dat curveball (Photo by -nanio-/Flickr)

The Giants could’ve messed up somehow, but they didn’t.

When the bases were loaded in the top of the 7th with two out, Tim Lincecum threw a beautiful changeup — struck out David Wright looking. It kept the score at 3-1 Giants and, man. That pitch was beautiful.

Timmy went seven innings, gave up only one run, walked one, struck out seven. This is with Buster Posey behind the plate.

If this is supposed to be any indication that Timmy and Posey don’t get along, I sure as hell ain’t buying it.

There were some defensive snafus, but nothing that was of consequence in the end. Which was nice, after all the nerve-wracking pitches that came before it, of course. Gosh darn it, that was stressful.

There was also a bunt single from Melky Cabrera. Is there anything he can’t do? » Continue reading “Giants Recap: Giants Not Metsy Enough To Lose”

(Photo by Keith Allison/flickr)

Here’s probably my favorite thing about this trade, not in a “good trade” way but in a “baseball, maaaannn” way:

Nate Schierholtz, AAA 2007: .333/.365/.560, .393 wOBA
Hunter Pence, AAA 2007: .326/.387/.558, .409 wOBA

One of them got called up, played daily, and developed into a middle-of-the-order force that has two years in a row been traded for at least one of a contending team’s top prospects. The other one got called up, demoted, called back up, benched, injured, given a starting job, benched, given another starting job, benched again, injured again, asked to pick up a quarter that had been superglued to the locker-room floor, and finally given a leadoff spot for some reason before being traded. He’s basically a fourth outfielder. » Continue reading “Free-swinging Trade Analysis”

This finally happened after the fake trades and the reports that it wasn’t true are true.

And. It’s not necessarily a bad deal. » Continue reading “Giants Acquire Hunter Pence From Phillies”

What Giants baseball does to fans. (MS Paint illustration by Mac)

This was a game in which both teams tried to hand the game to each other, but no one took it.

This was a game in which both teams tried to be worse than the other team, and it kept going on.

Sergio Romo was not his best, but that’s no reason to panic. But people will.

Santiago Casilla was still himself, so that’s nothing new.

The Giants offense proved themselves to be somehow competent enough to score seven runs, but they still lost. They also left 15 men on base, which is not entirely encouraging.

And also, Scott Hairston. Man, what does a gal have to do to never see this guy face the Giants again? Those two home runs were downright annoying.

But in the end, this game is up there in frustrating levels like the one against the Braves. That a game equally, if not more, that frustrating occurred again in the same season — let alone the same month — is complete and utter clownshoes.

At least the Giants are good at that*.

Hey, the trade deadline’s in a little more than 12 hours from now. That’s gonna be swell**.

*stocking up on Excedrin Migraine and Headache and ice cream
**more Excedrin Migraine and Headache will be necessary

In town for a four game series is the New York Mets.

Here are the pitching probables:

• 7/30 at 7:15 p.m.: Jeremy Hefner (1-4, 5.40) vs. Madison Bumgarner (11-6, 3.10)
• 7/31 at 7:15 p.m.: Matt Harvey (1-0. 0.00) vs. Tim Lincecum (4-11, 5.80)
• 8/1 at 7:15 p.m.: Jon Niese (7-5 3.86) vs. Matt Cain (10-3, 2.80)
• 8/2 at 12:45 p.m.: Chris Young (2-5, 4.58) vs. Barry Zito (8-7, 3.89)

The Giants won’t be facing R.A Dickey, who pitched on Sunday and is scheduled to start again on Friday in San Diego. They won’t be facing Johan Santana, either, who was recently placed on the disabled list. Dillon Gee was also placed on the disabled list this past month.

They will, however, face top prospect Matt Harvey, who was recently called up to take one of the open spots in the rotation. He will be opposed by Tim Lincecum, who is coming off a not-so-stellar start against the Padres last Wednesday. Whether he will be a moldy pumpkin or an ace is still the question.

The trade deadline is also approaching, with the deadline being July 31 at 1:00 p.m. Pacific. The Giants have been linked to Hunter Pence in what may or may not be real reports, though Andrew Baggarly tweeted the following after the original news broke:

Giants VP Bobby Evans texts that there’s “no truth to the rumor” the Giants have a deal in place for Pence.

— Andrew Baggarly (@CSNBaggs) July 30, 2012

So. We’ll see.

In the meantime: play ball.

This showed up in a search for “sad face.” I’m not going to question it. So here’s a photo. (Photo: hjhipster/Flickr)

Giants got swept. It sucked. Flailing offense leads to nothing.

Just an awful, awful series all around.

Is there anything more to say?

The Giants lost 10-0 to the Dodgers today. Barry Zito started the game and didn’t do so well. George Kontos just didn’t have it today.

When you got nothin’ else to say about a game like that, just go with the clownshoes. S’all I got.

Dodgers won. It wasn’t fun.

The end.

This was a thing that just happened.

#Rockies have acquired INF Charlie Culberson from #Giants in exchange for Marco Scutaro and cash considerations.

— Colorado Rockies (@Rockies) July 28, 2012

Charlie Culberson was regarded as a mid-level prospect, especially after a good year in A+ San Jose, where he hit .292/.342/.457 with a .355 wOBA. However, he has not been able to put up any numbers close to that since then. Culberson’s defense has been average, but nothing that would blow people away.

Marco Scutaro has been above replacement level this season. He’s hitting .271/.324/.359 with a wOBA of.302 and an ISO of .088 and can play second base and shortstop, which is something the Giants absolutely need right now.

The Giants don’t appear to be giving up a lot for an above-average starting middle infielder and it’s certainly an upgrade over Brandon Crawford or Ryan Theriot.

This may also mean that Emmanuel Burriss actually gonna go.

All in all, a very decent trade.

And now back to the Giants game.

2008 Tim Lincecum (Photo: matt knoth/flickr)

Well, for the 735th time this season, the Giants took the first two games of a 3-game series and then gleefully punted the third off the side of the team bus. It tempts one to call into KNBR with a grand unified theory, linking the dropped third games, struggles with RISP, and Lincecum’s inability to put batters away into some Masonic-psychological conspiracy of clutch failure. I’ve got my big blackboard and my wall papered with scribbled sticky notes. Let’s do this. » Continue reading “Giants Recap: Tim Lincecum Is Exaggerrated Parody Of Self”