New Yard, Same Smell

Not to mention those damn airplanes. Yet someone thought this was a good spot for a ballpark... twice.

Friday, August 14th
Mets 3, Giants 0
WP: Parnell (3-4); LP: Zito (8-11); S: F. Rodriguez (26)
HR: NY - Pagan (3)

Not much to say when the game is over after one batter in the bottom of the first. I will say that Barry Zito’s second half performance continues to impress. Sure, he hung one to David Wright in the sixth, right before he got yanked, but this game was over before anyone laced up their spikes.

Quick shout out to Angel Pagan, who owns the best oxymoron of a name in professional sports.

Stat of the Night

The Giants have been shut out in eight of Zito’s 24 starts. For those with remedial math skills, that means he’s had absolutely none chance of winning in one third of his appearances, no matter how well (or poorly) he pitched.

Quote of the Night

"It's hard to ride that momentum when it's not the next day." - Barry Zito, who might have a point. The Giants have played like ass in every game after an off-day in the second half. Look it up.

Saturday, August 15th
Giants 5, Mets 4 (10)
WP: Wilson (5-5; BS 6); LP: F. Rodriguez (2-4)
HR: SF - Sandoval (18); Molina (15)

I spent the better part of this game counter-protesting some vicious teabaggers outside a Barbara Boxer book signing at Barnes and Noble, and consequently, I missed the David Wright bean ball and didn’t learn the full context of this game until the postgame show.

So, when Panda hit his jack off the second deck after Santana threw behind him, I figured that was an isolated beef. When Bengie took issue when getting plunked, I assumed it was a direct result of the Sandoval at bat. When Cain tipped his cap upon being removed, I thought he was acknowledging the strong orange and black contingent that came out for the weekend getaway — as well as half the ownership group.

Once I saw the full highlight reel, I realized that all of those incidents had a direct link to Wright lying in the dirt with a dent in his helmet. Now, I’m all for an honor code, and I understand the principle of protecting your teammates, but in the middle of a pennant race, in a close game, these kids games are a pointless exercise. S**t happens, and sometimes a pitch gets away. I know these guys are hopped up on adrenaline and Gatorade and who knows what the heck else, but maybe a little Xanax would help cooler heads prevail.

What cannot be lost on anyone here is that Matt Cain was once again on the receiving end of a tough-luck ND. The mental fortitude of this kid has yet to display any limits. He’s one cool customer out there, and I challenge anyone to find the change in his expression as he watched from the dugout as another brilliant performance went from win to workout thanks to a bullpen hiccup. It’s just another reason I have no reason to doubt his ability to compete in a tight pennant race... or postseason series.

Can I get some love for Bengie Mo? The loveable if sloth-like backstop fought through doubts about his viability in the cleanup role to have a solid two weeks at the plate, culminating with three hits and a pair of RBIs in this contest — including a dramatic game-winning jack in the 10th.

I’m not saying he’s your prototypical four-hole guy, but really, if you accept that Sandoval needs to hit third to guarantee he comes up in the first inning and as many times as possible thereafter, where would YOU hit Molina? And if it weren’t cleanup, who would you put there instead? (Bear in mind, Bengie is second on the club behind Panda in dingers and ribbies, and the guy in third — Rowand — isn’t even close.) I’m eager to hear your solutions.

Butch’s Btw

For as long as I can remember, the Giants have played like s**t in Saturday games on Fox. Maybe the bright lights of national TV put a bug up their collective butt. Maybe it was something to do with the quality — or lack thereof — of the Fox announcing crew, be it Joe Schmuck and Tim “Hey, did I ever mention I once caught Bob Gibson in the World Series?” McCarver or Thom “I also do Diamondback games poorly” Brenneman and Mark “Nice Guy” Grace. Maybe they just didn’t give a crap about their fans in other markets who can’t afford the MLB Extra Innings package and choose to play badly in the only games they can watch — this happened to me many a time while toiling in SoCal.

Well, they tried their best to lose with glory, but the boys chalked up a W in a Fox game — on the road no less. This prompts me to ask: What’s next? Bengie Molina takes a pitch? Pablo Sandoval eats a salad? Nate Schierholtz starts every day? Not f**king likely on all counts...

Stat of the Night

Brian Wilson blew his sixth save but stuck it out for 2 2/3 innings scoreless innings — his longest career appearance — and got the win. It was the ninth time in his career he lasted at least two innings. In those nine outings, he’s 3-1 with a 0.96 ERA.

Quote of the Night

“He threw four fastballs by me [last night], and I couldn't see them. I said, 'You know what? He might feel the same way today.' So I was just sitting on 95 [mph]. If he had thrown any other pitch, I would have been the first out of the inning." - Bengie Molina, on his home run off Francisco Rodriguez that caused Butch’s thoughts to drift to the 2002 World Series, which is (almost) never a good thing

Sunday, August 16th
Mets 3, Giants 2
WP: F. Rodriguez (3-4); LP: Romo (3-2)
HR: NY - Castillo (1)

Luis Castillo didn’t beat the Giants on Sunday afternoon in Flushing. Neither did David Murphy. Fred Lewis won this game for the Mets. The only problem is the uniform he was wearing at the time.

It’s real simple: If you’re a major league ballplayer and a ball lands in your glove, it doesn’t hit the ground. Period. I don’t care if your chest explodes and a motherf**king alien pops out singing “Hello, My Baby”... You catch the f**king ball.

Why in the world this guy keeps picking up starts is beyond me. Granted, he’s one of the few guys on this team with any plate discipline, but when you have a guy like Nate Schierholtz riding your bench — a guy who just one day prior had two hits off Johan Santana batting left-handed — there is absolutely, positively no earthly reason why Fred Lewis should even sniff the starting nine except to deliver the lineup card to the umps before the game (see Monday recap).

I am so utterly sick of Bruce Bochy’s daily machinations with his starting squad that I’m about to puke on my MacBook. I don’t know what numbers he’s looking at, who’s whispering in his ear or what games he’s watching, but if another day goes by without Schierholtz in right field from the first inning on, somebody’s getting fired... at least in my head. When a team is this desperate for run support, how can you ignore a guy with Nate’s numbers and ability at the plate, on the bases and in the field in favor of trotting out washed-up vets like Randy Winn or promising but troublesome busts like Lewis.

It’s beside the point to mention that Randy so much as admitted he should be benched to Andy Baggarly and the rest of the beat reporters after a miserable performance last week. After years and years of playing for losing teams who never found themselves in contention, the man says he just wants to win. He doesn’t care about his view during the pennant race. Frankly, the way he’s been hitting, he should be watching from the pine, but that’s just, you know, my opinion, man. (Full disclosure: Yes, I saw his game-tying double. Impressive, but one hit can’t salvage a lost season.)

Sheesh, all that bitching and I still haven’t mentioned that Jonathan Sanchez deserved another win today. He’s really picked up his game on the road, and it’s a good sign for this team heading into the final seven weeks.

Butch’s Btw

Did anybody else’s heart skip a beat when they saw this? According to Baggs, he’s all good. But that’s what they said about Robb Nen.

Stats of the Night

Luis Castillo's hit his first home run since May 30... 2008.

J. Sanchez has compiled a 4.04 ERA since his no-hitter on July 10th, but he’s limited opponents to a .202 batting average in that span.

Quote of the Night

"I threw a strike that was hittable instead of one that wasn't. There's really no secret to what happened." - Jeremy Affeldt, who gave up the winning hit to David Murphy

Monday, August 17th
Giants 10, Mets 1
WP: J. Martinez (3-1); LP: L. Hernandez (7-8)
HR: SF - Rowand (10)

Here’s how I find the dark cloud in the silver lining of a ha-ha-ha-ha-ha laugher: You have an outfielder. Call him Jake Bierpoltz. Jake’s 25. He’s sporting a .296/.324/.437 with 13 doubles, four bombs and 22 ribs in 206 ABs.

You’ve got another two outfielder. Call them Andy Flynn and Ed Lewis. Combined, Andy and Ed are posting a .267/.329/.384 with a combined 46 doubles, six jacks and 59 RBI in 685 ABs.

In 685 ABs, Jake would have 43 doubles, 13 homers, and 73 RBI (and he’d still be hitting 30 points higher than Andy and Ed combined.

Did I mention that Jake runs like the wind, has a cannon for an arm, and hits lefties better than any other lefty on the team?

So why isn’t Jake starting?

Why is Jake coming off the bench as a pinch hitter (a role in which he’s hitting over .400) and crushing a near grand slam to bust the game open when he could have been playing the whole time?

Is some crazed shaman guiding this team? No, it’s only Bochy.

Okay, back to the 18-hit, 10-run shellacking, which was nice on so many levels...

The aforementioned shaman called a team meeting before his boys took the field and asked them to forget their road record and focus on having fun and leaving a good impression. Then he went and sent Fred Lewis out with the lineup card. And before any of us could ask ourselves “Wtf?” the Giants were rolling...

Joe Martinez won in front of a gob of friends and family, and he got to watch the last four innings taboot.

Aaron Rowand and Randy Winn had big games, which we’d like to think could bode well for these streaky hitters in the crucial days ahead.

Gino Velez continued to climb out of his super-mini-funk, and Freddy Sanchez continued his brilliance in the field and at the plate. He may be banged up, and it may not show up in the W column, but this is a better team for having him.

Edgar Renteria had an RBI. He’s got 40. No foolin’.

Stat of the Night

Aaron Rowand’s tiebreaker in the fourth was his first dong since July 2, a gap of 98 ABs.

Quote of the Night

"It's kind of a funky field." - Nate Schierholtz on the Mets’ new home, Citi Field

Series debrief

As I write this, the G’s just broke a 5-5 tie with the Redlegs in the top of the 10th in Cincy. At one point, they trailed 5-1 after Lincecum got lit up like he hasn’t all season, and all I was thinking was, "Just get him through the sixth or seventh so the bullpen isn’t taxed midway through the roadtrip." Then they went and scored 4 runs in one gosh darn inning. Now how about that?

Where the Wild Things Are

I conceived of this post about a week and a half ago as an off-day story to lead into the crucial 11-game trip that got off to a smashing start yesterday...

The G-Men were coming off a clutch road series victory in Houston, returning home to face the thoroughly incompetent Reds in a weekender before the Hated Ones came to town for a series that could have put the squad from the City right back in the Western Division mix. They had regained their Wild Card advantage over the Rocks and were flying high with new addition Freddy Sanchez off to a thrilling start in the orange and black.

I was going to tell you how the N.L. Wild Card race would come down to the two teams from the West. How the Cubs and Brewers would beat each other senseless in their attempts to chase down eventual Central Division champ St. Louis. How the Marlins don't have enough pitching consistency. How the Braves lack depth on either side of the ball. Why that didn't matter because the strength of the East from top to bottom — including the lowly Nats who shocked the world by reeling off eight W's in a row — would do in both Florida and Atlanta down the stretch anyway. How the Giants and Rockies were uniquely positioned to duke it out over the season's final weeks thanks to the weakness of 'Zona and the Pads and the overall strength of their respective pitching staffs full of young studs. And how the Giants would eventually prevail thanks to six games against Colorado in the friendly confines of 24 Willie Mays Plaza (where they still enjoy a 39-20 record despite a pitiful 2-4 homestand).

I started writing on the travel day after the Houston series. I attached links to multimedia, stat graphs, articles and blogs. I wrote prose poems in honor of Freddy Sanchez's club foot. I sang the praises of the soon-to-return "Nasty" Nate Schierholtz. Satisfied, I set the piece to post yesterday morning. I figured the only reason I'd have to scrap it would be if the G's managed to sweep the struggling Hated Ones and jump right back in the division race...

Then, this happened.

Now, our team is reeling at the absolute worst time imaginable. I said before that if they managed to hold on through this trip, they would make the postseason. While that's still a very manageable goal to aim for given they trail the Colorado team by only 1 1/2 games in the WC standings and sit 6 1/2 behind the Hated Ones — despite dropping two out of three to them earlier this week in atrociously mediocre fashion — a reasonable appraisal of this team would tell you they need the offense back in its late-June, early-July mode if they're to have any shot at all. (They certainly need to figure things out in time for the four-gamer in Denver that closes this little jaunt.)

So I scrapped my story and banged this out instead. Now, the boys have gone and dropped the first game of the trip with little more than a whimper, leaving Barry Zito hanging on the bump without a run of support for the eighth time this season — that's a full third of his starts, people (eat your heart out, Matt Cain) — and I have a hard time getting up the will to posit my theory, which still holds water, though it's leaking from numerous tiny fissures that could very quickly become gushers if the ship is not righted in short order.

I still believe the Central teams —aside from the Cards, who are suddenly running away thanks to the addition of .493 hitter and resident jackass Matt Holliday — will beat each other into bloody pulps by the time the season winds down and finish at or around .500. I still believe the East is too tough a division to produce two playoff teams. (The Phils are running away there as well, with Clifford Lee dominating N.L. batters, even in the band box that is Citizens Bank Park.) I still believe the Giants have a chance to make this a two-team race with the Rockpile. But if they're going to turn my faith into reality, they need to wake up the bats. Now.

The Giants have failed to rack up any prolonged stretches of brilliance this season. The five- and six- and seven-game winning streaks that mark well-crafted and durable teams. The kind of runs that could have put them back in the division race long ago or put some distance between them and the rest of the Wild Card pack. That deficiency has nothing to do with a pitching staff that still boasts the best team ERA in the majors (3.51). It has more to do with an offense that has never clicked on all cylinders at once.

Every player in the lineup has flashed their bat for weeks at a time, but not once have all the bats come together to put on the displays that generate sustained success. Pablo Sandoval has been a revelation, but even he has been prone to slumping thanks to his free-swinging, Vlad Guerrero-esque style at the plate. Bengie Molina's bat has only now started to come alive, but was truly needed in the season's opening months, when young talents like Panda and Schierholtz had yet to make an impact and the team was floundering around .500. Eugenio Velez was a pleasant surprise, but the shine is starting to wear off his cleats. And then there's Randy Winn, Aaron Rowand, and Edgar Renteria, a triumvirate of overpaid veterans hitting a collective .262 — and a weak .262 at that. F. Sanchez has certainly provided a spark at the top of the lineup, but without professional hitting lower in the order, there's nobody to knock him in.

Callers to the 50K-Watt juggernaut and commenters on local blogs regularly deride the team for failing to make a competetive offer for the likes of Holliday, as if one power bat would solve all of our problems. Let's not forget, the Cards already had a superstar in their lineup when they added the ass-head former Denver-ite — some kid by the name of Pujols. If Marvin Benard hit next to that guy in a lineup, he'd be a superstar, with or without the cream and the clear.

At this juncture, there's no point to constructive criticism of the Giants deadline deals. That's the past. This is the team we have now. And it's not a bad team. We're still ahead of schedule, still loaded with talent down on the Farm, still stacked with the finest pitching staff in the majors, and still within reach of the final playoff spot, the spot that propelled them to an N.L. pennant in 2002, the spot we all wish were available to them in 1993.

But games like last night's have a tendency to leave a sour taste in the mouth of the faithful, those of us who race home from work to catch the final innings of an East Coast roadie, who make the 45-minute trek up the Peninsula to stand in the bitter cold under the Arcade for three and a half hours (two and a half when Timmy or Matty pitch), who defend their boys against all enemies, foreign and domestic, who wear their orange to family functions and business meetings alike, and always with a sense of pride.

Here's hoping today's nationally-televised contest is the worm-turner that gets the Giants' season back on track. If not, it's time to start salivating for Madison Bumgarner's first start of Spring Training 2010.

¡Vamos Gigantes!

Hangovers & Hated Ones

It’s okay, Chicken Little! You can put away the noose! The sky isn’t really falling... yet.

Monday, August 10th
Hated Ones 4, Giants 2
WP: Kuroda (5-5); LP: J. Sanchez (5-10); S: Broxton (25)
HR: SF - Ishikawa (8); Molina (14)

One pitch. That’s all it takes to ruin a pitcher’s day.

Jonathan Sanchez threw that pitch to Matt Kemp in the top of the fourth, and Kemp cleared the sacks. That J. Sanchez survived to pitch a stellar fifth is testament to his newfound confidence. But for one inning, it was the Sanchy we all know and try to love: teetering on the brink of a full-on physical and mental breakdown.

One inning. That’s all it takes.

To all the squakboxes who like to quack about the Giants’ lack of pop: They’ve been putting on a power display of late, and how much do they have to show for it? I love watching Ishi and Bengie go deep as much as the next guy — a bit more seeing as how they’re on my fantasy team. But if Fred Lewis — or anybody, for that matter — is on base at the time, a home run is a lot more effective.

In a bit of news that’s hard to categorize, the Hated Ones announced No. 1 starter Chad “Barbara” Billingsley will miss at least one start with a sore leggy-poo and be replaced this turn by journeyman a-hole Jeff Weaver. Here’s hoping Chad’s got some good painkillers and that he’s out for a wee bit longer than anticipated, and also that someone talks a little s**t to Weaver during Wednesday’s game.

Oh yeah, stay hot Eugenio Velez.

Stat of the Night (Road team edition)

The Dodgers’ 31-12 record against the N.L. West this season is the best intra-division mark in the Show.

Quote of the Night

"This is not the way you want to start a series but it's not desperation time. We need to relax and play our game." - Bruce Bochy, Zen Master

Tuesday, August 11th
Hated Ones 9, Giants 1
WP: Wolf (6-6); LP: Martinez (2-1)
HR: LA - Ramirez (13); Kemp (16)

One play. That’s all it takes to turn the momentum of a game.

I’m sitting here, still thinking about it. If he’d let it go through, Velez would’ve grabbed the ball right on the bag and had an easy turn of two. Instead, he made a circus play that would’ve made it to the top of the Web Gems... had he not knuckled one to Gino, who conveniently dropped the dime. And the Boys of Summer were off and rolling again.

You have to feel for Joe Martinez. He was acting on instinct, and he made a tremendous play. But as he knows all too well, the game can be cruel. And so can Manny Ramirez. Seriously, when Casey Blake is “defending” him in the five hole, why would anyone pitch to this guy?

Speaking of ManRam... Don’t know if anyone else noticed, but there was a pretty thick cloud hanging over the Cove on Tuesday night, and it wasn’t the “marine layer”. For years, we learned to live with our own embarrassment of a left fielder because he was our embarrassment and when you strip away all the hype and the dope, he was still the greatest hitter many of us have ever seen live. We heard the Think Blue Mafia chant “Bar-roid” and “Barry Sucks” — even when Bonds wasn’t playing! They booed him, they taunted him, and through it all, we defended him because he was electric.

Pot, meet kettle.

Btw, I have to admit, I couldn’t deal in the 7th. The mediocrity was simply too much to take. The fact that it was coming from Brandon Medders made less sense than the endless string of hits he allowed. This guy has dealt all year, but for one inning, he looked like garbage. But one inning is all it takes, sometimes.

Stat of the Night

Eugenio “Babe” Velez’s 16-game hitting streak ended with an 0-for-3, but he made the most productive of the Giants 27 outs, driving in Fred Lewis with a 3rd-inning groundout. He had one last chance to collect a knock in the 8th, but he was hit by a pitch that first bounced in the dirt. During the streak, Velez hit .420 (29-for-69) with three homers and 11 RBIs. It was the Giants' second-longest streak of the season, trailing only a 17-game run by Aaron Rowand.

Wednesday, August 12th
Giants 4, Hated Ones 2 (10)
WP: Wilson (4-5); LP: Mota (3-4)
HR: SF - Uribe (5)

You always hear the cliché when someone’s talking about another sport: “You don’t want the refs deciding the game.” Kobe says it about basketball. Mike Nolan used to bitch about it in (American) football. And just this week, Tiger mouthed off about the officials at a golf tournament. Read that last sentence again, and bear in mind Mr. Woods won the match.

My point is, you don’t often hear that excuse in baseball. Because 99.9% of the time, umpires effectively render themselves invisible. Think about the sheer number of calls made by a four-man crew over the course of a single game. Now think about how often you actually see a call worth questioning, even after rewinding and replaying your DVR recording of the play at least fifty times at six different speeds.

That said, the umpires almost gave this one to the Hated Ones, and luckily I’m not an employee of MLB or any of its franchises, so I can say that without getting fined. On no less than three separate occasions, this crew absolutely and unequivocally blew the call.

The first time, it cost the Giants a rally. The final time, it cost Tim Lincecum a complete game victory and on any given Wednesday could have cost the Giants the game. The time in between, it added insult to injury after one of the scrappier tiffs this rivalry has produced of late. It got so bad out there, the Giants had their manager ejected... twice. (That has to be a first for Ron Wotus. I’ll have the research team check it out.)

A quick note on the bench-clearing petting zoo: Russell Martin doesn’t have to prove how hard he is. He’s a Major League catcher. That should be enough. Instead, he had to wave his d**k around in Panda’s face, and Panda didn’t do nothin’ to nobody. So back off, Junior, or you’re goin’ on the list right under Casey Blake.

And now a note or two about the baseball:

Redemption, like revenge, is a dish that is best served cold, and it tasted awfully sweet when Juan Uribe lit up Guillermo Mota on an 10th inning 0-2 mistake to send everybody home googly eyed and grinning. In a lot of ways, it had to be Juan Uribe.

This is the same Juan Uribe who left seven men on base earlier in the game. The same Juan Uribe who fouled off a hanging Mota breaking ball earlier in the same AB. The same Juan Uribe who made what could have been a costly an error on an easy bloop in the top of the inning.

Looking back at this semi-disastrous homestand and taking into account the Giants’ position in the playoff race, this was a huge moment. Biggest of the season. The lead was blown, but the Giants were still alive. Still alive in the Wild Card. Still alive in the West. Brian Wilson just laid down the law with four strikeouts. If something was going to happen, it had to happen soon. As in now.

This was a must-win game before the first pitch, but it became an absolutely positively have to win or you can kiss your season goodbye kinduva game right around the time Uribe rounded third and everybody took a moment to think about what we would’ve been facing if the Hated Ones prevailed... Swept by the rivals at home, headed on a brutal 11-game trip, to the East Coast, in the dog days.

I felt these same emotions surging through my bloodstream once before this season. It was a warm May night in Seattle. Call this movie Unlikely Hero Redux.

P.S. Anybody get goose bumps when Wilson struck out Casey Blake to start the 10th? Much better revenge than plunking him. And just think, if they’d won this in nine, we would’ve missed a classic AB.

Stat of the Day

Before Freddy Sanchez’s RBI single in the fifth, the Giants had been 0-for-14 with RISP in the series. They were a whopping 1-for-18 by the end of it.

Quote of the Day

"I was worried about running out of managers today." - Bruce Bochy, who was ejected in the second inning (Interim manager and Bench Coach Ron Wotus was ejected in the ninth.)

Series debrief

Giants pitching shut down their rivals’ offense for 22 innings over the three-game series. In the other five innings, the San Francisco staff allowed 15 runs — 13 in three innings through the first two games.

The big inning has been a Giant killer all year, and the Hated Ones are built for crooked numbers. Their lineup is solid from top to bottom, and they jump on every mistake you make and every gift you hand out.

The Giants were far too generous with their charity in the opening two games, but no one can fault their valiant performance against a 13-man squad on Wednesday. Sure, you need to score with the bases loaded and nobody out, but it’s hard to complain about some good ol’ fashioned drama as evidenced at 24 Willie Mays Plaza this week.

I could tell you guys were into it. Wanna know how? Because I still heard you cheering in the bottom of the ninth on Tuesday night:

“Beat L-A! Beat L-A!”

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...

Real Fantasy Players of Willow Glen

Not quite as intriguing as housewives, but much more interesting. That is, if you're into geeking out over baseball statistics and sabermetrics — which I like to call Sabesmetrics, to save on a syllable.

If you love baseball because it's the most cerebral of the mainstream American sports, because the sheer volume of numbers collected by statisticians allows for infinite analysis, because the first thing your father sat down and taught you was how to keep score, then like me, you're probably on good medication... and involved in one or more fantasy leagues during the long hot summer months.

As it stands, I can barely keep tabs on everything else in my life, and tracking the daily progress of Jose Reyes as he works his way back from a balky calf (and now a gimpy hamstring) is skating awfully close to the thin ice of not really worth my time. But I make time, not because I love the thrill of competition — I mean, really, I've only met one of the guys in my league. I do have a beef with another one of them, but it's strictly political.

The dirty truth is baseball is the one thing in life I can't seem to ignore. Like a good drug, it knows how to keep you hooked. And with a 25-man fantasy team, I have a rooting interest in just about every game going.

I stayed away from rotisserie ball for a while. I remember trying to start a league with one other guy in junior high. Both of our teams were stacked, the stats took forever to tabulate from the back page of the USA Today sports page once a week, and we folded the league after about half a season.

Three years ago, the brother of my girlfriend at the time asks if I'd like to join his league. They had a couple guys drop out during the offseason and needed a twelfth man. I was feeling frisky, so I said, "Yes." My first draft was straight off the seat of my pants. Going into the season, I thought I'd be fighting to stay out of the cellar all year.

Next thing you know, thanks in no small part to a Rookie of the Year and an ROY runner-up, my team comes in third overall. I get a little payout, and now that I've had my taste, I want some more. I start to think I've got it figured out, that I know ways of analyzing data that would blow the minds of my fellow "owners," that I'm just gonna keep taking a wrecking ball to this league until I'm on top...

A ninth-place finish last year didn't sit too well, but I sucked it up. I was kinda busy at the time, you see? I went to the draft completely unprepared, barely checked my team once a week, and got all my tips from SportsCenter. That's not an excuse, just an explanation. I vowed to turn things around this year.

Of course, it would've helped if I'd made it for the first hour of the '09 draft. But I'm a busy guy, I had a meeting to chair, and sometimes even baseball has to wait. Some things are just too important.

Anyway, I gave my Top 100 to my now-ex-girlfriend's brother to draft in my stead, hoping against hope that I'd only miss a round or two. But the best laid plans and all that jazz... I get on the conference call in time to hear my dark horse pick go in the early seventh round. Absolutely horrifying because I had him pegged no earlier than the ninth round, but as soon as I jumped on the call, someone who obviously did their homework blurted out, "Pablo Sandoval, firstbaseman, catcher, San Francisco." Crushed. I almost cried.

But I recovered to learn that my Top 100 was fatally flawed by being front-loaded with outfielders. In the first six rounds, I'd drafted four OFs (Crawford, B.J. Upton, Ichiro, and Josh Hamilton), one 3B (Longoria), and one SS (Reyes, my first-round pick). I'd also drafted three Tampa Bay Rays, but I was more concerned with positional parity. Translation: I needed a starting pitcher, stat.

I asked my friend to catch me up, and as he rattled off the players from my Top 100 who were now off the table, I scanned the rolls for an SP as my turn in the seventh round approached. That was when an ugly secret about my fantasy style was exposed...

Apparently, before I joined the fun, the rest of the guys were having a laugh at some of the players I'd left off my Top 100. They asked where I had Miguel Cabrera, a Top 20 talent on most lists (well, all of them, actually). I told them I didn't have him on my draft board.

"Why not?" they asked incredulously.

"I have standards," I replied, brimming with machismo.

"What do you mean standards?"

Once again, I was feeling frisky: "I mean I don't draft Dodgers, I don't draft Yankees, I don't draft Angels, and I don't draft fat, cocky f**ks."

That set everyone off laughing, and someone chimed in: "You take this too personally."

"You have to have standards," I said.

And I believe that. So no, Miguel Cabrera was nowhere near my draft board, nor was Matt Holliday — though I did own him my first season, before he dissed Matt Cain — nor Manny Ramirez nor Alex Rodriguez. (Sure, I drafted Bonds my first year as well, but that was a homer pick, and there's no rule against that or I wouldn't have been able to pick up Travis Ishikawa in the 29th round this year.)

Besides, if it's my money on the line, nobody else is gonna tell me how to run my team. In that respect, I kinda understand Al Davis, a little bit, maybe. No, he's bats**t insane. Anyway...

I recovered in time to draft Matty Cain in the seventh round —absolute f**ing steal in retrospect — and filled out my team best I could after that. (On a side note, I drafted Timmy last year in round seven, and it was a toss-up pick. This year, he went fourth overall in my league.)

It's been a long haul to the middle this season for the Willow Glen Nimbys: First base has been a black hole nearly all season, Reyes, Hamilton, Longoria, and Ichiro have all spent significant time nursing injuries either on the DL or off it, and our starting pitching staff has a team ERA of 3.89 but a record of 51-53 because they pitch for teams with offenses weaker than, well, the Giants. (That said, Cain's been my win machine.) We're dead last in home runs and RBI but top of the pops in stolen bases and saves. We've got 10 complete games but only one CGSO. You get the idea.

I'm holding out hope of making a few crucial moves down the stretch that might propel me into the money, but I'm not holding my breath. Since I know you're wicked interested, I'll post semi-regular updates here under the arcade. If I win anything, maybe we can go out for a beer. Maybe the President will join us...

Stay classy.

Hot to Trot

Used to be the G-Men owned Enron Field. Good to see we're getting back to basics now that the place is named after orange juice.

Monday, August 3rd
Astros 4, Giants 3
WP: Hampton (7-8); LP: Cain (12-3); S: Valverde (13)
HR: HOU - Blum (6), Matsui (5)

Matt Cain’s had a tough time trying to collect his unlucky 13th victory, but nobody can fault him for lack of effort. In his last two outings, he’s turned in a nine-inning shutout of the Bucs and an eight-inning gem against the ‘Stros. The first was spoiled by a non-existent offense; the second by a chip shot and a fluke. In a gimmicky park like this, the team with the most homers will generally prevail, and the home club had more of those on this particular night.

BREAKING NEWS: Eugenio Velez human after all! Of course, he also picked up a pair of hits and scored a run.

We’ve still got at least a week before Nasty Nate returns from his gruesome injury suffered while being a baddass, so the jury’s still out on what the starting outfield will look like when he does. But as much as I love the kid from San Ramon Valley High, the new-and-improved Velez is opening a lot of eyes — mine included. No clue he had this kind of talent, and there’s only so much longer we can go on expecting it not to last.

Here’s a play that got me thinking of a possible solution, and I’m pretty sure the bone spurs in Edgar Renteria’s elbow had nothing to do with it. The guy’s just lost a step... or two, and I’m pretty sure EV could play a little short if his manager asked.

Quote of the Night

“Why not? I gave up 35,000 Big Macs already.” - Matt Cain, who gave up a dinger to Kaz Matsui that clanked off the Chick-Fil-A ad that runs along the screen on the right field foul pole, awarding free chicken sandwiches for anyone with a ticket stub from the game. Last year in St. Louis, The Great Pujols took Cain deep into the Big Mac seats. You can guess what fans got for that.

Stat of the Night

Velez’s BA stands at a blistering .439 during a 10-game hitting streak.

Tuesday, August 4th
Giants 8, Astros 1
WP: Sanchez (5-9); LP: Paulino (2-6)
HR: SF - Sanchez (7), Sandoval (17)

There’s a lot to be said about the awakening of the Giants road offense, and a lot of it has to do with the newest additions to the club, but Jonathan Sanchez deserves some major kudos tonight for picking up his first road victory of the season. Better late than never, right? Don’t look now, but this team’s most dangerous and unpredictable lefty starter is beginning to figure things out.

Getting back to that awakening offense...

How sweet was it for Freddy “Boom-Boom” Sanchez and the Kung Fu Panda to go back-to-back to put the game officially out of reach? I was on the phone with a friend who ended up getting an unexpected earful of nonsensical shouting. By the time I remembered I was s’posed to be contributing to a conversation, I’d nearly blown out her eardrums.

BREAKING NEWS: Eugenio Velez still a robot!

Quote of the Night

“Baseball works in funny ways. You hit the ball hard, that’s what you’re supposed to do, and you don’t get hits. It can happen to anybody. It happened to me. Hopefully the hits will all be at the end of the year.” - Bengie Molina, who collected three hits in a breakout game. As his fantasy owner, I’m hoping for the same thing.

Stat of the Night

Jonathan Sanchez collected an infield hit in the fifth inning to snap out of a horrendous 0-for-40 slump that stretched to June 12 — of last season.

Wednesday, August 5th Giants 10, Astros 6
WP: J. Martinez (2-0); LP: Moehler (7-7)
HR: SF - Whiteside (1) GS; HOU - Pence (14)

Three cheers for Joe Martinez! Not only did he come back from an injury that would’ve sent many a man to permanent obsolescence, but he’s been born again hard, and this team has rallied to his side. Joltin’ Joe’s teammates willed him to victory by overcoming a deficit of more than two runs for the first time since Sept. 20 of last year.

These are the games you need to win if you’re going to make a splash come October, and the Giants finally have the offense to do it. I can’t express how deflating a 3-0 second-inning deficit would’ve looked prior to this week. But with contributions from the new kids on the block and a landmark shot from Babe Whiteside, worry has been replaced with a calm I haven’t felt in a long, long time...

This victory puts the Giants twelve games over for the first time all year — indeed, for the first time in five years! It also marks the first time since Randy Johnson went on the DL that the team won back to back games started by the fourth (J-Sanchez) and fifth (Sadowski/Martinez) starters. Put that in your pipe and smoke it.

One final note about this piece of s**t ballpark and I’ll leave it alone: Something has to be done about the grassy knoll in centerfield that should’ve stayed in Dallas. One of these days, somebody’s gonna get seriously hurt, and when that day comes, all the Cassandras like me will be there to say, “I told you so.”

Stat of the Day

Since joining los Gigantes via last week’s trades, F-Sanchez and Donnie Garko have a combined line of 14-for-44 (.318), HR, 3B, 2B, 7 R, 6 RBI.

Series debrief

Regular McCovey Chronicles contributor Grant has a great piece on the trials and tribulations of being a die-hard fan of the Orange and Black. Reading it took me back to a time when all I did was wait for the other shoe to drop, walking around with a scowl on my face after a three-game sweep because the offense only went 2-for-15 with RISP. But let’s face it, after five disappointing seasons that ended without an October and 51 years of frustration piled upon aggravation, it’s high time someone brought a little bit of optimism to this idiom.

I’m typically more than comfortable in a cynical mode and would not hesitate to point out that this team has let us down many times before and could very easily do so again, but I can admit that I’m looking ahead with a smile on my face. After all, we weren’t even supposed to be in this position at this point in this season. Remember when our new Managing General Partner made .500 the benchmark for success in 2009? How easily winning can turn us into spoiled little children.

This is baseball, everybody. It’s not energy independence, comprehensive immigration reform or universal health care. In other words: There are more important things in life for us to fret about. Let’s do ourselves a favor and treat this game for what it is: entertainment. Our happiness should not ebb and flow with Pablo Sandoval’s OPS.

I will now descend from the soap box.

Fear This

Time for blogging is hard to come by, but I make time for my fans — all three of them...

Thrusday, July 30th
Giants 7, Phillies 2
WP: Sanchez (4-9); LP: Lopez (3-1)
HR: SF - Sandoval (16); PHI - Utley (23)

This had all the makings of an important series on so many levels:

The Giants needed to prove they could compete with the defending World Series Champs, a likely Division Series opponent come October.

Barry Zito and Jonathan Sanchez needed to prove they could contribute in a major way down the stretch.

And Pablo Sandoval needed to prove to Charlie Manuel that he should have thought a little harder when selecting his All-Star team. (Okay, so this was probably more important to fans than to Pablo, but I’m sure it crossed his mind.)

Check, check, and... check.

On the 50th anniversary of Willie McCovey’s major league debut, Sandoval took his place in Giants lore with the 49th Splash Hit into the cove named after the wildly popular first bagger — whose retirement was announced to the crowd at my first live game in 1981. They didn’t show a replay of Manuel’s reaction on TV, but I’d love to imagine him accidentally swallowing his gum when Panda made contact.

Meanwhile, Sanchez allowed a first inning run and later shared a little drama with Chase Utley before the All-Star second baseman took him deep. But on the whole, he turned in a strikingly solid performance over 5 2/3 innings.

In the process, Sanchy improved to 4-1 with a 3.26 ERA at 24 Willie Mays Plaza, compared to 0-8 and 6.33 on the road. If he can find a way to get it done in the bottom halves of innings, we might finally see the full package from the most intriguing — and frustrating — arm in the organization.

A quick aside is due to one Eugenio Velez, who stayed hot as a Saharan summer with three more hits and three more RBIs to pad his constantly improving stat line. He and Panda combined to drive in all seven of the Giants’ runs.

If this keeps up, my man crush Nate Schierholtz might find playing time hard to come by when he returns from the DL. But let’s temper our enthusiasm with a dose of reality and remember that many a Giants farm hand has made a splash for a week or two. Sustained brilliance, however, has been harder to come by.

Quote of the Night

"I lost my release point. It was supposed to be [outside]. I didn't try to hit him. I have nothing against him." - Jonathan Sanchez, on his 6th-inning confrontation with Utley

Friday, July 31st
Phillies 5, Giants 1
WP: Lee (8-9); LP: Sadowski (2-4)
HR: PHI - Werth (22)

When Jeremy Affeldt allows a run without getting anybody out, Kung Fu Panda goes 0-for-4 at home, and Merkin Valdez has the best night of any Giants reliever, you’re not going to win that game. Period.

It didn’t help that the G-Men were opposing reigning AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee in his debut with a new team. He was out to make an impression. I imagine a complete game victory should win him some fans in the City of Brotherly Love. I’m sure his prowess with the bat didn’t hurt either.

But the Giants have had trouble with southpaws all year, and I give Lee one bad start at home before Philly turns on him. (Remember, that park is a band box, nothing like the Jake. In other words, he’s gonna have to keep the ball down to be successful.)

While it wasn’t his worst start by a long shot, this may have marked the end of Ryan “The Big” Sadowski’s run in the Show. Perhaps it was just a coincidence that his shoulder acted up in the middle of his fourth loss in as many starts since his whirlwind debut, but it’s just as well. He’s pitched four or less innings in his last three starts, and sure enough, he was banished to Fresno on Saturday morning.

As of now, it’s anybody’s guess who gets the start Wednesday in Houston. My money’s on Joe Martinez, but I’ll admit, it’s a sentimental bet. I’d love to see that kid get a chance to be a part of this playoff hunt after all he’s been through and knowing how much love the other guys in the clubhouse have for him.

As of all reports, rushing MadBum from AA Connecticut is not an option.

Quote of the Night

"It's a little uncomfortable, but you play through uncomfortable things. I played with blood in my brain. I'm not worried at this point." - Ryan Sadowski on his achy shoulder. Sadowski suffered a subdural hematoma in the minor leagues.

Saturday, August 1st
Giants 2, Phillies 0
WP: Lincecum (12-3); LP: Blanton (7-5); S: Wilson (27)

What else can you say? Even when he doesn’t have his A-game, Tim Lincecum still manages to appear dominant. This time, it was against one of the most potent offenses in the Majors.

Timmy lowered his ERA to 2.18, second in the National League to rotation-mate Matt Cain's 2.12. (Update: St. Louis’ Chris Carpenter, who began the season on the DL, just pitched enough innings to qualify for the league lead at 2.10.)

The Freak also struck out eight to increase his Major League-leading total to 191. He’s fanned eight or more in his past 10 starts. That, my friends, is consistency. The changeup he developed last year has turned into his strongest out pitch and could be credited with turning a great pitcher into a legend.

Three cheers for Tim Flannery and his balls of brass for sending Aaron Rowand on Juan Uribe’s shallow fly ball in the fifth. A smart third base coach can win you a game or two over the course of a season, and with Timmy on deck and two outs, this move put Flannery’s game knowledge on full display.

Between his two sacrifice flies tonight and one the previous night, Juan Uribe has been the Giants offense over the past two games. (Just a guess, but I’d say we’ll need more than that to beat a good lefty in Cole Hamels on Sunday.)

The first day of August brought with it an update to the daily packet of statistics issued to the press at each Major League game: a Wild Card rundown. But the fans I encountered at the yard didn’t need a press packet to tell them it’s time to get down to business...

On the way down the ramp as Tony Bennett serenaded the seagulls, fans spontaneously erupted in chants of “Let’s go Giants!” I haven’t felt this kind of energy at the park since the 2002 playoffs. This is exactly what I was talking about when the team returned from Colorado. Keep it up, everybody.

Btw, the Giants registered their 10th home sellout of the season with a paid crowd of 42,694. I have to imagine the Dog Days promotion didn’t have as much to do with that as the Lincecum strikeout deal. But I doubt management is happier with more butts in the seats since many of them got $15 bucks off their duckets thanks to Timmy’s career high 15 Ks Monday night against the Bucs.

Quote(s) of the Night

"You find yourself being a spectator, watching him do what he does. It's fairly difficult to concentrate on every pitch, because he's out there hitting his spots with every pitch that he throws... Then the guy hits one at you and you're like, 'Oh.' " - Aaron Rowand

"It's something San Francisco probably wanted for the last couple of years. We're glad we can show them what we're made of and get baseball back on the map over here." - Brian Wilson

Stat of the Night

Lincecum improved his career record to a 37-13. Tim Hudson (38-12 with the A’s) is the only active Major League pitcher with a better record through his first 50 decisions. Can you imagine where this kid would be if he had a decent offense to support him?

Sunday, August 2nd
Giants 7, Phillies 3
WP: Zito (7-10); LP: Hamels (7-6)
HR: PHI - Rollins (11)

On a day when Barry Zito had to fight to make it through six quality innings, the offense finally stepped up to give him the support he’s desperately lacked:

Rowand played through pain after taking another pitch to another elbow on a high hard one from Joe Blanton on Saturday night. With results like this, I kinda wish the guy was hurting all the time. Of course, that didn’t work out so well last year.

Meanwhile, Freddy Sanchez was almost the goat in his Giants debut after an ill-advised throw allowed the go-ahead run to score in the fourth. But he made his blunder into an afterthought with this blast that made the yard shake and propelled us to a crucial victory. Only in baseball can one witness such a fascinating turn of events.

Stay hot Eugenio Velez.

Haters should take note that Zito now has as many victories this season as his Sunday opponent and 2008 World Series MVP Cole Hamels.

Quote of the Day

"They just keep pushing at you and pushing at you and manufacture a hit here and there. All of a sudden three or four runs score and you're going, 'What just happened here?' " - Cole Hamels' absolutely dead on balls take on the Giants’ offense

Stat(s) of the Day

The Giants finished the homestand with a 6-1 record and a 1.55 ERA overall, which includes a 1.14 mark for the starting staff (with Cain making only one appearance).

The Orange and Black improved to 37-16 at the Cove, the best home mark in the majors. With 28 games remaining in the City, they’ve already matched their 2008 home victory total.

Series Debrief

As expected, this was definitely the series of the year. With the Hated Ones and Rockies continuing their torrid paces, the Giants needed to win, not split. If they end up reaching the postseason for the first time in six long years, I think we’ll look back at Sunday as one of the crucial victories that put them there.

Allow me to take a moment to invoke an old baseball adage: Good pitching trumps good hitting. That was never more evident than over this weekend, when the Giants’ best-in-the-bigs staff collectively shut down the hottest offense in the league, holding them to 10 runs over four games.

Particularly feeling the burn was Philly’s quartet of power-hitting lefties, who were relatively neutralized all weekend, with the exception of a couple decent games from former Hated One Jayson Werth:

Utley: 3-for-14, HR, RBI, 3 Ks
Howard: 2-for-15, 2B, RBI, 8 Ks
Ibañez: 1-for-10, RBI, K
Werth: 6-for-16, HR, 3 RBI, 2 Ks
Totals: 12-for-55 (.218), 2 HR, 6 RBI, 14 Ks

This should be all the evidence any October-bound team needs to deduce that they do not want to draw the Giants in a short series.

After six years of hopelessness, our team inspires fear. Humm baby!

Jock-Blocking

No discussion of Giants trade deadline dealing ever fails to reference Brian Sabean’s history as General Manager — in particular the now-infamous Joe Nathan for A.J. Pierzynski trade following the 2003 season (Oops, I did it again!) — and to me, this flies in the face of standard baseball logic.

From the day they pick up a bat or put on a glove, coaches train players to have short memories. Every plate appearance, every batter faced, every ball hit in your vicinity is a new chance to strive for perfection. Yesterday is yesterday and tomorrow is tomorrow, so worry about the present.

You’d think we’d apply this philosophy equally to the front office. After all, if every GM sat at their desk fretting over a move because they’ve made bad moves in the past, the dealing would dry up. Everyone would stand pat out of fear. But these guys have the balls to pull the trigger year after year, and we put them through the wringer year after year, expecting every deal to be Pedro Martinez for Delino DeShields.

I’m part of a rather quiet contingent of Giants fans who didn’t think Sabes had to do anything before 1 p.m. on July 31st. That’s not to say the team had no room for improvement, far from it. But I felt — at least prior to the All-Star break — that the team as constituted had as good a chance as any of making the postseason. And even if they fell short, they would’ve given their best shot with a crew of youngsters who’d only benefit from pressure-packed playing time down the stretch.

This season was supposed to be about developing talent, and to the surprise of many — myself not included — the talent developed a bit earlier than expected. Granted, much of this is due to the impact of Pablo Sandoval’s bat, but there have been solid contributions from the likes of “Nasty” Nate Schierholtz, Travis Ishikawa, and recently Eugenio Velez, all of whom could factor into the team’s plans for years to come.

But in a logical move, the powers that be decided not to think about the future but the present, to win first and ask questions later. And of course, this move makes perfect sense. Timmy and Matty aren’t getting any younger, and any chance to put them in a short playoff series should not be taken lightly. However, in the process of setting up a contender for this year, the Giants put the promise of several prospects on hold.

Coming: 1B/C Ryan Garko
Going: LHP Scott Barnes
On paper: B+

On the surface, this is a fantastic deal. Yes, Barnes had fantastic numbers... in A-ball. But the offense on that San Jo team would be enough to support just about anybody, and there’s no way you can extrapolate Single-A talent to guaranteed Major League success.

Okay, so folks say the same thing about Madison Bumgarner, but let’s face it, the Giants farm system is fully-stocked with pitching talent, and for good reason. There’s nothing more precious in this game than young arms. Hitting wins divisions. Pitching wins championships. Sabean and his staff understand this all too well, and they leverage their strength in the arms department to get what they want later on. Hence this trade — and the one that followed it.

As for Garko, he’s a solid bat that will certainly improve our strength at first, especially with an OPS higher than anyone on the team outside of Pandoval. But his arrival puts a serious crimp in the plans for Ishikawa, who was only recently starting to come into his own at the plate. That’s not to mention he’s a damn sight better than Garko with the glove. Expect these two to be regularly involved in late-inning double-switches.

With Garko under club control (and arbitration-eligible) at least through next season, Ishi’s days in orange and black might be numbered. I can imagine a few teams taking an interest in a big lefty first bagger with a high upside. But Travis shouldn’t worry about his future. It’s in God’s hands, after all.

Coming: 2B Freddy Sanchez
Going: RHP Tim Alderson
On paper: B-

Okay, okay, okay! Everybody chill the f@#* out!

Remember, Sabes never named names when talking about “The Untouchables.” We all just assumed Alderson was on the short list. And boy, did we get egg on our faces?

The first report of this trade involved a combination of names from Freddy Lewis to Kevin Frandsen. That it got done as a one-for-one deal is actually a steal, even though the one we gave up was part of the alleged golden arms the team was theoretically stockpiling to create the ultimate rotation in 1-2 years’ time. Notice anything about my choice of words here?

We fans love to deal in hypothetical scenarios, and we’re free to do so, free from the analysis and criticism of a sea of journalists, bloggers, fanatics and fringe-dwellers, free from concern for our next paycheck, from thinking every time we pull the trigger on one of these mythical deals in our heads that it might be our last.

Brian Sabean and the 29 other GMs across MLB do not enjoy that luxury. They do this for a living, and they’ve been doing it a while — except for that Epstein guy in Boston. (What’s up with him?) And though I may sound like a naïve little homer, I’m willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

These guys spend all day every day studying players. I spend a couple hours a day in front of the tube or watching video online and I take the occasional trip down the street to Muni or — more regularly — up the Peninsula to AT&T. I’m willing to admit I don’t know jack compared with the top brass. If Sabean, Dick Tidrow and the rest of the “Brain Trust” decided Alderson was expendable if it meant bolstering up the most glaring hole in the Giants lineup — beyond a bone fide cleanup hitter — then I’m willing to swallow my pride and accept it...

...if only it didn’t wedge a permanent rift between my favorite team and my favorite fellow alum.

This deal almost certainly marks the end of Kevin Frandsen’s tenure with his beloved Gigantes, and the prospect is breaking his heart. I can’t help imagining a parallel universe where Franny didn’t tear his Achilles last spring, where he came out in 2008 and put up a .290/15/70 season in the two-hole and picked it clean in the field, where there was no question coming into Spring Training this year as to who would be starting at second base, where I was writing about a contract extension for the reincarnation of Robby Thompson instead of musing on his likely departure.

The day after this deal went down, K-Fran was benched by Fresno Grizzlies Manager Dan Rohn for throwing his bat after a frustrating plate appearance. Later on, it became common knowledge that Franny’s agent was requesting a trade for his client. I had a hard time reading the news, but somehow Baggs makes every sour pill go down a little sweeter.

So what now for the former Bell? The former Spartan batting champ? The scrappy hometown boy who consistently trounced expectation and made his own fate?

I can only hope a starting job awaits him on a struggling team in search of a spark. And I can guarantee you that if he finds a place in this league, he’ll make the Giants pay with every at bat he takes against us.

Meantime, I’ll have to be happy with a three-time All Star and former N.L. batting champ with what might be a gimpy knee holding down the cornerstone for the foreseeable future. That and the thought that the guys who know this team best believe they have a shot at glory come October.

Enjoy Timmy Time tonight, everybody.