Shutout!

SF 4  CIN 0

The San Francisco Giants used four pitchers to blank the Reds in Cincinnati tonight. Kevin Gausman was superb again, going six scoreless, and left after 94 pitches with the team clinging to a 1-0 lead. Zack Littell pitched a scoreless 7th and Jake McGee, in a bit of a switch, pitched a scoreless 8th. That left Tyler Rogers for the 9th, but the Giants spoiled the save by getting a massive two-out bases-clearing double from Buster Posey in the top of the frame to make it 4-0. Rogers put the first two runners on with a walk and a ground ball, but retired the next three to spare us all heart attacks.

The Reds have scored five runs in the three games, all but one coming off relief pitchers. Logan Webb, Anthony DeSclafani, and Kevin Gausman have thrown 19 innings in that bandbox stadium and allowed just the one run. That's some pretty serious starting pitching!

Johnny Cueto, who made his name pitching for the Reds, gets the start tomorrow morning at 9:35 Pacific. It's a YouTube game so check it out here.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Webb leads Giants

SF 6  CIN 3

Logan Webb pitched six scoreless innings to open the series in Cincinnati and the Giants held on to win. Webb did not have his strikeout stuff and gave up six hits but also did not walk a batter and induced ten ground balls, two of which led to double plays. It was an outstanding performance against a strong lineup. He kept the ball in the yard, a tough task in that park.

The bullpen gave up the three Reds runs, the first in the 7th when Jarlin Garcia had a two-out brain fart (walk, WP, single), and again in the 8th when Matt Wisler gave up back-to-back homers. He almost gave up a third before getting the final out. The Giants need both Wisler and Garcia to be reliable bullpen options and they unfortunately have not performed with any consistency so far this season. Tyler Rogers--again--came on to get the save in the 9th. Brandon Crawford made a two-out error to dial up the TortureMeter™ but Nick Castellanos flied out to end it.

The offense cranked out three homers, a two-run shot from Wilmer Flores, and solo shots from Mauricio Dubon and Mike Yastrzemski. The Reds played some poor infield defense, gifting the Giants a run in the 1st and again in the 8th. In fact the Flores homer in the 4th was after an error that put BCraw on base ahead of him. The play in the 8th was a blown rundown. With two outs Austin Slater was picked off first base, but he stayed in jeopardy long enough for Darin Ruf to scoot home from third. Duane Kuiper called it "junior varsity" on the post-game show!

But the story was young Logan Webb who out-pitched veteran Sonny Gray and got his first road win of the year. He's lined up up to pitch Saturday at home against the Dodgers.

Anthony DeSclafani tomorrow afternoon at 3:40 Pacific.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants get gut-punched

OAK 8  SF 7 

The Giants got a great start from Johnny Cueto and slugged past the A's lefty starter Jesus Lazardo to the tune of a 7-2 lead in the 9th inning. Alas, Trevor Gott finally lost his mojo and blew the save big time. The Oakland lineup scored five runs off him--a solo homer and a grand slam--to crush the Giants hopes of an easy win. The sequence was particularly galling: a walk, a fielder's choice that got no one out (a mental gaffe by Wilmer Flores), and a hit batter before the slam. Tyler Rogers came in to get the final two outs and almost gave it away before getting it done. It was really too bad as they had played a clean, strong game until that point. But the A's have a really good team and have been playing well so giving them extra chances in the 9th was a recipe for disaster.

Besides the fine work by Cueto (7 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 BB, 5 SO, 104 pitches, 26 BF) the lineup showed some spunk with 13 hits, at least one by every starter except DH Pablo Sandoval (0-for-5 with 2 K). Mike Yastrzemski was 0-for-his-first-4 before connecting for a solo shot in the 8th off lefty reliever T.J. McFarland.

Jarlin Garcia got the call in the 10th and the A's pushed their magic runner across for an 8-7 lead. The Giants had Austin Slater on in their half but were overpowered by Liam Hendricks who struck out three to end the game. It was a brutal loss. Let's hope they can do better tomorrow.

Kevin Gausman gets the start against Frankie Montas at 4:07 p.m. PDT.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants win!

SF 5  LA 4
It was torture, but the Giants prevailed this afternoon in LA. At one point on the broadcast Duane Kuiper said "I'm going to puke!" and that was exactly how I felt. The Giants youngsters--Logan Webb, Caleb Baragar, and Shaun Anderson--delivered seven strong innings against the formidable Dodgers linuep. Webb had command issues but showed tremendous concentration and determination and with a little help from his fielders kept the lid on for four innings. Webb also made a huge play himself, backing up at third base to nail Chris Taylor in the 4th to help defuse a possible big inning. Baragar made his debut today and got six massive outs in relief, looking quite poised in the process. He turned it over to Anderson who walked the first man he saw but whiffed the next three. Nicely done!

The lineup enjoyed a better day, scoring five runs over the first four innings to take a 5-1 lead into the 7th. Austin Slater walked (he had three on the day) and scored on Darin Ruf's hit in the 1st, Yaz doubled and scored on a wild pitch in the 2nd, Wilmer Flores homered in the 3rd, and Donovan Solano doubled in two in the 4th. Solano's egregious error in the 8th set up two runs for the Dodgers, but I have to put the blame on Tony Watson for that ugly inning. He's the veteran, he has to get the lefties out, especially after how well the rookies performed in front of him. Flores also looked shaky late in the game and almost threw a ball away. I don't need that! Trevor Gott gave up a solo shot to Will Smith in the 9th (aaaaghhhh!) but retired Max Muncy, Mookie Betts, and Cody Bellinger to close it out.

Hunter Pence got hit by a pitch and it looked bad but he stayed in. We'll see if he's hurt. Giants pitchers hit Muncy twice and Joc Pederson once. Maybe it was something in the air.

Regardless, THE GIANTS BEAT THE DODGERS!! First win of the season in the books!

Giants will see the lefty Julio Urias tomorrow at 7:08 p.m. PDT. It's TBD for the Giants, I suppose we'll be playing "pin the tail on the starter/opener" for a while. It seems like they aren't quite ready to stretch someone out. Should be interesting going forward.

Go Giants!

--M.C.

River Cats are AAA Champions!

SAC 4  COL 0
The Sacramento River Cats, the Giants Pacific Coast League affiliate, won the AAA national title tonight with a win over the Columbus (Ohio) Clippers. The Clippers are the International League affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. So, a bit of good news for the Giants organization. It's a remarkable accomplishment when you consider the roster turnover. The B-R page lists 65 players for the River Cats this year.

Current Sacramento manager Dave Brundage led the Richmond Braves to the AAA championship game in 2007, and that team lost to the River Cats! Brundage is from Oregon and played for the OSU Beavers before turning pro. He never made the bigs but did play in nearly 800 minor league games over ten seasons. At age 54 he has 22 years of managerial experience, 14 at AAA.

The Salem-Keizer Volcanoes of the Northwest League (A-), the Augusta Green Jackets of the South Atlantic League (A), the San Jose Giants of the California League (A+), and even the Orange Giants of the Arizona League (rookie ball) made the playoffs this season. Not bad!

In other news, the major league club played a game in Boston at Fenway Park. Mike Yastrzemski hit a homer with grandpa Carl in attendance, which was pretty cool. The game lasted 15 innings. The Giants looked good early, then they looked bad and let the Red Sox back in the game in the 6th, but hung on to scratch out a run and take a 6-5 lead in the 13th which was around midnight Eastern Time. The ninth, tenth, eleventh, and twelfth Giants pitchers, Sam Selman, Burch Smith, Wandy Peralta, and Kyle Barraclough could not get the job done and the Sox tied it up and sent it to the 14th inning. But Dereck Rodriguez, the lucky thirteenth pitcher, got the next six outs, and the Giants finally finished it off 7-6. D-Rod gets the win, but shouldn't he get the save as well? If you are going to pass out credit, I think you should go all the way!

Next year we won't likely see thirteen-pitcher games (Boston used eleven guys) as the September rosters will only be increased to 28 players instead of 40.

Jeff Samardzija tomorrow. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. Number 1999 for Boch. First SF Giants win--ever--in Fenway.

Bullpen Implosion

The Giants were 55 - 0 in games in which they led after the 8th inning.  Until last night, they were the last team in the National League with a perfect record in that regard.  The Pirates, however, scored 4 in the 9th to win by a score of 6 - 4.

Madison Bumgarner started the game.  He pitched well, although I think his concentration may be a bit better when something big is on the line, like the wild card spot for the playoffs.  He threw 7 innings, gave up 2 runs (1 on a fat pitch that left the park) on 6 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2 in 99 pitches.  In the 5th, 6th and 7th innings, he gave up extra bases to the lead-off Pirate (the 5th was the home run) but then pitched through that, giving up his 2nd run in the 6th.  Tyler Rogers threw a scoreless 8th.  Then came the 9th.  The Giants were up 4 - 2, mainly thanks to Brandon Belt's 3 hits and 2 rbi.  Will Smith was unavailable due to back tightness.  Trevor Gott and Tony Watson and Reyes Moronta are all hurt.  So Boch turned to Fernando Abad and Jandel Gustave, who gave up 4 before the Pirates closer, Felipe Vasquez, shut us down.  No win number 1996 for Bochy.  Abad and Gustave were excellent against LA, but they are inexperienced in a 9th inning shut-down role.  The Pirates had a look-what-we-found looks on their faces as they routed the Giants.  That included Brian Reynolds, possible Rookie of the Year, who had the gwrbi.  He's a 4.1 WAR rookie who was drafted by the Giants.

Giants Fail in Finale

LA 5  SF 1
After a couple of poor outings Matt Moore returned to form and pitched impressively against the Dodgers this afternoon in San Francisco. He threw 104 pitches over seven innings and yielded just one run on a solo shot by, you guessed it, Corey Seager. His finest moment was his final two hitters in the 7th, whiffing them both with the go-ahead run on third base. It was 1-1 when he left and both George Kontos and Mark Melancon put up scoreless frames but Cory Gearrin, Steven Okert, and Hunter Strickland combined to ruin the top of the 10th and the Dodgers ran away with it.

The Giants really needed a series win, they've had only one so far this season. They lost 3 of 4 in Arizona to open things, then lost 2 of 3 in San Diego before coming home and winning 2 of 3 from the Diamondbacks. They followed that by losing 3 of 4 to the Rockies and then went on the road and split two in Kansas City and got swept in three games in Colorado. So, yeah, winning a goddamn series had some urgency. Unfortunately they just did not have enough offense to make that happen. It's a scarily bad lineup so far, the lack of scoring (77 runs in 23 games!) is pathetic. You can't win when the hitting is this poor. It's a shame to waste the good pitching. And to see the bullpen collapse--again--just as it seemed they were getting it together is discouraging as well.

Phenom Christian Arroyo continues to be blessed by the gods, he had two hits including the game-tying RBI in the 6th. Keep on rockin', kid, you are the best thing that's happened in this wretched month!

San Diego comes to town for three. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

7 4 1 1 2 3 ND

SF 2  KC 1 (11)
The Giants won an agonizing extra-inning torture-fest in Kansas City. That's a big story, the wins have been a little sparse lately. But the real story was a brilliant effort by Giants starter Matt Cain. He gave up a couple of hard-hit balls early but quickly found his repertoire and other than a solo shot by rookie Whit Merrifield in the 5th he was in command and got stronger as he went on. He got pulled after seven and 86 pitches. What a superb job on the road against a tough lineup! The team's failure to support him with runs was a familiar old tale. Matt Cain pitched well--that's my story and I'm sticking with it.

It was a painful game as the Giants blew multiple chances to open things up. This lineup has a tough time getting big hits, and could use an occasional homer. They ultimately broke through with two outs on no one on in the 11th when Nick Hundley's double was followed by Joe Panik's single. There have not been many chances so far to give the ball to the closer, but he got the call in the bottom half. Mark Melancon gave up two hits but got the job done with three strikeouts and the Giants had a huge win. All the relievers made it difficult; the Royals had eight baserunners in the final four frames.

Bruce Bochy had a medical procedure and was not in the house, he'll join the team Friday. Ron Wotus had managing duties.

Madison Bumgarner tomorrow. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. I neglected to mention that Buster Posey was in the lineup as the DH and got three hits. That's good news!

Giants Blow It, Win Anyway

SF 9 SD 6 (10)
Madison Bumgarner got rocked for three homers this evening in Petco Park, one in the 4th, one in the 5th, and one in the 6th after the Giants had taken a 6-0 lead. He turned it over to the bullpen leading 6-5, it wasn't too hard to imagine they would find a way to give up the lead and sure enough the Padres tied it 6-6 in the 7th. It went to extras and somehow (Kelby Tomlinson and Angel Pagan) the Giants managed to have a big three-run rally (two-run homer by Denard Span) and they held on (Sergio Romo) to close it out in the 10th. Dodgers win tonight as well and reduce their magic number to one to clinch the West. Cardinals win and Mets lose so St. Louis (81-73) is a half-game back, the Mets (82-73) are tied with the Giants in the wild card race. At least we know that the Giants will finish over .500 for the season!

Seven games left. Giants play a day game tomorrow (1:40 Pacific, looks like Ty Blach) and are off Monday, then have six at home (three with Colorado and three with LA) and finish the regular season on Sunday, October 2nd.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

p.s. I like Brandon Belt hitting second.

Collapse

6-5 loss in Coors
It was Marx who said that when history repeats itself it would be "the first time as tragedy, the second time as farce." Things are so bad I'm quoting a goddamn commie. The Giants are fatally crippled in the bullpen and they blow late leads with regularity. So regularly do they blow leads that a promising season is slipping away. In fact, that may be it. The Giants fall to five back in the West and cling to a mere half-game lead in the Wild Card. And trending downward, unfortunately, with 23 games yet to play.

Santiago Casilla got pulled after the homer, the strikeout, and the hit and does not get assigned either a 'loss' or a 'blown save'. In fact he gets credit for a 'hold'. But his three-batter outing set the stage for the collapse, Osich and Nathan were merely stand-ins for the final blows. Maybe Boch should flip everything over and have Casilla be the first guy out of the 'pen and Okert and Strickland finish. Can't get any worse.

--M.C.

Another Lost Weekend

9-5 loss Saturday and
2-0 loss Sunday in SF
The Giants couldn't pitch for shit yesterday--that was enough to hand the Mets the win. They also could not, in their maddening way, get the big game-breaking hit despite lots of opportunities. Just the opposite happened today--Jeff Samardzija pitched a hell of a game but the lineup couldn't hit for shit. The Shark had a no-hitter through six but gave up a two-run homer to Yoenis Cespedes (he hit two on Saturday) in the 7th and that was enough for a dominant Noah Syndergaard. The Giants managed only two hits and two walks with two runners caught stealing and one doubled up on a 4-6-3. It was a feeble effort from the club this weekend. A feeble, feeble effort right before the biggest series of the season so far, three games with the Dodgers starting Tuesday. If the Dodgers beat the Reds tomorrow (the Giants are off) then they will be up by a game. If they lose they'll be tied with the Giants. Either way the Giants need to start winning. They are 11-23 since the Break and 7-12 in August. Let's hope they can rediscover their mojo this week. Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto take the hill for the first two in LA against Kenta Maeda and Rich Hill.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Late Homer Sinks Giants

4-3 loss in SF
The bleeding continues and the Giants fall out of first place after three months in the top slot. Derek Law has been one of the better performers in the 'pen but that didn't keep him from serving up the game-winning homer in the 8th to Jung Ho Kang. Once again an opponent gets a clutch big fly and the Giants get a clutch groundout. Jeff Samardzija delivered an acceptable effort--the team was in position to win--but the lineup could not add on and the bullpen could not hold on. Just when I thought the Giants were bottoming out they plumb new depths by losing three in a row. This team has now lost twenty games since the All-Star Break (against nine wins). I know I keep saying this, but that has to change.

Matt Cain this afternoon. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants get three hits

2-0 loss in Miami
Marlins get four--but two runs as well. Giants get none. Whimper, not a bang, eh? What's with these guys? Why can't they hit? I don't understand. A decent start, this time by FNG Matt Moore, is wasted once again. This team is driving me to drink. It's a short drive, I'll admit. Still. This team is in free fall. Someone has to pull the damn ripcord. They need the parachute to deploy before they hit. (It's not the fall, it's the sudden stop.) My rational brain tells me there are plenty of ballgames yet to be played. Lots of time to right the ship. Jaysus, I'm done with the fookin' metaphors. Time to pull their heads out of their asses. (There I go again!) That's what it's time for--some good goddamn baseball. C'mon, Giants. Get back to winning.

Getaway game at 9:10 a.m. PDT. Jeff Samardzija takes the hill.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

6th inning: 5-13

3-2 win (10) in Philly
The Giants have won FIVE games in the last three weeks. At the All-Star Break they were the best team in baseball. Over the last 18 games they've been, along with the Arizona Diamondbacks, the worst. On the bright side the Giants are still in first place. The margin is a wee bit closer, but to play .278 ball and not lose the top spot is a miracle of sorts, perhaps the baseball gods decided our suffering would only go so far. They stuck the pin in the doll and gave it a good twist but didn't apply the killer blow.

Matt Moore had his Giants debut and he delivered six quality innings. That's eleven straight starts for the new lefty in which he has recorded at least 18 outs. Keep that up, bro! That's just the kind of steady consistency the club needs. Denard Span hit a homer in the 10th to break the deadlock--that's right, a Giants player hit a homer. That's pretty rare. Close games often get decided late with a big fly, especially in a bandbox like Citizens Bank Park. This time the Giants got what was needed. A resurgent Santiago Casilla, lashing out like a cornered beast, nailed down the save with a brisk 11-pitch 1-2-3 "see ya" after an equally clutch effort the previous night. It's been hard times and increased scrutiny for the embattled closer, it's nice to see him respond with the kind of performances we know he's capable of. Maybe a little F.O. and fan base doubt was just what he needed to get fired up. Whatever works! In fact the entire beleaguered 'pen showed up this afternoon and got it done. Tip o' the cap to Derek Law for a particularly stout 10-pitch 1-2-3 8th frame.

Here's the tale of the season at the 2/3 mark:

1st inning:  8-10
2nd inning: 10-8
3rd inning: 15-3
4th inning: 12-6
5th inning: 12-6
6th inning: 5-13

That's 62-46 (.574) and a two game lead over LA in the West. Only the Cubs and the Nationals have more wins. If the Giants play .574 for the season they will finish with 93 wins. That means 31 more wins over the final three innings. It's a trip to Washington, D.C. next with the mercurial Jeff Samardzija getting the call. You have to think his run of poor starts since his May surge convinced the club they needed another starter. Say it ain't so, Jeffy-boy. Take it as a challenge and show 'em you still have the stuff for a championship run.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

GIANTS WIN

9-7 win in SF
Crazy shit happened tonight: the Giants won and Matt Cain got the "W". Really. Matt Cain. Giants. Win. Did I mention Matt Cain hit a three-run homer? No? Matt Cain hit a three-run homer. It wasn't the prettiest start (5-1/3, 6 hits, 4 runs) but it wasn't the prettiest relief either, so there. Giants scored nine runs and had to use their closer. But enough of that--the Giants won the game, thank the gods. Oh, and BCraw had three hits, scored two, and drove in two.

Bumgarner tomorrow afternoon. Go Giants!

--M.C.

Giants Pull Out Another One

5-4 win at home
It only took 22 pitches from closer Santiago Casilla to get the final two outs. That was spread out over five batters, mind you. And the final out required a replay review (he was clearly out). This was after a three-reliever 8th in which seven batters saw 31 pitches and scored two runs to make a 5-2 game into a 5-4 nail-biter. Just another ho-hum Giants squeaker. Brandon Belt gets the hitting star honors with a 3-run double in the 7th to overcome a 2-1 deficit--it was a home run anywhere but San Francisco. That man is hitting the cover off the ball: his current line is .305/.410/.537 which is good for a .947 OPS and third-best among first basemen behind only Anthony Rizzo and Paul Goldschmidt. (His 2.2 WAR ties him for fourth-best with Miguel Cabrera.)

Jake Peavy had another solid effort on the hill. When a team can get that kind of performance from the bottom end of the rotation that's very encouraging. The lads trailed most of the game but staged a four-run rally off the Phillies bullpen to win it. That's 12 of the last 14 and 15 of 21 in the month of June. Giants have 48 wins, tied for the most in the majors.

Madison Bumgarner tomorrow night.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.


p.s. Giants are 31-9 in their last 40 games, their best stretch of 40 games since 1954.

Rockies Rookie Stymies Giants

2-0 loss in SF
Two games in a row the Giants have been shut down by a Colorado rookie hurler. Two games in a row the Giants starters have been excellent. You could almost say the Giants were lucky to get a split. The Rockies got to Samardzija right away with a couple of hard-hit balls, then tacked on with an array of soft stuff to lead 2-0 after three. Those were the only blemishes on an otherwise fine effort. I was happy to see that The Shark followed a good start with a good start. He'd been on a bit of an off-on-off-on pattern, it seemed to me, but today he was solid, whiffing nine with eight hits and one walk over 7-2/3. Most days he gets himself a pitcher-win with that kind of performance, today he gets the pitcher-loss. But I think you have to blame the hitters for failing to get anything going. Not to mention some poor base running, which ruined potential rallies. We'll call that getting "Smarjzed" or something. Rhymes with "charged".

The Rockies have a new team strategy, it's called 'Nolan Arenado-vs.-SF' and it seems to be working. To be fair, they played well as a team. The Giants looked a bit like they'd been out-scouted. The boys will be in Colorado at the end of the month and the Rockies are back in San Francisco in July just before the Break. So they get a couple more shots at these pesky purple-clads. I expect it will be more of the same: close, hard-fought games. They seem to have a particular spark against our lads.

The Toronto Blue Jays come to town for three games, Monday and Tuesday night with a getaway game on Wednesday afternoon.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

TEN

That's the Giants Elimination Number for the NL West race. It also happens to be the Elimination Number for the NL Wild Card. The Giants are behind the Dodgers by 7-1/2 games and they are behind the Cubs by 7-1/2 games. San Francisco, at 77-69, has 16 games left on the schedule. Los Angeles and Chicago have identical 84-61 records and thus both have 17 games remaining. The Cubs still have a shot to overtake the 87-58 Pittsburgh Pirates for the top Wild Card spot but the situation for the Giants stays the same. Any combination of wins by the leading club and losses by the Giants that equals ten means the 2015 season is over.

The math, gloomy as it is, still represents a chance albeit a vanishingly small one. The MLB Postseason Probability tracker currently rates the Giants at 0.9% for the division title. Not much of a bet, eh? RMC's official position is "it ain't over 'til it's over" but that's the only position any self-respecting Giants fan can take, am I right?

Last night's exhilarating and agonizing win over the Reds got me thinking. Is Jake Peavy finally healthy enough to be a reliable starter? That home run was a nice bonus and a clutch hit to boot. The Giants are paying Peavy $15M to be a part of the 2016 rotation and his 2015 performance has not been encouraging. He'll be 35 in May and has 2200+ innings on his once-formidable arm. What can we expect next season? I'd like to pencil him in for 30 starts and 180+ IP, but is that realistic? If not, who takes his spot? I don't have the answers, but I like to think if he can stay healthy he can still be a productive player.

I'm also thinking about Santiago Casilla. It seems all of his saves lately have been both tortuous and torturous. He'll be 36 in July and I believe the club can buy him out for a million bucks this off-season and make him a free agent. Should they? Is it time to move one of the young bucks like Hunter Strickland into the closer role? I'm leaning that way, I admit. The Core Four is getting old and the remarkable run of consistency and high-level performance we've seen from these relievers is contrary to our usual experience. Most bullpen arms just don't last this long. Strikeouts are up this year with Casilla but walks and hits are as well. What's he got left? It's worth noting that 36-year old Jeremy Affeldt is a free agent next season after a injury-marred below-par campaign. Can you envision the Giants without the goofy lefty? Both of course are in the pantheon of all-time great Giants and I will never speak ill of them and always wish them the best in their careers. Speaking of one of my most beloved players, did you see AmyG talk to Andres Torres on the telecast last night? That 2010 year was so special and he was such a massive part of it I get teary-eyed whenever he shows up.

On the horizon for the home squad are three games with the Diamondbacks this weekend. Madison Bumgarner goes Friday night. Then it is six road games with San Diego and Oakland after an off-day Monday. The boys return home on the 28th with four against the Dodgers and finish the season with three against the Rockies. Nine games before LA comes to town--will they clinch before then? They have ten games to play in that stretch including three against the Pirates this weekend. If the Giants go 6-3 they'd have to go 7-3 to do just that. Is it just me or is it looking increasingly likely they will have to win in San Francisco to take the West? Could make for some great games, but could also be a hideous run-from-the-room and shield-the-eyes-of-the-innocent moment. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

They Ain't Cuttin' Any Steps

You're in a hole you gotta cut some steps to get out, am I right? The Giants got Kershaw-ed tonight. Mike Leake pitched another excellent game but lost the matchup anyway. That guy's had some rotten luck. The Dodgers big southpaw had it all working and outlasted the Giants with an incredible effort. I really thought--I know I keep saying this--the Giants would get the game-tying hit in the 9th inning. It didn't happen but I thought up until the bitter end that it would. What can you say? The Dodgers were on a mission and they pulled it off. All the games were so close and they came down to the narrowest of margins. I'm numb at this point. They played a terrific game but just could not, once again, get the big hit. And of all people Chase Fookin' Utley got the game-winner off Leake. It just doesn't seem fair, does it? I've run out of things to say. The Giants needed to win the series and instead they got swept. As much as it pains me this is one of those times where you have to "tip yer cap" to the other guy. They got it done and you can't argue with the results as disappointing as they are. I kept the Giants light burning, as you can see, but 6-1/2 back with 29 to play makes for some shitty goddamn math.

Vogie gets the start in Colorado tomorrow.

GO GIANTS!

--M.C.

Giants Dig a Hole

Will Rogers was reputed to have opined "if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging." The Giants are in a 4-1/2 game hole after last night's grueling 14-inning torture-fest and have now put even more pressure on themselves to win this series. It gets a little tougher with Zack Greinke and Clayton Kershaw on the mound for the Dodgers the next two evenings. Last night was all about missed opportunities, like this weekend in San Francisco the Giants just could not put it all together. They blew a 3-1 lead, managed to tie it late, but could not get the killer blow before they ran out pitchers. Rookie Mike Broadway was the victim at the end. He looks like he has deadly stuff if he could command it. The Dodgers used seven pitchers and all 13 position players and even used Kershaw to pinch-hit. They got a big effort from reliever Chris Hatcher who went the final three frames. (I only made it through the 12th.) The Giants used nine pitchers and all of their 12 position players. With the rosters expanding today we may see even longer box scores. Matt Duffy, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey, and Marvelous Marlon Byrd combined for 10 of the team's 13 hits in the 2-through-5 spots in the lineup.

Madison Bumgarner get his shot tonight. GO GIANTS!

--M.C.