Diamondbacks Sweep Giants, But You Knew That Already

At least Bruce Bochy got to not watch the whole game.

Giants Take Series Against Padres, Brandon Belt Given Funeral at Sea

The Giants gained a game on the Diamondbacks, then lost it again. Whatever. Brett Pill came up and hit two home runs in his first two games, so Brandon Belt will never play another game again, ever. Bochy continues to start Orlando Cabrera every day, even against right-handers, even when he drops routine pop-ups that lead to back-breaking runs.

I watched the Giants lose to the Padres yesterday live from sunny Petco Park in San Diego, which is a fine stadium with plenty of Giants fans around. I have been to two Giants/Padres games at Petco this year, and both games featured a Giants loss, but a coupon for two free Jack in the Box tacos, so I'm torn as to which side of the ledger these games fall on.

The Sabean/Bochy strategy of which players are valuable and worth starting and worth giving lots of leeway when struggling and why is absolutely baffling and defies all logic. If 2012 is anywhere as big a disaster as 2011 was, I think Giants ownership HAS to try to start fresh by ousting one or both of these guys, World Series goodwill or no. But I'm fearful that the ownership is just as pleased as punch with the status quo, and will continue to be so, indefinitely. The Giants offense has finished dead last or near to it in five of the last six seasons. They had a league-average offense in the other year. They can develop and craft pitching like nobody's business. They have pitching scouts out the wazoo who are out of this world. Dave Righetti must be like some kind of crazy Pitcher Whisperer, the George W-looking freak. But by this point, far removed from the heyday of Bonds, Kent, and Burks, it's plain as day that Brian Sabean has absolutely no idea how to evaluate a hitter's worth, and Bochy understands even less what stats to look at.

Here's the perfect Bruce-Bochy-in-a-nutshell insight into how Bruce Bochy thinks: With both Mike Fontenot and Brandon Crawford (both left-handed batters, both far better defensively than Orlando Cabrera) available to start at SS against RHP Aaron Harang, Bochy went with righty Cabrera, citing Cabrera's lifetime 3-for-5 against Harang. There's small samples sizes, and there is THIS. Five at-bats. Five at-bats that happened in 2003. It's just...I can't...

Lack of Offense Drops Giants to 7 Games Back

At the beginning of the season, I wouldn't have believed I'd feel this bad for Bruce Bochy. I feel bad for all of these guys, because I love them all to death (well, maybe not Orlando Cabrera). They're lovable guys, every one of them. The Franchise has showed me that Bochy is a restrained goofball hayseed, and that's important to know. But they can't make it happen, try as they might.

I really, really hope the rebuilding process goes well in the offseason, because just having Posey and Sanchez back and healthy isn't going to fix this awful, awful offense. I'm hoping the Giants make plays for Jose Reyes or Jimmy Rollins, and are able to convince Carlos Beltran to come back. I hope Brandon Belt is able to start every day for a full season and that Huff is able to bounce back. I'm fearful that, instead, the Giants let Beltran go, re-sign Cabrera and Ross, sign Raul Ibanez, and convince themselves that Bret Pill is the answer rather than Belt. He's not, but this is an organization that still believes in RBI as a reliable barometer of offensive worth. That's terrifying.

Will they find their way? It's going to be extremely interesting.

THE DAWN OF A NEW DAY

The Giants DFA'd Miguel Tejada and Aaron Rowand today, which is layman's terms means they've been "future endeavored".

I don't really know how to process this. On one hand, I'm over the moon that the Giants were finally able to realize 1. these are sub-replacement-level performers and 2. they actually understand what "sunk cost" means. BOTH of these revelations are ENORMOUS leaps forward from the status quo that Brian Sabean and Bruce Bochy have maintained for the duration of their respective tenures.

On the other hand, the Tejada move comes a couple months too late, and the Rowand move comes about a season too late. These were bad, bad baseball players, and they spent the bulk of the season hitting in the number one and number two spots of lineups, day in and day out. These moves today are akin to Sonny Corleone getting shot two less times at that toll booth.

But enough of this naysaying! The Giants are eating Rowand's contract for next year! That's something the entire Giants fanbase has clamored for this entire season and never honestly expected it to happen. O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!

TIM LINCECUM, Giants Win 2-1

Good eye, ump. (h/t @8thInnWeirdness)

Tim Lincecum is an unstoppable beast. If he was on the Phillies or the Yankees or the Brewers or the Astros, or any other team with an unstoppable offense, he'd be 32-1. He does everything amazingly, even with a...let's say..."questionable" strike zone, as seen above. He'll give you 8 innings and less than two earned runs, all you have to do is give him two to three runs. Sometimes, he'll even bust out his own RBI single that ends up making the difference in the game. Tonight was pretty special.

Carlos Beltran had two hits, including his first home run as a Giant. That was pretty cool. And even though Brandon Belt made a huge baserunning error that culminated in an inning-ending double play, he had three hits, including a triple, and a stolen base. Good thing he was batting seventh! Note to Bruce Bochy: don't bat your hottest, best, and most patient hitter seventh. It's sort of an "unwritten rule."

A series split with the Padres to stay two games back. I'll take it. The Astros come to town tomorrow for a four-game series, and hopefully they won't walk all over the Giants QUITE so much this time around.

Giants Win Nailbiting Blowout, 7-5

"Mmmmm...gritty...grizzled gamer...oh yeah, that's the stuff."

Amazingly, the Giants scored a bunch of runs. Mostly on sacrifice flies, but hey, horribly cursed offenses can't be choosers. Matt Cain pitched 8 brilliant innings with one unearned run, 9 strikeouts, and one walk. Then Bruce Bochy stuck in Dan Runzler, the one and only young guy that he's ever had faith in, and the Braves promptly scored four runs and brought the tying run to the plate.

Bruce Bochy is a quandary that's been dredged through a batter of a head-scratchers, dipped in "what is this i don't even" sauce, and then wrapped in bacon. Brandon Belt went 0-for-3 with a walk today, and he's almost definitely sitting out tomorrow's game. Bochy has been confirmed as hating an at-bat he feels is "too passive." Belt looked at six pitches in his third plate appearance, and the last two could have/should have been called balls. They weren't. That doesn't matter to Bruce Bochy. He probably turned to Ron Wotus and said, "Why isn't this asshole hacking at everything? That's what the bat's for. Swinging at everything." In Bochy's mind, the game they play isn't "base"ball, it's "swingball."

And Bochy probably gave Belt the stink-eye pretty good, because in Belt's next plate appearance, where he could have picked up a sacrifice fly for a run, he swung at the first pitch and popped it up just past the infield. You could almost hear Bochy yelling, "Too aggressive, you idiot!" And so it goes for anyone under 35 in a Bruce Bochy lineup. He doesn't believe in career minor league numbers. He doesn't understand how small sample sizes work. He doesn't understand the benefits of OBP over batting average and RBI. The only things he believes in are "the hot hand" and "swinging the bat well" and "knows how to win ballgames" and "been there before" and "he wears his hat like a pro" and a million other intangibles that mean nothing to anyone but him and, presumably, Brian Sabean.

So I've never understood why, given how Bochy has historically treated young players, he's brought Runzler in so many times in a non-mop-up capacity. Maybe Runzler forged a birth certificate and convinced Bochy he was born in 1968.

But anyway, a win paired with a Diamondbacks loss. I'll take it. Matt Cain is amazing. Tim Lincecum pitches tomorrow. I hear he's pretty good, too. Hammerin' Mike Fontenot was 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles today, so with all the injuries we can keep our fingers crossed for the glorious return of Number Three Hitter Mike Fontenot.

I'm ready for Houston, how about you?

Braves Beat Brian Wilson, 5-4

/metaphor

The Giants played a good game, but Brian Wilson blew a two-run lead in the bottom of the ninth. For once, the blame rests solely on two people: Brian Wilson, for being an awful pitcher who relies almost entirely on luck and generous calls in pressure situations, and Bruce Bochy, for sending Wilson out to begin with, and not putting in Jeremy Affeldt to face the left-handed Freddie Freeman with two outs and the bases loaded, still up by one run. Affeldt was warmed up and ready. Wilson was not well enough to pitch yesterday. I called the blown save the second the ninth inning began. A Brian Wilson at 100% I have little to no confidence in. A less-than-100% Brian Wilson is just willfully driving your team's bus off a cliff. I get needing to stick with your players so they don't lose confidence, but you're in a pennant race.

Well, you were in a pennant race. This is the night the Giants lost a playoff berth. Mark it down. The players were visibly losing confidence by the day and they needed this win in the worst way. I say it again: in the worst way. I don't see them bouncing back from this, even though the Diamondbacks will almost certainly be humbled by the Phillies in the coming days.

This is terrible. This has ruined everything.

Brandon Belt Activates Beast Mode, Giants Win 5-2

"Ayo is this aggressive enough for you?"

At one point this season, after Brandon Belt was sent to Fresno for the umpteenth time, Bruce Bochy remarked something along the lines of, "He's too passive at the plate. I'd like to see him be more aggressive." Just for the record, the average player on the Giants sees barely over 3 pitches per at-bat. Opposing pitchers regularly make it to the eighth inning against the Giants with well under 100 pitches thrown. Pablo Sandoval, a dude who has a reputation for swinging at anything thrown toward the plate and several things thrown to first base, sees by far the most pitches of any everyday Giants player. All of these things are unacceptable from a major league lineup. Brandon Belt methodically works counts with a discerning eye. It is what he does. But Bruce Bochy has basically gone on record as saying, "Man I wish that kid would hack more. Veterans hack at things. You ever watch an Aaron Rowand at-bat? He swings three times and sits down. He swings so hard, you guys. That's a veteran professional ballplayer right there." And then he laces his fingers together behind his gargantuan head and dreams of grit, and sand, and toughness, and above all, those sexy intangibles.

So Brandon Belt got a start today, and he struck out and grounded out, and you could feel Bruce Bochy already drafting a text message to Brian Sabean reading "gotta snd belt back 2 frzno" but then Belt stepped up and was like SHAZAM and cranked a deep first-pitch home run to dead center that was blasted so hard you could hear Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad scream "FUCK" immediately after the crack of the bat, louder than I have ever heard a baseball player scream the word "FUCK." It rang majestically throughout the nearly-empty Joe Robbie Or Whatever Stadium and CSN Bay Area had no qualms showing the replay three times in rapid succession with unadulterated audio, because that's how awesome it was.

WHACK. "FUCK."

CRACK. "FUCK."

KABLAMMO. "FUCK."

So that was pretty awesome. Also awesome? Belt's next time up, he worked the count full and then hit the first home run that lefty Michael Dunn has ever given up to a left-handed batter. Ever. Earlier I suggested that Belt would have to hit four dingers to get Bochy to give him regular starts. He's halfway there now. He has as many home runs this season as either Miguel Tejada or Aaron Rowand, in fewer than a third as many plate appearances.

That sound you just heard is the Baby Giraffe being unleashed. Stay hot, Brandon. Your career may depend on it.

Giants Lose Game to Luck Made Flesh, 6-1

The last time I was ever happy.

Yet again, the Giants had absolutely nothing go their way and absolutely everything go the Diamondbacks' way. Tim Lincecum gave up a massive home run to a rookie and there's your ballgame. Aubrey Huff, in a situation where a ground ball to second base would score a run, grounds out to the pitcher instead, and there's your ballgame. Carlos Beltran absolutely demolishes a line drive to the wall that would score a run, but Justin Upton catches it, and there's your ballgame. The Giants get ball four called on what was strike three, and Justin Upton follows the walk with a home run, and there's your ballgame. Javier Lopez -- lefty killer, lefty murderer, lefty annihilator -- is inexplicably brought in to face six right-handed batters in a row, and there's your ballgame.

The Giants only need to win one of these three games to leave this series in first place, and they're not going to do it. They get swept tomorrow and my despair reaches a new low.

Honestly, the only thing I have to go on right now is that the Giants have had SUCH rotten luck, that it HAS to turn around sometime. But there's no offense here, there's no help on the horizon, there's no help forthcoming, Bochy has lost faith in Andres Torres, he won't start Belt over the abysmal Huff, he won't play Burrell when Burrell returns, and the pitching staff is falling apart.

I don't believe the Giants can turn this around enough to take the division. The Diamondbacks aren't slowing down. They're only getting better. Maybe once the Giants snap this losing streak, my outlook will be slightly better, but the Phillies are coming to town next and it's just going to be an absolute mauling.

Phillies Win 7-2, Giants Still World Champions

wheeeee

Look, everyone and their mother knew that the Giants were losing the Barry Zito start. It just wasn't supposed to be game one. Tim Lincecum was scratched on account of the flu, and the Phillies ended up hitting five home runs last night, one of them an inside-the-park job by Chase "have you heard of this band Social Distortion? they're like my favorite punk band" Utley.

As I watched tater upon tater leave the yard last night, and as I watched the Giants get three-hit by Vance "Clarence" Worley, I became numb, and greatly thankful that we were just getting the Zito game over with. He even had the good grace to go seven innings, saving the bullpen for the remainder of the road trip.

So maybe the Giants can still win a game this series. Maybe they'll stop sucking. Because the Padres shat the bed last night against the Diamondbacks, and the NL West could find itself in a tie for first in short order the way things are going.

Guessing that both Aaron Rowand and Aubrey Huff start today. Rowand had a pinch-hit homer and Huff drew a walk. Gotta play the hot hand, Bochy.

P.S.: Hey Giants. START HITTING.

- Bill

Giants Squeeze Out Series Win, Beat Padres 4-3 in 11th

Cody Ross shows Brian Wilson how many walks he gave up in that half-inning

The suicide squeeze. Bochy almost never uses it, but he used it yesterday, and it was awesome. The Giants tied a San Francisco record with six stolen bases, which they hadn't done since a Mike Krukow start in 1987. The Giants won another extra-inning game against San Diego, but if Eli Whiteside hadn't spent ten second trying to lie to an umpire while a dude was running to first base, it never would have gone past regulation. So it goes with these schnooks. Thank god for Chris Stewart, who executed two perfect sacrifices, including the game-winning squeeze, and started a game-saving 2-5-4 double-play on a bunt in the bottom of the eleventh. Go to hell, Eli Whiteside.

I've been sort of dancing around this all season, but Brian Wilson really isn't that great of a pitcher, particularly in save situations. "More guts than stuff" is pretty friggin' apt, but I have a feeling that bubble is going to burst at any time. I honestly trust him less than literally any other person in the bullpen, including Santiago Casilla and Jeremy Affeldt. If Sergio Romo were the Giants closer, I would breathe a sigh of relief knowing he was coming in for the ninth. With Wilson, it's how many walks and hits he's going to give up before wrapping the thing up. To be fair, he blows (relatively) very few saves, and I really hope for him to do well. When his stuff is working, it's ridiculously nasty, but all too often he is counting on a notoriously wide strike zone, nibbles at corners and ends up walking dudes, and either doesn't trust his filthiest pitches or can't find them. I can't think of a time where Wilson has come in for a save and I've thought, "Oh, we've got this one." Doesn't happen. But I guess that's what makes being a Giants fan so stressful/exciting, and I guess that's more fun and entertaining in the long run than games where you just score a billion runs and don't have to worry about saves at all. Phillies and Yankees and Red Sox and Rangers fans must be just so bored.

I was actively rooting for the Dodgers all weekend, but the Diamondbacks proved too much for them. Now I'm expecting the Dodgers to roll into AT&T and take two of three while stealing all of the guest towels and busking for bus fare back home. The Diamondbacks are hosting the Brewers, who I'm hoping just maul and annihilate them for three straight, but the snakes gave them fits back in Milwaukee, so who even knows any more.

Pennant fever: catch it!

Awesome. Now Let's Get Back to Baseball.

Bunch of rad dudes between a couple of giant dorks.

I love the All-Star game every year. Love it. Love it despite the players who decline, the coach favoritism, the stupid home run derby, the ridiculous home field stipulation, the terrible announcing, the stupid non-factoids on the screen, and the shuffling of the players every inning.

I love it despite the Arizona fans being the most ungrateful, bush-league fans I've seen in a really long time. I can only imagine how hard Roger Angell was shaking his head during all of this. I love the All-Star Game despite the staunchest complaining and whining from everyone on the internet, in every magazine and newspaper, and all over my television. Bruce Bochy picked too many of his own people! Bruce Bochy didn't play his own people!

I would probably love the All-Star Game if it were nothing more than a bunch of dudes in all different uniforms playing wiffle ball. Luckily -- and the past two years especially -- we usually get a well-played game that is both exciting and fun. This year's game took me back to watching Bo Jackson crush a monster home run onto the black tarp of the upper deck while every other superstar stood around gape-mouthed. It took me back to Barry Bonds picking up Torii Hunter like a ragdoll. It took me back to Benito Santiago watching a called third strike to send everyone home with a tie.

I listen to everyone from Joe Posnanski to anonymous blogger number 532 whine about how the game isn't fun any more; that it's obsolete and a mockery of baseball. I wonder what the hell game they were watching. Because baseball is amazing, and watching the best players -- or even second-best players -- in the world do their thing and truly have a good time doing it, that's amazing too.

This blog exists because baseball makes people catch feelings about it, for good or ill. It seems like a bunch of people to get paid to talk about and write about baseball have come down with Joe Buck-itis. They don't enjoy it any more for whatever reason, and now they have to make the rest of us as miserable as they are. Well you can go to hell, Joe Bucks of the world. The name of the game is BASE BALL, and it is glorious.

Now let's get back to business as usual.

- Bill

Giants Somehow Take Two of Three From Scott Hairston

All-Star. Fuck the naysayers.

I was actually in Northern California for this series, and attended Saturday night's game. It was one of the best baseball experiences of my life, and luckily the Giants won. I got to experience the catharsis of Sergio Romo striking out Giants-killer Scott Hairston on three brutal sliders, less than 24 hours after he destroyed the G-Men for the one hundred and seventh time in his career.

So we have a team that has been more than decimated by injuries to key players. A team whose offense is tied together by a legit All-Star and a suddenly-living-up-to-expectations Nate Schierholtz. The downside is that they are surrounded by a bunch of creaky old timers having career-worst seasons offensively, a couple of banjo-swinging youngsters, and Aaron Rowand. I imagine this is what the first draft of Bochy's lineup card looks like every day:

1- Whoever can walk and then get picked off first

2- Out

3- Sandoval

4- Out

5- Out

6- Schierholtz

7- Out

8- Out

9- Pitcher???? (Ask Righetti)

Still though, besides Wilson (more guts than stuff), the Giants pitching, particularly their bullpen, is out of this world. The Giants win on smoke and mirrors most nights, and especially at home they refuse to give up, and inexplicably -- honestly, I have no idea how this happened -- the Giants have the fifth-best record in baseball, and are entering the All-Star Break three games ahead of the Diamondbacks in the NL West. If they can even get a halfway-warm bat or two by the tradeline, and if Huff continues to completely Aubrey it up at the plate and Bochy can wrap his head around giving Belt some starts, it may end up being another great season. Amazing.

So why am I so worried?

- Bill

Bochy Leaves Cain in Too Long, Giants Win Unnecessarily Stressful Game, 6-5

yeeeeeeeee

Well, the Giants were ahead 5-0 for most of that game, then 5-1, but in the seventh inning Bochy was like, "Hmm, Cain has thrown over 100 pitches and is visibly struggling with his command. He barely survived the sixth inning with every D'Backs hitter crushing the ball against him. Let's see how this plays out!"

Other than the shaky pitching, the Giants offense looked really solid for a change. Cody Ross has two doubles, 2RBI, 2 runs, a stolen base (stole home as part of a double steal) and a walk. Aubrey Huff had a hit and two walks. Nate Schierholtz hit a bit insurance RBI triple after being 0-for-3 to that point. Perhaps most importantly, Pablo Sandoval looked good, stroking an RBI single in his first at-bat and working an amazing 10-pitch walk which may have been the best Giants at-bat of the season to date. Even Eli Whiteside reached base twice!

So what could have been the Giants' easiest win this season instead became a gut-wrenching marathon. Since I'm leaving for vacation and my Baseball Feelings may be few and far between for the next ten days, it was a very Giants-like send-off.

- Bill

Stop It, They're Already Dead: Giants Lose, 10-2

Broken.

Timmy's broken, the Giants don't know how to hit, and Bochy decided to field the worst lineup of the season. Worst loss of the year. All there is left to root for until Pablo gets back is a series of Diamondbacks losses.

Giants Suffer Worst Loss of Season, Lose in 12 Innings, 7-6

Okay, so I wrote the below post during the bottom of the ninth, but amazingly Aubrey Huff got his only hit of the game to tie the it at 6 and send the game to extra innings. Most of what I wrote below still stands. This could have been an amazing comeback game, but the Giants not only lost the game and Mike Fontenot, they also lost Buster Posey when he tweaked his ankle badly on a home-plate collision as the Marlins scored the winning run.

This is terrible. This is...just terrible. Original post below, for posterity.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This is exactly correct.

There was really no chance for the Giants to win once the Marlins plated two in the top of the first inning. Compounding matters was Aubrey Huff going 0-for-5 with three strikeouts in the number three spot, looking like his numbers suggest: that he's possibly the worst position player in baseball right now. His OPS is currently sixty points lower than it was in his disastrous 2009 season. He killed literally every rally single-handedly, and ended the game for the Giants, with runners on second and third in the bottom of the ninth.

Further compounding matters was the insane decisions Bruce Bochy made. Down by one run, he chose to pinch-hit AARON ROWAND against a left-hander to lead off the seventh inning, rather than Pat "Only Decent Hitter on the Giants Right Now" Burrell. Later, after Sergio Romo STRUCK OUT THE SIDE ON TEN PITCHES in the top of the eighth, Bochy chose to go with LOOGY Javier Lopez to face -- and walk three and serve up a bases-clearing double to -- five right-handed batters.

Further FURTHER compounding matters is the fact that the Giants' other number three hitter and beloved hobbit Mike Fontenot went down with a groin strain. Pinch-runner Darren Ford is also going on the DL and the Giants are recalling...Travis Ishikawa. Sabean and Bochy are adamant that they're not calling Belt up now, because -- get this -- Aubrey Huff is their first baseman and they don't need a backup.

Gotta keep reminding myself it's a damn long season and the Giants are in first place right now. But this team, man....mercy me, this team.

Giants Win Twice, Beat Dodgers 8-5

Thank God for Cody Ross

It's not often that your team wins and you're just so burnt out and frazzled and disappointed with the game that you can't even really enjoy it. Please see tonight's game against the Dodgers for reference.

The Giants, who have basically never scored a run against Clayton Kershaw, touched him for four runs and drove him from the game early. Matt Cain was pitching one of the most brilliant games of his career, completely shutting down the Dodgers offense. Then, in the eighth inning, the Giants -- for the third time in as many days -- blew their lead, with both Cain and the bullpen coughing up four runs and letting the Dodgers tie the game. Bruce Bochy, to his credit, managed the inning perfectly, but everything went wrong. He left Cain in just long enough, who gave up a single and got a pop fly out. Then he brought in LOOGY Javier Lopez, who struck out lefty Andre Ethier. Then he brought in Sergio Romo to pitch to righty Matt Kemp...and hung a slider for a single, runners at first and second, two out. Given Romo's penchant for hanging sliders in big situations, Bochy went to Brian Wilson for the four-pitch save...but apparently it was bad Brian Wilson, and he gave up a double to Uribe, which scored two. Then, just to drive home that the Giants are really being the Giants like crazy all over the place, Aubrey Huff inexplicably didn't go for a routine grounder, allowing a single and letting the tying run score.

Probably the lone highlight of the Giants looking completely hopeless with their bats and with their gloves these past couple weeks has been Bochy's simmering, barely-contained rage.

BUT THEN, in the top of the ninth inning, Cody Ross belted a HUGE three-run, two-out homer. Wilson gives up a leadoff single but gets a strikeout and two groundouts. Ballgame.

So why was this such a brutal game? Well, beyond the fact that Cain was denied a win due to a ridiculous bullpen performance (Brian Wilson now leads the team in wins, and is on pace for 15 wins and 46 saves), and despite the fact that, although the Giants had 13 hits and were 5-for-9 with RISP, the Ross homer was the only extra-base hit for the Giants all evening, there were ominous events right and left.

Mark DeRosa, mired in an 0-for-23 slump, flinched away from a ball in the dirt in the fourth inning, and his surgically-repaired/ruined wrist exploded.

It was really a shame, and based on DeRosa's reaction, not only is it not good news, but it may be the injury that finally ends his career.

Really, it was sadder than I can describe. DeRosa has shown a desire to play, and to perform this season after spending the last couple of years hurt. You could tell this was a dude who honest-to-god loves this game to death and would do anything to prove himself to his team and the fans, but his body just isn't on his side any more -- if it ever was. During one of his at-bats tonight, Vin Scully started reading the list of injuries DeRosa has had in his career. I missed the intro to the list and for a while, as he reeled off injury upon injury, thought he was listing all of the injuries this season for the NL West teams. It was a really, REALLY long list.

Mark DeRosa's a hell of a dude, and I really want nothing but the best for him, but I really think he may call it a career following this. a terrible way to wrap things up.

So with all of that in mind, watching the Giants blow a lead, you can imagine how it felt when Aaron Rowand hurt his back running out a groundout to lead off the ninth inning. You can FURTHER imagine how it felt in the bottom of the ninth, when Brian Wilson, trying for the winsave, steps in a hole and twists his ankle while trying to get the next-to-last out.

So there's your Giants, back in first place thanks to the Phillies beating the Rockies today. Their bats aren't convincingly alive, their defense is highly suspect, their once-unbeatable bullpen is extremely shaky, and three of their players may be injured after tonight (not counting Freddy Sanchez's swollen knee).

Brian Wilson would be the biggest hit. The Giants have more than enough outfielders without Rowand, and without whatever-the-hell reason Bochy has for playing him more often than not, it would mean more at-bats for Burrell and Torres, which is great. When DeRosa goes back on the DL, it means Mighty Mike Fontenot (who took over with a 2-2 count against Clayton Kershaw when DeRosa had to leave and took two pitches for a huge walk, then went on to add another walk, a hit, and a spectacular couple of plays, one of which ended the game) could become the everyday SS along with spelling Sanchez. It also means the Giants possibly send down pinch-runner/seventh outfielder Darren Ford and call up Manny Burriss and/or Ryan Rohlinger and/or Brandon Belt. There is talk up bringing up Belt and moving Huff to third, which, no. Michael Tejada had a pair of RBI singles tonight, but I'll need a few more games of productivity before I believe Burriss or Rohlinger aren't a massive upgrade over Tejada/DeRosa on the left side of the infield.

Anyway, that's more than enough feelings for this evening. Tomorrow is another huge game for the Giants, as 0-7 Madison Bumgarner goes for his first win. Same as it ever was.

Giants Lose 5-3, Drop to Second Place

It ain't your fault, Dirty. Well, unless we're talking about why the Giants lost today.

For the first three innings, the Giants offense did everything right. For the first seven innings, the Giants defense did everything right. It should have been a 3-1 victory behind Jonathan Sanchez's best start this year by miles and miles. Instead, Bochy leaves him in too long (sound familiar?), and Sanchez wings a sac bunt into right field and there you go.

The good news is that the Giants don't have to come back to the pee-pee soaked heck-hole that is Coors Field until September. The bad news is that Bruce Bochy doesn't know when to go to his bullpen, or who to bring in when he does. When he finally yanked Sanchez in a 3-3 tie in the eighth, he brings in Javier Lopez -- who is awesome and I love the guy -- to face two right-handers before the lefty, Carlos Gonzalez. (Right-handers are hitting .360 against Lopez.) Gonzalez got just the third left-handed hit against Lopez this season but it shouldn't have gotten that far.

Honestly, it's not Bochy's fault Sanchez can't buckle down and handle his problems. But it's a tough pill to swallow the day after the Lincecum fiasco.

Whatever man, it's not the end of the season. But...man. Just so disgusted with these dudes right now.

Ho-Hum, Another Walkoff Win: Giants over Rockies, 3-2

I heard things

Operation: Bat Mike Fontenot Third had its most palpable results to date. The diminuitive dynamo had a double and a leaping line-drive snag at the most key of moments that, if you don't see it on Web Gems tomorrow, somebody done fucked up. But most importantly, Fontenot came up in a tie game with runners at first and second and nobody out in the bottom of the ninth. He showed bunt, and took a pitch low. He showed bunt, and bunted a pitch foul. He showed bunt, and hit the deck as a wild pitch sailed a foot over his head (so like five feet high) and went to the backstop. The runners advanced to second and third, so you know what Mike Fontenot did? On the next pitch, he busted a deep fly ball to the warning track in right field and he DROVE THAT RUN THE FUCK IN.

That may seem like the most fundamental baseball sense in the world, but that's the type of thing the Giants have not been doing in 2011, and to an extent, something they've been doing the past few years. The Giants of last night and tonight look like a hell of a team. They've been picking themselves off the floor and coming back just when you think there's no way they can. If this team ever starts firing on all cylinders and has all their key players healthy at the same time, look out.

Something else that's really impressed me the past two games: Bruce Bochy isn't afraid to use his closer as a stopper. Brian Wilson has pitched two solid innings in the top of the ninth inning in back-to-back tied games. This is a great way to play baseball. Also, it's clear that Bochy has a much keener grasp on how to handle his bullpen than does Clint Hurdle, and that may have won the game tonight.

The Giants try to avoid the sweep tomorrow. Posey will be wearing pink Mother's Day cleats and some of the B-squad may be starting, as is Bochy's modus operandi when the Giants take the first two games in a three-game series. But the Giants have an off day on Monday, so who knows?

By the way, Michael Tejada: still useless.

Giants Avoid Sweep, Fall to Mets 5-2

Babe Fontenot

That was...decidedly less fun.

Once again, the Giants fail to sweep, but end up coming off their ten-game road trip going 5-5, and I'll take it. How they managed to win five games playing as badly as they did for the past two weeks either says a lot about how good the 2011 Giants are, or how bad the 2011 Pirates, Nationals, and Mets are.

Operation: Bat Mike Fontenot Third continues to bear fruit, with Lil' Fontie going 1 for 2 with two walks and a big fly. Huff went hitless again, and the B-squad of Whiteside, Schierholz and Burriss did about what you'd expect. (Nothing.) Cody Ross continues to come up short in big situations, even after shaving and going to long pants. WHAT ELSE CAN HE DO YOU GUYS

The real loser was Jonathan Sanchez, who turned in what, honestly, was probably only his third-most Jonathan Sanchez-esque outing this season, walking the eight and nine hitters with two out before giving up a triple to Jose Reyes, and giving up a rare home run to Carlos Beltran. He continues to be all over the place, walking scores of hitters. To make matters worse, he didn't bother running on a terrible, terrible bunt attempt and bunted into a "lol we've got all day" inning-ending double-play. Bochy openly yelled at him in the dugout after that, and I hope he used his choicest and most insulting cusses. Bochy is scheduled to have a "private meeting" with Sanchez in the next couple days, and I'm going to assume that means taking him out back and giving him a blanket party.

Hank Schulman is under the impression that Mark DeRosa will be getting a chance to replace Mike Tejada at third base. That's fine in theory, as a trained sea elephant and most untrained walruses could turn in the type of performance that Tejada has shown thus far, but Mark DeRosa is essentially Mr. Glass from "Unbreakable." If he lasts a month without going on the DL again I'll be shocked.

The esteemed Mr. Tejada went 0 for 4 yesterday, notably coming up in the top of the ninth with the Giants down three runs, 1 out and the bases loaded. He struck out. It should be noted that he worked the count and did not ground into a double play, so the argument could be made that this is a vast improvement. It should also be noted that the next batter was pinch-hittin' Buster Posey, who grounded out. But it should ALSO also be noted that Tejada stinks and I can't imagine the Giants aren't thinking about cutting their losses and going with Sluggin' Mike Fontenot and whatever else they have once Sandoval returns from having surgery on his hamate bone. (It's the bone Sandoval uses to eat ham, so you know it's got a lot of wear on it.)