72

Matt Cain managed a Game Score of 72 in game number 72, but it wasn't enough. He needed to throw a complete game shutout in order for the team to win. Alas, he gave up a run in the 6th and Jeremy Affeldt gave up a run in the 8th and the Giants lost 2-1. After four innings of baseball this season, the Giants are still in first place. They managed to go 10-8 over their last 18 games even with the four losses in a row. After 10-8, 10-8, and 9-9 in their first three innings they sit at 39-33, which is the fifth-best record in the NL. With their pitching, that should be a lot better. Only Atlanta and Philadelphia have allowed fewer runs than the Giants. The problem of course is the anemic offense, which has scored only six more runs than the last-place San Diego Padres. There's not much to be done about that at this point. Sure, the team could "make a move" but I don't see much happening. The Giants will be reluctant to part with their pitching talent and they should be. They are building a club for the next decade of baseball which from all we can see looks like a pitching-dominated time. Being overstocked on that kind of talent is not a bad thing. And it does not necessarily demand that some of that overstock be traded away. After all, shit happens--guys get injured or underperform--and having a surplus of arms helps keeps the staff going at the highest level. I'm sure Sabean will pull off some waiver-wire magic, and round up a reject or two that could help down the stretch. But it seems increasingly likely there will be no Sanchez-for-Reyes blockbuster stuff and that the team will be what the team is for the duration of 2011. That means guys will have to start performing if they expect to nail down the division and go into the playoffs as a real threat. The Giants are, and should be, the favorites to repeat in the West. But they won't run away with anything if they hit like San Diego. If they put together some 0-26 w/ RISP lines in a key series or two in August or September a dark horse club like Arizona could sneak past and the Giants could find themselves looking up instead of down. This lineup will never impress anyone, but it ought to be reasonably competent. Right now it is a joke, and the pile of wasted starts it is leaving behind is infuriating. I like a little magic and enjoy the old "boy they sure know how to win" story line now and again, but I'd much rather see extra-base hits with men on base and RS > RA.

--M.C.