After a night off from the Giants saga, I watched them lose yet another game against a team with a winning record from the comfort of a Portland living room. My wife’s friend dozed on the couch, my wife played on her phone, and I watched the Royals win 7-4 while suppressing giggles.
What else can you do? The Giants are technically in the playoff hunt, and maybe they’ll turn things around at some point between now and the end of September … but this is not a good team right now. A good team wouldn’t be 5-22 in their last 27 games against teams that are over .500. A good team wouldn’t be licking their wounds this afternoon after getting swept for the fourth time since June 15 (sixth time if you count the two-game interleague series in Chicago and Oakland).
This game was just like so many others over the last two months, except they still found a way to lose while scoring four runs. Six runs in 3.1 innings from the starting pitcher didn’t help.
Extra BASGs
— Tim Lincecum went on a tear that started with the no-hitter against San Diego, going 4-1 with a 0.95 ERA over 38 innings (all against losing teams). Since his emergency save in Philadelphia, Lincecum has allowed 20 runs (all earned) and 28 hits in 17 innings (all against winning teams).
— The Royals ran wild on Lincecum and catcher Andrew Susac. Kansas City stole seven bases in all, five off Lincecum. The Giants answered with two steals in the ninth inning, including Gregor Blanco’s preposterous decision to steal third with the tying run at the plate and the Giants down three.
— The Giants didn’t hit a home run today.
#SFGiants are 43-18 (.705) when they hit at least one HR.
— #SFGStats (@SFG_Stats) August 9, 2014
They’re 19-38 when they don’t.
— The Dodgers won 5-1; Clayton Kershaw is 14-2; the Giants face a 4.5-game deficit in the NL West and a half-game behind Pittsburgh for the second wild card spot.
— The good news: the Giants are returning home; Angel Pagan’s return has turned everything around; they only play five games over the next eight days.
— Until his four-pitch walk in the ninth, I forgot Buster Posey was playing. Along with Hunter Pence and Pablo Sandoval, the 2-3-4 hitters went 2-for-14.
— Add “ingrown toenail” to the constantly growing (and diversifying) list of Giants injuries. And you thought there was no way Michael Morse could run any slower.
— Blanco keeps stealing bases in the dumbest situations, which means the Giants’ coaching staff doesn’t care or Blanco isn’t listening. Based on how Bruce Bochy looked after Blanco made it safely to third, the coaches definitely have opinions. Blanco is arbitration-eligible after the season, if you’re wondering what his problem is.
— No recap of last night’s game — not because the game was awful (which it was), but because I attended my first MLS game. The Portland Timbers beat Chivas USA 2-0 last night at Providence Park, which was a minor league baseball stadium the last time I was in Portland. The “Timbers Army” chanted throughout the game, the energy was ridiculously high from kickoff through the final whistle, and I had a tremendous time despite Chivas being a really bad soccer team. We only watched the first few innings of Giants-Royals last night, but I definitely didn’t feel like I missed much.
