The PG Beat: Miller and Valdez mercilessly fail, Giants score 11 runs and lose

Man....

Seriously, I do not know what to say.

When I leave to watch the game, it's is 6-1 Giants. Martinez is cruising, and the Giants offense looks like I wished it looked like since the Trade Deadline. Ryan Garko is absolutely killing the ball, and the Giants hitters look absolutely dialed in against a very talented pitcher such as Jorge De La Rosa, who has a history of mowing down Giants hitters (he was 4-0 going into this game).

Then, one two-pound sirloin steak at Cattleman's later, it's an 11-6 game once my family and I get back in the car and turn on the radio. My dad says "I'm not listening to this shit" and turns off the radio. When I get home it's 14-6 Rockies after the seventh, the game, all but lost for the Giants at this point.

Six-run lead? That can be made up. But eight-run lead with two innings to play? Well...that one's a little bit trickier.

Granted, you can pretty much blame this 14-11 loss on one thing: the pitching. Yeah, I know, that's something you don't always say with this Giants team, but this Giants pitching staff, bullpen especially, laid a tremendous duck egg out there tonight.

Martinez went 5 innings, gave up nine hits and six runs. Justin Miller went 0.2 innings and gave up four hits, four runs and two walks. Merkin "I'm a young 28 even though in the D/R everyone is three years older" Valdez went 0.2 innings and gave up two hits, four runs and three walks.

Sorry boys. It doesn't matter if Ryan Garko hits two home runs with those kinds of pitching statistics. When you pitch that poorly against a Rockies team that is pretty good in a ballpark where the ball flies...well...you're pretty much seceding as easily as Czechoslovakia did to the Germans in World War II.

However, I'm not as pissed as many Giants would expect. This offense is turning it around. Garko is starting to show he belongs in the everyday lineup (no thanks to a reverse jinx by me. Am I right? Am I right? Just say yes...fine!) and all those hits that went unrewarded are starting to finally drive in some runs. Furthermore, Panda is starting to look like Panda again and sans one bad inning, Martinez didn't actually look all that bad.

And lastly, Bob Howry. Good stuff from him tonight. For all the crap you get, you sure know how to come in stop the bleeding. Seriously, all those jerkasses who are continuing to dump their ever-amounting frustration on Howry need to ease up. Sure, the guy gives up the walk-off jacks, but he's not our closer, and he can't be expected to be one either. And as far as I'm concerned, Howry is doing us all a favor in those walk-off jacks. He is ending the game earlier for us Giants fans, and he saves us from watching the Giants whiff with RISP for another inning.

At this point, I'm still hopeful for the split, which would be good enough for me. However, the Giants really, really need Freddy Sanchez back in the lineup. We just need his presence in this series, and unfortunately, Juan Uribe and Eugenio Velez simply isn't cutting at the two-bagger.

Please God, if you could, can Freddy get back in the lineup. I would be forever grateful my man.


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Jorge De La Rosa (12-8) 6 IP, 8 H, 6 R, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 SO.
Losing pitcher: Justin Miller (2-2) 0.2 IP, 4 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 SO (That's one crappy outing now, isn't it?)

Giants standouts: Pablo Sandoval, 3-for-5, 2 2B (37), HR (19). Nate Schierholtz, HR (5). Ryan Garko, 2-for-5, 2 HR (2). Aaron Rowand, 2-for-4, HR (12). Bengie Molina, 2B (24). Joe Martinez, 2-for-2, 2B (1).
Rockies standouts: Dexter Fowler, 2-for-3, 2 3B (9). Todd Helton, HR (12). Troy Tulowitzki, 2-for-3. Brad Hawpe, 2-for-5, 2B (35). Ian Stewart, 2-for-4, HR (19). Sean Smith, 3B (3).

Probable starters for next game: Lincecum (12-3) vs. Jimenez (11-9).

The PG Beat: Giants on the other side of Lady Luck, Cain unable to get win 13 (again)

I probably should have posted this earlier, but I didn't for two reasons:

1.) I was busy the whole day running errands before I head down to Los Angeles.
2.) I finally was able to get the loss out of my system after almost ten hours after the game was finished.

This definitely was a tough way to lose. The Giants not only lost, but lost by two solo homers from Laynce "Yep, I'm still here even though I was run out of Texas" Nix, and Drew "Boy, do I know when to hit my first home run" Stubbs. I mean, the Reds mustered nine hits and the Giants mustered 11 and still...the Giants found a way to lose.

How do you lose a game 2-1 to a Cincinnati team that really is falling apart by the day? Well...leaving 10 runners on base and going 2-12 with RISP is a start. Also, when your leadoff hitter and second hitter go 0-9 at the dish as well, you're not going to win that many ball games either.

Let's face it. The Giants really got lucky in this series. Any other team that isn't as incompetent as the Reds, and this could have been a series which the Giants got swept. Thankfully, by the grace of God, the Giants won two out of three and head to Colorado for a pretty crucial series at Coors Field.

This game really was amazing because the Giants got some really key performances from some of their players. Sandoval had three hits, Winn had three hits, Schierholtz had two...when your three-four-five hitters produce like that, you think you would be in good shape, right? Yet unfortunately, as has been the case for the Giants all year, guys in the top of the inning didn't get on, and the big Giants hitters were only able to get punchless hits that ended up having no value at all.

Look, I know Eugenio Velez has been playing well, but the kid needs a day off. His day was as atrocious as it could get. 0-5 at the dish. Couldn't come through twice with runners on (including one piss-poor at-bat where he swung at a crappy first pitch inside and popped out in the infield with a runner on third) and he made a grotesque error where he looked more like Manny Ramirez catching a fly ball rather than a decent second baseman. Sure, Velez has speed, but he doesn't get on base, doesn't steal bases (even though on his attempts Giants hitters are idiots and swing at the pitch, even if it is less than two strikes) and he doesn't really produce runs that great in comparison to anybody else on the team. Velez, in all reality, is better suited as an eight hitter rather than a leadoff. The only problem is the Giants have no options at leadoff this point and they're forced to hit Velez there because every other possibility has been a dud (Lewis, Rowand, Winn, Burriss, etc).

All and all, this game was almost practically like last night's game, only it was the Reds getting the breaks rather than the Giants. Hey, I can live with that. It happens,as much as that pains me as a Giants fan to say that. That being said, it sucks for Matt Cain that in the second half the Giants have gone retro-Matt Cain mode and don't even show up in the big spots at the plate. Seriously, Cain must be having that Michael Corleone moment from "Godfather III" right now. I can see Cain in the dugout after the Giants couldn't come through in the top of the ninth and saying to himself "Just when I thought I was out! They pull me back in!" I seriously hope Cain get win no. 13 this year. As frightening as this sounds, I have this bad, lingering feeling that he might not get it. Forget all the Cy Young talk. I just want the kid to win 13 freaking games this year!

So far, the road trip hasn't been too bad. 4-3 so far isn't a terrible number, especially considering how bad the Giants run generation has been this year. All I can hope is that the run production can turn it around in time for tomorrow against a Colorado team that most likely will have no trouble producing runs.

I have been optimistic before...however, I'm not quite so cheery in this series. It either could be a split, or a Colorado bloodbath. I'm praying for the former, but unfortunately, I'm expecting the latter, as down as the sounds.


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Francisco Cordero (2-3) 1 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.
Losing pitcher: Bob Howry (1-6) 1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.

Giants standouts: Pablo Sandoval, 3-for-5, 2B (35). Nate Schierholtz, 2-for-5. Randy Winn, 3-for-5. Eli Whiteside, 2B (3).
Reds standouts: Chris Dickerson, 2-for-4. Laynce Nix, 3-for-4, HR (10). Drew Stubbs, HR (1).

Probable starters for Giants next game against Colorado: Sanchez (5-10) vs. Aaron Cook (10-5).
Probable starters for Reds next game against Atlanta: Owings (6-11) vs. Morton (2-6).

The PG Beat: Back from Vacation, Giants lose again to Buffalo Bisons (or your 2009 Mets)

Seriously. How did we lose this game? It wasn't as if I went into this thing expecting a victory of course. When you have Jonathan Sanchez on the hill, anything can happen. You can get a no-hitter, or a home run derby by the third inning. It all depends on how Sanchez's command is, and that is as easy to predict as the stock market back in the 1920's.

Yet when Sanchez deals today, only makes one mistake all day, and goes seven innings (seven innings!) well...you think we would win this one. Especially with no David Wright, Carlos Beltran, Jose Reyes, or Carlos Delgado in the lineup, too, right?

Well, all I can say is I hope the Giants don't play the Sacramento Rivercats during this stretch, because the Giants basically lost to the New York Mets' Triple-A affiliate out there in today's 4-3 loss at Citi Field.

To put a silver lining on this game, kudos to Sanchez for pitching a great game today. To be honest, Sanchez has really earned his keep in this rotation after his no-hitter. He is a much better pitcher during this second-half, and even though he can be unpredictable, the promise he has showed since the no-hitter I think lessens the effect of losing Tim Alderson in the Freddy Sanchez trade. I mean, even when Randy Johnson retires next year, I look forward to a rotation of Lincecum, Cain, Zito, Sanchez and Martinez or perhaps even Bumgarner (if he tears it up in Spring Training next year). I think Sanchez is past the rut he had in the second half of last year, and the first half of this season, and I honestly believe, especially after today's outing that the future is bright for this kid.

That being said, Sanchez made a big mistake today: a two-run home run to freaking Luis "I can barely hit the ball out of the infield" Castillo, his first homer since late May of last year. I was about to smash my head into the television after that home run. Anybody but Castillo. Hell, I would've rather had Fernando "My career is still living on that two grand slams in one inning" Tatis hit that homer than Castillo.

Still, even with that mistake, you can't blame Sanchez in this one. The offense has just been awful since the Reds series. First the Reds, then the Dodgers, and now the Mets, who have owned us this year with a 5-2 overall record this year against us head-to-head. Maybe it's just a bad rut, but I thought we were past our rut after the 3-7 road trip out of the gate after the All-Star break. Apparently not though, and we look to be in another rut despite the deadline acquisitions of Ryan Garko and Freddy Sanchez. Sanchez is doing his part, but Garko...ehh...not so much. When you trade a guy who's hitting around the Mendoza Line for a prospect that is a borderline Top-100 minor league arm...well...let's just say you may have lost out on that trade.

The offense stunk today to be perfectly frank, and the only guys I can really tip my hat to in this one are Velez (who shrugged off an awful first couple of games in this series at the plate and went 2-for-3) and Winn, who had a very good at-bat and drove in Velez in the eighth to tie the game despite being pwned by Pelfrey for most of the game. Other than though, another goose egg of a game from the Giants "Triple-A" caliber offense.

Key stat of the game: Sandoval, F. Sanchez and Ishikawa went a combined 0-for-11 at the dish. It doesn't matter if you're playing a team that's more decimated out there than a Marine Sqaud in Vietnam. When you're three, four and six hitters do that poorly, you're going to lose.

I know I have to keep the faith in this Giants team during this stretch run. I know it is still August and in reality, the real games are played in September when the games really, REALLY count.

But damn it...these games are getting hard to stomach. You can only take so much excruciating pain. Watching the Giants offense is starting to feel more and more like getting a tattoo removed (i.e. REALLY FREAKING PAINFUL!)


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Francisco Rodriguez (3-4) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 SO.
Losing pitcher: Sergio Romo (3-2) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.

Giants standouts: Eugenio Velez, 2-for-3, 2B (7). Fred Lewis, 2B (18). Randy Winn, 2B (27).
Mets standouts: Jeff Franceour, 2-for-4. Angel Pagan, 2B (8). Luis Castillo, HR (1).

Probable starters for next game: Martinez (2-1) vs. Hernandez (7-7).

The PG Beat: Reds take series, Cain handed second straight loss, Dodgers series much scarier now

Ooh boy. It's bad enough we have a crucial series with the rival Dodgers starting tomorrow. I mean, the Dodgers are slumping right now (they were swept at home by the Braves this week) and the Giants were in a prime position going into Friday to pad their NL Wild Card lead as well with the Rockies playing the Cubs, and the Giants taking on the Reds, a team that had been struggling mightily since the All-Star break.

Well...we didn't get swept, I guess. However, other than that though, this series pretty much was a disaster, compounded by the Giants losing 5-2 today to Aaron Harang, a pitcher that hadn't won a game since May. I really don't know what got into the Reds this weekend. I don't know how Wladimir Balentein started to not suck anymore. I don't know how Brandon Phillips looked like the stud he was two years ago when he first arrived to Cincinnati. I don't know how Dusty Baker out managed Bruce Bochy despite having sub. 300 OBP hitter in Willy Tavares batting leadoff.

A lot of things don't make sense. The Reds shouldn't have taken two out of three from a team that had the best home record in the Major Leagues going into the series on Friday. Yet, baseball hardly makes sense at times, and this was one of those moments, much to our chagrin as Giants fans.

Today, you couldn't blame anyone for the loss, maybe other than Matt Cain, which isn't easy to do because I love the guy. The Reds came in, took care of business, and had a big inning in the fourth, compounded by a two-run homer by Andrew Rosales (Yes, I still don't know who that is). Let's face it Giants fans. As a fan, I'm worried about Cain. I know the guy is going to have a bad start every now and then, but two straight? Against two mediocre teams? That definitely leaves me worried. Now, I'm not saying Cain is going to fall off the wagon completely, but I'm definitely worried that he may be out of gas, not to mention luck, from the marvelous All-Star first half he had this year.

A lot of tough moments to stomach overall during this game. The "Panda" was in prime opportunity to really hammer in big innings and he hit into double plays...twice. That's not what Sandoval does in big spots like that. However, instead of the usual-clutch self, he looked more like Bengie Molina, unable to come up with the big hits the Giants needed in big spots. I think he'll be able to rebound from this game in time for the Dodgers series (which starts tomorrow...so he better rebound quickly), but it was just a disappointing development that we usually don't see from the "Panda," especially at AT&T Park.

Were there any bright spots in this series? Yes. We didn't get swept (as I mentioned before) and Eugenio Velez continues to earn his spot as our new leadoff hitter. Seriously, this guy is good. I could harp and harp on this kid until my face turns blue, and I still wouldn't be finished singing his praises. This is exactly the guy I thought we would get a year ago when he was tearing it up in Spring Training. He's just such a spark plug out there, and he's an infinitely better upgrade than Randy Winn or Fred Lewis in centerfield. Once Nate Schierholtz comes back, I am looking forward to an outfield that consists of Velez in left, Rowand in center and Schierholtz in right. That in my mind, will give the Giants the best shot to win down the stretch.

Oh well...we had a chance to really capitalize and we didn't. It doesn't matter though. All what matters is this Dodgers series starting tomorrow. If we sweep the Dodgers, it won't matter what happened in the Reds series this weekend. All will be forgiven in my mind. Nothing would beat a Dodgers sweep, or at the very least, a series win over the bums from Chavez Ravine.

Come on Giants. Let's beat LA!

(I don't sound too desperate now, do I?)


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Aaron Harang (6-13) 7 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO.
Losing pitcher: Matt Cain (12-4) 7 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 2 BB, 7 SO.

Giants standouts: Eugenio Velez, 2-for-4, 2B (5). Fred Lewis, 2B (16). Freddy Sanchez, 2-for-4.
Reds standouts: Brandon Phillips, HR (17). Wladimir Balentein, 2-for-3. Andrew Rosales, 3-for-4, HR (4).

Giants probable starters for next game against Los Angeles: Kuroda (4-5) vs. Sanchez (5-9).
Reds probable starters for next game against St. Louis: Cueto (8-9) vs. Lohse (4-7).

The PG Beat: Bullpen, defense collapse; Giants give gift to the Reds.

Joey Votto (right) scores as Bengie Molina looks for an errant throw by Pablo Sandoval. At this point, it goes without saying that Giants' chances of winning this game were lost.

The Giants were better statistically in so many ways tonight than the Reds. They hit more home runs (two to Cincinnati's zero), had more hits (12 to Cincinnati's 9) and Tim Lincecum threw more strikeouts than the Reds' Homer Baily (seven to two).

Yet when it came to two categories that really mattered, the Reds clearly outmatched them: errors and the final score.

It's tough to describe how agonizing that game was tonight. In no way, shape, or form did the Reds deserve to win that game. We outhit them, and even though Lincecum didn't have his best stuff tonight, he certainly was better on the hill than Bailey. Yet two things that have been our strong points this year (defense and the bullpen) totally laid ducks tonight. I mean, five errors! Are you freaking kidding me? What an absolute joke. I seriously wish now Travis Ishikawa could solve whatever hitting funk he is in, mainly because Garko is a sub par glove at first base to put it kindly. Furthermore, Renteria is becoming more and more exposed without Ishikawa bailing him out on his consistently errant throws. Seriously, whatever you have to do to hit the ball Ishi, do it! We need your freaking glove out there!

Now, I normally don't like to blame Bochy or the managers for losses, but I'm seriously angry over this blunder: why the hell do you take out Jeremey Affeldt for Sergio Romo? Why are managers so enamored with this righty-lefty thing? And seriously, why did Bochy pull the trigger on Affeldt so fast? He only faced one freaking batter, and do you seriously think Romo is going to shut the door on the four-six holes any better than Affeldt? Man, I just can't understand Bochy's reasoning. I understand Affeldt's control is off, I understand he walked the leadoff hitter, and I understand most of the lineup was right-handed, but why would you put in Affeldt to just face one batter? He's your best reliever Bochy! Come on. Even the bleacher bums in left field knew that decision was idiotic.

To look at this positively, all I can say is the Giants offense looks great. Sans a dumb baserunning error by Fred Lewis, I really thought the Giants lineup came to play today at the plate. They had a lot of good at-bats, Eugenio Velez continues to be a great leadoff guy, and Pablo continues to be Pablo at the dish. Basically, these kind of games are going to happen. You're best pitcher isn't going to have his best stuff, the defense is going to fail you every now and then, your bullpen is going to self-destruct. It happens. The good thing? The offense doesn't seem to be letting up, and I think that bodes well into tomorrow. Sure, this loss was soul-crushing, but the Reds and the Giants knew that Baker's boys got really damn lucky in this game. They know they will be hardpressed to pull off another victory like this.

Even though a sweep would have been nice, we still can take this series. I was not impressed at all with the Reds. They got out-of-the butt performances from an over-the-hill, "How is he still playing" Alex Gonzalez, and a "Seriously he sucks, because I saw him suck on a daily basis in Seattle" Wladimir Balentein, both guys hitting under .200 going into the game. Votto did relatively nothing at the dish, and Phillips had some good hits, but got some lucky sprays as well. This was just a bad-break game. It happens, you move on, as hard as it is.

As long as the offense continues its ways, I think we will be fine and this game should not drive San Francisco fans into panic mode. We did what we could offensively tonight, only we didn't do the other things to win. Hopefully the boys understand that, and are able to put a complete game together on both offense and defense, and not just at the plate tomorrow and Sunday.


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Dave Weathers (3-3) 1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 ER, 0 BB, 1 SO.
Losing pitcher: Brian Wilson (3-5) 1 IP, 2 H, 4 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 0 SO.

Giants standouts: Eugenio Velez, 2-for-5, HR (2). Pablo Sandoval, 2-for-4. Bengie Molina, HR (12). Fred Lewis, 2B (15).
Reds standouts: Alex Gonzalez, 2-for-4. Brandon Phillips, 2-for-4, 2B (18). Scott Rolen, 2B (1). Wladimir Balentien, 2-for-3.

Probable starters for next game: Arroyo (10-10) vs. Zito (7-10).

The PG Beat: Hampton pulls out more times against the Giants offense than a frat boy having sex and not wearing a condom

Kaz Matsui, the biggest ESPN the Magazine "Next" athlete bust not named Darko Milicic, killed the Giants with a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth.

Does the headline make sense? Probably not. But I don't care. This loss doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. Let me run down the list of "Why" questions I asked myself after this game was over.

• Why did Tim Flannery send Edgar Renteria home when it was obvious it was a hard hit ball and Hunter Pence has a cannon?
• Why do we strike out looking three times when we had a chance to break the game wide open in the top of the sixth?
• Why did fans automatically think this was an automatic win going into this game?
• Why does Bengie Molina still bat cleanup when every statistic he has offensively is pathetic?
• Why can't Pablo Sandoval work the count more so instead of just getting singles, he can wait for his pitch and hit with more power?
• Why does Randy Winn still play right field when he has a worse arm out there than Sandoval throwing left-handed?
• Why did those home runs have to go out?
• Why does Eric from Entourage have to continue to go out with this Ashley girl, and why do I get the feeling that the writers are way overblowing this whole Jamie Lynn Sigler-Turtle relationship?
  
• Why did Matt Cain not stomp his hitters' faces in?

Okay, the last two were out of line. I can't get Entourage out of my mind, and the last one I got from Full Metal Jacket. Nonetheless, the rest of those questions are legitimate. The Giants had so much momentum going into this series and they simply laid an egg, plain and simple. It was really just a frustrating game. Everything was set up for the Giants to win this one. They were hitting Hampton, Cain was taking care of business and then...the wheels fell off. After the sixth when we got nothing with the bases loaded, I just knew we were going to lose this game. You don't get opportunities like that in a game more than once. If you don't take advantage of them, chances are, you squandered that only opportunity to do something real damaging to the opposing team.

The lesson learned from this victory? Two actually. One, never come in too cocky into a series with a team that seems to be nearly broken. You come in and take care of business, no gloating needed going in. Fans were gloating and after the Phillies series win, I'm sure the Giants were like "Hey, we're going to steamroll these guys." The good teams take care of business and do it without doubt. That's why the Red Sox own the Orioles and are a great team, while the Giants lose to an Astros team minus-Oswalt and Berkman and aren't one. Until they learn to have that killer edge all the time, this team will never been better than what the stats show: a good pitching team that can occasionally muster up a run and a win here and there.

Sorry, I hate to be pessimistic, but this loss was agonizing for me. I really thought after the first inning we had the right approach in place, but unfortunately, hitting coach Carney Lansford's old "Swing at everything and look at the good pitches with two strikes" approach is really wearing me thin. It's not like I don't expect this. I prepare myself for these kind of offensive outings all the time.

Still, no matter how much I try to psyche myself out for them, they hit hard nonetheless. To quote somebody off of McCovey Chronicles, this statement is pretty accurate in terms of describing this loss:

"That game was like being fed a cake made out of babies, pointing out that you object to baby consumption and then being shot in the balls by the enraged cook." -Alex_Lewis.

Well said Alex. Well said.


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Mike Hampton (6-8) 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO.
Losing pitcher: Matt Cain (12-3) 8 IP, 8 H, 4 R, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 SO.

Giants standouts: Eugenio Velez, 2-for-5. Pablo Sandoval, 3-for-5, 2B (31). Ryan Garko, 2-for-2. Edgar Renteria, 2-for-4, 2B (16).
Astros standouts: Michael Bourn, 2-for-4, 3B (9). Kaz Matsui, HR (5). Geoff Blum, HR (6). Carlos Lee, 3-for-4, 2B (20). Hunter Pence, 3B (5).

Probable starters for next game: Sanchez (4-9) vs. Paulino (2-5).

The PG Beat: Cliff Lee owns Giants, Affeldt and company self-destruct in the seventh inning

New Philadelphia pitcher Cliff Lee not only killed the Giants on Friday night with his pitching (9 IP, 1 run allowed), but also with his hitting (2-for-4, including a double).

Well...can't say I didn't see this one coming, even if I didn't want to admit it. Cliff Lee made his debut for the Phillies, and he couldn't have done much better as he mowed down the Giants hitters in a 5-1 victory on Friday night. Lee made every Giants hitter tonight look silly, even the Panda, who went o-for-4 against the reigning American League Cy Young award winner.

The Giants are exactly the kind of team that plays into Lee's strengths as a pitcher, and it was on full display tonight. Lee did what he always did (have great command, and mix it up with heat and breaking ball pitches, even though his stuff isn't great), and the Giants hitters did what they always did (overly aggressive, swinging at too many pitches out of the zone). It really was a rough game to watch if you're a Giants fan, and I'm sure a lot of people are fuming as Ryan Garko has only gotten one hit in his first three games as first baseman for the Giants. However, it was only one game for the Giants and this is only three games from Garko. In all honesty, I expected a loss in this game out of all the games in the series (Lee going against Sadowski just didn't look good on paper), and I think we need a couple of weeks to evaluate how good Garko is going to be. I think by next week, he should be getting into a comfort zone as a hitter. If he isn't? Well...then we're in some trouble, but we'll worry about that if that happens and when we get there.

The one thing I will say is that while I ripped him apart last week, you can't blame this loss on Sadowski (even though he did get the loss). Sadowski, who again for a third straight start, suffered from control issues throughout the nights, tallied a high pitch count early in the game (he was around 60 pitches at the end of the third inning and threw 82 pitches in four innings of work) and just didn't seem have that much confidence on the mound. However, he only gave up one run, a homer to Jason Werth in the second, and kept the Giants in the game as they continued to swing and miss against Lee's breaking balls. I am curious to know why Bochy pulled Sadowski so early. After pitching the fourth, the camera showed him wincing and holding his arm as he walked to the dugout. I haven't checked anything yet, but I have a feeling he strained something. Even though he wasn't pitching great, he merited at least another inning of work, especially with the game only 1-0. It's definitely something to pay attention to when carousing on Extra Baggs later tonight.

Surprisingly, if you want to blame anyone other than the offense and Lee, you can blame the bullpen. Don't look to the usual suspects to blame in this one though. Relievers who have been struggling as of late, Sergio Romo, Bob Howry and Merkin Valdez, actually looked very good tonight. It was the usual late-inning studs who struggled mightily instead. Jeremy Affeldt and Brandon Medders, two pitchers who had been looking very good in relief this year for the Giants simply imploded as they combined to allow three walks and three runs combined in only 1/3 innings of work...combined. That is a tough one to stomach, and after the game got to 4-0, I kind of just threw in the towel. Granted, these things tend to happen to relievers. They aren't perfect, and they're going to have their breakdowns every now and then. That's when you need your offense to step up and make up the difference. Unfortunately, that didn't happen tonight and in all honesty, the Giants offense hasn't picked up the pitching when it struggles since Opening Day. This Giants team goes how the pitching goes and that doesn't bode well I believe for Giants fans as we enter these last two months of the season. We just can't rely on pitching the whole time. We need the offense to set the tone sometimes, and unfortunately, that hasn't happened very often this year, especially against good teams like the Phillies.

That being said, I knew we weren't going to sweep the Phillies in this series, and this loss was definitely a predictable one, as tough as that is to say as a Giants fan. With Lincecum on the hill (going to the game tomorrow! Yahoo!) going against Joe Blanton, a pitcher who plays more to our strengths than Lee, I like our chances. If we can take at least two in this series, I can live with myself. If we can take three and win this series, I'll be ecstatic.

Tomorrow is the key to which direction this series will sway. For it to go in the Giant favor, Lincecum needs to have a good performance, and the offense needs to bounce back from tonight's lackluster effort.


Postgame Box notes:

Winning pitcher: Cliff Lee (1-0) 9 IP, 4 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 SO.
Losing pitcher: Ryan Sadowski (2-4) 4 IP, 3 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 SO.

Giants standouts: Juan Uribe, 2B (18). Aaron Rowand, 2B (25).
Phillies standouts: Jayson Werth, 2-for-5, HR (22). Ben Francisco, 2B (2). Cliff Lee (I know he killed us hitting too!), 2-for-4, 2B (1).

Probable starters for next game: Blanton (7-4) vs. Lincecum (11-3).

The PG Beat: Sadowski punches plane ticket to Fresno, Rockies take two game lead in Wild Card

What Bruce Bochy said to Ryan Sadowski after taking him out of the game in the third inning: "Well kid, at least the weather will be better in Fresno."

It was a weird how the Giants lost to the Colorado Rockies 4-2 on Sunday afternoon. For starters, the game went incessantly long and dragged over three hours. I don't know if that was due to the Umpire's massively inconsistent strike zone, or the number of long at-bats hitters had, but for a 4-2 game, the game just seemed to slug along to the point where I was actually thankful the game was finally over after Rockies closer Huston Street struck out Uribe to end the contest and the series (I knew our best chance to come back was in the eight and after Lewis and Ishikawa got embarrassed by Rockies reliever Morales to end the inning, I knew the game was over).

Another strange, but characteristic game stat of the Giants season was the hits to runs ratio. Colorado had 10 hits, but only scored four runs. San Francisco didn't do bad at the dish with nine hits, but as always, driving in runs was a problem as they only scored home two. I'm not getting mad or disappointed with these stats because that is just how this Giants team is in reality. They have guys that can hit singles and doubles, but can't seem to do so with runners on base. Noneteless, it's still frustrating because you know this team could do better if they concentrate. Yet over and over again they're swinging at the first close strike against a sinker-baller like Aaron Cook, which is the last thing you want to do because you'll just ground out. The key to beating a guy like Cook is work deep in the count, and try to get into counts where he'll make mistakes up the strike zone.

Despite that obvious fact, Bowker continues to swing at the first pitch close pitch and grounds out to Barmes three straight at-bats. Winn does the same thing, hitting four lousy dribblers to the left side of the field, on 0-1, 1-0 counts. That's really just bad coaching, and whoever is responsible (whether it is hitting coach Carney Lansford or manager Bruce Bochy) needs to either get their stuff together or sent packing. Personally, I think it's Lansford, whom I never been a fan of since he was hired. If the Giants don't make dramatic improvement over the next month, I hope Sabean makes a move and hires somebody new as hitting coach to mix things up next season.

After it was all said and done, th hitting was pretty much what you expect from the Giants, so I'm not incredibly disappointed. They're going to have days when they're mediocre, days when they're below mediocre, and days when their above-average. It's expected. The real story of the day was Sadowski. He threw his second straight stinker in a row, which got him yanked not only early from the game (he was pulled in the third inning!) but probably from the rotation as well. Everybody said Sadowski's first two starts were not indicative of his true progress as a pitcher, for in the minors, his numbers were actually just above-average at best. Now I think we can officially say those Sadowski-naysayers were right. The guy is an average pitcher, and obviously isn't the same pitcher that had that sparkling debut in Milwaukee.

Without a doubt, I wouldn't be surprised that if by tomorrow, Sadowski was sent to Fresno, and the Giants called up another pitcher. The most likely candidate would probably be Kevin Pucetas. He was originally going to be the pitcher to replace Sanchez in the rotation when Sanchez was sent to the bullpen for a brief period, but couldn't make the start against the Brewers because he had just pitched the day before the callup. So instead, the Giants settled on Sadowski, which didn't look too bad...at the time.

At 10-2 with a 3.26 ERA and 1.21 WHIP this season in Fresno, Pucetas certainly deserves a shot to crack the Giants rotation, especially with Randy Johnson going in for another MRI Monday, and Sadowski getting abused on the mound more than Private Pyle in Full Metal Jacket in his last couple of starts.

It was definitely a tough series against Colorado, not to mention road trip, to stomach for Giants fans. After a great first half which had the Giants 10 games over .500, and first place in the NL Wild Card, the Giants went on a free-fall by going 3-7 on the road trip, losing two out of three to NL West rival Colorado, and now falling behind the Rockies in the Wild Card race by two games. Who knows what got to the Giants: all the sudden surprise loving at the All-Star break by experts, bad karma from Lincecum's bad start at the All-Star game, the sudden pressure on Sandoval after the whole "Vote for Pablo" campaign.

Whatever it is that got to the Giants, they need to get over it fast and put together a good homestand against the Pirates and defending world-champion Phillies (which won't be easy considering how well they're playing as of late). If they struggle during this seven-game stretch and don't win four or more games, Giants fans can just forget about those postseason dreams.


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Aaron Cook (10-3) 7 IP, 9 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 SO.
Losing pitcher: Ryan Sadowski (2-3) 2.2 IP, 5 H, 3 R, 3 ER, 3 BB, 2 SO.

Giants standouts: Fred Lewis, 2-for-4. Travis Ishikawa, 2-for-4. Edgar Renteria, 2-for-4, 2B (14). Aaron Rowand, 2B (24).
Rockies standouts: Aaron Cook, 2B (1), Carlos Gonzalez, 3B (3). Yorvit "I can't hit against anybody but the Giants" Torrealba, 2-for-3.

Probable starters for Giants next game against Pirates: Lincecum (10-3) vs. Maholm (6-4).
Probable starters for Rockies next game against Mets: Jimenez (7-9) vs. Perez (2-3).

The PG Beat: Retro-Sanchez night at Coors Field, Colorado's Troy Tulowitziki beats Giants by himself

Troy Tulowitzki: Good for my fantasy team "Bring Back Barry." Bad for the Giants' chances of making the postseason.

Well... the Giants' 8-2 loss provided some not-so-enjoyable surprises.

Jonathan Sanchez didn't do either option one or two in my pre-game analysis. Instead, he did something that may have proved to be worse than option two: he reverted back to his old, inconsistent self.

The thing about Sanchez that is frustrating is the guy just really gets rattled on the mound. He was absolutely dealing for three innings, looking great as he mowed down Rockies hitters the first time through the order. Then, like clockwork, things get ugly for him when he got through the lineup a second time. It started with b a cheap hit, a walk, some rain and then before you know it...Troy Tulowitzki hits a three-run home run and the game is suddenly 3-0 and Sanchez is throwing a hissy fit on the mound.

Look, I understand Sanchez. You let those at-bats get away in the fourth. I know you were probably ticked off on some of the calls you were squeezed on. I know that you feel that you just let one bad pitch get away and that's it. However, the only way you're going to improve as a pitcher is if you suck up, and take the game on, batter by batter. Seriously, seeing him out there on the mound, cursing to himself and losing his composure just made me sick to my stomach. It basically lost the game for him and this Giants team. His head was never in the game after that home run, and he only lasted five innings in a very forgettable performance.

To be perfectly honest, I'm a fan of Sanchez. I absolutely love his stuff. Stuff-wise, I think he can give Lincecum a run for his money. His pitching style is deceptive, his fastball is livelier than Lincecum's, and he's a lefty, which is always a bonus because of the sheer novelty of a left-handed dominating starter (seriously, a good lefty is like a good refrigerator with one of those ice/water machines. You can have the best refrigerator in the world, but when you have one of those ice/water machines connected, that puts it over the top. That's how great a good lefty can be over a good righty. A good righty just doesn't have that novelty a lefty does).

Yet in terms of mental makeup, Sanchez barely cracks this rotation. Zito looks like Greg Maddux in comparison. Sanchez gets down on himself, loses control and pitching coach Dave Righetti needs to come out once an inning to calm him down, and even then that seems to do nada. Until Sanchez can harness his emotions and composure on the mound, his great stuff and all the mechanical adjustments in the world, won't help him be a better pitcher. After tonight, I'm absolutely convinced that Sanchez's problems all stem from a need for a mental and emotional adjustment on the mound. I think physically the tools are there, but his lack of composure is what holds him back from being truly a great pitcher.

That being said, I'm not blaming this one totally on Sanchez. Tulowitzki killed us. There is no doubt about it. Granted, Sanchez could have walked a lot less guys, and could've been more composed on the mound, but Sanchez only made a couple of mistakes until the sixth inning. The thing that hurt the Giants in this loss was a familiar story: lack of run support.

Now, I'm getting tired of saying it, but it's the same swan song with this team: they string together a decent amount of hits, but they just can't bring the runs in. That's the biggest problem with this team, and that is one of the reasons why I can't fathom why Nick Johnson would be considered an improvement to this roster. He doesn't drive in runs, but rather gets on base and scores runs. Well...that's not our freaking problem! Our problem is getting RBI, and finding someone that can get a base hit with ducks on the pond. We don't need a guy who can draw walks! Seriously, if I hear one more "The Giants need to acquire Nick Johnson" statement from a Peter Gammons or Buster Olney, I'm going to go crazy.

So, bottom line, Giants did what they always did at the plate (bad at-bats, not coming through with runners on base) and they lost. Nonetheless, this one was kind of disappointing because I felt if the Giants could get something early going with the bats, Sanchez could have built on that confidence and had another good outing. Unfortunately, it was the Rockies that struck first and it was all downhill from there. Such a shame.

In other news, Merkin Valdez continues to befuddle Giants fans as the "most disappointing pitcher with seemingly good stuff" in the history of this Giants organization. I'm serious. On paper, Valdez has everything that could merit him being a lights out closer or set-up man. He has a high-90's fastball and a very good breaking ball. That being said, he can't finish an 0-2 count to save his life. Finishing hitters for him seems to be as arduous a challenge as television producers saying "No" to Paris Hilton being on television. Having him in the bullpen is such a waste, especially when really quality relievers like Brandon Medders lose opportunities to pitch because Sabean and Bochy think Valdez has the potential to be good down the road. Look guys, he's either going to become the next big closer or he isn't. So far it doesn't look that way. Let's cut our losses and move on. It's not like we're desperate for bullpen arms here.

Just a tough loss once again. There still is hope of course. There is hope Ryan Sadowski won't stink up the joint like his last outing in Atlanta. There is hope Edgar Renteria will finally learn to hit the ball out of the infield again. There is hope that somebody can drive in runs with ducks on the pond in a pressure-packed situation. There is hope that the Giants can still beat Colorado in this Wild Card race.

Unfortunately, like Alexander Dumas said in the ending of The Man in the Iron Mask, "We live in hope, only to die despair..."

I know. It's a little early for that kind of talk so I'm sorry. But after tonight, just for your information, I'm not feeling good in terms of confidence. A struggling Sadowski on the mound facing the ace of the Rockies staff, Aaron Cook, in the rubber game of this crucial series simply has just brought out the worst in me.


Postgame box notes:

Winning pitcher: Jorge De La Rosa (8-7) 7.1 IP, 7 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 SO
Losing pitcher: Jonathan Sanchez (3-9) 5 IP, 5 H, 5 R, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 SO

Giants standouts: Randy Winn, 3B (5). Pablo Sandoval, 2-for-4, 2 2B (28). Juan Uribe, 2-for-4.
Rockies standouts: Brad Hawpe, 2-for-3. Troy Tulowitzki, 3-for-4, HR (18), 2B (14). Chris Ianetta, 2B (10).

Probable starters for next game: Sadowski (2-2) vs. Cook (9-3).