shaman manager is smoking from, I want a hit. How else could he have had the prescience to go with Ryan “Cardinal Caveman” Garko over Travis “Hapa” Ishikawa against a righty when the former Stanford star had yet to flash any brilliance with the bat outside of a bevy of loud outs?

I have to admit, I scanned the lineup in Baggs’ pregame post with much consternation, especially over the absence of “Nasty” Nate Schierholtz, who has risen from the ranks to become the man crush of everyone who follows this team*. But when your team busts out for a season-high in hits and scores in double digits, I can understand the desire to maintain the status quo and roll the same lineup out there the next night.

Bochy even went so far as to have Fred Lewis deliver the lineup card for the second game in a row. If this streak continues, Freddy should be named honorary bench coach and get the duty every day. Maybe he’s finally found his niche on this team.

Whatever the reason, whatever the season, the G-Men have seen their bats come to life over the past two days. But right around the time Homer Bailey squeaked one down the line in the bottom of the second, I was conceding this one to the baseball gods. I’m not always happy to be proven wrong, but I’ll gladly take my lumps on this one.

It’s growing more and more obvious that Timmy likes it cold. He grew up and went to college in dreary Washington and plays his pro ball in a city with colder summers than winters. Anytime he pitches in the humid mugginess of the Midwest or East Coast, he loses his touch, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot.

This occasion falls into the latter category. Even “The Kid” himself admitted he had nothing. That he got through six innings is a testament to his natural abilities and perseverance, and it was a boon for a bullpen that went five innings the day before and won’t see a day off for another two weeks. The Giants’ relief success stems from the dominance of the starting staff, and every time Timmy or Matty don’t go at least seven-plus, it eats up innings that we’ll need from the ‘pen down the stretch.

Lincecum made it as far as he could on Tuesday in what looked like garbage time. So it was that much more thrilling to see him picked up by the biggest comeback of the season, and on the road no less. After what happened when these two teams hooked up at the Cove, we needed this win.

Of course, they G’s came back from three runs down for the first time all season in the game that preceded that Reds series, so God knows what to expect in Wednesday’s contest.

* Thanks for jumping on the bandwagon, folks. I knew this kid would be a force the first time I saw him take BP two years ago, and I’ve said so every step of the way along his frustrating career path. I only wish I’d had this blog two years ago so I could conveniently link you to my comments. Instead, the only person who could corroborate my claims is the friend who sat with me in the bleachers that day. You out there Rypka?

Stat(s) of the Night

There was no shortage of statistical oddities in this one:

• For only the second time in his career, Tim Lincecum walked in a run.

• Bruce “The Shaman” Bochy was ejected for the fifth time this season — and the third time in eight games.

• From Extra Baggs: “Amazingly, [Bengie] Molina hadn’t drawn two unintentional walks in the same game since June 22, 2006, for the Toronto Blue Jays at Atlanta.”

Quote of the Night

“[A]ny time you put a new uniform on, you want to try to be Superman, I think. We're all human. We all want to do it. Sometimes you have to take a couple of steps back and relax. I'm working on it." - Ryan Garko

Wednesday, August 19th
Giants 1, Redlegs 0
WP: Romo (4-2); LP: Arroyo (11-12); S: Wilson (30)
HR: None

Can Barry Zito get a run? Please? I mean, for reals, this is getting ridiculous.

Over on the 50K-Watt blowtorch, someone’s saying Barry should’ve looked at strike three with the bases juiced and one out in the second. Barry didn’t go down looking. He swung, and ended up hitting into an inning-ending double play. But who can fault him for swinging? It’s not like anybody else is doing much to get him even a shred of run support.

His ERA may still be north of 4, but Zito has pitched a helluva lot better than 8-11 in 2009. Tonight, he threw two-hit ball over two-thirds of the Giants’ 16th shutout of the season and improved his post-All-Star-break ERA to 2.36 with a line of 7 GS, 42.0 IP, 34 H, 11 ER, 12 BB, 34 K, 1.05 WHIP. Oh yeah, and the team is 5-2 in his starts.

Meanwhile, Nate Schierholtz returned from oblivion to drive in the game’s only run with his second double of the night. A cynic could say he could’ve done the same job as a pinch hitter, but the pitcher’s spot wasn’t up in that situation. The two hole was. And “Nasty” Nate was there to greet the moment with the hit of the game. Forgive my gushing, but attention must be paid. This kid is the future. And the future is now.

That said, wasn’t that knock eerily similar to the ball that Fred Lewis flat out dropped in New York on Sunday? I think Freddy had an easier play.

Props are due to Sergio Romo, who’s been born again hard.

Butch’s Btw

Bochy sat Panda tonight, and it was the right move. The kid’s dragging ass at the plate lately, and it was starting to carry over into the field. When that happens, you know the slumps getting into a guy’s head. Best to give him a day on the pine to gather himself for the sphincter-tightening days ahead.

Stat of the Night

Five Giants had two-hit games to account for all 10 of the team’s hits.

Quote of the Night

"I don't think there's any rhyme or reason. I think it's coincidence." - Barry Zito on enjoying the lowest run support in the Major Leagues

Thursday, August 20th
Redlegs 2, Giants 1 (10)
WP: Cordero (2-3); LP: Howry (1-6)
HR: CIN - Stubbs (1; first career)

And the pendulum swings just... like... that.

Not much to say after losses, I know, but who has the energy to break down a game in which a team scraped together 11 hits and could only plate one run... on a wild pitch?

Who has the time or the inclination to analyze the Giants’ lack of patience in the batter’s box? Their blatantly obvious ignorance of fundamentals? Their inability to deliver the clutch sacrifice fly or even so much as a butcher boy chopper to the right side with a runner at second and nobody out?

If the Giants succeed in their postseason quest, it will be on the backs of the finest pitching staff in all of baseball. (You can look it up.) We like to talk about how no one wants to face this staff — especially the front end of the rotation — in a short series.

But if the Giants are going to make any noise in October, it will be on the backs of these hitters. And two-game stretches like this will really make you cringe when you think about the pitching they’d face in a short series.

Stat of the Day

Tough-luck workout victim Matt Cain has made five starts in a row sans victory. His ERA over that stretch is 2.97. I should know. He’s the ace of my fantasy rotation.

Quote of the Day

“No question, this was one of our tougher games all year. But we have to get ready for Colorado now and put this one behind us.” - Bruce “The Shaman” Bochy

Series debrief

From Wikipedia, with my usual snarkiness...

Bob “Whatever happened to Bobby?” Howry was drafted by the Giants in the fifth round of the 1994 Major League Baseball Draft.

On July 31, 1997, the Chicago White Sox traded three major players to the Giants for six minor leaguers, including Howry.

The Giants went on to win the National League Western Division title with a 90-72 record, two games better than the Hated Ones (yay!). The White Sox finished 80-81, six games behind the American League Central Division champion Cleveland Indians. The Giants were swept by the Florida Marlins in the National League Division Series. (And that’s all we need to say about that.)

Years passed, as they say, and sure enough, like a boomerang, Bob Howry returned to the Giants, signing a $2.75 million one-year contract. Until Tuesday night, he had never won a Major League game for the team that drafted him. And what a way to get your first W for the original club.

Thursday afternoon, Howry was a victim of a fate that’s haunted him all season. As soon as he worked himself out of a late-inning role with early inconsistency, he became the go-to guy in tie situations, late in the ballgame. He’s the Giants’ resident inning-eating specialist.

So it should come as no surprise that he’s clocking a 1-6 record this season. He tends to come into the game when everybody who comes to the plate is thinking, “Yabba dabba doo!,” and he throws a lot of fastballs.

But cut through all that playa hata nonsense in your head and think for a second about how cool it would be to go to the playoffs with a guy we gave up to win a division.

Tonight’s the night the real race begins. It’s a sprint to the finish, and we’re starting out two steps behind. Time for the cream to rise. Are the Giants in. Or are they out?

Heidi?

Brain Fart

Wtf?

Friday, August 7th
Redlegs 10, Giants 5
WP: Weathers (3-3); LP: Wilson (3-5; BS 5)
HR: SF - Molina (12), Velez (2)

This is one of those games you forget about quickly lest ye lose focus on the matter at hand. But it flashes through your mind just as quickly in that late-September moment when you realize you're going to miss out on the promised land of October in San Francisco by one or two games.

This game was ours. We should have owned it for nine innings. Instead, we sub-leased it to a surrogate team for the final two. They're a scrappy bunch, the Redlegs, and they've been suffering, and you never want to awaken a scrappy team, especially in the first game of a series.
The way we look at it, Brian Wilson and the bullpen just gave up the ghost. The way Reds fans they look at it, they just beat Tim Lincecum.

Did I mention the Hated Ones blew a ninth-inning lead and lost in extras? This could have been moving day. It should have been moving day. Instead, we're back into a tie with the Rocks — who just won't go away — and still staring at a 6 1/2 game deficit in the West.

Now that the anger is out of my system, some shout outs:

Stay hot, "Gino" Velez. (Thanks to Mychael Urban for the nickname.) The bat speed he displayed on that lawn dart of a round-tripper made me think of Barry Bonds... circa 1987.

Bengie Molina just missed a big night, hitting three balls that would've been out of a lot of parks. Fortunately, one of them managed to scrape the fence and get out of ours.

Tim Lincecum continues to impress. Even without his best stuff, he bends but does not break. Rolen's double was the only decent hit the Reds got off of him. He didn't have the strikeout touch, but Matt Cain's resurgence should have proven by now that pitching works just as well as throwing.

Dagnabbit, anger returning, Butch turning into Hulk...

How in the name of everything holy did the Reds score five runs in the ninth inning while hitting only one ball out of the infield?! Bonus question: Did anyone else hear circus music in the back of their mind while watching that agonizing display of mediocrity?

Quote of the Night

"We kind of let that game get away. We didn't allow our defense to make plays behind us, and then we had some faux pas on the field... This was a game we should have had in the bag in the sense of how we usually play." - Jeremy Affeldt

Saturday, August 8th
Giants 4, Redlegs 2
WP: Zito (8-10); LP: Arroyo (10-11); S: Wilson (28)
HR: SF - Velez (3); Molina (13)

Nice recovery, boys. That's a sign of a winning team if I ever saw one. But if this keeps up, we may have to rename the site "Unicorn Lovefest."

Seriously, the Z-Man is dealing right now, and while it's still not $5K per pitch dealing — seriously, does anyone else realize that may be what we have to pay Lincecum in three years? — it's not freakin' bad given what this guy's been through in a Giants uni. And if you don't believe me, check the stats, then refer to Zito's lifetime line, and tell me we shouldn't look forward to more of the same down the stretch...

Post All-Star break (2009):
3-1, 31.0 IP, 27 H, 9 R, 8 ER, 9 BB, 25 K, 2.32 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, .239 BAA

Post All-Star break (career):
73-37, 909.0 IP, 749 H, 382 R, 347 ER, 362 BB, 688 K, 3.44 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, .224 BAA

How you like 'dem apples? Now, at the risk of "jinxing" something that has absolutely nothing to do with what I write on the Internet, have a look at these numbers:

Postseason (career w/ A's)
4-3, 44.1 IP, 34 H, 16 R, 16 ER, 17 BB, 33 K, 3.25 ERA, 1.15 WHIP

With Timmy and Matty topping off a four-man rotation and Barry Z mixed in between, we're talking a lethal three-man punch in a playoff series. I'm just sayin', and I'm not the only one.

Btw, stay f**king hot, "Ricky" Velez — thanks to Baggs for another new nickname.

The same goes for Bengie "Molasses" Molina, the new rising star of the Giants offense — and a three-year vet of my fantasy team. Imagine if he'd been hitting like this since May. Unfortunately for the naysayers, looks like his recent run is re-cementing his spot in the cleanup role.

My take on lineups is this: after the first inning, the order's all shot to hell anyway. What you need is diversity in all three sections of the lineup: a rabbit, a professional hitter, and a guy who can mash. Obviously, when the pitcher's spot comes around, the proverbial wrench arrives, but you get the idea. Unfortunately, the Giants just don't have the everyday talent to field a lineup like that. But as with the weather in New England, wait a while...

I'll just say this about Fox's exclusive rights to Saturday afternoon: %$#@*! That said, it was a wonderful opportunity to rediscover the beauty of baseball on the radio. I feel like I saw the game without seeing a pitch, and that's due to the fine work of the Giants broadcast crew.

Stat of the Day

Jeremy Affeldt picked up his 24th hold, good enough for second in the majors just behind the Cubs' Carlos Marmol (25).

Quote of the Day

"I don't know what happened to him when he left, but he doesn't look like the same guy." - Bob Howry, on Eugenio Velez's return from Triple-A Fresno

Sunday, August 9th
Redlegs 5, Giants 2
WP: Harang (6-13); LP: Cain (12-4); S: Cordero (24)
HR: CIN - Phillips (17); Rosales (4)

Once again, Matt Cain is done in by a bomb and a blast.

Add that to a weak offensive display against a struggling starter, and you've got one of the most embarrassing series defeats of the season, right up there with getting swept by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim near the airport by Disneyland. At least the Halos are a decent team — a division leader at that. Dusty's squad hadn't won a series since the first week of July and hadn't won one on the road since mid-June.

Silver lining: Rowand made a great play before tweaking a hammy and — in a shocking move — allowing himself to be pulled from the game lest the injury worsen. Perhaps he's finally beginning to understand the limits of the human body. I'm sure his family appreciates that.

Stat of the Day

Why pitchers want to play in San Francisco, Reason 976: The two dingers allowed by Matt Cain matched the number of homers he'd surrendered in his previous seven home starts.

Quote of the Day

"It's a series that you think that we should win. We just didn't get it done. Our pitching let us down." - Matt Cain

Series debrief

Yes, they're only 5 1/2 games behind the struggling Dodgers, who are under .500 since the All-Star break. Yes, they're tied for the lead in the Wild Card "Division". Yes, Barry Zito continues to look, well, solid. (Hey, it's a start.) But for only the second time this season, the Giants lost games started by Tim Lincecum and Matt Cain in the same rotation cycle.

The other time was during a certain forgettable six-game Southern California roadtrip coming off the first week of the season. Our G-Men dropped six straight in San Diego and L.A., and put a permanent kink in their quest for a Western Division title. If they'd gone 3-3 on thaty trip — with two of those wins at Chavez Ravine — the Giants would be facing a 2 1/2 game deficit in the West.

Okay, so maybe some of the guys were caught looking ahead to the series with the Hated Ones beginning tonight. Can't say that I blame them. With the series in our house and the Hated Ones on a sour stretch, this is gonna be a huge set of games.

I think I felt their plane landing late last night at SFO. A darkness filled the air, and there was no sound. No sound...