Great bunch of guys. Shame about the season.
I was able to attend Saturday night's game at AT&T Park, which held all sorts of adventures relating to Tim Lincecum bobblehead day, then became largely uneventful for two hours while the Giants attempted to not get one-hit by the Astros, and culminated with a very exciting walk-off win, perhaps the Giants' last of the season. Eric Surkamp made his major-league pitching debut, fresh up from AA Richmond, and had a shaky but solid start -- quite possibly the best performance from a 5th Giants starter this season.
For a few brief hours after the game on Saturday night, it felt like the first-half 2011 Giants. The insane magic of close games in front of a rabid AT&T crowd. A new contribution from a different player each night. An interchangeable array of improbably good pitching and timely, necessary hits. Then Sunday arrived, and the Giants attempted to not get no-hit by the Astros before blowing a late lead and not holding two extra-innings tie scores.
This team can't hit. The bullpen is gutted. The starting pitchers are fatigued from knowing they'll have to throw a shutout or they're going to lose. The Diamondbacks refuse to lose. The Giants are four games out of first place and their offense isn't waking up. It doesn't show any sign of waking up. They're still fighting their hearts out, but even with a month left, the writing appears to be on the wall. Every day it looks just a little bit more that it's the D-Backs' year.
