2010 NLCS Game 4: SF 6, PHI 5

Meowwwwwww!

Coming into this series, there was talk that Buster Posey was slumping and the Giants needed him to step up. I scoffed at that notion. I guess maybe it was technically true, but he was 1-for-11 in this series. Pretty much the definition of a small sample size. But if you were one of those people worried about Buster's "slump", he officially busted out of it, going 4-for-5, and getting the biggest hit in a game full of big hits. Sure, Juan Uribe hit the game winning sac fly, but Posey put Uribe in a great spot to give the Giants a 6-5 win. With Aubrey Huff on first base and 1 out, Posey had fallen behind Roy Oswalt (I'll explain why Oswalt was pitching a little later) 1-2. What came next was vintage Posey: he took a pitch on the outside of the plate and went the opposite way with it. He's only been around for less than a year, so it seems weird to call it vintage Posey, but I don't care, it was vintage Posey. Huff was now on 3rd with 1 out, and Uribe took care of it from there.

There's so much to talk about from this game. So many lead changes, so many big hits, quite a few torturous moments as well. I can start with the starting pitching. Madison Bumgarner's stat line doesn't look very good: 4 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 6 Ks but he wasn't that bad. It's just, all of a sudden in the 5th inning, Bumgarner couldn't get anyone out. To leadoff the inning, he gave up two line drive singles. Then the pitcher was out on a sacrifice fly. Shane Victorino then hit another line drive single, scoring 1 run, but Carlos Ruiz was also tagged out at the plate. Two outs with a runner on 1st. Bumgarner then allowed what would be his final line drive single to Chase Utley. It was bizarre, and Bochy brought in Santiago Casilla. Unfortunately, it was more of the same as Casilla allowed a Polanco double to score both runners, giving the Phillies a 4-2 lead.

There were so many heroes from this game. We've already talked about Posey, who got the scoring started with an RBI single in the 1st, doubled home the Giants' second run in the 3rd, tagged out a runner at the plate, and had that crucial hit in the 9th. And Aubrey Huff went 3-for-5, constantly setting Posey up for those RBI hits, and bringing the Giants back within 1 run with an RBI single after Philly's big 4-run inning. Pablo Sandoval had what was the biggest hit of the game at the time, driving an opposite field double, giving the Giants a 5-4 lead. Sergio Romo gave up the game tying hit to Jayson Werth in the 8th, but he kept his composure and didn't give the Phillies the lead. Javier Lopez and Brian Wilson were mostly great, no surprise there. And in addition to winning the game, Juan Uribe made a great play to erase a hit at the start of the top of the 9th. It was truly a team effort.

This turned out to be one of the greatest Giants games I've ever seen. The lead changed so many times, and the Giants missed so many opportunities, but the 9th inning was extremely intense. If the Giants had lost this game, all of a sudden they'd have to win 2 out of 3 vs Halladay, Oswalt, and Hamels. Not an easy thing to do. And the Phillies knew the importance of the game too. Hell, they even brought in Oswalt, the scheduled game 6 starter, out of the bullpen. Everything was on the line. So when Aubrey Huff singled, Buster Posey did what he does, and Juan Uribe hit one deep enough to score Huff, the energy was unreal. It doesn't get much better than a walk-off win in Game 4 of the NLCS to bring your team within 1 game of the World Series. Hopefully, it does get even better tomorrow night. The Giants now need to win just 1 of the next 3, and while they're facing the best team in baseball tomorrow, it's a pitching matchup they've already won. Beating Roy Halladay twice in one week is almost unheard of, but Lincecum's no slouch and the Giants are playing at home this time. It's tough not to get excited. Win it tomorrow at home. One more time.

2010 MLB Awards

The playoffs have already started, and Roy Halladay has already thrown only the 2nd no hitter in postseason history. Before anything else historic happens, 8th Inning Weirdness is here to give you their picks for the 2010 regular season awards. In honor of today's extraordinary achievement, we will start in the NL, with the Cy Young award. You'll notice, by the way, how much more interested I am in the Cy Young debates than anything else.

Note: I decided to skip the AL Rookie of the Year award, because I just don't watch the AL enough, and anyway, there weren't a ton of great candidates like there were in the NL. Just give it to a rookie closer. Neftali Feliz? That'll do.

NL Cy Young Winner: Roy Halladay
2nd: Adam Wainwright
3rd: Ubaldo Jimenez
4th: Josh Johnson
5th: Roy Oswalt

If you've done your reading, you know that this future Hall of Famer is pretty much the unanimous choice for what would be his 2nd Cy Young award. And the voters will get it right. Halladay is having the best season of his career. He's striking out more hitters than he ever has, and walking as few as ever. He once again led the league in innings pitched, complete games, and shutouts. Halladay, 33 now, is clearly in the middle of his prime. Right now, there's no better pitcher in baseball. And I would have said that before tonight. Yet the NL Cy Young award decision is not as obvious as it seems. Adam Wainwright looks to be the Juan Marichal of this generation. A fantastic pitcher, but never quite the best in any particular year. Wainwright's 2010 season is great, even better than his Cy Young caliber season last year. But simply not better than Halladay. Ubaldo Jimenez had one of the best 1st halfs ever, but didn't sustain it. And Josh Johnson could have possibly beaten Halladay if he had stayed healthy. I went with Roy Oswalt in the 5th spot. Amazingly, I could have just as easily gone with Tim Lincecum. Don't ask why I chose Oswalt. I just did.

AL Cy Young Winner: Felix Hernandez
2nd: Cliff Lee
3rd: Jered Weaver
4th: Justin Verlander
5th: Jon Lester

It's strange; King Felix is only 24 years old. He's the youngest "great" pitcher in baseball. Yet he already has that Al Pacino feel about him, that he's missed out on too many Cy Young's, and that it's time to give it to him already. Of course, this is just a feeling, because the only season he's ever been a legit contender was 2009. He had a great season last year, but Zack Greinke's was substantially better. Not the case this season. Felix should, and I think will win the award for 2010. His main competitors, CC Sabathia and David Price, are great pitchers, but objectively speaking, they don't even belong in the top 5. The only true competition he has is Cliff Lee, and it is serious competition. Lee had a magnificent season, posting the 2nd highest K/BB ratio EVER. When I made this list, I set out knowing I'd pick Felix, then realized just how great Lee had been, and tried in my mind to find a way to justify Lee not winning it. It all comes down to this: Felix made 6 more starts than Lee; who would you win more games with: Felix in 34 starts, or Lee in 28? I gotta go with King Felix. Jered Weaver comes in 3rd; he just keeps getting better, and I don't think Anaheim Stadium has much to do with it. I was surprised by what a fine season Justin Verlander has had. I haven't thought much at all about him since the 2006 World Series. Someone recently called him the "worst great pitcher in baseball". I finish the list out with Jon Lester. He had a better season than Sabathia and Price, period.

NL MVP Winner: Joey Votto
2nd: Albert Pujols
3rd: Ryan Zimmerman
4th: Troy Tulowitzki
5th: Andres Torres

This is one is close, but pretty easy. Votto was slightly better than Pujols, quite an achievement for any player. Pujols is still the best player in baseball. Ryan Zimmerman is emerging as probably the best 3rd baseman in the majors, Evan Longoria being the only competition. He is a very good hitter, and a flawless fielder. If Tulowitzki keeps up what he has been doing, he could replace Hanley Ramirez as the best shortstop in baseball. And finally, you must notice that name in the 5th spot. Andres Torres. No, this is not a homer pick. Torres' numbers make him a legit name on an MVP ballot. He was more important than anyone this year for the Giants success. We look forward to seeing him and Giants play tomorrow against the Braves.

AL MVP Winner: Josh Hamilton
2nd: Robinson Cano
3rd: Miguel Cabrera
4th: Evan Longoria
5th: Jose Bautista

Hamilton's case for MVP is very similar to Joe Mauer's in 2009. They both missed an entire month of the season, yet still were the most productive players in the league. The other names on the list could have easily won an MVP in other years. While I believe Bautista's season is something of a fluke, there's no denying the actual production. It speaks for itself. Evan Longoria is the Ryan Zimmerman of the AL. Terrific defense at 3rd, very good offense. Miguel Cabrera could be the best hitter of this generation to never quite be the best hitter. You know what I mean? I know what I mean.

NL Rookie of the Year Winner: Buster Posey
2nd: Jason Heyward
3rd: Jaime Garcia
4th: Mike Stanton
5th Gaby Sanchez

Yes. Posey over Heyward. It had to happen. I'm a Giants fan. I can't help but forgive Posey the 2 month difference. Heyward has a full 1 win advantage over Posey in WAR. I don't care. After all, Cliff Lee has a .7 advantage over Hernandez in pitcher WAR, and no one has a problem voting for Hernandez. As Joe Posnanski said recently, WAR is a conversation starter, not closer.

SF 3, SD 0: NL West Champs

It is done. The Giants, in the 162nd game of the year, have won the National League West division and are on their way to the playoffs. Seven years of misery and torture are finally over!

In many ways, I feel like this is a hard recap to write because I'm so uncontrollably excited, I don't really know what to say. We all figured that going into this weekend, needing just 1 game to go the playoffs, there was no way it wouldn't happen. But on Friday in game 1 of the series, we saw our best pitcher this year struggle while our offense could only score when it was too late. On Saturday, the much maligned Barry Zito was terrible, not even lasting 4 innings in his most important start of the year. But on Sunday, Jonathan Sanchez got it done and he was magnificent. Yes, this game was a classic Giants game: great pitching and just enough offense. It's fitting that the Giants would make us go through the torture til the very end.

Jonathan Sanchez's great start was huge and he more than likely pitched himself into the playoff rotation today. We don't know if the Giants are going to go with a 3 or 4 man rotation in the first round, but I don't think it matters. Up until yesterday's game, I thought the 3-man rotation would be Lincecum-Cain-Zito and the 4th starter would be a toss up between Sanchez and Bumgarner. But after seeing Sanchez come in and completely shut down the Padres' momentum today, he is the Giants' 3rd starter. Today he pitched 5 innings, allowing 3 H, 5 BB and striking out 5. Most importantly, he didn't allow a run. And we can't talk about the pitching without talking about the bullpen. That combination of Casilla, Ramirez, Lopez, Romo, and Wilson is pretty damn solid. It's going to be a huge weapon in the postseason.

Sanchez helped his own cause in the 3rd with a stand-up triple off of Mat Latos. Two batters later, Freddy Sanchez hit a groundball up the middle, scoring Sanchez. Immediately afterwards, Aubrey Huff drove a ball into the left-center gap, scoring the other Sanchez. It was a pretty big deal that the Giants finally scored first because it relieved some of the pressure. Figures that it took our pitcher to finally get something going. Buster Posey added an insurance run on a solo homer in the 8th, and everything else was taken care of.

Like I said, I don't feel like I can completely capture the greatness of the game. So I suggest that you go watch the game again, look at the celebration pictures, and watch Brian Wilson strike out Will Venable to end the game. Watching the swing and miss and seeing the whole team hop out of the dugout while Buster Posey runs to the mound to congratulate Brian Wilson should give you chills. It's amazing and hopefully it only gets better.

There are still plenty of questions that remain. Who is the 4th starter? What is the 25-man playoff roster going to look like? I'm sure we'll have a couple posts in the next few days addressing those issues. Just enjoy this feeling for the next 3 days. Game 1 is on TBS at 6:37 PM on Thursday. I already can't wait.

Oh, and Mat Latos is now on the Hate List. Haha.

SF 4, ARI 1: Giants One Win Away From Playoffs

Madison Bumgarner was able to get through 5 innings allowing just 1 run, but every inning was stressful, which meant an early exit for him. Yet he won his first home game of the year, thanks to a strong showing by the bullpen. Santiago Casilla pitched 2 perfect innings, followed by perfect innings by Romo and Bodie Broadus. Brian Wilson got the day off, although if the game was closer he'd likely have come in for the 9th.

But it wasn't closer, because the Giants kept hitting home runs today. Pablo Sandoval started it off with a splash hit. I won't say that he's "back". We've said that enough. Then Andres Torres made the score 2-1 in the 5th inning. He is back. And Buster Posey, who has been hitting the ball hard, but seen his average drop about 15 points in the last week, hit a typical deep left center Posey HR with Aubrey Huff on base. The man has a beautiful swing.

The Giants magic number is 2 now, meaning they can clinch a playoff spot with just one victory this weekend. 2 victories, or a Padres loss tonight along with 1 victory against them on the weekend, and the Giants would win the division.

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...

The Great ROY Debate

There's been a lot of talk on twitter today about the NL Rookie of the Year award, Posey v. Heyward. Of course, all Giants fans, including myself, would like for Posey to win that award, just as we would like any player on the Giants to win an award they seem eligible for. But in the fervor over Posey's recent heroics, we at 8thInningWeirdness believe Giants fans may be going too far in handing the trophy to Gerald Demp already. A little perspective might be necessary.

Jason Heyward lived up to all the Spring Training hype when he homered in his 1st at bat of the season. He has been red hot of late, and a few weeks ago looked like the odds-on favorite to win the Rookie of the Year award for the NL. However, recently our very own Buster Posey has been hitting monster home runs and throwing runners out with precision. It's suddenly become a much closer race, and in my view it is an absolute tie right now.

When it comes to discussions about regular season MLB awards, we have to always make the distinction of who WILL win and who SHOULD win. We know that the BBWA still has certain prejudices, which will be tested mostly in this year's American League Cy Young voting. While it is nice to be informed about who will probably win a given award, the much more interesting and substantive debate is about who, given the evidence presented, should win the award. Here are the points in favor of either Heyward or Posey:

Heyward:

• Aside from a DL stint, he has played the entire season. Posey missed the first 2 months.
  
• His offensive rate numbers are just as good as Posey's. Their wOBA's stand at .385 and .382 respectively.
• His WAR (fangraphs) is 4.6, while Posey is at 3.9. WAR makes up for the fact that Posey plays a tougher position, yet Heyward is still ahead.
  
• Heyward is going straight to Cooperstown. Okay, that isn't a very valid reason to vote for him for ROY this year, but it should at least be recognized. Heyward is one of a very select group of 20 year old rookies that had the kind of plate discipline he is showing. It's marvelous. Magnificent. Unreal. Guys this young just don't do this. Unless they are THAT great. His middle-of-career slashline has been predicted as .300/.420/.600. The numbers have shown that this year he has lived up to all the hype that surrounded him. Does his career projection matter when it comes to deserving the ROY award? No, not at all. But it could still be a factor in a voter's mind. And just the fact that he is a 20 year old rookie with a .400 OBP could be enough.
  

Posey:

• Posey missed 2 months, but that isn't his fault. His rate numbers might not be quite as good if he had played a full season, but it's possible his counting numbers would surpass Heyward. Possible.
• Posey is behind in WAR, but a lot of that has to do with the playing time. In fact, it's amazing he is so close in WAR with 2 fewer months played.
  
• The reason he is close to Heyward with WAR is because he plays catcher. Catcher is the toughest position to play, much harder than corner outfield.
• WAR doesn't account for the handling of the pitching staff. Posey is the catcher for what now ranks as the best pitching staff in the league.
  

Looking at the arguments for both, I think it all comes down to one thing: how do you feel about Posey missing the first 2 months of the season? It was management's fault, not his, but still, shouldn't Heyward get credit for playing a full season? I don't know. If Posey had far surpassed Heyward in production, then yes, the playing time would be easy to overlook. But he hasn't. They are about the same. That's why at this point I think it's a tie, and whoever finishes stronger deserves the award.

There are, of course, some very BAD reasons to vote for either of them. A few were included above. Just because Jason Heyward might look like a future Hall of Famer, doesn't make him the Rookie of the Year. Buster Posey, like all catchers, deserves very LITTLE credit for the performance of the pitching. Either one might end up leading their team to the playoffs. We should all agree that is completely irrelevant for a regular season award. And then of course their is the strange, yet completely Brucean view from Bruce Jenkins in the Chronicle today, where he stated:

"If Posey doesn't win the NL ROY award, voters simply aren't paying attention. Jason Heyward is having a tremendous year in the Braves outfield...Posey is simply in another world."

As Giants fans, we need to realize something: Buster Posey is a terrific player. But compared to Jason Heyward, he is NOT in another world. It isn't surprising to see Jenkins going overboard like this, especially on Fire Joe Morgan Day over at Deadspin. I just hope that Giants fans can be a little more fair and honest. It's easy to watch a player everyday, and be in awe of his talent, and then assume that he must be the best (these kinds of judgments occur with the Gold Glove awards all the time). Perhaps Posey will be a more deserving ROY than Heyward on October 3rd. But it's very, very close.

20 minutes later...

I think I just realized: yeah, it would be great for Posey to win the ROY, but really, who cares? It's not that great of an award anyway. Bobby Crosby won it.

SF 1, CHC 0: Poseyed

So, Carlos Zambrano showed why the Cubs overreacted by sending him to the bullpen earlier in the year and why it was silly to think that the Cubs would ever trade him for Aaron Rowand. Remember that rumor? Zambrano struck out 8 batters tonight and held the Giants to 0 runs, but he also walked 5 guys and threw 116 pitches in 6 innings. It was up to the Chicago bullpen to give up some runs to the Giants.

The bullpen also pitched pretty well for the Cubs, but they still got poseyed. Buster will do that to you. In the 8th inning, Posey hit a solo shot to center field that barely cleared the fence and finally put the Giants on the board. That was all they'd get and all they'd need. Ramon Ramirez, Sergio Romo, and Brian Wilson combined for 3 innings of perfect relief to close out the game.

Matt Cain was fantastic. What else is new? Cain struck out just 2 Cubs, but he only allowed 4 baserunners (2 H, 1 BB, 1 HBP) and 0 runs in 6 innings. He was pulled early after just 82 pitches because Bochy needed some offense yet again. I'm not sure that makes much sense because if the starters can't score what's a bench guy gonna do? Might as well keep your great starting pitcher in the game. Oh well, it didn't matter. Like I said, the bullpen was very good. Did you know that the Giants' pitching staff has allowed 3 runs or fewer in their last 15 games and it's just the 3rd time a team has done that in the live ball era? I'll end the recap with that really cool stat.

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.

SF 10, LA 2: Diiiiiiiiirrrrrrrrtttyyyyyyyyy

Wow, that was pretty great.

Not only did Jonathan Sanchez give up just 4 H, 1 ER and strike out 12 Dodgers, he didn't walk a single batter. He was just beautiful. It's the kind of beauty that's impossible to stop thinking about. Just thinking about how beautiful he is makes me smile. When I think of him, nothing in the world can bother me. Thinking of him makes me feel like I'm in the middle of an open field dancing and playing with flowers and butterflies. You know what it is that Jonathan and I have? It's love. Congratulations Mr. Sanchez, you will be who I'm thinking about when I go to sleep tonight. What?

Now that I've expressed my love for a man over the worldwide web for billions of people to see, I'll talk about something else. Actually, no. Sanchez lived up to his nickname tonight, Dirty Sanchez. The nickname is so obvious and simple, but it's perfect. The Giants are in first place. He can be absolutely nasty and starts like tonight show how valuable he is. If you read this blog a lot, you probably know that I'm in favor of trading him for a bat. But he is too valuable to give up for anything. The Giants are in first place. A 27 year old left-handed pitcher with a 3.21 ERA and a 9.3 K/9 is only worth giving up for a legitimate middle of the order hitter. If you can't get that, you keep him. It's just a bonus that he happens to be frickin' beautiful!

The pitching wasn't the only bright spot tonight. The Giants found themselves down by a run after half an inning because of a double and a throwing error by Juan Uribe, but that didn't scare the offense. The Giants are in first place. In the bottom half of the 1st, Aubrey Huff tripled and Buster Posey promptly brought him in with an RBI double. Then in the 3rd, with 2 runners on Aubrey Huff blasted a 3-run shot over the right field wall. I bet you can't guess what awesome thing I'm going to say next, though. The Giants are in first place. The next batter, Buster Posey, also blasted a home run, this one into the left field bleachers to give the Giants a 5-1 lead. It was the Aubrey and Buster Show! Against the Dodgers. With the division lead on the line. Epic. The Giants are in first place. There was also a Jose Guillen homer and a couple more RBI hits and the Giants ended up with 10 runs. Against the Dodgers. With the division lead on the line. Epic.

Edgar Renteria went 4-for-5. Say hello to your new leadoff hitter!

The Giants are in first place.

SF 6, SD 1: Lincecum Lincecum Lincecum

Yesterday, at the end of the recap for the Giants' 1-0 loss to San Diego, I wrote this:

We'll get them tomorrow. The Old Lincecum is going up against a terrible lineup. He has to shut them out. Mat Latos will finally have a non quality start. It's gotta happen that way.

You're welcome.

What a beautiful day for baseball. Football, not so much. Oh well. Wait till October/November (fingers crossed) to worry about football. Right now the Giants are all that matters, and they certainly delivered today. It all started in the 1st inning with Buster Posey's first pitch swinging against Mat Latos, hitting a 2 run HR into the right field seats. The Giants would get more, thanks to multiple hit games from Posey, Aubrey Huff, Pat Burrell, and Juan Uribe. But those 2 runs were all they ended up needing, because Tim Lincecum IS Tim Lincecum again.

Lincecum's pitch count ran a little high, and he had to get out of a couple jams, but that's to be expected in most games. The difference was he was able to handle those problems much easier, because his control was the best we've seen in months. He was around the knees all day. His final line of 7 innings, 1 ER, 7 hits, 1 BB, and 9 K's is very encouraging. That's 1 walk and 20 strikeouts in his last 2 appearances. He's turning it around at the perfect time. The whole pitching staff is, in fact. In August, the team ERA was 4.55. So far in September, it's 1.84.

I saved the bad stuff for the end. Andres Torres is going to be out at least 10 days, probably 2 weeks, maybe the rest of the regular season. Its a huge blow to the team, and one they'll just have to make up for with more hitting from everyone. Torres has been very cold of late, but he's still one of the 1st guys I'd pick to come up to bat with the game on the line. The part that might be harder to replace is his defense in center field, which has been superb. Having a guy with his range in an outfield that often features Pat Burrell and Jose Guillen on the corners is crucial, and no one on the bench really can match it. Aaron masquerades as a good center fielder because of the "reckless abandon" he demonstrates out there, but he is average at best, and anyway, we do not want his bat in the lineup. Cody Ross seems like a much better option. Can Nate Schierholtz play center field? I don't know.

SF 5, LA 4: ...And Thence We Came Forth To See Again The Stars

Juan Uribe does not get on base that much. He plays a lot of positions in the infield, but he's not great at any of them. But goddamn can he hit one out, and it always seems to happen when it matters most. And that's why even with his surprisingly bad OPS+ of 91, he's one of the more valuable players on this team. Jeez, I sound like some writer I'd mock on FJM Friday. You can get that way after a 5-4 comeback win in LA.

But Uribe's no doubter against Broxton was just the final bomb in a barrage of HRs by the Giants near the end of the game. Matt Cain was looking good to begin the game, but the 4th inning was not kind to him. Thankfully, he was able to recover and go 3 more innings, with a final line of 7 innings, 7 hits, 4 ERs, 1 BB, and 6 K's. Buster Posey's HR in the 7th started the Giants comeback, and it was quite impressive. One of the longest HRs I think I've seen a right handed hitter hit at Dodger Stadium. Then Edgar Renteria started the 8th inning with a ball down the left field line that stayed fair to make the score 4-2. Good by Edgar, but I'd be disappointed if that 1 HR earned him lots more playing time. It probably will.

Pat Burrell then came up, and after falling behind 0-2, he battled and battled before sending a shot into left center to make the score 4-3. The Octavio Dotel trade just keeps looking worse and worse for the Dodgers. So does Jonathan Broxton. What the hell happened to him? I remember the days when he was the best of the 3 NL West California Closers. His stuff was electric, and he was giving up just over 5 hits per 9 innings. Now he's post 2005 Brad Lidge. Can't be counted on at all. Sounds good to me.

We've said a lot after Giants losses that "these are the games bad teams lose." Well, this was the kind of game a good team wins. And the Giants are a good team. Good enough? Maybe. The Padres lost today for the 9th straight time. They are falling apart. Hopefully they don't find a way to put it all together right when the Giants go to Petco next week.

FJM Friday: Who Spells It "Mychael", Anyway?

Mychael Urban is a pretty nice guy. He's not the one you want to listen to when it comes to trade rumors, but he does a good job on CSNBA and KNBR most of the time, doing double duty on the Giants AND A's no less. His analysis is very good sometimes, and his knowledge of baseball is obvious.

Too bad for him that this week he decided to write about Freddy Sanchez on his CSNBA.com blog. I have a special radar for bad Freddy Sanchez opinions, and it often ends in you being featured on Fire Joe Morgan Friday. Don't worry, Mychael, nobody reads these posts anyway, they are for my own sick satisfaction. So, imaginary readers, remember: Mychael's writing in bold, my response in regular text.

And finally, it's time for the "Why" of the day: Freddy Sanchez not hitting 2nd.

The answer to that "Why" question is easy. Bruce Bochy has 8thInningWeirdness set as his homepage. Freddy Sanchez has been terrible offensively this year. He is the only regular starter with an OPS below .700. Having 2 back to back 4 hit games is a VERY good sign, don't get me wrong. But it doesn't erase a nightmare season at the plate. If Sanchez continues to hit the ball, I am perfectly fine with him hitting 2nd. Not ideal, but I'd concede. But it takes more than a single series to determine that.

He has every imaginable skill you need for the role, and some of those skills help you win games even when you're not getting hits.

I'm aware of these "skills" that a 2 hitter is supposed to have. Contact guy, bunting, moving the runner over, all that happy horseshit. None of it is relevant. It's pretty obvious to me that the only skill a 2 hitter really should have is the ability to hit and get on base. Maybe some speed on the bases. That's what you expect out of the guy getting the 2nd most at bats on the team. Now, Freddy Sanchez has an OBP that is about league average. Because of his complete lack of slugging this year, it is NOT ideal to have him getting a lot of opportunities. If his OBP were higher, that lack of power would be easier to deal with. But the combination makes for an embarrassing season long slump. A "contact guy" does not mean "good player".

If Sanchez is in the lineup, he should bat 2nd, with Huff, Burrell, and Posey to follow.

Wrong. If Sanchez STAYS really hot, then he can hit 2nd, in which case I'm fine with that order.

Burrell sees more fastballs that way, trust me.

I don't trust you. You have given me zero evidence to support that claim. As far as I know, there isn't much research to back up the "protection" theory of lineups. It's just as likely that Burrell would see more fastballs if there are players ON BASE in front of him. Having a player protect another in the lineup really only applies if you've got Barry Bonds or Albert Pujols doing the protecting. Buster Posey is gonna be great, but he isn't and won't ever be close to those guys. Speaking of Gerald Demp, one more thing in Urban's blog this week caught my attention, and this time it wasn't Mychael that was speaking nonsense.

...Buster Posey or Kurt Suzuki over the next 5 years? I asked 14 personnel people that question over the past 10 days, and was stunned that 3 people picked Suzuki. Why? "Simple," said one NL GM. "Track record." Can't say I agree with the man, but he's the one with the big corner office.

Whoever that man is that said that, he should be moved from his corner office to the basement immediately.

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.

Game Recap: SF 5, PHI 2

What was THAT?

That seems to happen a lot. First a terrible looking Giants lineup is announced. Giants fans everywhere plunge into a deep depression. Probably the worst Giants starter (even though he's still good) is pitching at a time when none of our starters are pitching well. Great Depression. Then, that terrible lineup plays well. That Giants starter pitches better than any Giants starter has in awhile. The Giants win. WHAT?

As I said, the offense did play pretty well. They got it started in the 1st inning, when a Buster Posey double scored Freddy Sanchez, and a pair of singles from Jose Guillen and Juan Uribe scored 2 more. At that point, I was worried Jonathan Sanchez would give up the lead because he has a tendency to be inconsistent and as I said the starting pitching has not been good lately, but not tonight. Another RBI double from Posey in the 3rd and a solo home run from Pablo Sandoval gave the Giants a 5-0 that they'd hold onto for most of the night.

Sanchez pitched 8+ innings and allowed just 2 hits. Pretty impressive. Sanchez allowed a line drive single to the first batter in the 9th, and then proceeded to throw 2 pitches that weren't close to strikes to the next batter he faced and Bochy pulled him out. I know Sanchez has a tendency to all of a sudden lose his control, but he was at just 97 pitches and I'm not sure why he wasn't given more of a chance to get the complete game shutout. Nevertheless, it's always good to see a great Sanchez start. He gets so much hate from Giants fans, but starts like tonight show that he is extremely valuable as a No. 4 starter and he doesn't get enough respect.

Aubrey Huff had the night off, which I have no problem with, as he's been struggling lately. So did Andres Torres. I also have no problem with keeping Torres fresh and giving him a break, but the only problem is that any time Torres doesn't play, Aaron Rowand leads off. That is by far the most terrible part of the terrible lineup. The fact that Bruce Bochy thinks Rowand's the next best option to leadoff after Torres shows that Bochy still doesn't understand baseball. And even though the terrible lineup played well, Aaron Rowand had nothing to do with it. Well, that catch he made was pretty nice, but I'm confident Torres would've made it too. I'm going to give him no credit for the win tonight.

Tomorrow the Giants face the Cardinals who are now led by the powerful Pedro Feliz. Should be a tough series. Hopefully tonight is the start of the starting pitching getting back on track.

Game Recap: SF 3, SD 2

Last night was a rough one for Pablo Sandoval, but today his big HR in the 7th inning was what allowed the Giants to get back into the game mentally. Up until that point it was ugly. The Padres had runner all over the bases, and even though only 2 of them had scored, it looked like that would be enough with the way that creep was pitching. Then Latos threw a pitch way up in the zone, and Pablo turned it around, crushing it onto the arcade. The next inning, Aubrey Huff almost did the same thing against Luke Gregerson with Mike Fontenot on base, but once again the park held kept the ball in, though this time for a double. That set up the RBI groundout by Pat Burrell to tie the game. Burrell, the hottest current Giant, went 0-5 today, but that at bat was productive and well played.

Buster Posey in the 11th inning looked like Josh Hamilton from last night. He hustled to turn a ground ball up the middle into a double, forcing the Padres to walk Sandoval and pitch to Juan Uribe. Thankfully, Bruce Bochy must have read my recap from yesterday and realized how bad an idea bunting is. So instead of asking Uribe to lay one down, he let him hit, and Uribe blooped a single into right field on the 1st pitch. Buster Posey read the ball beautifully, and the play at the plate wouldn't have been close even if the throw had been on line.

Good game from Mike Fontenot. 2 hits, plus some nice plays at 2nd base. Still shouldn't be hitting 2nd. I'LL NEVER STOP SAYING IT! Jose Guillen also got his 1st at bat as a Giant, grounding out as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning.

I keep thinking to myself: This Padres lineup has to be one of the worst first place offenses ever. So why do they keep hitting the Giants? This better stop tomorrow with Lincecum going. I think he'll have a good game. He has to. He's too good.

Game Recap: CHI 8, SF 6

Tim Lincecum was terrible tonight. He was very hittable from the start. He gave up a HR to Kosuke Fukudome. Nobody does that. (Yeah, I know he has 10 HR's this year, but still, he sucks!) The Giants kept chipping away at the Cubs lead, only for the Cubs to get right back to their 4 run advantage. A lot of the big hits by Chicago that hurt the Giants came with 2 outs, and were either bloops or bleeders up the middle. I'm still trying to figure out how they scored in the 8th against Mota. Santiago Casilla had a good 3 innings of long relief, giving up only 1 hit and 0 walks. The Giants had a great chance in the 9th against Carlos Marmol, but Juan Uribe and Travis Ishikawa had pretty ugly at bats for the final 2 outs.

Buster Posey had a good night, going 3-5 with 2 doubles. He really should be hitting 2nd, not 4th. Why Bruce Bochy insists on guaranteeing more at bats for sub-par hitters (F. Sanchez, Renteria) is beyond me, but then again most of baseball hasn't realized how to configure a batting order yet. We've only been playing for 150 years or so.

I truly DESPISE Ryan Dempster's glove flip that he does when he winds up. It's oh so flamboyant.

Pablo Sandoval is not back.

Game Recap: COL 6, SF 1

You can't win 'em all, and the Giants were never close to winning this one.

The offense never got going. Against Ubaldo Jimenez, it seemed like they were just going through the motions. Maybe they resigned themselves to the fact that they couldn't beat Jimenez. That doesn't make too much sense, though, because so far in the 2nd half he has a 6.41 ERA and 1.744 WHIP. Anyway, they managed to get just 5 hits, most of them with no runners on and 2 outs or something like that. Any hit they got just didn't come in an important spot. This says it all: Andres Torres was 0-for-4 with 4 K's. That's just not normal. The offense did one thing right, when Buster Posey doubled to score Aubrey Huff, but...that was all. Nothing more. I guess they were too tired from scoring 10 runs a night ago. Sure would've been nice to save some of those runs for today.

Madison Bumgarner also wasn't very sharp. He threw lots of strikes and maybe too many. He never fooled anyone while allowing 9 H and 4 ER with just 3 K's. It was bad. Everything was bad. I don't want to talk about it anymore.

I can't help myself though. I like feeling depressed. So here's something else. Denny Bautista came in and was...you guessed it, terrible. He hit 2 batters and gave up 2 HRs in his 1 2/3 IP. He's gone pretty soon right? I really don't know. We've said it before, but Bochy seems to like him, which should tell you a lot about Bruce Bochy.

Buster Posey won the NL Player of the Month, by the way. That's something to be happy about. Congratulations to him, he deserves it. He is a manchild.

Like I said, the offense just looked tired and unenergized today, just the 2nd game after a day off. We are on an unbelievable hot streak right now, but it doesn't mean we'll never lose. I'm not worried about that. I just hope we don't look this sluggish in Atlanta against a very good Braves team.

Game Recap: SF 3, ARI 2

After a 4 game sweep on the road, a 6-1 road trip, and a 16-6 beginning to July, it's only fair to be positive about the Giants. If you're looking for Bruce Bochy to meet his end like Savonarola of Florence, skip to the last paragraph.

This was a very dangerous game, and yet the Giants were able to skate through it and win 3-2. It's hard to call Tim Lincecum's afternoon a great performance, though he did end up going 8 innings, giving up only 2 runs. He had a couple innings that looked disastrous, but was able to escape. He gave up 2 runs in the 2nd inning when the 7 and 8 hitter reached base after 2 outs, and Arizona pitcher Barry Enright doubled them in, his first of two hits in the game.

No surprises in the RBI department for the Giants today. Andres Torres had a bad game, striking out 3 times, but the rest of the constants all contributed. Buster Posey had 4 hits, raising his average this year to .371. Aubrey Huff singled in the 5th inning to tie the game at 2. And Travis Ishikawa came through in the 10th inning to give the Giants the winning run, singling in Eli Whiteside.

When Tim Lincecum left after the 8th inning, Sergio Romo got himself into a terrible jam, but found a way out. Brian Wilson closed the game out quietly in the bottom of the 10th. What stands out in this game? Buster Posey had 4 hits. Tim Lincecum pitched a good game. Travis Ishikawa had another big hit. But there was something else...

Bruce Bochy managed like a fool today. In the 8th inning, with the game tied and two runners on, Bochy elected to have Tim Lincecum hit. Lincecum struck out. While I understand Bochy's mistrust of both the bullpen and the bench in that situation, you have to take an opportunity that late in the game seriously, and send up a real hitter. In the 10th inning, Buster Posey got his 4th hit of the day, a double to right field. Bochy immediately sent in Eli Whiteside to run for Posey. We already know that Posey is in fact faster than Whiteside, so what was Bochy's reasoning for replacing his star hitter in an extra inning game with a replacement player. Mike Krukow gave the explanation that Posey's "catcher legs" were tired. This isn't irrational, but it disregards the strategic blunder Bochy made by replacing Posey. By running Whiteside for Posey, Bochy leaves himself with 0 catchers on the bench in a tied, extra inning game. That is not the situation to replace your 23 year old catcher because of "catcher's legs". But Bochy's biggest blunder came a batter later, when Whiteside was on third, with Nate Schierholtz on first and Ishikawa at the plate. Suddenly, Schierholtz ran toward 2nd base, and was caught stealing easily. There are 3 ways to understand this play: Schierholtz got the sign to run, he ran on his own, or Ishikawa missed the sign for a hit and run. Anyway, Bochy loses. Nate Schierholtz should not have a Jose Reyes green light in extra innings with the go ahead run at third. And if Bochy called either a steal or hit and run, maybe he needs to be enlightened by the wise words of Earl Weaver:

"...you get damned little fleas on the fucking bases, getting picked off trying to steal, getting thrown out, taking runs away from you..."

Nate Schierholtz should not be stealing bases. Most of the Giants should not be stealing bases. Their SB rate this year is 64%, which means they are actually hurting themselves by calling for steals. At least they don't do it too often. And the hit and run is kinda stupid. Almost as stupid as trading Dan Haren, one of the best pitchers of the last 5 years, for a 29 year old with one good year and a 1.5 WHIP this year. It's no mystery why the D'Backs suck.

Buster Posey: The Best Player in Baseball

He's irresistible.

Let me clear something up really quickly so that people don't get all crazy and hysterical. I'm not saying Buster Posey is the best player in the game, but he has been the best player in baseball in July. Maybe I could have come up with a better title to express what I was trying to write about, one that wasn't quite so misleading, but hell, that title just sounds too great. The point is that Buster Posey is playing like the best player in all of Major League Baseball right now.

Everyone knows that Buster Posey is on a tear right now. He had that crazy roadtrip where he just embarrassed major league pitching, driving opposite field home runs like it was nobody's business. And so far on this homestand, he hasn't cooled off. So, yes it is obvious that he has been really, really good, but I was shocked to see just how great he has been. Let's take a look at some of his numbers in July and where he ranks during that time.

AVG - .450 - 2nd

OBP - .493 - 1st

SLG - .883 - 1st

OPS - 1.376 - 1st

HR - 7 - 1st

RBI - 19 - 1st

RUNS - 16 - 1st

Keep in mind, these aren't NL rankings, they are ML rankings. He is 1st in every single major offensive category besides average, and average is the least important stat out of all those! I may be falling in love all over again.

And we haven't even discussed Posey's defensive game. Hint: It's good. Real good. The whole reason Posey came up and played first base while Bengie Molina and Eli Whiteside handled the catching duties was because he "wasn't ready to catch". He couldn't handle a pitching staff, wouldn't know what pitches to call in pressure situations, people said. I think he's doing alright. The starting staff has come out of the break on fire, with each starter having a good performance, and who was catching? Buster Posey. Posey was the one who must have called the right pitches yesterday to get Jeremy Affeldt and Brian Wilson out of bases loaded situations. And remember at the beginning of the year when baserunners could steal a bag in their sleep against the Giants? No longer a problem because Buster Posey has a gun and he loves to shoot people. That's a metaphor, don't take it seriously. While Posey's offensive game has been the best in the majors in July, his defense has been spectacular as well.

It's fun having a guy like Buster Posey come up from the minors and dominate major league pitching. It's kind of like how fun it was when Pablo Sandoval came up and was really good, but it's even better than that. Buster feels like one of our own, and he's a guy who may be the key to the Giants getting to the postseason. He obviously doesn't have to play as well as he's playing right now; those are unreasonable expectations for any player. But the Giants need him to play well and not hit some sort of rookie wall or slump. That might be an unfair burden for him, but he's shown that he may be able to handle it.

Game Recap: SF 5, LA 2

The Giants tried their hardest to lose tonight, but despite giving it 110% they weren't able to come up with the loss. It's really a shame because I know they wanted it so bad! They should have lost, they really, really deserved it. Wait....what's that you're saying? Teams don't like to lose, they want to win? Well, the Giants certainly could've fooled me.

This game was pretty much the polar opposite of yesterday's. On Sunday, they should've won, but lost. Tonight they made way too many errors and deserved to lose, but they won. A win is a win, so maybe I should be more positive, but I can't help but feel troubled after so many mental errors. Let's see, how many were there? There was Pablo Sandoval choosing to tag the runner heading to third instead of going for the force out at 1st to end the inning, allowing Jamey Carroll to score before he applied the tag (Carroll didn't score before Pablo tagged the runner headed to 3rd, it was a terrible call, but still a big mental error by Pablo). How about walking Garrett Anderson, who is hitting .187 this year, with 2 outs? If that wasn't enough, Sergio Romo walked Jamey Carroll, who doesn't have a home run this year, to load the bases for Andre Ethier. Ethier grounded out, but walking guys like Anderson and Carroll with 2 outs in the inning is just not smart. Ahhh, and finally, Andres Torres forgot how many outs there were and ran on a shallow flyout with just 1 out. That can only be described as a Pablo Sandoval/Eugenio Velez type of baserunning mistake.

Oh yeah, Eugenio Velez is back. Be happy.

A pairing that Giants fans hope to see producing for a long, long time, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval, got the scoring started in the 3rd inning. Posey singled up the middle to bring in a run, and Sandoval proceeded to smoke a double into the left field gap, scoring Posey. It was rather beautiful. Sandoval had another good game with the bat, going 2-for-5 with a double and an RBI. Later in the 4th inning, Nate Schierholtz added a 2-run homer, giving the Giants a 4-0 lead.

Bumgarner had a good start despite only lasting 5 2/3 innings. He was pulled early, mostly because of his high pitch count but gave up just 6 H, 1 ER, and 2 BB with 3 K's. He continues to impress for a guy who is just 20.

A win against the Dodgers always feels good, but the Giants got lucky. They'll have to play better if they want to beat Clayton Kershaw tomorrow night.

Also, the bottom of the 9th turned out to be pretty awesome. Brian Wilson managed to load the bases with 2 outs, and up came Casey Blake. Remember when Blake mocked Wilson's tribute to his father that he does after every save? Well tonight, Wilson struck him out. It was a pleasure to watch.