– According to York, the coaching staff thought there was a good chance Colin Kaepernick would play erratically against the Bears, and tried to lower York’s expectations heading into the second-year quarterback’s first NFL start.

– Jim Harbaugh sat down with York after the Bears game to discuss who’d start against the Saints, and the San Francisco 49ers head coach wasn’t sure whether York would approve of making a permanent switch from Alex Smith to Kaepernick.

Eisen: It’s one thing to say you want to get the right people and not micromanage. That’s one thing. It’s another to do it. Certainly in a situation like, oh, say, in the middle of the season your coach goes with a kid who’s never played before over the quarterback who took your team to the cusp of the Super Bowl the year before. I imagine you, in that position, that may be a moment where you have to catch yourself? Or do you just sit back and say you trust in the system, and that’s the end of that?

York: Well, either you trust in the system or you need to change the players in the system. I watched that experiment, where people thought we were nuts. And even a part of us probably thought we were nuts. We weren’t sure how Colin was going to play. He got drafted, and it’s very hard for any young rookie to come in and play, and we saw that with Alex. We kind of put Alex out there, front and center, very early in his career. And that probably wasn’t the best decision for us. You watch the contrast, and everyone compares Aaron Rodgers and Alex Smith. Aaron got to sit for a few years, and when he came out there he was much more ready to play by year three, as opposed to Alex in year one and really not having the opportunity to learn and mature. So you sort of take that knowledge, you learn from it, you let Colin sort of mature for a year.

Then the next half year, there was no thought that Colin was going to get out there and play. We got him in there in some of the wildcat packages and things like that. And then Alex unfortunately got hurt. So you throw Colin in there. He played pretty well in the game where he came in and subbed and then, I remember conversations the week leading up to the Bears, and it’s like, “Hey Jed, we’re not sure how he’s going to do. He might throw more interceptions to the other team than ours.”

Nobody knew how he was going to play, and everybody was sort of trying to defend, “Well, we drafted him in the second round, we’re not sure how he’s going to do.” And then he goes out there and lights it up.

And that’s where I give Jim and Trent just a tremendous amount of kudos, because they weren’t worried about what’s the world going to say if we make the switch. And I remember sitting down with Jim (after the Bears game, before the 49ers faced the Saints) and saying, “What do you think?” And he said, “You know, Jed, my gut says Kap.” I said, “Great.” And he just kind of looked at me. And he said, “You’re okay with that?” And I said, “You’re our coach.” If that’s what you believe, I support you 100%. And I could argue either one, but I understand why you’re doing this, and let’s see how it goes.

To have that culture that embraces failure, that will take a chance in order to get better, but know that there’s a chance where it blows up, that’s what I like and respect about the organization and the culture that we have right now.

During Harbaugh’s postgame press conference following the Bears game, something was definitely up. It was as if Harbaugh was somewhere else, almost in a dreamlike state — like he had seen a ghost, or witnessed some other supernatural occurrence that he still hadn’t fully processed. It seemed clear to me then that not only had Kaepernick exceeded expectations, he had convinced Harbaugh there was no going back. About 15 minutes later, Vernon Davis said, “Colin is THE MAN!” After that, I walked up to the pressbox and wrote this:

Nothing concrete was said, but my impression after all those press conferences is that Colin Kaepernick will start next week.

— Bay Area Sports Guy (@BASportsGuy) November 20, 2012

I ended up being right, but I had no idea Harbaugh had to sit down with York and get his approval before the decision was final. Some have said that the plan all along was to make Kaepernick the starter, and Smith’s concussion gave Harbaugh a perfect opportunity. That painted Harbaugh as remorseless and/or opportunistic. Based on what York told Eisen, that couldn’t have been further from the case — this was a difficult decision for all involved.

And then there’s Ryan Vogelsong. He hadn’t been right since the start of the season; his typical pinpoint command within the strike zone all but disappeared, along with his ability to get batters out. Just when it looked like he was turning the corner in Monday’s start against the Nationals — boom!  Broken pinkie bones on his pitching hand that will keep him sidelined through July.

The rotation’s overall ineffectiveness, unsurprisingly, has put a strain on the bullpen. But the bullpen’s had other problems aside from an increase in workload through the first quarter of the season, or perhaps because of it. Injuries have limited Jeremy Affeldt, who spent 18 days on the DL with an oblique strain, and Santiago Casilla, who’s now on the DL with a painful cyst in his right knee.

Simply put, the bullpen isn’t performing as well as expected.

Let’s start with Affeldt. He strained his right oblique muscle on April 15 and returned to action on May 3. Just before he landed on the DL, he pitched in a game against the Cubs, giving up a double and three walks in 1/3 of an inning. He blew the save and the Giants lost in extra innings. Perhaps he was already feeling the effects of oblique strain that day. Since coming off the DL, Affeldt’s yielded a .235/.297/.265 line to the 37 batters he’s faced. Still, for the season, Affeldt is sporting the lowest K/9 and the highest BB/9 of his career.

Of greatest concern is his fastball velocity; both his two-seam and four-seam fastballs are down more than 1 mph this season compared to last, and he’s relying them more. The velocity on his curveball is fine, but he’s throwing it much less frequently this year — 14.4% of his pitches vs. 27.1% in 2012. The  curveball is Affeldt’s out pitch. Perhaps he isn’t comfortable with his feel yet, or the oblique strain he suffered in April is affecting his ability to throw the pitch successfully. Either way, Affeldt’s been less effective without it.

Entering the season, manager Bruce Bochy planned to use Sergio Romo as his main closer, and that’s the way it’s played out so far. But Bochy relied on Affeldt to close on occasion last season even after Casilla developed a blister and Romo moved into the role. Affeldt has experience in high-leverage situations; even if Affeldt doesn’t like to close (as I reported back in February), he can do it successfully. But Affeldt’s oblique strain, his drop in velocity, and the strange disappearance of his curveball may give Bochy pause about using Affeldt if Romo is unavailable.

With Casilla on the DL, that leaves Javier Lopez as the other reliever with lots of experience in end-of-game high-leverage situations. Lopez had a bumpy start to the season — his spring training was shortened by a hand injury — but has pitched very well since mid-April. Lopez has extreme splits, however. Left-handed batters are hitting .212/.273/.255 off him vs. .333/.421/.500 for righties. Yes, we’re looking at a small sample size, but these splits are consistent over Lopez’s career. So Lopez can and has been quite effective when the opposing team sends several lefties in a row to the plate. But a lefty-righty-lefty-righty lineup can be trouble for Lopez.

The reliever some anticipated would be pushed into a higher profile role this season is George Kontos, but he’s been a bit of a disappointment so far. His strikeouts are down and his walks are up, leading to a 2.75 K/BB compared to 3.67 in 2012. As a right-hander, Kontos was more effective last season against right-handed batters, but his split was much less pronounced. In his (short) career, lefties have hit .253/.320/.433 off Kontos, but so far in 2013 that line is .419/.471/.839.

Bochy is likely familiar with these numbers. Kontos didn’t pitch at all in the series against the Nationals. The last time he pitched in a close game with the outcome in the balance was May 5 vs. the Dodgers. With the Giants leading 4-0 in the 8th inning, Kontos entered the game with one out and two men on base. He gave up a single and a walk and was lifted for Affeldt, who gave up consecutive singles. Three runs scored. Jean Machi got the final out. Kontos hasn’t seen a high-leverage situation since.

That leaves Machi, Jose Mijares, Chad Gaudin, and Sandy Rosario, who was recalled from Fresno after Casilla went on the DL. Machi’s been up and down to Triple-A several times so he’s seen limited action. He’s pitched well, but has little big-league experience. If Kontos continues to under perform, Machi is likely to gain that experience fast. Mijares is another lefty with a big platoon split, although he’s less effective than Lopez. Rosario’s kicked around the minors for years. He’s likely to see mop-up duty in games where the Giants are winning or losing by a large margin.

The big question is whether the Giants will slide Gaudin into a spot starter role to replace Vogelsong, at least in the short term. With the off day on Thursday, the Giants won’t need a starter until Tuesday’s game against the A’s. Lincecum will pitch Friday, Zito on Saturday, Cain on Sunday, and Bumgarner on Monday. They’ll need a fifth starter again for the June 2nd game against the Cardinals in St. Louis. The team then enjoys off days on June 3, June 6, and June 10, giving Bochy time to reshuffle the rotation and the bullpen.

One of Bochy’s managerial strengths is optimizing the performance of the bullpen. He will be put to the test over the next several weeks — if not longer — as bullpen roles shift as the team demands and performance warrants.

After dropping Game 5 to the Los Angeles Kings 3-0, the window looks like it’s closing yet again.

Although the better team won on Thursday night, the better team probably won’t end up winning this series. The Sharks have been better, although the record doesn’t reflect it. No loss looms larger than Game 2, when a dubious 5-on-3 power play breathed life into the Kings, who scored two goals in a matter of seconds to take a 2-0 series lead. Had the Sharks held on to win that game, they would be going into Game 6 at HP Pavilion with an opportunity to close out Los Angeles once and for all.

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

San Jose didn’t deserve to win tonight, a lot like the Kings didn’t deserve to win Game 2. If you’re looking for a more suitable comparison, Game 1 is actually the equal. They couldn’t crack Jonathan Quick then, and they couldn’t crack him on Thursday either. Even when the clock was closing in on zero and Pavelski turned a hard pass into a one-timer with a wide open net, the Kings’ netminder added a little insult to injury with his best save of the series. The goal wouldn’t have affected the outcome, but the save certainly punctuated it. Quick finished the night with 29 saves, 13 of which came in the third period, when the Sharks finally decided to put the pressure on.

Quick wasn’t the only problem the Sharks faced. The Kings came out throwing bodies left and right, and the hits never really subsided. Los Angeles did a phenomenal job taking ice away from the Sharks, who barely mustered a scoring chance through almost 30 minutes of hockey. Yet again, Antti Niemi was stellar (two goals allowed on 24 shots against), but this game was over after Anze Kopitar scored near the end of the second period.

The Sharks’ power play struggles continue to haunt them, and none stuck out more than their final opportunity after Joe Thornton dove got tripped at 10:26 in the third. Nine minutes was plenty of time for San Jose to climb back into the game, especially with the Kings initiating defense mode. But they couldn’t achieve — let alone sustain — offensive possession on the Kings’ penalty kill, and any life left in San Jose’s fight was pretty much gone.

From here on out, it’s sudden death time. The Sharks can push it to a Game 7 with a win at HP Pavilion on Sunday or they can lose and go home. If they get it back to LA, they’ll have to do what’s proven to be impossible: win a game in the Staples Center.

Off the Post

– Remember the Burns-Thornton-Galiardi line I was swooning over after Game 4? Todd McLellan broke it up after an ineffective 40 minutes, moving Galiardi to the third line with Gomez and Wingels while bumping Logan Couture up to skate with Thornton and Burns. Couture’s spot with Patrick Marleau and Joe Pavelski was filled by James Sheppard, but this had to be a temporary fix. Sheppard was a detriment to an otherwise talented line.

– Speaking of Couture, Joe Micheletti called him “Nathan” at one point during the game. Although I didn’t catch it, he later referred to this team as the “Vancouver Sharks.” I’m not sure what’s more insulting, calling San Jose “Vancouver” or calling San Jose “San Diego,” like another NBC broadcaster did during the 2011 Western Conference Finals.

– At this point, any complaints about Raffi Torres’s suspension will fall on deaf ears. Whether you like it or not, the suspension stands and he is out. That doesn’t discount how much the Sharks miss him in this series, though. According to ESPN.com’s box score, the Kings out-hit the Sharks 51-24. Other than Burns (who should be more focused on scoring than leveling people), San Jose didn’t have an answer for the Kings’ physicality. Torres is a factor the Sharks could really use, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him re-signed during the offseason.

– McLellan tried skating Jason Demers as a winger on the fourth line tonight. It didn’t work.

– Just how ineffective were the Sharks moving the puck? There were 11 icings before the midway point of the game. It’s not a stat you can track down easily (because usually it’s not very significant), but I’d be willing to bet they reached around 20, with the Sharks accounting for at least half of them.

Stuck on 10 wins to go with elimination looming. See you at The Tank on Sunday.

Believe me. It was not easy to shave down the “Best of” list because as the Brandons’ #1 Fan (100% self-proclaimed. If you would like to challenge me on this title, BRING IT ON), I think everything they do is pretty much “best of” material. I raked through tons of Internet in the process now have a stomachache from laughing. Enjoy.

Best of Brandon Crawford

Tweets

You may peg Brandon Belt as the winner of Twitter, but I gotta say, Brandon Crawford has some gems. Almost too many to post. So for the sake of not making this article really long, here are my top 3 favorites:

1. Trolling Brett Pill – this is way more effective than yelling “JOFFREY!” over and over at Spring Training like I did.

2. Sassy Crawford - Only 2nd to Sassy Buster Posey, I appreciate when Crawford has snark to help offset his handsomeness. I mean, there is SUBSTANCE behind that hair. And clearly, he has no problem working with a set of weights that could also be used by an 85-year-old in physical therapy:

3. Hair

I thought the fans were the only ones who were obsessed with Brandon Crawford’s hair. I’m starting to think that Brandon Crawford might also be obsessed with Brandon Crawford’s hair. And why wouldn’t he be? I went though his ENTIRE timeline (for the sake of research, obviously) and found like, 4 tweets about his haircuts. This one was my favorite:

Quotes

Most of these are pulled from his blog and are highly enjoyable:

1. He leads an exciting life: 

“In between video games I went to Subway, got a sandwich, came back to the hotel and watched “Quantum of Solace.’’ I still don’t know why it’s called Quantum of Solace. I played more video games”

2. Buster Posey’s twins don’t like him:

I take her and she starts screaming. She wanted her dad, not some guy she doesn’t know with a beard and long hair.

3. On getting tossed from a game for the first time:

“Did I get it that time?’’ I asked him.

“Get out of here!’’ he said.

“I didn’t know if he meant “get out of my sight’’ or “you’re out of the game.’’ I decided to go with “out of my sight.’’

4. On his favorite nicknames: 

“I try to ignore people who call me John Stamos. So definitely don’t go there.”

GIFS

Steve has put me on GIF restrictions since I’ve been going a little nuts with 12903821 GIFs per post so I’ll keep this to two GIFs – one that showcases his skills on the field and one funny one. Just like when you’re taking a group photo – one serious one, one SILLY one.

1. Good at defense. Very good at defense. 

He earned his nickname “The Professor” by playing a little street ball and with these tricks. We don’t get to see these moves at AT&T every night but I like knowing that he has it in his bag of tricks. Also #DefensePorn

2. More Sassiness

I mean, I don’t think I could love this GIF more than I do. This goes hand in hand with the #3 quote above – not happy with a prior call where the ump called him out for not touching the bag, he made damn sure he touched it this time:

Photos

Just some awesome pictures from the internet of Brandon Crawford.

Duckface selfies. Gotta hand it to Jalynne – she sure knows how to get Brandon to take an awesome Instagram picture

Vintage Crawford with his sister

Oh nothing, just Brandon Crawford and a walrus

Extra! 

I don’t want to blow up his spot, but Brandon Crawford used to be on Myspace. And it is absolutely, positively, wonderful. I mean, he TyPeS lIkE tHis for a lot of it. He also has a picture of shirtless Tupac throwing up the Westside! sign uploaded to his profile. This man is amazing. We are so blessed.

Best of Brandon Belt

Tweets

Full disclosure. I think Brandon Belt is the best. THE BEST. So I poured myself a bowl of wine, and settled in to read ALL his tweets – EVER. These are my favorites:

1. Olive Garden <3 <3 <3 

If you don’t know that Brandon Belt loves Olive Garden, kindly remove yourself from my sight. Seriously though, he loves it. I hear more interviews where he talks about Olive Garden and the Tour of Italy than I do about his hitting approach. This tweet was posted through the SF Giants account when they were doing a round of #AskBelt. When twitter user @thatirishguy28 asked what Brandon Belt would do if Olive Garden closed down, he responded:

Also, “their” instead of “there”. I adore you, Brandon Belt.

2. Channing Tatum Enthusiast

…and loser of bets too, during mini-golf. Who could forget this infamous tweet:

3. Secure on the field. Insecure on Twitter. 

When Belt first joined Twitter he blew up everyone’s timelines, for better lack of terms. Hey, I’m not complaining. It was awesome. Apparently not everyone thought it was that cool though. Former minor league teammate Tommy Joseph didn’t dig it all that much, and Belt let his newbie Twitter insecurity show:

Quotes

Again, Most of these are pulled from his blog with Crawford:

1. On presenting an award to Carrie Underwood: 

“It’s funny because I was so nervous that I didn’t really think to take a sniff. Her hair did get in my mouth a little bit and it tasted like oranges. That’s what I got for you on that.”

2. On his new mode of transportation to the ballpark: 

“So the inaugural ride was this afternoon. The scooter has an electric motor with a Turbo button (which means about 25 mph at top speed).  So I was hauling butt down the Embarcadero to the park. Well, hauling butt as much as you can when you’re riding on the sidewalk. I don’t like riding in the street if I don’t have to. To be honest, I don’t know if scooters are even allowed on the sidewalk. I’m just going to keep going until somebody stops me.”

3. More Olive Garden

“Even on the road, I’m opposed to trying new restaurants. If the food isn’t very good, my whole night is ruined because I could have gone to Olive Garden.”

4. Grooming Habits

“Back home in Texas, I was able to go out and find the shaver I’ve always had, the Peanut.”

GIFS

1. Wow. But also, so Brandon Belt. 

This play is unbelievable. Even better that he made it under pressure in Game 1 of the NLDS. Brandon Belt is very good with his glove. That being said, this was the most awkward beautiful defense I’ve ever seen. I love how he pops up from the crowd.

2. Full of Emotion

It was between this one and when Buster Posey turkey tapped him, but ultimately this pure display of joy won me over. In this moment, he is so bro-like, I couldn’t resist.

Photos

I love how nerdy this photo is. I also love how it’s not 100% nerdy because Storm Troopers are guarding our World Series Trophy. The fact is, I just love that Brandon Belt did this.

Well. This one I included because it is adorable. Brandon with his wife Haylee looking fresh-faced and in one of those poses they put you in when you go to Sears to get your portrait taken. I mean, is there anything more Baby Giraffe and Giraffe-ess than this picture?

Full disclosure here. This is not a real picture. This is just a Brandon Belt’s head glued onto a cartoon of someone riding a scooter. I just want so badly for this photo to exist that I had to find a way for it to make it happen. I think it really captures the essence of what he must really look like scootin’ down the Embarcadero, paper’s flying all about, huge grin on his face, protective knee pads. Doesn’t he look so happy?

Better Together 

Separate Brandons are pretty rad. But two Brandons together are the best. Peanut Butter & Jelly. Batman & Robin. Garlic Fries & Seagulls. Let them never be separated and have them grow old together, until Brandon Crawford’s hair is gray but still full of body and Brandon Belt’s gangly body is limp over a walker – forever and ever, until the end of time.

PFF recently published “Quarterback Responsible Sacks,” which (as the name suggests) assigns blame for a percentage of sacks. To determine blame, PFF used the amount of time in the pocket. “Four seconds is the time over which we say the QB takes responsibility,” Neil Hornsby of PFF writes. “But this excludes instances where they were pressured within that limit, had to take evasive action with no opportunity to throw the ball away, but got taken down after it.”

The numbers here (minimum 300+ drop-backs) prove to be quite surprising given that they run counter to expectation — especially in Palmer’s case.

Carson Palmer was found to not be responsible for ANY of the 26 sacks and only one of the seven QB hits registered. By comparison, in his 119 snaps under center as a Green Bay Packer in 2011, Matt Flynn was credited with two of the four sacks he took.

Smith was not included in the chart, because he fell 31 drop-backs short of the 300+ minimum. He, like Kaepernick, was also responsible for three of the times he was sacked, which would put Smith at 1.1% (between Kaepernick and Michael Vick). It is worth noting that Russell Wilson (the third most pressured QB in the league) was responsible for a whooping nine sacks and ten QB pressures. Manufactured or otherwise, this should provide fodder for the Kaepernick/Wilson debate.

But that begs the question. Now that Woodson has signed, what are the biggest areas of need for the Raiders?

Pass Rush

The Raiders had almost no ability to put pressure on the quarterback in 2012. It didn’t help that the secondary could not cover wideouts for more than a second or two, but either way, the pass rushers were simply not getting there. Only the Jacksonville Jaguars had fewer sacks than the Raiders in 2012.

The Raiders have attempted to address this through the signing of Andre Carter, the drafting of Sio Moore and potentially moving Lamarr Houston to the right side on occassion.

But really, only Moore has the potential to be a truly impactful pass rusher. Carter is getting older and, while he contributes, is past the point where he can be dominant. Meanwhile, Houston is a very good end, but has been more of an all-around player than a pass rush specialist.

Defensive Tackle

The Raiders said goodbye to their two starting defensive tackles from 2012 and signed two new ones in free agency — Pat Sims and Vance Walker. The Raiders also have holdover Christo Bilukidi, whom they drafted in the sixth round a year ago, and they added Stacey McGee in the sixth round of the 2013 NFL Draft.

Of these four who will likely be in the rotation at defensive tackle, only Walker has shown that he has the ability to be an every down starter. Sims is more of a run stopper and both Bilukidi and McGee are young and raw.

Right Tackle

This section was originally going to be the offensive line in general, but now that it looks like Tony Bergstrom is ready to compete for, if not win, the starting left guard spot, right tackle is the only glaringly bad position on the offensive line.

The Raiders have been looking for an answer to their woes at right tackle for years now without success. The most recent player to man the spot has been Khalif Barnes. While he had a decent year in 2012 and has been better than some of the right tackles in recent Raiders history, he’s a penalty machine and isn’t great in pass protection. He is easily the biggest weakness on the offensive line.

The Raiders used a second round pick on tackle Menelik Watson out of Florida State. Watson has shown the potential to be a dominant tackle in the NFL, but he has only played football for two years. Even if he can unseat Barnes, his rookie season will likely have some tough learning experiences.

Now, clearly there are other positions which could afford to be upgraded by the Raiders, but these three are the most glaring areas of need. If the Raiders are unable to take a big step forward in 2012, one of, if not all of these weaknesses on their roster will be a major reason why.

But don’t give up hope yet. As the Woodson signing has shown, the offseason is not over. There will likely be some solid players with potential who will be released from teams because of numbers rather than a lack of talent. Keep a close eye on the Seattle Seahawks – they in particular have a ton of defensive linemen and a quality player could find himself on the outs as a result.

Instead of bunting and running hard for seemingly no reason like he did with regularity on Tuesday night, Harper played how one would usually expect on a brisk Wednesday afternoon. He hit an opposite-field home run in the 6th to break a 0-0 tie, made a great catch on a sinking line drive by Hunter Pence in the 8th inning, and scored the game-winning run on Ian Desmond’s single after doubling in the 10th.

“I wanted to go fastball down and away right there. Maybe a little off the plate” said Bumgarner on the 1-2 pitch that led to Harper’s home run. “It didn’t catch a whole lot of the plate. It was a pretty decent pitch, just not a good two strike pitch. It was up. He made a good adjustment and put a good swing on it.”

All in all, it’s difficult to find much fault with how the Giants performed in their first series at AT&T Park after their 1-5 road trip. They won 8-0 on Monday, then the games got interesting. The Giants came back from one run down late in both of the next two games against a Nationals team that seems a lot more talented than their 24-23 record would indicate. And they might have finished the job in the 8th today, if it weren’t for Harper’s sliding catch and a nice play by Adam LaRoche on a sharply-hit ball off the bat of pinch-hitter Brandon Belt. More on Belt a little later.

Except for one misplay by Marco Scutaro (more on him later, too), the Giants didn’t commit an error over these three games. That, along with three excellent outings from the starters, makes the Giants seem like a completely different team than the one we saw get destroyed in Toronto and Colorado (yes, even with Ryan Vogelsong going down with a hand fracture).

Matt Cain and Stephen Strasburg started slow before looking like aces in the last three innings of their respective seven-inning outings last night, and Bumgarner and Gio Gonzalez almost mirrored each other’s pitching lines today: 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO for Bumgarner … 7 1/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 SO for Gonzalez.

“Come off a tough road trip and these guys have bounced back well. And they’ve had a history of doing that,” Bruce Bochy said. “They got on track here, which we needed. This is more of our baseball, and sure it’s a tough loss today but you have to be encouraged by how we did play.”

The Giants are a very accomplished team. Lately it seems like they’re a group that plays to their competition, winning five of seven games against the Braves and Nationals with a nightmarish road trip in between.

Stolen BASGs

– Harper’s failure to get back and catch Gregor Blanco’s triple last night led to closer Rafael Soriano making some interesting remarks after the game.

“With two outs and the tying run at first, you have to play the outfield so the ball doesn’t go over your head,” Soriano said in Spanish.

“It may not have been a catchable ball, but if we’re positioned the right way, there might have been a different outcome. With two outs, I could tell my 4-year-old son, ‘You know where you need to play,’ and he would have positioned himself better. It’s not an excuse, and I’m not speaking badly about anybody, but I think that’s how you play the game.”

 The hard-nosed Harper acknowledged his collision with a fence at Dodger Stadium eight days before – which forced him to miss three games and left him with a facial gash that required 11 stitches – was a factor in the game’s critical play.

“Absolutely,” said Harper, insisting he should have made the catch. “Of course it crosses your mind after you jam into a wall, and it doesn’t really feel very good. It sucks not making the play. I totally put that loss on me.”

The two reportedly patched things up privately before today’s game, then Harper made up for whatever he thinks he did wrong last night, and then some.

– Scutaro came up in the 8th with his 19-game streak on the line and took a close slider on 3-2 to walk for the second time. He got another chance in the 10th, but his fly ball was caught at the warning track by left fielder Roger Bernadina to end the game.

“He just missed it,” Bochy said.

– Final numbers during Scutaro’s now-concluded streak: 79 PA, 38 hits, 7 walks, 3 strikeouts(!), .481/.523/.646

– No word on Santiago Casilla. Bochy said he would talk to Dave Groeschner after the game to here what the prognosis was after his visit to Stanford Hospital today.

– I’m sorry to all the Brett Pill fans out there, but he is completely overmatched against big league pitching. Bochy said before the game that Belt was dealing with some back tightness, but then he was sent up to hit in place of Pill in the 8th and came very close to collecting the game-winning hit. With Belt playing so well in May, I believe he should be the everyday starter no matter who’s on the mound. Belt’s career OPS versus right-handed pitchers is .754, and against lefties it’s .779.

I also didn’t make it to Golden State Warriors Day last night because I was at the Giants game, but I missed another moment that showed how Lee’s excitement about sports-related matters is probably not to be believed.

“Well, you know what they say,” said Lee, as he picked up Stephen Curry’s recent Sports Illustrated cover. “You give Steve Curry an inch … and he might take a Golden State, uh, mile!”

It’s got to be special, receiving the key of the city from a mayor who doesn’t know your name.

This kind of thing is fine if you’re Metta World Peace, who’s insane and provides enough running commentary during playoff games to show he knows the game fairly well.

Curry gets the #Twinhearts co sign I think Steve Curry is Top 10 in the NBA. If he works on his defense , he will be MVP next year.

— Metta World Peace (@MettaWorldPeace) May 9, 2013

But Lee sure sounds like the kind of guy who calls runs “points” at a baseball game and field goals “touchdowns” when the 49ers are on, doesn’t he?

(h/t to D Wizzle’s World)

It’s a tough blow for Crabtree, whose career was taking off and surely looked forward to a full season with a quarterback he actually liked working with for once. But life goes on for the 49ers, who can’t go into next season hoping Crabtree will come back in five months like Baltimore Ravens linebacker Terrell Suggs. Here’s what they’re looking at right now:

Doctors believed last night that Michael Crabtree’s torn Achilles would sideline him six months and recommended surgery asap.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) May 22, 2013

Update on Michael Crabtree. He already has undergone surgery on torn Achilles.

— Chris Mortensen (@mortreport) May 22, 2013

If the recovery time ends up being six months, that would put Crabtree back on the field in … hold on … late November. However, that’s on the short end of things, and Suggs’ case is an exception to the Achilles rule.

In March 2010, four orthopedic doctors at Duke University published a study that reviewed the careers of NFL players after suffering a ruptured Achilles tendon between 1997 and 2002. The doctors concluded that only about two-thirds of players returned to the field.

Of the 31 players who tore their Achilles tendons, 21 came back at an average of 11 months after the injury. Those players saw a decrease in the number of games they played and a dip in production in the three seasons after their return.

Khalid Shirzad, one of the specialists who contributed to the study, said the average number of games played by the 21 players slid from 11.7 per year before the injury to 6.2. Shirzad said the data collected also showed that the players’ “power ratings” — what the researchers defined as a statistical measure of performance, ranging from passing and rushing yards for an offensive player to tackles and interceptions for a defensive player — decreased nearly 50 percent.

The surgical landscape in 2013 is different than it was three years ago, and Crabtree *probably* had his surgery performed by an outstanding medical team at Stanford. But 2014 is a contract year for Crabtree, and it wouldn’t make a lot of sense to rush back if doing so might jeopardize his future earnings.

The idea of Crabtree making a triumphant return in December or the playoffs provides a way for 49ers fans to cope with today’s news. However, the 49ers have to not just get to the playoffs without Crabtree, but figure out a way to win playoff games without a receiver who caught 20 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns in three postseason games last season.

We simply don’t know if Crabtree has enough time to come back and contribute anything this season. What we do know is this injury occurred early enough to give Jim Harbaugh and Greg Roman plenty of time to adjust their offense to compensate for the loss of their No. 1 receiver, as well as several months for Colin Kaepernick to find a new favorite target. The first step is to look at the depth chart.

1. Anquan Boldin

The rest: Mario Manningham, Kyle Williams, A.J. Jenkins, Quinton Patton, Ricardo Lockette, Chad Hall, Marlon Moore, Joe Hastings

Williams and Manningham are both returning from ACL tears. Jenkins didn’t catch a pass in his rookie season (but he gained four whole pounds this offseason, and if we assume it’s muscle I guess that’s something). Jim Harbaugh’s fun anecdote about Patton, along with the fourth-rounder’s production at La. Tech, have led to expectations for the rookie receiver that are probably unfair at this point. The other guys are all journeymen hoping for a chance.

Blech.

As Niners Nation points out, the list of available free agents is filled with egomaniacs and retreads (including Randy Moss, feel free to choose which category he goes in). The 49ers need to move the ball with the guys they already have under contract, which means they’re probably going to have to depend on skill position players who aren’t wide receivers more than most — if not all — NFL teams in 2013. With that in mind, here are four players the 49ers may depend on to fill the void left by Crabtree.

Vernon Davis: In the two years before Harbaugh and Roman took over the offense, Davis caught 134 passes for 1,879 yards and 20 touchdowns. Those numbers dropped to 108 receptions, 1,340 yards and 11 TD over the last two seasons. Davis has the highest cap number on the team this season at $8.7 million, and the 49ers will need him to earn most of that as a receiver instead of a blocker.

LaMichael James: He caught five passes for 40 yards over four regular season and three playoff games. The 49ers were probably planning on expanding his game and putting him in more spots on the field in his second season anyway, and now they have even more reason to get creative.

Vance McDonald: McDonald is smart enough to pick up the offense quickly. If he can put his knowledge to good use, run solid routes and get open, he’ll get targeted. A lot.

Garrett Celek: We could definitely see times when Davis is used as the primary deep threat, with Boldin, McDonald and Celek all working underneath at the same time.

The offense could look more Stanford-ish next season than at any other time since Harbaugh was hired, with 3-TE sets becoming commonplace and Roman counting on the best offensive line in the league to propel an offense that runs to set up the pass. Remember, even though the 49ers lost a star in Crabtree this week, they have another star in Frank Gore who refuses to let age and/or a high usage rate affect him.

That need has been filled by former Oakland Raider and future Hall of Famer, Charles Woodson.

Before Woodson signed to come back and play with the team that drafted him fourth overall back in 1998, the Raiders’ only options at free safety were Usama Young, a guy cut by the Cleveland Browns, Reggie Smith, who had been out of football for a year and Brandian Ross, a converted practice squad corner with no experience.

Woodson instantly becomes the best option. Woodson, 36, is not the player he used to be, but he can still contribute on the field. His instincts and experience help him make up for lost speed and his maturity will help the rest of the defense simply due to having a coach on the field with them (something that Slowlando McClain was supposed to provide but never did).

And then there are the impacts Woodson will have off of the field. During his first stint with the Raiders, Woodson was still young an immature. However, since going to Green Bay, he has matured into a natural leader and a great mentor for younger players.

Don’t be surprised if Woodson spends as much time at the dry erase board and in front of the video screen as the defensive coaches. The Raiders just drafted a corner in the first round with DJ Hayden and they have a fairly young secondary in general with guys like Usama Young, Tyvon Branch, Tracy Porter, Mike Jenkins and a group of young backup corners.

While Woodson was brought in for what he can do on the field, what he will do off the field in teaching these young players may wind up being even more impactful.

The Raiders are clearly still in rebuilding mode and the signing of Woodson is not going to suddenly catapult them into the playoff picture. Yet with that being said, Woodson was the final piece in the puzzle that took the Raiders’ secondary from one of the worst in the league in 2012 to a respectable unit and a possible defensive strength in 2013.

Oakland is still a year or two away from being a playoff team, but the 2013 squad is certainly not the worst roster in the NFL, as Rotoworld had recently claimed. There is still time for McKenzie to add players to the team, but as it stands now, the Raiders are poised to show some dramatic improvement in terms of on-field play, even if it does not immediately translate in the win column.