Why would you leave Howry in? C'mon Boch!

What a frustrating loss!

Cain throws an absolute gem, and we let the game get away in 10.

Of course the Gyros' continual lack of execution with runners on base killed us, but in the end, it was a foolish Dusty Baker-eque managerial decision that sealed the deal.

It's not all on Bochy of course, but all of us in Giants Nation feel like Bobby Howry is THE LEAST trustworthy arm in our pen.

Every time Lurch Howry manages to pitch a scoreless inning, we all breathe a sigh of relief. We don't feel that way with Affeldt, Miller, or even Romo and Medders.

I swear to you on my life, I groaned aloud and wondered why Howry was still in the game to pitch a second inning. I bet you all did too. I could feel the uncertainty and was talking to myself the whole time. It seemed inevitable. Then of course, wide-eyed rookie Drew Stubbs, who had a silver sombrero going, crushed a ball into left field.

I wanted to throw out a few musings on the last two games though...

-- Zito pitched one helluva game on Wednesday. I had my misgivings about it. All the signs were there for a less than stellar outing. As you may have read in this article by my colleague PJ, Zito's numbers when working with Bengie Molina are far worse than when he works with any other catcher. That was strike one. Strike two of course is the bandbox known as Great American Ballpark, where balls fly out toward the Ohio River constantly. But, Zeets bucked the trend and threw 6 strong shutout innings.

Perhaps if Zeets had been given the opportunity to work another inning, Howry wouldn't have been called upon to pitch two on Thursday.

-- Not sure why I never noticed this, but Bronson Arroyo's bizzare leg kick reminds me of a pirate. He literally kicks his erect leg straight up and out, like a 2x4 attached to his thorax. I almost pulled my hammy and butt muscles just thinking about doing it...

-- In the second inning on Wednesday, Arroyo struck out Edgar Renteria on three pitches. To call them offspeed is being generous. 66mph, 74, and 76 consecutively on the radar gun. Grab some pine, meat.

-- Bengie Molina walked TWICE on Tuesday... STOP THE PRESSES.

-- Despite Garko's ofer on Thursday, he seems to be heating up. We'll need that in Denver.

-- Oh yeah... great graphic on CSN on Wednesday... The Giants lead MLB in shutouts with 16. The next closest team? Cincy with 11. We're kicking ass.

-- Krukow was in rare form in this series. I'm seriously thinking of compiling a book of "Krukowisms" or "Krookisms". Don't steal my idea, I think this means its copyrighted.

On Matt Cain's multiple bloop hits allowed:

"(Cain) is leaving some of his brain on the broken bat singles"

and of course...

About Jonny Gomes's aggressive approach:

"That's a yank-hack... he's trying to lift and separate."

Love that guy!

-- This Denver series is huge, and will play a huge part in whether Los Gigantes can hang in the Wild Card race. We're currently back 2 games of the Rockpile...

A sweep of course would put us in the lead by two games, with 2 out of 4 bringing us keeping us at the status quo. (God I sound like Tim McCarver... sorry)

Of course if we get swept... we'd be back 6 games. Though not totally insurmountable... that would be absolutely devastating. This is where it counts, boys...

We've got The Spaniard, Money Martinez, and Timmy going against Colorado with Zeets pulling up the rear. Let's do this.

-- ESPN has decided to cover the NL West! Tim Kurkjian (my favorite Armenian sportswriter!) wrote an article about the SF/COL race. The headline is "Giants don't have the bats to keep up with the Rockies".

Well, that may be true on paper, but they don't have the arms to compete with us. We can shut them down in their own yard.

Jay Mariotti and Tim Cowlishaw were slobbering all over the Giants on Around the Horn yesterday. I like it.

Let's kick ass and take names.

Timmy struggles, we still get the W

Timmy was definitely not himself out there tonight. His 5 earned runs are the most he's given up since May 15th vs. the Mets. He's still a freak, but he's human after all.

-- Another questionable call by the umpires. Homer Bailey stroked one down the 1st base line to break open the game in the second inning. Lincecum and Bengie Mo immediately protested the call, even while the ball was still in play. Bochy subsequently got thrown out for arguing it. Naturally the only cameras at the ballpark missed the play, so I can't condemn the play one way or the other.

Bochy has now been ejected 5 times this year and 3 times in the last 2 weeks. Love it. According to this Forbes article, Bochy is the 5th most ejected manager in baseball since 2004. Love it more. Never woulda guessed that though...

-- Timmy grew up in the Seattle area and prefers the temperature on the cool side. In his last two starts with 4 earned runs or more (in Atlanta and Cincy). The weather in ATL was 83 degrees with 64% humidity. The weather Tuesday in the Queen City was 82 degrees with 72% humidity.

Timmy doesn't like that stuff. Timmy likes fog.

-- Despite Randy Winn's newfound stroke, I still think it's totally wrong to sit Nate Schierholtz.

-- Nate Schierholtz is hitting .411 against lefties this season.

-- Nate Schierholtz is left handed. Go figure.

Glad that one's over... On to Cincinnati

Despite the split in New York, it just didn't feel very satisfying. I suppose that's what splits will do to you...

A few observations on the Mets and Citi Field first though:

--The Mets are a team in shambles. Injuries have just racked this squad and you can tell its players are just barely hanging onto relevance. With David Wright now out for awhile, they simply have no one out there to lead the replacements. I've always loved Jeff Francoeur and Gary Sheffield, but neither are real leaders.

Then again, were Delgado, Jose Reyes, or Carlos Beltran?

Oh yeah, I forgot, this has been why they've collapsed year after year.

--I've always thought Mets manager Jerry Manuel to be somewhat of a dunce. He stabbed Willie Randolph in the back last year, and Manuel was dopey with the White Sox too. I never cared for him. But now... well now, I've really got a reason.

He also once said, "I don't like to rely on stats."

So flip a coin, Jerry.

Whether or not Manuel ordered the two retaliatory bean balls or whether the artist formerly known as Johan Santana did that on his own accord... pretty classless moves overall. That goes back to the culture and leadership of the Mets. That is on Jerry Manuel.

Matt Cain is not malicious, and he never would have hit anyone in the head on purpose, especially a class act like David Wright. To hit both Sandoval and Bengie was blatant and unacceptable-- not to mention totally unwarranted.

Absolutely moronic and classless.


--Citi Field looks, well... how do I put this?

Lame.

It looks like a futuristic version of old Shea Stadium. There are no background views, ridiculous wind tunnels, too much foul territory, and unhappy fans. There is zero about this stadium on television that makes it stand out. It's something like a bland version of Philadelphia and Washington. The best part about this stadium are the colorful ads. Seriously. The old school Pepsi sign is my favorite thing.


The trademarks of all new stadiums are the architectural styling, bold lines, and skyline backdrops. There are subtle and bold examples of this. Pittsburgh has a great view of the city, San Diego has the old brick building, Houston has the hill in center and the train tracks, Cincy has the riverboat smoke stacks, Milwaukee has the Bernie Brewer Slide. Hell, even the refurbished Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City looks better than Citi Field.

New York City has so many things to work with, and they just blew it. Like Nationals Park in D.C., there is nothing about this place that stands out. It honestly looks depressing in there. I see a nearly totally enclosed, cavernous, nearly Three Rivers Stadium-esque ballpark with bizarre dimensions.

Pathetic.

--As for the Giants, it was a so-so effort. Granted, the 10-1 win on Monday as well as the 10th inning win on Saturday felt good. It's just the other times when we can't put any offense together that just drag us down. Let's hope the awakening that occurred in the series finale can carry over into Cincinnata (that's how they say it).

-- Stay hot A.U. Velez! He's hitting .500 in the past two games with 2 runs and 2 RBI. He's now hitting .306 on the season.

I've been one of his harshest, most vulgar critics, but he's slowly but surely winning me over. He seems to be somehow getting how to hit. His plate discipline is greatly improved, and he's currently impersonating an offensive catalyst. Imagine that... a real leadoff hitter.

I would like to see him more active as a base stealer though. Despite his speed, he's only attempted to steal 3 times, being caught once.

--Bochy will have to make some decisions about the outfield. With A.U. and Nate The Great ripping the balls all over the place, how can they be kept out of the lineup? Randy Winn needs to sit. We are in a Wild Card race here, and despite his 4/9 stretch over the past two games, he should be the odd man out. All Schierholtz does is hit, and his arm is Francoeur-like. It's a sin not to start him every day.

-- Did you know, Randy Winn's real name is Dwight Randolph Winn?

-- Did you also know that D.R. Winn (Doctor Winn anyone?) is making $9.6 million dollars this season?

-- Did you know that Noah Lowry is being paid $4.5 million this season?

-- Did you know that when we released Dave Roberts earlier this year, we were required to continue paying him his $6.5 million dollar salary?

-- Aaron Rowand, Randy Winn, Noah Lowry, and Dave Roberts cost the Giants a total of $32.6 million this season alone. The stats we got from these four guys (obviously Rowand and Winn as of Sunday): .264 avg, 101 runs, 11 HR, 89 RBI, 14 SB.

That would be a really nice season for Matt Kemp or Bobby Abreu. Doesn't that just make your stomach churn?

-- Happy Lincecum day everyone! Homer Bailey is on the mound for the Reds on Tuesday. If you were ever going to bet on baseball... this would be the game.

--Breaking news as I'm writing this. Stephen Strasburg signs with the Nats for just under $16 million. Awesome. I'm so glad they didn't give him more. Eff you Scott Boras.

-- The Giants also signed the 6th overall pick, RHP Zack Wheeler. They gave him just under $3.3 million. Wheeler, out of HS in Georgia, had a 0.54 ERA in his senior season. He steps into the system void left by the trades of Scott Barnes and Timmy Alderson. Godspeed young Wheeler. Godspeed.