SF 2, ARI 0: My Pitching Rocks. Your Pitching Sucks.

I love it. For the past few years, our offense has not been very good. It's been better this year, but still not the strength of the team. And rightfully so, people have wanted more offense for a long time. But damn, I'll take good pitching and bad offense over a good offense and bad pitching any day. There's just nothing more beautiful in baseball than a well-pitched game and the Giants have been having a lot of those recently.

In case you couldn't tell from my introduction, Madison Bumgarner and the bullpen pitched really, really well. Bumgarner was able to hold the D'Backs to just 5 H and 0 ER in 7 1/3 innings, while striking out 7. In the 8th, Bumgarner did give up a leadoff double to the pitcher, Ian Kennedy, and he was promptly taken out of the game. After a flyout that moved Kennedy to 3rd and a walk issued by Sergio Romo, there were runners on 1st and 3rd with 1 out. It was probably the most difficult situation in the game for the Giants and Javier Lopez and Ramon Ramirez came in to shut down the next two batters. It doesn't really matter if John Bowker even becomes a future All-Star as long as Lopez and Ramirez keep contributing like this to help the Giants into the playoffs.

Unfortunately, Bumgarner didn't get any run support. He couldn't even get measly Felix Hernandez-type support. He got nothing. The Giants got shut down by Ian Kennedy and a couple Diamondbacks relievers and couldn't score until the 11th inning. In that 11th inning with 2 outs, Aubrey Huff singled. Then Buster Posey. And then Nate Schierholtz hit a 2-run triple. Wait, sorry that was a typo. Ha, hahaha, silly me. Not Nate Schierho....OH WAIT IT WAS NATE SCHIERHOLTZ! Holy crap, the guy who's been pretty much forgotten on offense among the 57 outfielders on the roster hit a triple to put the Giants on the board. Brian Wilson finished it off, as usual. Game Over.

The Giants can be tied for the division lead after tonight, with a little help from our enemies down south. Break out those red rally thongs, people.

SF 3, LA 0: Uhh, Sanchy, Uhh...

I'd heard of Jonathan Sanchez's perfectly shaped and groomed eyebrows before, but it wasn't until tonight that I actually saw the abominations. It's a good thing he pitched one of the best games of his career tonight, because if he hadn't I would probably use this whole recap to question something of his. Go forth, Jonathan, pluck thine eyebrow hairs out, as long as you keep throwing strikes.

Sanchez has gone longer than 7 innings, but he's probably never pitched a bigger game than tonight. Against the Dodgers, in LA, on national tv, in the middle of a September pennant race. And what did he bring? 7 inning, 3 hits, 9 K's, and only ONE WALK. After a perfect 1st inning, it looked like he was starting to lose it in the 2nd when he walked Casey Blake and hit James Loney. But a beautifully turned double play from Juan Uribe got him out of the inning, and from that point he dominated. He only left after the 7th because his pitch count was up to 112, and there was no reason to send him back out. Sergio Romo and Brian Wilson both had perfect innings to close out the game.

The reason Sanchez could comfortably leave the game was because Juan Uribe brought the power again tonight. The Giants already had a 1-0 lead thanks to a sac fly by Sandoval that scored Posey. In the 7th inning, Juan Uribe, who had already been intentionally walked twice, came up with a runner on and flipped a HR into the left field seats. We are used to see Uribe's HRs get driven out, like last night, but this power display was all hands, as he was off balance a bit and didn't get his lower body into the swing. That HR pretty much sealed the deal, as it just didn't seem like the reeling Dodgers would come back from a 3 run deficit. And they never even got close to threatening it. The Giants now go to Arizona, a place they seem to always hit well (although everyone hits well there pretty much). Maybe they could have the division lead BEFORE they visit San Diego for a crucial 4 game series.

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.

LA 4, SF 2: At Least The Padres Suck Too

It wouldn't have mattered if Barry Zito had pitched a good game today. The Giants managed 2 hits the entire game, and only had 2 more baserunners, both walks from Pat Burrell. That was it. Just another night in Chavez Ravine against Chad Billingsley.

Zito had no command tonight, which is why I somewhat questioned the decision to intentionally walk Barajas to face Billingsley the pitcher with the bases loaded. I understand that Barajas, even though he's not very good, is 10 times the hitter Billingsley is. I just hate the idea of forcing your pitcher to load the bases when he is already struggling with command. We know what happened: Zito went 2-2 to Billingsley and then left a fastball up for him to hit into left field, scoring 2 runs for the Dodgers. That was all they needed.

I got nothing more to say. Read the post below this on the front page to make yourself feel better. It's me being an asshole/douche/prick, and it was fun.

FJM Friday: The AT&T Myth

I try not to read Ray Ratto that much. It's not that he's a terrible writer, it's simply that I can get discouraged when he is able to pen such hilarious lines like:

"...one would think that Oakland's 4-gamer in NY would cause some local buzz. One would also think that the Easter Bunny is a Teamster."

That's good stuff, folks. So good, I decide to avoid Ray's blog most of the time, because the last thing I want to do is unintentionally start copying his literary style. That would be like one thinking the Tooth Fairy is none other than Doctor Samuel Johnson (huh?).

Anyway, here's a 'lil piece from Ray's CSNBA blog. In this article, he's talking about the explosion of offense we saw in the recent Reds series, and how the extreme (for SF) heat that week turned AT&T Park into U.S. Cellular Field. He proposes that the Giants, if they knew what was best for them, would move their home park to a place that is more conducive for hitting. I know that this piece isn't completely serious, and was written mainly so Ray could craft some humorous gems, as you'll see below. But still, I feel that he is at least SOMEWHAT serious about what he is saying, and what he believes about AT&T Park.

Remember: his words in bold, mine in regular text. Because we use white instead of black for our letters on this blog, sometimes it can be hard to distinguish bold from regular. Hint: the bold stuff is the stuff that is 100% wrong.

Aha! The problem with the Giants' offense finally reveals itself. The ballpark is in the wrong place. Way the wrong place.

The ballpark is in a beautiful location. Every time I sit in the last row of the upper deck, I feel like I have the best seat in the house because of my view of the Bay. It's the best ballpark in baseball. Way the best.

After beating the Cincinnati Reds twice in 3 days by scoring a preposterous 38 runs in 3 games, it can be the only explanation left in a season full of explanations.

There are many explanations for the Giants still having an offense that struggles this season. It could be that they are 8th (out of 16 NL teams) in OBP. Same with slugging. The ONLY explanation is certainly not that it just isn't hot enough in SF. This becomes very clear when we look at the team splits and realize that they slug higher at home than on the road.

The heat...has turned The Thing on King into a veritable bandbox, as verified by manager Bruce Bochy after Tuesday's 16-5 win.

The Thing on King. I like that. I couldn't have thought of something that insanely clever. But I have one question, Ray: why? Oh, it's hilarious, but why say it?

"Most hitters like this kind of weather," he said while walking back to his office. "Days like this, the ballpark plays pretty fair." The intimation, of course, being that it typically isn't, and actually never was. It was, is, and until they lower the right field wall to, say 2.5 feet, a place for pitchers to do their best work. and hitters? Pfah!

More like: research? evidence? science? Pfah!

Nearly all research has concluded that AT&T Park is neutral for the most part. Yes, it can be tough with HRs for left handed hitters. But when it comes to hitting, scoring runs, or what we call "offense", it is right in the middle. Baseball Reference's park factor score for AT&T Park in 2010 is 104, where over 100 favors batters. I could end this right here, because the main point of your article has been proven wrong, but instead I'm gonna keep going and make this post unnecessarily long. It's what I do.

In other words, the Giants need to move the park. To, say, Livermore. Or Morgan Hill. Or Paso Robles.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say it can get a 'lil hot in those places. Too bad you didn't give a few more examples, though, maybe 5, or even 7! I wasn't quite sure where you were going with that.

It's either that, or listening incessantly to more years of sports talk radio topics like "Brian Sabean can't develop hitters and he hates math." And I think we can all agree that we've had as much of that heroin-laced idiocy as we can stand.

Heroin? Really? If you were gonna go with the unoriginal, obligatory drug reference, couldn't you have said something better than heroin? Dope fiends just fall asleep when they shoot up, not call sports talk radio. When I read Thomas de Quincey's "Confessions of an Opium Eater" (I actually haven't read it yet, but let's pretend I have for the sake of the awesome 1821 reference), I don't remember him writing editorials in the Westmoreland Gazette about how overrated a cricketer William Clarke was. Oh, and Brian Sabean can't develop hitters for the most part, and he does appear to hate math.

39 runs in 3 games by the home team has never happened in this park. It didn't happen in the Barbie Fun House that was Candlestick Park, either. In fact, it hadn't happened since 1933.

Hasn't it been that hot at AT&T Park at SOME point in the last 10 years? And they didn't score 39 runs. You act as if what happened against the Reds wasn't what it was: just an anomaly, a freak occurrence. Not to mention the Giants franchise played their home games at the Polo Grounds from 1933 to 1958. The Polo Grounds, except for deep center field, was a hitter's paradise. In other words, your point is completely invalid.

While Giants honks will bathe in the comeback, and eternal pessimists will rage over the 5 errors, the secret truth here is that the solution to the offense doesn't require attacking the free agency market. It requires attacking the real estate market.

No.

Will this happen? Not while Baer lives, and not while the housing market remains flat. But watching the gentlemen seriously rake against what is, despite the current evidence, a good pitching staff demands an explanation, and the only thing different about this series was that it was played in Fresno conditions. Hot, with night and morning going to be hot.

Why are we talking about this? We should move the Giants home park as soon as possible because they scored a lot of runs on 3 hot days? And the housing market? Huh? I realized something just now that I hadn't when I started: this is one STUPID FUCKING ARTICLE!

(Hmmm. Maybe that explains how hitters who play in SF tend to stagnate but go down to Central Cali and hit like Tony Gwynn on crank).

Let me say there is NOTHING funnier than saying a person is like someone else "on ______". Gets me EVERYTIME. And it's one of those comedic tricks that just never gets old. Kinda like sarcasm.

SF 2, COL 1: That Feels More Like Giants Baseball

Ah, low scoring offense and dominant pitching, we have missed you. You bring so much tension, torture, and excitement. And you are especially great when you work together to squeeze out a win.

The first thing that needs to be mentioned about this game is Tim Lincecum's performance. He was absolutely dominant again and it was beautiful. Forget Pablo Sandoval being back, forget Freddy Sanchez being back. The guy who really needs to be back is Tim Lincecum. Really, the Giants are going to need Timmy to be an ace and lead the staff if they are going to go anywhere in the playoffs and he looked like an ace once again tonight. His beautiful stat line from tonight looks like this: 8 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 9 K. It's so important that the Giants take advantage of the Padres' losing streak (now at 7 games) and I know I keep saying it, but the pitching is going to have to lead the charge. That's now 4 quality starts in a row and hopefully Zito can make it 5 on Friday. With these starters pitching as well a they have throughout the last turn in the rotation, the Giants will go on a run. I feel like I'm saying the same thing over and over again, but the the idea of the pitching staff being it's dominant self again gets me so excited. I'm giddy.

Now I'll talk about the little offense that there was. In the 4th inning, Carlos Gonzalez hit a solo home run off of Lincecum to give the Rockies a 1-0 lead. Whatever. Then in the 5th inning, after a Jose Guillen single and a Buster Posey walk, Mike Fontenot had an RBI single, tying the game at 1-1. With the game tied and it seeming like the Giants were never going to score again off of Jimenez, Mike Fontenot drew a walk. The next batter, Tim Lincecum laid down a sac bunt getting Fontenot over to 2nd base. Then, September call-up, Darren Ford, came in to pinch-run. Right away, on a wild pitch from Jimenez that barely got away from Miguel Olivo, Ford stole 3rd and on a throwing error from Olivo, went home. It's too bad he can't hit, but the guy can RUN. It was amazing that he came home all the way from 2nd on that play. The Giants led 2-1 and Brian Wilson closed it out with a perfect 9th. Simple. Business as usual. Whatever.

Not to boast, but as time goes on, I love the name of this blog more and more. I will admit that Reza and I were a little iffy on the name 8thInningWeirdness when we first started the blog, but it's the perfect name for a Giants blog because there will always be 8th Inning Weirdness.

We're Gonna Need a Bigger Bench...

It's September: time to welcome in the guys that aren't going to help us at all!

At least that's how it looks to me. Dan Runzler and Edgar Renteria will be coming back. Runzler should help in the bullpen, especially if Jeremy Affeldt continues to struggle. Renteria should be useful for pinch hit walk off singles in the 16th inning. Other than that, some guys we've seen before (Velez, Rohlinger, Burriss) could all join the team. Maybe they could start a poker tournament amongst themselves to occupy their time.

Then there is Dontrelle Willis. Looks like the Giants WANT to bring him up, but is it a good idea? He's only pitched 10.1 innings with the Giants minor league teams, so it's a very small sample size. But they have not been pretty. At all. Too bad. I wish Dontrelle could help the Giants. Last night I fell in love with Aroldis Chapman's delivery, and it's not too different from Willis'. Guys like that have a real old school feel about them, which is great because baseball is all about history. Unfortunately, Dontrelle's career might finally be history, unless the Giants take a wild chance and bring him up this September.

It doesn't appear that the Giants will come close to having a late season rookie debut as exciting as Aroldis Chapman was for the Reds last night. In all likelihood, Brandon Belt will go straight from Fresno to the Arizona Fall League once the AAA season is over. I'm fine with that. There aren't many at bats to go around, so instead of spending all his time on the bench, Belt can continue his development towards being the next Will Clark.

Outfielder Darren Ford was added today to the major league roster from AA Richmond. Last year, Ford had a good year offensively in San Jose, putting up a .300/.386/463/.849 line. This year, with more at bats in Richmond, his offense has dropped off. Of course, we know that the Eastern League can be tough to hit in, but his .680 OPS does not make him a great offensive replacement. Ford is reported to have great speed, so he could be a good pinch running option late in the game. However, I hope Bruce Bochy doesn't take that to mean he should be stealing bases. Ford had 3 great base stealing seasons in A ball, stealing 60+ each year with a success rate of 82%. However, last year in San Jose and this season in Richmond, he's stolen far fewer, and only at a 72% rate. I know that may seem like not much of a decline, but that 10% makes a HUGE difference. At 72%, you are barely breaking even in providing value with your stolen bases. At 82% with a large counting number like 67, you are helping a lot. If Darren Ford is getting caught a lot in AA ball, it's probably not a good idea to give him the green light in the big leagues.