So Matt Cain gets Cained again. Who else saw that coming?

Yeah, I got nothing. It was a frustrating loss. It was also almost expected once Santiago Casilla couldn’t get the outs in the 9th. The walkoff home run just seemed inevitable.

It also doesn’t help that the offense seemed to be made of little — one walk, five hits. That’s not much to actually win. Considering it’s the Giants, of course.

I will also admit that I didn’t watch most of the game, opting to watch the England-Italy Euro 2012 match. That might’ve been a better choice in the end. I saw the walkoff, though. That wasn’t worth it.

There was also something about fans barking back and forth about nonsensical things related to a rivalry that really has no significance in the long run if there’s a very little chance of the two teams meeting in the World Series.

Tomorrow, the Giants head home across the Bay and face the (still in the friggin’ first place — how does that really happen?) Dodgers.

Now that’s a rivalry that actually means something right now.

(Photo: Dinur/flickr)

I’m not certain that there is such a thing at all as the perfect pitcher. There are of course candidates, seasons of perfection from Koufax and Pedro and Randy and so forth, but it seems more like an ideal to strive for than an actual thing. Madison Bumgarner thus is certainly not the perfect pitcher; he did Cliff Lee things at the age when Cliff Lee was doing them in Single-A, but he has his problems. And the biggest of those problems is that he throws too many strikes.

Think about that one for a second. “Listen, Madison, there’s that one thing that pitchers are usually supposed to do above all else. You’re, uh, you’re a little too good at it.” Kinda puts any complaints about Bumgarner into perspective, doesn’t it? But it can be a problem, and it was tonight in the early innings, when the Athletics swung wild and free because they knew Madison Bumgarner was going to set up camp in the strike zone and not leave without federal intervention. » Continue reading “Giants Recap: Giants Win Eminently Lose-Able Game”

Hey, remember this guy? (Photo: SD Dirk/flickr)

Baseball is weird sometimes.

In the first inning it looked like another disaster Lincecum start. Way too many pitches, three runs, and no defense or run support behind him. Exactly the kind of situation that seems to have been getting into his head and leading to five or six runs, a worn down bullpen, and yet another loss on a “Happy Lincecum Day”*. But then something magical happened. Lincecum struck out the side after he gave up those three runs in the bottom of the first, and then Ryan Vogelsong patted his back and gave him some sort of words of advice. It’s possible he healed some unknown injury magically through the laying on of hands or something, I just know it worked, okay? Don’t ruin my dream.

After that, it was a fairly late 2010 vintage win, really. The bullpen shut it down and the offense got it together in entertaining fashion juuuust about the time you started to wonder if it was going to happen. » Continue reading “Giants Recap: At Long Last, A Happy Lincecum Day”

Look, we all know there’s nothing wrong with striking out looking. An out is an out is an out when it’s not a double play, and sometimes pitchers make their pitch. Carlos Beltran was infamous for one K called third strike, and yet he has a decent shot at going to the Hall of Fame. Pick up, dust off, move on.

But nothing is going to piss off the fanbase or the manager faster, so Brandon Belt really shouldn’t do that anymore. I’m not giving up on him or anything – remember when people were doubting Belt’s future a couple weeks ago, and then he had a pile of great games in a row? – but for the sake of his own playtime, he needs to start swinging at those close pitches. He’s gonna ride the pine for a bit now. » Continue reading “Giants Recap: Giants See Sweep Coming, Nimbly Avoid It”