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.

Giants Win Feel-Good Game of the Year, 6-2

KABOOM CARLOS BELTRAN MOTHERF***ER

If Thursday's game was a turn-the-page palate cleanser, tonight was something else entirely. Matt Cain, throwing far, FAR less than his best stuff, held the Diamondbacks to two runs through eight innings. Carlos Beltran had his first true Carlos Beltran game as a Giant, going four-for-four with a triple and a monster home run. Jeff Keppinger's Unstoppable Bat missed a home run by a foot and a half. Cody Ross followed a Matt Cain walk with a signature Cody Ross left-field-bleachers bomb late in the game, and followed that up in the top of the eighth with a spectacular diving, sliding catch.

This was a Giants big-game game like we saw constantly last September and many times earlier this year. Pat Burrell took two walks and a million pitches. The Giants were able to limit damage in tricky situations -- like a bases-loaded moment in the top of the first. The Giants pitching was the Giants pitching, and for a change the Giants offense looked like a real major league team. The Diamondbacks had a nine-game winning streak snapped and looked nothing like the juggernaut we all feared they had become in August. Tomorrow all of this could crumble and the Giants could become the Giants once again, but tonight was incandescent. Tonight was glorious. For three brilliant hours, this was the 2011 Giants living up to every lofty expectation they promised in spring training, only minus Posey, Sanchez, and Wilson and up a Keppinger and a Beltran.

If the Giants don't play another competitive game this year...hell, if the Giants don't win another game this year, this is the game I will hold on to. This was all smiles and warm-and-fuzzies and fist-pumping victory in every sense of the word. This one will keep me warm in the winter, regardless of what happens from here on out. For one electrifying night, in front of a rabid AT&T Park crowd, this was hope and celebration and realized potential. The Diamondbacks can easily take the next two, and heck, they probably will, but this was all I could have ever asked for.

Thanks, guys.

So You've Decided to Be in Second Place: Giants Lose, 9-2

"Nope, I don't see any hits over here, either."

I'm pretty sure the final score was 9-2. I stopped watching. Why would I do that to myself? This is some Absolute Zero of a team right now, and it's not getting better. The bad news is that the Giants head to Miami and Atlanta to get their clocks cleaned on the road for a while before wrapping things up by losing a series to the Houston Spoilers.

It is important that this is a team that has been ravaged -- and that is the appropriate word, ravaged -- by injuries to key players, and other key players having absolutely catastrophic seasons. Bochy and Sabean are not to blame for what is going on. Well, not entirely, anyway. This is what the universe decided was a fitting repayment for last year's improbable World Series victory. And that's cool. I more or less resigned myself to the Giants missing the playoffs a couple of weeks ago. It's a shame, but it's really pretty admirable they have been able to do so much with so little thus far. This is a team that is dangerously close to fielding a tee as their fifth starter. They can get 15 hits in a game and score less than two runs. They can get three hits in a row with RISP and score none.

The fact that the Astros are giving the Diamondbacks fits indicates that, perhaps, the Diamondbacks are not the unstoppable juggernaut I imagined they were. They hit lots of home runs, and have a Justin Upton, but they're only marginally better than the Giants at this point. They can be caught, and overtaken. There are nearly two months left. But if the Giants miss it, it won't be the end of the world. Posey and Freddy will be back next season. Zito and Rowand will be closer to the end of their deals, if they're still around. Beltran and Ross will likely be gone, which opens up a potential spot for Belt. There's a chance the Giants will acquire an actual shortstop. Given their track record, I'd bet on Jimmy Rollins. Things look a lot better in 2012.

My hope is that things start looking better in 2011. It's hard to imagine things looking worse.

Twelve Injured in Giants Walkoff 3-2 Victory Over Reds

"Was it a slider low and away? That's what usually does it to me."

A short list of the Giants opening-day lineup players that have been/are on the disabled list this season:

C - Buster Posey

1B - Brandon Belt

2B - Freddy Sanchez

3B - Pablo Sandoval

CF - Andres Torres

Here is a short list of other Giants who have been/are on the disabled list this season:

RP - Brian Wilson

RP - Santiago Casilla

SP - Barry Zito

OF - Cody Ross

SS - Mike Fontenot

OF - Darren Ford

Actually, this might work best; here is a short list of Giants who have not, at any point, been on the disabled list this season:

Miguel Tejada

Aubrey Huff

Aaron Rowand

It's...this isn't good. Freddy Sanchez goes down with a possibly season-ending injury, the Giants sign Bill Hall, and the entire roster is engulfed in an enormous fireball. Still, the Giants got their ninth walk-off win and are in first place by two games. Miguel Tejada is currently the Giants' hottest hitter. The world got flipped, turned upside down. Sandoval and Fontenot are possibly back next week, Belt a short time after that.

I honestly don't know what's going to happen from here. The Giants could keep getting miraculously lucky breaks and squeak out a division title in the laughable NL West. The bats might wake up. The offense might congeal. The Giants might fall off a cliff and only win another fifteen games for the rest of the season. Anything could happen. Anything. It's baseball. Beautiful, tragic, train-wreck baseball. One thing is for sure, though: don't ever, EVER try to hit a ball off of Miguel Tejada's shin for a base hit.