The Giants have had some exciting, notable and cathartic wins this year. You remember ’em. I don’t need to be a good little blogger and search the game schedule for evidence. But it’s tough to remember a win over the last few years that had all three of those qualities and at the same time felt as natural as tonight’s 7-3 victory over the Padres. This wasn’t another one of those weird wins. There weren’t any important fielding errors made by the other team in the late innings. No wild pitches that led to a lucky Giant sprinting home from third. Not even any umpire senility or hit batsmen.
All of this could feel wildly different tomorrow depending on how the Giants follow up tonight’s manhandling of the Padres, whose fans apparently cared more about tonight’s Jersey Shore episode than the NL West race (and let’s face it, sweeping the Dodgers isn’t anywhere near as exciting as the adventures of J-Woww). Still, this game was interesting in the way it was won. Absolute dominance and “The Giants’ Way” have hardly been synonyms, but how else could you describe what happened tonight?
Nothing could stop the Giants tonight. Andres Torres had the wrong kind of hat trick, but all people will remember is how he laced a triple to start the game (laser show). Bruce Bochy purposely left a pitcher out an inning longer than he should have, and then removed Javier Lopez when it wasn’t necessary, and it didn’t matter.
Imagine what the Giants could do if they played in a hitter’s park like Petco! Am I right?
How could a win get more textbook than having your four best (only?) power hitters play a game of can-you-top-this? Aubrey Huff’s homer was a blast. Buster Posey’s was listed at 399 feet, a joke of an estimate where someone’s virtual tape measure must not have been long enough. (Who calculates these home run distances, anyway? Can’t we get Google to put down whatever silly map they’re working on and fix this instead?) Juan Uribe was so impressed by his blast to right-center, he almost forgot the jazz-hands. Then Pat Burrell went cartoon character on us.
Compare the Giants’ constant blasts with how Cain muffled the Padres’ bats, and it’s tempting to wonder if this was one team officially passing the other with a Michael Phelps-like finishing kick or just another example of good fortune once again setting up Giants supporters to get hurt that much more intensely in a few weeks.
