San Francisco Giants Morning Minute: The Second-Place Edition!
On this edition of the San Francisco Giants Morning Minute, we discuss the team’s nosedive taking them straight to second place.
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Good morning, San Francisco Giants’ fans, and welcome to another edition of the Giants Morning Minute. On Tuesday, the Giants dropped game two of their series to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-3. Antonio Bastardo (1-0) was successful in his first decision of the season, while Derek Law (4-2) took the loss. Tony Watson earned his sixth save.
And if that wasn’t bad enough, the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 15-5. That victory vaults them ahead of the Giants in the National League West by a half game. The Giants lead the NL Wildcard race by three games.
So, uh, let’s get to it.
1 – The Second-Place Team
Well, this is really unfamiliar territory. It was written last week when the Giants and Dodgers were tied atop the National League West that the Giants were in a new position, having held first place all by themselves since the middle of May. But Tuesday’s loss, coupled with the Dodgers big win over the Phillies, puts the Giants in second place all by themselves for the first time since May 10th.
The guys wearing the uniforms know what’s happening. They aren’t ignorant to the fact that they aren’t the leaders of the divisional pack anymore, and no amount of angry tweets, thrown remote controls, or punched walls will bring them around out of this slump. It’s on the players to turn this thing around.
The offense has struggled to score runs consistently. Yes, they’ve been a lot better lately, but the clutch hit late in games is still missing. The long ball has been few and far between. And they still can’t seem to catch that big break they need. It’s a combination of everything all at once.
Pitching has been less than stellar, and it’s happening at the most inopportune times. Hunter Strickland and Santiago Casilla have maybe their worst outings of the year on the same day, and let a four-run lead slip away. Derek Law, who has been the team’s most consistent reliever, leaves a fastball over the plate in a 1-2 count, which Jung-Ho Kang hits over the wall in center fielder to put the Pirates ahead 4-3.
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The Giants weren’t as good as their first-half record showed, when they owned the best record in baseball despite playing with half of their lineup patched together with backups and minor leaguers. They’re not as bad as their second half record, the worst in baseball, would make one think. There hasn’t really been a middle ground yet. That’s what this team is searching for, that middle ground.
They have to find a point where the pitching keeps the team in it, and the lineup has to start piling on some runs. There’s no question that there’s lots of room for improvement, and luckily, there is still time to figure that out. There’s 43 games left in the season. And this is one of those of times where they have to put on their big boy pants and start playing up to their caliber.
All we can do is continue to watch and hope for the best. Sometimes, hope is all we have.
2 – Posey Toughs It Out
After two days off with a tight back, catcher Buster Posey returned to the lineup on Tuesday. Though there were multiple points in the game where he didn’t look comfortable at all, he toughed it out for nine innings and led the way for his team.
He picked up a two-run double in the first inning. In the sixth inning, he singled to left field and moved to third on a double (had he not been dealing with back pain, he likely scores easily), but scored anyway on a Hunter Pence groundout. He even threw out Andrew McCutchen in the eighth when he tried to steal second base.
Hopefully this is leading by example for Posey. The team has to grind it out through the (metaphorical) pain .
Next: Giants Morning Minute: Things Were Great Until They Weren't
And that will do it for this edition of the Giants Morning Minute. Up next, the Giants and Pirates finish their three-game set with a day game. Matt Cain faces off against new Pirate Ivan Nova. That game will also decide the season series between the two teams, as they have won three games apiece.