That series went about how I figured it would. Check out the prediction if you don't believe me. To Gamesix: man, I should've bet you on this one.
In the last two games, the Giants have went directly opposite to the credo of "Score early, score often", instead opting to score seldomly early and score often late. Last night, it actually earned them a victory.
So the Giants end up in this series just confusing us even more -- laying an egg against what should have been a hittable pitcher on Tuesday in Horacio Ramirez, then rallying against much better pitchers the next two nights. They end up winning one, although they could have taken two.
Yep, sounds about par for the course.
The Giants refusal to be anything definitive (competitive or just plain bad) has been reeling us along all season. As Pops is wont to say, they are a team that is just good enough to lose (although in fairness Pops normally says that about the Golden State Warriors).
But, as another day goes by, the standing remain unchanged -- 8.5 back and no hope. However, the Dodgers are tantalizingly close at only a game and a half ahead of the Giants. Someone, either Lefty or Grant, I believe, stated catching the Dodgers as a goal that was not only realistic, but worthy. I wholeheartedly agree.
It's no shame to be out of it, really. Things have happened for the Giants pretty much like many have expected. The Giants had to make up ground while the Padres were reeling, and they did make up a bit -- but unfortunately the Padres have now won 7 of their last 10 and are now showing their mediocrity to be of slightly higher quality than the other "contenders" in the division.
Other teams are in the process of biting the dust, too. It has only taken a week for the Brewers and Cubs to eliminate themselves from contention, bringing the NL wildcard race down to a mere pittance: five teams still vying for one spot (pardon my French, but I call them the Clusterfuck Five, because all five teams are within four games of each other).
So it's onward and downward to Florida, where the Giants will face more Competent Pitchers and Good Hitters. There'll be no respite, as they'll have to run the gauntlet of Dontrelle Willis (still looking for his 1st career win vs. the Giants), Josh Beckett, and A.J. Burnett to achieve victory. Oh, and let's not forget the genuinely potent hitting of Miguel Cabrera and Carlos Delgado.
Doesn't look good, does it?
3 comments:
As far as I can tell, Giants are Dontrelle Willis' Kryptonite. Fascinating. Kind of like playing in Oakland Coliseum is White Sox Kryptonite. I'll take the superstition of radioactive green shards from a faraway galaxy anyday. Go Giants!
Isn't Delgado down with an injury right now?
Nick: Delgado is on the 15-day DL, which would end...today, actually.
I thought he was day-to-day, but I was wrong.
With a 1-0 victory in the 1st game of the series, we have to thank our lucky stars Delgado wasn't playing -- although Jeff Conine went 2-4 in Delgado's place, they were both singles. You have to be leery of the extra-base hit when Delgado's in the game.
Thanks for the heads-up.
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