That's gotta be it, right?

Well, at least that's out of the way.

It's obvious the San Diego Padres just decided to get all of their run-scoring in the series out of the way in one game. Before the game yesterday, the Padres were scoring at a 3.7 runs per game clip, meaning in a three-game series, they've been averaging about 11 runs.

Simple logic would dictate that we note that their 10-4 smothering of the Giants yesterday as a temporary occurence, with zero chance of reoccurence -- as this is a two-game series, it would be impossible for the Padres to score any more runs, right? They've already scored more than their share of runs. Yes, yes, that makes sense.

The Giants, meanwhile, currently have four offensive vacuums in their lineup at catcher, 3rd base, 2nd base, and the pitcher's spot. Care to guess which one has been most productive? Stats are approximate -- had to add and divide every darn thing myself:

• The line for 3rd base (for the sake of ease, I've assumed Pedro Feliz has gotten enough of the plate appearances here to not include anyone else): .208/.243/.313 (556 OPS)
• The line for 2nd base (Ray Durham, Jose Vizcaino, and Kevin Frandsen): .203/.315/.250 (565 OPS)
• The line for the pitchers: .190/.190/.224 (414 OPS)
• The line for the catchers (Mike Matheny and Todd Greene): .239/.304/.348 (652 OPS)

The winner is...kinda...the catcher position, although without Greene's hot contribution Matheny's numbers would be 3rd to last. No big shockers there, I suppose, but I think we can all admit the catchers, 3rd base, and 2nd base offensive stats are much closer to the pitchers' than we'd like.

Looking at it another way, the Giants have given about 30.5% of their plate appearances to hitters who have the following line: .203/.278/.282 (Matheny, Feliz, Durham, and Vizcaino). About a third of the team's at-bats given to that...and I didn't include the pitcher's, mind you. How would this lineup look to you?

Omar Vizquel, SS

Solid Defensive .203 Hitter, 2B

Randy Winn, CF

Barry Bonds, LF

Moises Alou, RF

Sold Defensive .203 Hitter, 3B

Sweeney/Niekro, 1B

Solid Defensive .203 Hitter, C

Pitcher's Spot

If I went on to tell you that those three Solid Defensive .203 Hitters also hit a chunk more ground balls than fly balls, and doesn't that look like a rally-killer of a lineup?

Well, enough soapbox -- I doubt there is much the Giants can do about the situation, what with two of the culprits in Durham and Feliz and virtually untradeable at this point, Vizcaino just filling in, and Matheny not about to lose any playing time no matter how poorly he hits.

Well, Jon Miller has described the weather for today's game as, "Absolutely perfect in every way", so I 'spose I ought to get to watching.

Go Giants!