2010 NLCS Game 3: SF 3, PHI 0

Bruce Bochy did something rather strange for the game today: He completely shuffled the lineup. Suddenly Edgar Renteria was hitting 1st, Posey was up to 3rd, Burrell up to 4th, Ross up to the 5th spot, Huff (against a lefty) got moved down to 6th, and Aaron Rowand replaced Andres Torres in center field. I wasn't sure what to make of this. It felt like a panic move, a very odd thing to suddenly do in the playoffs. And even though the Giants only managed 5 hits and 3 runs off Cole Hamels, the order of the lineup had an effect. By putting the hottest hitter, Cody Ross, in the 5th spot, the Giants ended up in a situation in the 4th inning with 2 runners on and Ross at the plate. And Ross hit a line shot into left field to give the Giants their first run, moving over Pat Burrell, who would score on Aubrey Huff's single in the next at bat. The Giants would score another run in the 5th thanks to Aaron Rowand's double and Chase Utley's misplay on a Freddy Sanchez grounder. But the Ross RBI was all the Giants ever needed, because Matt Cain was on the mound.

Cain was brilliant especially when you consider the lineup he was facing. Utley has always hit him well, and Ryan Howard, contrary to the way he looked in Game 1, is hitting the ball well. Cain ended up walking 3 Phillies, which led to some tense innings with runners on. But he's used to that. He strands runners all the time. Cain was able (hehehe) to get out of those jams because the Phillies simply weren't hitting the ball hard against him. There were a couple line drives to infielders, a few long fly balls, and the long single that Rollins got off the right field wall. The other hit was a bloop single by Ryan Howard. And that was it. Everything else was quiet and easy. He finished 7 shutout innings, with only the 2 hits. Not the greatest performance by Cain at all; he's had better stuff and command on some days. But in another way, the best performance considering that. In a 7 game series tied 1-1, against a good offense and facing a very good pitcher, Cain was money. He showed up, and he got through 7 innings completely unscathed. All you could have asked of him and more.

Charlie Manuel can keep hitting Polanco third; Javier Lopez will just keep getting him, Utley, and Howard out. If the Giants win the World Series, could a huge part of the redemption of Brian Sabean really involve the acquistion a left handed specialist?

I would expect to see Andres Torres back in the lineup tomorrow against Joe Blanton. It will also be interesting to see if Bochy goes to Sandoval in favor of Uribe. I have a feeling he will. The Giants SHOULD have a major edge tomorrow in the matchup between Blanton and Bumgarner, but we'll see what happens.

Oh, and Raul Ibanez looks TERRIBLE at the plate. Just awful.

2010 NLCS Game 1: SF 4, PHI 3

So much has been made of the fact that most of these Giants have no postseason experience. We've all heard about how this is Aubrey Huff's first postseason in his professional career. Buster Posey and Madison Bumgarner are rookies who made great contributions during the regular season and have delivered so far in the postseason. Jonathan Sanchez clinched a playoff spot for the Giants and pitched a gem in his first ever postseason start. Tim Lincecum pitched one of the best games in playoff history. But nobody has talked about Cody Ross, who has also never been to the playoffs. It makes sense; he wasn't particularly impressive during the regular season, but he is quickly becoming the offensive hero for the Giants this postseason. In game 1 of the NLDS, he drove in the only run of the game. In game 4, he hit a home run to break up Derek Lowe's no-hitter and drove in the eventual game-winning run. And tonight, he hit 2 home runs off of the best pitcher in all of baseball, a pitcher who had just thrown a no-hitter in his last start. Even Mat Latos thinks that was a pretty great waiver claim.

Obviously, the big story coming into this game was the starting pitching. Both Lincecum and Halladay had pitched historic games the week before, and this was the most anticipated playoff pitching matchup in a long time. Neither pitcher was as dominant as last week, but they were both pretty good. The box score probably doesn't even show how good they were because the strike zone was ridiculous for both pitchers all night. Really, it was horrendous, but it's been talked about enough, so I won't elaborate. Still, besides a couple of mistakes to Cody Ross, a Pat Burrell RBI double (that Raul Ibanez probably should've caught) and a Juan Uribe single up the middle, Halladay was pretty good. Besides a couple of home runs from Carlos Ruiz and Jayson Werth that probably wouldn't have been homers at AT&T Park, Lincecum was great. His final line looked like this: 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, and 8 Ks.

Bruce Bochy made some decisions that were again criticized, and I'll quickly defend him one more time. His decision to use Nate Schierholtz as a pinch runner for Pat Burrell in the top of the 6th was not received well. It would've normally been pretty early to take out Burrell, but on Uribe's single up the middle, Schierholtz scored and Pat Burrell would not have. It was the decisive run in the game. Bochy also brought in Brian Wilson for a 4-out save, and I don't know why people would have a problem with it, but some did. Brian Wilson was the best reliever in the National League during the regular season. That should be the end of that argument.

Lastly, I hate pointing out the negatives in a win, but with the bases loaded in the 9th inning and 1 out, Andres Torres had an abysmal at bat. He swung at 3 straight sliders, two of which were very much out of the zone. Torres had a great season, but that can't happen again. That could've ended very badly for the Giants.

I lied, that wasn't the last thing I'm going to say. That win was huge. I mean, you should never expect to win a game against the Phillies in Philadelphia when Roy Halladay is pitching. And the Giants have what could be a very favorable matchup tomorrow with Jonathan Sanchez pitching against Philly's lefty-heavy lineup. So today's game was huge. It may not have been a 0-0 pitcher's duel, but it certainly lived up to the hype.

2010 NLDS Game 4: SF 3, ATL 2

The San Francisco Giants have beaten the Atlanta Braves in the 2010 NLDS, and will move on to face the Philadelphia Phillies for the NL pennant. It will be a tough task for the Giants: Philly has won the the last 2 pennants, and they are probably better than they have ever been in the past 3 years. We will have previews for the NLCS throughout the week, leading up to Game 1 on Saturday at Citizen's Bank Park. Right now, though, we need to look back at this game, another game where the Giants somehow got past the Braves.

Bruce Bochy went with Madison Bumgarner instead of Tim Lincecum today, and Bumgarner did what he was supposed to do. He wasn't perfect, but he kept the Giants close in a game where the hitters looked completely puzzled by Derek Lowe. Bumgarner had a normal game for him, giving up some hits, but only walking 1 (An up and coming Cliff Lee perhaps? Probably not, but I can dream). Brian McCann hit a sacrifice fly for the Braves first run in the 3rd inning. The game stayed 1-0 until Cody Ross homered in the 6th inning. A big moment for Ross, the last "mercenary" added to the Giants this season. Bochy decided to keep Bumgarner in the game, and in the bottom of the 6th inning, Brian McCann once again did the damage, hitting the first pitch he saw into the bleachers. Yet Bochy still stuck with Bumgarner, and he was able to finish the inning. He pitched 6 good innings for the Giants on the road in the playoffs. That's a lot for a 21 year old rookie.

In the top of the 7th inning, the Giants finally got to Derek Lowe, or as the TBS broadcasters affectionately called him, "Derrek Lee". Lowe simply lost his command, walking Aubrey Huff, giving up an infield single to Buster Posey, and then walking Pat Burrell. Juan Uribe then hit a ball into the hole at shortstop. It was a tough play, and a double play was going to be impossible, so the Giants definitely had tied the game. But Alex Gonzalez's throw to 2nd base pulled Omar Infante off the bag, and everyone was safe. Aaron Rowand pinch hit for Mike Fontenot, and struck out. But then Cody Ross came up again, and was the hero as he singled into right field. Posey scored, and it took a great throw to cut down Pat Burrell at the plate. The Giants had taken the lead. Santiago Casilla worked a good 7th inning, then came out for the 8th. With 1 out, Bochy somewhat strangely kept Casilla in to face the best hitter on Atlanta, the left handed hitting McCann. McCann singled. It would have been better to go to Javier Lopez at that time. But Casilla got Alex Gonzalez to ground out (Gonzalez has been a huge disappointment for Atlanta), and then Bochy went to Lopez to get Heyward. And Lopez struck him out. The Giants hit into 2 double plays in the 8th and 9th innings, so 1 run was going to have to be enough for Brian Wilson. Wilson didn't have a clean 9th inning, thanks to a once again inconsistent strike zone. He walked 2 batters with 1 out, but then struck out Infante, and got Melky Cabrera to ground into the series winning force out.

SF 4, COL 2: Cained

Did you know that Matt Cain is my favorite player on the Giants? That's right. I decided in 2006, his first full season. When I am an old man, still a Giants fan of course, and someone asks me, "Who was your favorite Giants player? Who did you love the most?", the answer will be easy. It was Matt Cain. Matt Cain, the one with great stuff, no doubt, but never the greatest stuff on the team. Matt Cain, who got his share of attention, but never the most. Matt Cain, the one with the most heart, the most grit on the team. Yes, I, the David Eckstein hating, stat-quoting baseball fan, I am talking about heart and grit. Because while the "intangibles" can't truly measure who the best are, they can measure what we love, what we admire. And watching Cain pitch for 5 seasons now, we have seen those intangibles show up again and again, whether its accepting a losing record with stoicism and grace, getting out of jam after jam, or pitching shut down innings like no one else. And then, in the biggest game of the year, of his career, hell, the biggest Giants game since Finley's grand slam in 2004, he almost throws a no hitter, and goes 9 innings to secure the win. Amazing.

The Rockies that were smoking the ball last night looked completely helpless at the plate today, as Cain was throwing strikes with his fastball AND curve. CarGo and Tulo could do nothing against him. After losing the no hitter, on a questionable base hit that Juan Uribe double clutched on, Cain gave up a 2 run homer to Melvin Mora. But he didn't lose his composure one bit, and got out of the inning, then, with 100 pitches, went out to finish the 9th. Props to Bochy for having complete confidence in him. He even ended the game with a "Wainwright to Beltran hook" (all curveballs that strike out the last hitter of the game, looking, remind me of Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS). Cain's final line was 9 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, with a game score of 80. It was his 4th complete game of the season. He had 4 last year as well. Not quite Bob Gibson, but impressive for a 25 year old pitcher these days.

Cain has flirted with no hitters many times before, and I believe, one of these days he will get one. While he isn't quite one of the upper elite pitchers, yet, he is definitely one of the hardest to hit in baseball. His lifetime 7.59 hits per 9 innings is 5th among active pitchers, and 2nd only to Johan Santana among active starters. Yeah, he's that hard to hit. Unfortunately, his no hitter today ended rather strangely. Jay Payton his a groundball up the middle, and Juan Uribe double clutched before throwing to first. Payton was safe. It's very possible that Payton would have been safe even if Uribe hadn't double clutched, but, in my opinion, a double clutch like that constitutes an error on the part of the fielder. Oh well. If you want to care about no hitters, you have to accept the idea of official scorers.

The Giants scored 4 runs today, and it could have been a lot more, because Jorge De La Rosa was not good. He kept missing on the outside corner, and seemed to be upset about it. Too bad for him that Tom Glavine is the only pitcher who'll ever get that call. Freddy Sanchez, much maligned on this blog this summer, hit a 2 run HR in the first inning to give the Giants a quick lead. Well done, Singles Hitter. And Cody Ross just might be starting to heat up.

The Giants off day tomorrow should do them and the fans some good. Arizona is coming to town, and though they are a last place team, remember: they swept the red hot Rockies this past week. I can't think of anything worse than Adam LaRoche hurting us in the last week of the season.

SF 13, CHI 0: URIBED

The big story from today's game is the offensive explosion that began in the 2nd inning, but before we get to that, let's say a little something about 21 year old Madison Bumgarner. On a night when every ball hit in the air seemed to carry, Bumgarner allowed 0 runs in 7 innings, with 7 hits. Most importantly, he only walked 1 while striking out the Cubs 9 times. For such a young rookie, his control is impressive, with a K/BB ratio over 3.00 after tonight. The Giants' pitching staff extended its streak of games with 3 or fewer runs allowed to 17. The record is 20. To tie that, they'll have to hold Colorado to 3 or fewer every game this weekend in Denver. If that happened, it would probably mean winning at least 2/3. Get it done.

These huge blowout wins really are the hardest to write recaps for. It's hard not to just list all the great things everyone in the lineup did. Well, Juan Uribe was the big hero, homering twice in the same inning. Buster Posey pulled a home run, which never happens. He could also be pulling ahead in the NL Rookie of the Year race. Singles Hitter Freddy Sanchez went 4-5, and one of them was a double!!! Mike Fontenot, the VROOM VROOM at the top of the lineup, got 2 hits, and Cody Ross had his 1st good offensive day with the Giants, homering and collecting 2 other hits.

It was a good day. The Giants had a team meeting before the game to discuss hitting, and came out and scored 13 runs on 19 hits. And now they go to Colorado. Only 9 games left, 6 against teams neck and neck with the Giants for division lead and Wild Card. This, you could say, is truly the beginning of the end. Or just the very beginning...

SF 9, MIL 2: Jose Guillen Is Relevant

When the Giants acquired Cody Ross, I declared Jose Guillen redundant, irrelevant, and useless, and said that he should be relegated to a pinch hitting role. Guillen hasn't completely caught fire since then, but he's had some good games and big hits, none bigger than his 1st inning, 2 out grand slam against Milwaukee today. The Giants never looked back, scoring 5 more runs, including 2 on a Guillen single later in the game.

Guillen is a better option for the Giants not just because he's hitting lately, but because Cody Ross is failing to do so. In a very small 47 PAs, Ross' Giants slashline is .195/.277/.220/.496. Means nothing, really, because of small sample size, but still, may Andres Torres return as fast as possible. Ross' slashline may have looked a little better after today if a leadoff home run hadn't been brought back by Ryan Braun. Braun made an amazing play, and he let everyone know that he thought so too. What a hateable player he is.

Barry Zito did a good job of shutting the Brewers down after the Giants scored 4 runs in the 1st inning. He hasn't always been successful doing that, sometimes giving up a little momentum after the offense scores. Braun homered in the 6th to make the score 6-2, but Zito was able to finish the inning, and Bochy wisely got him out of their before any weirdness happened.

A big part of the Giants offense today was the patience they showed, in stark contrast to the past 2 games. They drew 7 walks as a team. Buster Posey had 3 himself, and Pat Burrell 2, both helping set up Jose Guillen's RBI situations. With the win today, the Giants moved back into 1st place in the West. The Padres just aren't the same team anymore that they were for 5 months, and Colorado gave up a 6-1 lead to the Dodgers, losing in the 10th inning. But I don't expect either team to completely go away. The Giants' postseason chances are gonna all come down to the final series against each of those teams. On Friday, the Giants travel to Denver for a weekend series. If they play well, it could mean a playoff spot. If not, it could be another "This is not good, folks" moment.

Replacing Our Beloved Andres Torres

As you know, Andres Torres is out for at least 2 weeks after having his appendix taken out. We talked about it a little bit in yesterday's recap, but Torres has been one of the most valuable Giants this year, having a 5.4 WAR, 2nd among all NL outfielders. Obviously, replacing him is going to be difficult not only because he's produced on offense, but also because he's been one of the best defensive outfielders in baseball this year. Let's look at the possible replacements for the next 2 weeks.

Cody Ross: Ross is probably the best option, especially against left-handed pitchers. He has a career .941 OPS against lefties and he's not a bad defender. He has a good amount of power, again especially against lefties, and he has experience playing center field. While he doesn't hit righties as well (.718 career OPS), he might be the best option against them too.

Aaron Rowand: Whenever Torres has needed a day off this year, Aaron Rowand has been the replacement and I'm not really sure why. Not only is he no longer a very good defender in center field, he has an OPS under .700 and often hits leadoff when he's in the lineup for some reason. Despite all of this, he's probably the second best option to replace Torres. He doesn't have Torres' range in center field, but he's not a terrible defender. He still has some power left, so I wouldn't be opposed to him getting a couple of starts, but he should be nowhere near the leadoff spot.

Darren Ford: Ford would probably be the best replacement for Torres defensively. His amazing speed gives him a lot of range playing in center, and he's always been regarded as a good defender, but he cannot hit at all. He couldn't even muster an OPS over .700 in AA, so he should not be getting regular at-bats in the major leagues. Many think his speed would be an asset in the leadoff spot, but if he never gets on base, what's the point?

Nate Schierholtz: Schierholtz would be an unknown in center field. He may have had some experience playing there in the minors but I don't think he's played there in the majors. He has good speed for a guy his size, but he probably would have average range in center. Additionally, I'm not sure he's a much better option than Ross. Schierholtz has actually hit lefties better than righties in his career, but Ross hits lefties much better.

Acquire another outfielder: This idea was first brought up by Andrew Baggarly and I'm not sure if I like it. The name he threw out was Scott Podsednik, and while he may be an adequate replacement, I'm not sure it'd be worth giving up a player for basically a 2 week rental. And Podsednik is pretty average.

So, I'm thinking Cody Ross is the best option to replace Andres Torres for the time being. But whatever happens, none of these guys should be replacing Torres in the leadoff spot. None of them really hit well enough or get on base enough for a leadoff hitter. Right now, while he's obviously not a perfect fit, Freddy Sanchez may be the best option to hit atop the order. Of course we all know that Aaron Rowand will be leading off and roaming center field for the next 2 weeks, so why did I even write this post? Andres, please get well soon.

COL 2, SF 1: August is the Cruellest Month

What a shock that the most crushing defeat of the season would come against the Colorado Rockies. Surprised I didn't hear Kuip uttering "This is not good, folks...". The Giants had a beautifully pitched game, a disastrous 9th inning, and, forgotten in all of this, a horrible day at the plate. What will be talked about below might never have happened if the Giants could have scored a few runs. 1 extra base hit. 4 RISP. 3 double plays. So it goes for the Giants...

A lot happened in that 9th inning, so before we dissect it all, let's appreciate the gem that Jonathan Sanchez pitched tonight. 8+ innings, 5 hits and 2 walks, with 6 K's. He was fantastic. It was the fourth start he'd made it through 8 innings, each time giving up 1 ER or less. He's not near perfect, but damn can he dominate sometimes. One of those starts was quite recent, August 19th in Philadelphia. As he would in this game, Bruce Bochy decided to let Sanchez go out for the 9th inning, in a 5-0 game. Sanchez allowed a single, and was promptly taken out of the game.

I think I'll try to second guess Bochy and defend him on his decision to let Sanchez go out for the final inning. Should he have surmised, from past experience, that Sanchez just isn't cut out for the 9th inning, and that sending him out in a 1-0 game was especially dangerous? Maybe. On the other hand, Sanchez had been dominant all night, and Brian Wilson had thrown 30+ pitches yesterday. I don't think I can disagree with Bochy taking Jonathan out after the walk to Fowler. After getting ahead 0-2, he missed BADLY multiple times. He looked terrible suddenly.

Apparently the broken bat on Carlos Gonzalez's flyball fooled Cody Ross. Whatever. Still gotta make the catch. He had trouble with another flyball later in the inning that turned into another triple. Right field at AT&T Park is apparently tricky to play, and it is tricking Cody Ross. Still, no excuses. Makes you appreciate Randy Winn all of a sudden.

There, of course, was a 2nd part of that play that got screwed up. The Giants looked to have a legitimate shot at getting Carlos Gonzalez at 3rd base. Instead, Freddy Sanchez bounce passed the baseball over to Pablo Sandoval, and it went into the dugout, allowing CarGo to score. Shocking. Like I said, Freddy Sanchez just can't field and hit at the same time. Apparently Wilson may not have been backing up the play, but I haven't been able to verify that. My MLB app refuses to play the Gonzalez "triple". Who knew smart phones understood and practiced mercy?

SF 16, CIN 5: The Bats Will Not Sleep!

Tonight, the Giants won 16-5. Yes, 16-5. There is a whole lot of parade raining I could do right here. I could talk about how the obscenely hot weather has had at least SOME effect on flyballs at AT&T in these past 2 games. I could mention that Jonathan Sanchez was not pretty today at all. Most of all, I could mention that just because a hitter has two straight 4 hit games does not mean he has earned the right to hit 2nd again. But all of that later. Especially the Freddy Sanchez situation. We will go DEEP into that on Friday. Logic will prevail, I promise. But for now, let's just enjoy this amazing offensive outpouring from a below average offensive team.

Freddy Sanchez has had quite a series. He has 8 hits so far, including a very impressive HR tonight. Good to see. Like I said, the conversation surrounding him is complicated and full of illogical thought patterns, so for now, congratulations, Freddy. I DO hope you stay hot for a long stretch of the season.

More power from Pablo Sandoval. This is a good thing. Slugging percentage is up to .416. We've already asserted that he's back. Is he REALLY back? Maybe...

Cody Ross was the one who started it all off for the Giants with a 2 out base hit in the 1st inning. He's got a kind of Ryan Braun swagger in the batter's box. I'd hate him if he wasn't a Giant. But he is, so I love him.

Left handed hitters should be ashamed for complaining about AT&T Park after what Buster Posey has been doing. He's hitting HRs to right center in places Adam LaRoche can only dream of. Juan Uribe and Andres Torres also had multi-hit games, and the Giants as a team had 18. I'm expecting 21 runs tomorrow.

Giants Awarded With Ross After Waiver Block

Uh, Jose, we're gonna need to go ahead and move you
into an exclusively pinch hitting role. We have some new
people coming in, and we need all the space we can get, mmmkay?

Cody Ross has made Jose Guillen redundant. The Giants most likely didn't intend to get Ross, only to block him from the division leading Padres, but if they did intend to get him all along, it makes you wonder why they also got Jose Guillen a few weeks back. Now that Ross is on the team, logic states that he should be getting outfield playing time. What does this mean for Guillen and his spirited attitude? Hopefully nothing. He better get used to being a right handed pinch hitter.

Cody Ross is Guillen, plus actual value. Offensively, they are nearly identical. Medium power (17-25 HRs) and they both don't get on base nearly enough. But we'll take what we can get. Unlike Jose Guillen, Cody Ross actually has platoon value. He rakes lefties, slugging just below .600, with a .945 OPS. He has hit 43 career HRs against lefties, 40 against righties, despite having only about 30% of his at bats against lefthanders. Unlike Jose Guillen, you can be confident with Cody Ross in the outfield. His defense isn't great, but it's good enough, and he can play anywhere. Jose Guillen, on the other hand, is a DH guarding Triples Alley. A quick look at their WAR numbers (fangraphs.com) since Ross' first full season tells it all:

2008 Guillen: -0.1 Ross: 3.7
2009 Guillen: -1.9 Ross: 1.9
2010 Guillen: 0.9 Ross: 1.9

Seems pretty clear to me which guy should be getting the majority of at bats between these two. The whole point of getting Jose Guillen was his "power potential". Any power potential Guillen has, Ross has also. I understand that Guillen is hitting well for the Giants right now, but he's only got 30 at bats (also only 30 plate appearances, hasn't taken a walk yet). I don't think we are going to see another Pat Burrell situation. Why? Because he's never been as good a hitter as Burrell anytime in his career. He'll be a pretty good option as a pinch hitter late in games. Certainly better than Schierholtz or Rowand. Meanwhile, Cody Ross needs to start against lefties, pronto. We just happen to be facing a lefthander tonight. And avid 8thInningWeirdness reader Bruce Bochy has Ross starting in right!

SF 11, CIN 2: The Bats Wake Up

Yesterday offense quiet, today offense loud.

Yes, the offense was LOUD tonight early and often. After 4 batters, the Giants had 3 runs and after 8 batters they had 5. They batted around in the inning and life was good. At that point I thought to myself, can they score again? They could and they did. Andres Torres hit a 2-run homer. Aubrey Huff hit a solo shot. He went 3-for-4 with 3 RBI, by the way. Pablo Sandoval hit a 2-run double. He went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI. I'm in a short sentence mood. The end result was 11 runs. Beautiful.

Matt Cain was rather nice tonight. He went 8 IP, allowing 5 H, 2 ER and 1 BB while striking out 7 guys. It was nice to see him pitch well in a big game. He's been the best Giants starter this year with a 3.07 ERA, yet he's just 10-10, Can you say wins don't matter?? But that's an argument for a different time. I wonder if @GIANTHomer is reading. We had a disagreement with him earlier, but it's okay. He got Keith Law to follow us on Twitter, so there's nothing but love for him from us. Anyway...Cain was great. He really is one of the most underrated pitchers in the game.

Cody Ross a hit in his only at bat tonight, which was also nice. Apparently, he's going to get a start tomorrow, but at who's expense? Ross should be starting over Jose Guillen on most nights. His career numbers against lefties are crazy. .945 OPS crazy. And Jose Guillen could just be our power bat off the bench. I know I said Ross could fill that role yesterday, but upon further review, Ross should be starting.

Hey, Freddy Sanchez went 4-for-5 tonight with 3 singles and a double. Even if all of his hits are singles, if he can hit them somewhat consistently, that's a nice hitter to have in the No. 8 hole.

Travis Wood is a rookie lefty with a 2.51 ERA and a .890 WHIP. I'm scared.

Game Recap: STL 8, SF 0

Do I have to write a recap about this game?

But I will, kind of. The Giants had 3 hits, 2 of them coming from Pat Burrell, and the Cardinals had 15. At some point Barry Zito kind of imploded and had his shortest outing of the year. Jaime Garcia faced just one more than the minimum number of hitters over 9 innings and threw 89 pitches. That's it.

I do have one big complaint. You play to win on the road. I understand that Aubrey Huff needs rest and Andres Torres might have some kind of injury, but why rest your guys in the rubber match of a series on the road against a serious Wild Card contender? Why not rest Huff a day later at home? Bruce Bochy gave the series to the Cardinals by running out that terrible lineup today.

We also learned during the game that the Giants were awarded the claim on Cody Ross. All of a sudden the outfield is extremely crowded. To make room for Ross the Giants will probably have to get rid of Nate Schierholtz. I'm not sure if he's used up all of his minor league options (maybe someone can let me know?) or if we'll have to DFA him. At first glance, I didn't really care for the move. Ross has a .316 OBP and it'd be a shame to have to DFA Schierholtz to make room for him. But, it seems like Ross is finally going to be the right-handed hitter off the bench who's great against lefties. First we thought it was Pat Burrell, then Jose Guillen, and now it seems like it's going to be Ross (Although if Bruce Bochy had his way he'd probably have a Burrell-Ross-Guillen outfield). Ross does have a .846 OPS against lefties, so he should be valuable as a pinch-hitter with power.

Be sure to check out the blog tomorrow, as we have a very special post coming. Stay tuned.