No bangs, just whimpers

The Giants looked like they'd rolled over and played dead for seven innings, then staged a rally of sorts in the 8th to tie the game and take Jonathan Sanchez off the hook. I say "of sorts" because relief pitcher Kameron Loe threw his sinkerball over and over and Giant hitters dutifully beat three balls in a row into the ground that all looked--off the bat--to be sure double plays. Fortunately the left side of the Milwaukee infield was not up to the task and the first two scored the two tying runs. They got it done with the third one, ending the threat with a double play. That was it for San Francisco. An excellent start and a dazzling half inning from Sergio Romo was not enough as Guillermo Mota gave up the winning run in the 9th on a bases-loaded squeeze bunt. I wondered why Mota was the one who got the call, but Ol' Boch was a bit hamstrung at that point. The southpaws were out as neither Jeremy Affeldt nor Javier Lopez have looked good lately, especially against right-handers, and Prince Fielder was the only lefty coming up in the inning. Ramon Ramirez did not look good on Friday night, almost blowing the game, and Santiago Casilla had only been reactivated today (Dan Runzler was optioned to Fresno). Being on the road he probably wanted to save Brian Wilson to protect a lead, which is hard to argue with. So it was Mota, and it didn't work out. Mostly, though, today was about a truly pathetic Giants lineup looking like it was in a contest to see who could make the quickest outs. The Brewers have Yovani Gallardo going tomorrow, another tough pitcher, and someone in the lineup is going to have to start producing, and soon. The Giants counter with Matt Cain who will probably have to match his mates with seven innings and no more than two or three runs allowed to give the team a chance to win the series. The pitching has been great, and when you keep games close you can scratch out wins, come from behind, and perhaps squeak past a good team. But it can't last. You have to start getting runs! Tuesday is the one-third mark in the season and the team has scored fewer runs than it has allowed. That is not an encouraging trend. You cannot expect the pitchers to do all the work--the hitters have to contribute. Let's hope they start to find a way to do that.

--M.C.