In Appreciation of Various Giants

The Giants sure did pick the right time for their first 7-game winning streak of the year. The pitching staff morphed into 2010 form, Bruce Bochy out-managed his counterpart, and they rode timely hitting and impecable defense to their second title in three years. In a year in which the Giants struggled so much to complete series sweeps, they swept the Tigers to bring the trophy is back where it belongs. In between LOLing at all the "experts" and framing another SF Chronicle newspaper, let's take some time to appreciate some individuals that made up this wonderful team. Comment for the guys I don't list below.

• Tim Lincecum. (in my best Jeff Daniels voice): Just when I thought he couldn't get any worse, he  goes and does something like this...and TOTALLY REDEEMS HIMSELF!! Wow was he awesome out of the bullpen. His gaudy numbers (13 innings, 3 hits, 1 run in relief) don't even tell the whole story. He was a weapon that allowed Bochy to save his other front-line relievers for other high-leverage situations. If you look at the 2010 and 2012 World Series, he might be the MVP of the two combined.
• Marco Scutaro. How fitting it was that he provided the kill shot -- a two-out hit for the game-winning RBI. Interestingly, had there been less than two outs, there's no way Theriot scores on that hit.
• Brandon Crawford. He's not my favorite Giant, but he's definitely in my top 5. And that is no small accomplishment for a guy who hit .248 in the regular season. But he uses Eminem and Drake songs as his walk-up music, and he's an absolute joy to watch in the field. He won't win a Gold Glove this year, but his performance on the playoffs national stage will get him the attention he needs for next year. He just kept making one incredible play after another. And they all seemed to come with runners on base. Or late in the game when Giants fans were counting the remaining outs. Or right before Miguel Cabrera was coming up. Or all of the above. If I wasn't already a devoted Romosexual, there's a good chance I would let Crawford do bad things to me.
• Matt Cain. Because Matt Cain.
• Buster Posey. Sometime around 9 months before March 27, 1987, Gerald and Traci Posey got in the mood, and now San Francisco Giants fans get to enjoy the fruits of their labor. This was Posey's first full Major League season. And already he's a 2-time World Champion, a Rookie of the Year, and in a few weeks, an MVP. Not a bad resume. He was injured in 2011, so basically this is a 3-peat.
• Jeremy Affeldt. His 2012 post-season: 10.1 IP, 5 H, 0 R, 3 BB, 10 SO. Enough said.
• Ryan Vogelsong. If Disney made the Ryan Vogelsong Story, and nobody knew it was based on actual events, it would be criticized as being unrealistic and too cheesy. It's completely bonkers what he's done. From injuries, to Japan, to being release multiple times, to being the best pitcher in the playoffs for a World Series winning team. I don't think I'll ever be able to fully grasp it. Loved the way Grant Brisbee described his Game 3 outing: "everyone would have understood if Voglesong pantomimed pushing an invisible wheelbarrow on the way back to the dugout. The better to carry his … well, you get the idea. How else would you expect him to get around with those things? Seems uncomfortable." Speaking of stones...
• Sergio Romo. You could probably fit two Sergio's into one Miguel Cabrera. Did that stop Romo from challenging the game's most feared hitter with a fastball to get the final strike of the World Series? Not a chance. I almost felt bad for the Tigers when he was in there. Because that fastball really showcased the awesome power of his slider.  Certainly the Tigers had heard about the slider coming into the series. But it must be a whole different thing to actually see it. Poor guys never had a chance. Makes you wonder if he had a plan to throw that fastball all along. As in the entire season of throwing that slider so often was just one big (and effective) long con, all to set up the fastball for the final strike and make frozen pizza out of that last hitter. Stones. Here's a nice analysis of that final pitch.
• Barry Zito. A few years into Zito's tenure with the Giants, I asked my friend Jake what he would say to Zito if he ran into him at a bar. Jake nailed it, and it didn't even take him long to come up with his response: "Buy me a beer." I've always said that the day Barry Zito comes off the payroll, I'm throwing a party. I don't think I will anymore. And now I'd want to buy Barry a beer. He's finally given the nation something other than his contract to remember him by with the two most important starts of his career. He saved the season against the Cardinals, and then beat the unbeatable Justin Verlander in WS Game 1. Buster Posey is the MVP of the league. The Giants had 3 starting pitchers this year who were more valuable than Zito. But I think you could argue that the 2012 season for the Giants kind of belongs to Zito. In his first start of the year, when the Giants were 0-3, he righted the ship with a shutout in Colorado. Down the stretch of the regular season, he became the Giants' most reliable starter. And then he has the two signature outings in the playoffs. No one deserves their WS Ring more than him. You gotta hand it to him -- Barry Zito was shown a lot of disrespect over the past 6 years, and showed none in return.
• Brian Sabean. Once again, making all the right moves this year along with the preceding offseason. Shipping Andres Torres and Ramon Ramirez (who had terrible years this year) to get Angel Pagan. Win. Getting Melky Cabrera for Jonathan Sanchez (who's career may be over). Bigtime win. Giving Gregor Blanco a shot. Picking up Jose Mijares off the waiver wire. And most importantly, heisting Scutaro from the Rockies. WIN.
• Bruce Bochy. Hall of Fame manager. San Francisco hero forever.
• Dave Righetti and Mark Gardner. Unquestionably, these guys are the two most underrated people in the organization. I'm even underrating them now by grouping them together, but I don't know how exactly they split up their duties/roles, so I'd just be saying the same thing about both of them. The pitching staff has been nails for 4 years now, and they don't get nearly enough credit. And in this post-season in particular, they fixed Madison Bumgarner, possibly Tim Lincecum, and prepared Barry Zito mentally to go out and pitch the games of his life. It's impossible to quantify their contribution. But I think it's a safe bet that the Giants would not have won two out of the last three titles without these guys.

See you all at the parade.

The Giants Win the Pennant. The Giants Win the Pennant.

Which means they go to the World Series. It opens up Wednesday night at AT&T Park. Exciting stuff. Before getting to my thoughts on the World Series match-up, let me make a few quick notes about the NLCS (which the Giants won. I know because I was there (no big deal)). Here's what we learned last night and today while reveling in the awesomeness that comes with a Pennant:

• The Giants are an NL powerhouse. You don't go to the World Series twice in three years without being discussed as one of the elite franchises in the game. Even if the Giants don't win another game this year, they'll be nationally recognized as a force to be reckoned with. After the failures of 2011, I was worried 2010 would be looked at as a fluke. Not anymore.
• The Giants also proved they can make an extended post-season run without a gimmicky video going viral. Fans have been just as excited. Nice work. Internet: you get poor marks for failing to produce such a video this year. Ashkon in 2010 was an instant classic, and I miss something similar this time around.
• Not missing this year was again some poor play by an opposing infielder. Cardinal shortstop Pete Kozma did us a few solids in the 3rd inning, first by dodging Hunter Pence's line drive, allowing a potential double play ball into the outfield, and then later by throwing home on a B-Craw chopper when he had no chance to get an out. Upon further analysis, his misplay on Pence's "tripple-double" (as Andy Baggarly brilliantly dubbed it) is probably defensible, since the ball was re-directed by Pence's bat after initial contact. Nonetheless--in addition to Scutaro in the rain--it allows for another comparison to The Shawshank Redemption:

• Finally, we learned that photos and slow-motion videos of celebratory players and fans are way cooler if pouring rain is involved.

Alas, after a night and a day to celebrate, there is one more task at hand. I really don't know too much about the Tigers, but I do know that most of the pundits will likely pick them to win the Series*. Similarly to 2010, when they cited Cliff Lee + High Powered Offense, writers will substitute in Justin Verlander. It's not an illogical viewpoint, but many will cite Verlander with an attitude of "why even play this series when we know how it will turn out?" That's what they said in 2010, and the Giants beat Cliff Lee twice. Verlander, too, is not unbeatable. Hitters on the Giants have already gotten to him once this year (All-Star Game). With that being said, he is the consensus best pitcher on the planet, and I guess I have to agree there. Which makes you wonder why the Tigers wouldn't try to get him 3 starts in this series if it goes to 7 games. They're going to stick with the 4-man rotation they've used throughout the playoffs, though, and I suppose they have their reasons (probably revolving around that 1.02 ERA their starters have posted so far in the playoffs). Still, as a Giants fan, I welcome the idea of less Verlander, and by that logic, it makes it a poor decision by the Tigers.

Going up against the best pitcher in the game is one, Barry Zito. My how far we've come. Barry Zito. Starting Game 1 of the World bleeping Series. If he can manage to beat Verlander even once in this series, does that make the contract worth it? No, probably not. Without Zito, the Giants would probably have a different (better and cheaper) starting pitcher with a better chance at beating Verlander. But it would be a good story. Speaking of stories, I'm reading a lot about how Barry Zito has resurrected his career this year, and opening the World Series is the culmination of that. It's just not true. Barry Zito is no different than he was in 2010. The difference this year is that Tim Lincecum sucks. The Giants had 4 clearly better starting pitcher options in 2010. Not so this time around. Zito is capable of doing great things. Can he do it two starts in a row? It's gonna take a lot of #RallyZito tweets.

I think I like the decision to start Bumgarner in Game 2. Detroit (unlike St. Louis) is mediocre against lefties. Plus it keeps Timmy in the bullpen, where he has shined (I postulate that this is because he has no time to think about what he's doing when coming out of the 'pen). They say Bumgarner has fixed whatever was causing him trouble the past 6 weeks -- an all-time classic "believe it when I see it" statement, but hopefully Zito can go relatively deep in Game 1, and Bumgarner will have a leprechaun-short leash in Game 2. Bummer, though, that the Giants' best starters--Cain and Vogelsong--will take on the minority of the workload, only making 3 starts between them at most.

Final thoughts:

I wonder what kind of odds you can get for Scutaro as the MVP.

It would make things a whole lot easier if Posey and Pence would start producing. 

Giants in 6.



*22 of 27 ESPN writers picked the Tigers

If NFL Analysts Were Talking About the NLCS...

Guy #1:
"When you talk about at guy like Ryan Vogelsong, you're talking about a fierce competitor. He leaves everything on the field, and his effort tonight was superb. This is a guy who has been through a lot in his career, but he's really come into his own. And when the ground attack from the San Francisco Giants can put points on the board, it allows him to throw the baseball with confidence, and it's really showing right now, fellas."

Guy #2:
"You know I totally agree, but you know I want to mention Barry Zito. I look at a guy like Barry Zito, and I see a guy who just get's (pause) the job (pause) done. He hasn't always done it with the flash you see a lot of these other guys do it with, but when his team needed it the most, he sure came through. This is a guy who has been through a lot in his career, and his experience and veteran leadership are really showing right now, fellas."

Guy #3:
"That's a great point. But one guy who we haven't talked a lot about is Buster Posey. The Cardinals have done a great job keeping him in check, saying 'we're not gonna let you beat us'. He hasn't gotten a lot of hits, and now I know he hasn't gotten a lot of pitches to hit. But this is Major (pause) League (pause) Baseball. At some point he's going to have to learn from his mistakes and start hitting the baseball. This is a guy who's been through a lot in his career, but fellas, I don't know: do we have the makings of a catcher-controversy in San Francisco?"

Guy #4:
"Oh no. Now come on don't be ridiculous. Buster Posey is the unquestioned leader of this team, and he's just going through the growing pains that come along with being a leader and an impact player in Major League Baseball. But you know, you can't talk about impact players without mentioning Marco (pause) Scutaro. Here's a guy who hits (pause) and hits, and here on your screen you see Holliday coming down the line and BOOM! He gets taken out, but you know what he does? He comes up his next at bat and punishes the opposition. This is a guy who's been through a lot in his career, and I'll tell you what fellas, in the playoffs in Major (pause) League (pause) Baseball, it often comes down to who (pause) wants it (pause) more. And I'll tell you what, Marco Scutaro looks like he's playing with a purpose right now. On both sides of the baseball."

Guy #1:
"Just a lot of big-time baseball players making big-time baseball plays. We'll send you back to the studio now. From San Francisco, we've got a Game 7 happening on Monday Night, folks. Tune in then."

Hey, Here's an Idea...

The Giants lost NLCS Game 3 to the Cardinals 3-1. They now are behind in the series 2-1. One narrative to describe last night's rain-soaked game is a familiar one: Matt Cain pitched amazing (a-Cain-zing?), but the offense couldn't push more than 1 run across, so he took the loss. Miraculously, this narrative has been pretty absent this year. So this game can serve as a reminder of how bad things used to be. You used to be this frustrated on the regular. It was like clockwork for much of 2008-2011. Of course, this was an NLCS playoff game, so your frustration should be multiplied by infinity, and looking for silver linings is pointless when their season is two losses away from being over. That's probably the more rational point of view.

Speaking of rational thoughts, the Cardinals have made it clear that they are not really pitching to Buster Posey in this series (see this article by Ray Ratto, who lays things out nicely). Considering the guy who hits behind Posey looks like the kid who bats last on his Little League team, it's a sound strategy. (Seriously, do you think the other Giants in the dugout--like the mean but competent kids in Little League--are encouraging Hunter Pence (or Under Pants*, as they probably call him) to lean over the plate to get hit, or to reach back when he swings to get catcher interference? Because right now a hit or a walk seems out of the question).

The Giants scored 1 run in Game 3, and had one good inning (produced by the bottom half of the order) in Game 1. Safe to say the Giants' offense has sputtered a bit in this series. That's in large part due to a lack of production from the middle of the order. And that's in large part due to how the Cardinals are pitching Posey. So how do you protect Posey? Allow me to propose this for line-up card:

Pagan
Posey
Scutaro
Sandoval
Rest of Line-up**

Yes, it's a complete panic move. After all, the Giants were good enough to have a million baserunners last night. They just spread them out over 7 innings, rather than bunch them together. (Sh)It happens. But instead of "panic move", why not call it a "counter-strategy"? The Cardinals aren't pitching to Posey. It's working. This would at least make them think, right? Plus, you're (nearly) maximizing your best hitter's chances for more total plate appearances.

Or we could just keep waiting for Pence to drive in his first run of the post-season because "he's our guy" and somehow "he's got a knack fro driving in runs" even though he possesses no knack at all for getting hits.

Your thoughts?



*Thanks for that one, Dad.

**I'm not sure what I'd do with the bottom half of the order. I'm not sure it matters. Maybe Sanchez will be in and Belt will be out. Maybe move Blanco or Crawford up, because they've been mixing in good at bats. The point of this is to try and get more production from the top/middle of the line-up.

Here's to Hoping I Get to Make Several "House of Cards" Puns in the Near Future

10 years ago, the Giants squared off against the Cardinals in the NLCS. That one worked out pretty well. What I remember most is how quickly it all ended. There were two outs, nobody on, and then...single, single, walk-off single. Just like that. World Series bound. Glorious. Strangely, I remember almost nothing about that series other than that inning. Of course I watched every game, but I was away at college, and was just not as plugged in. And interestingly, it was the result of that World Series that followed that made me the Giants fan I am today. Never forget (believe me, I've tried). But I digress.

Mike Matheny was behind the plate, calling the pitches that led to those 3 quick, glorious singles. Now 10 years later he's managing against Giants. So that's interesting.

By virtue of a miraculous comeback by the Cards, the Giants have homefield advantage in this series. So that's something.

Counterpoint: the Cardinals have some sort of magic pixie dust that gives them incredible eyes at the plate, which allows them to grind out at bats in the most pressure-packed situations, taking balls that are mere inches out of the strike zone, which allows them to make those previously mentioned miraculous comebacks. So are the Cards really the team the Giants want to be facing? I could write about that.

But what I can't get out of my head is this: If Melky Cabrera got suspended about 10 days earlier, he'd be the Giants starting left fielder. But because he appealed the suspension, the sentence was delayed, and it took him through the end of the regular season and first round of the playoffs. The Giants removed him completely from their minds, and now there's a Gregor Blanco/Xavier Nady platoon in left. Had he been eligible to return for the last few games of the regular season, I'm betting they would have welcomed him back, just as they did Guillermo Mota. Having Melky Cabrera on the roster would allow the Giants to not have Nady, have Blanco for speed off the bench, and have Melky Cabrera on the roster. Sure, he'd likely be PED-free Melky. But from what I understand, the testosterone he was taking mainly aided him in recovering from the daily grind of the long season. Kept him fresh. I'm guessing after not playing for 50 games, one is pretty fresh. I'm not saying he'd hit .350. But he's good on defense, and he's good on offense. It's almost as if he's like if you combined Blanco and Nady into one, and then....ah never mind that's not even close. He's simply way better than both.

Maybe there's some sort of clubhouse chemistry thing going on. But you know what also helps clubhouse chemistry? Winning. There's also no doubt that public relations are being considered. But you know what's good for public relations (and revenue)? Winning a World Series. The decision is just....interesting. And I'll leave it at that.

Giants in 7.

Giants Make History, Move on to NLCS

Sometimes, ownage can be a two-way street. For the vast majority of his career, when Mat Latos has faced the Giants, he's basically bent them over a barrel. But when the games have mattered the most, it's the Giants who have had their way with their arch nemesis. In September, 2010, the Giants kicked off their comeback against San Diego by knocking Latos around. I believe Buster Posey contributed with a big fly. Then in Game 162 of that season, we all remember the Johnny Sanchez triple en route to 2 runs and handing him the loss. Posey also added an insurance run late in that game, via a solo shot. Latos struck back in Game 1 of this NLDS, pitching 4 clutch relief innings and giving up just one run (hey, what do you know? It came on a Posey dong-job). Which brings us to the winner-take-all Game 5. With 2 runs already in and the bags loaded, Posey got his man once again. Watching him watch that behemoth blast sail into the upper deck was a thing of beauty. Watching the reactions from the catcher and Latos himself was more than satisfying. Clinching a playoff series is always sweet, but doing it against Mat Latos, whom all Giants fans know is a complete pile, is just perfect. He's got a long offseason ahead of him, and I may write to him every day just to thank him for serving up that pitch to our hero.

After the Posey grand slam, I was comfortable with that 6-0 lead for all of about 5 minutes. Matt Cain immediately began peeing himself, and this game turned out to be nothing short of torturous. Tremendous effort by the defense. Posey's throw, and the catches by Crawford and Pagan all bailed out the Giants' pitching as they navigated through the final 4 innings, all of which were stressful (can I get on Rogaine and send an invoice to the Giants?). Not surprising, considering the new rule the Reds got implemented which allowed them to bring the up top of the order whenever they wanted (at least it seemed that way). Yes, there was something very familiar about this game. It all culminated in another gutsy performance by my favorite Giant, Sergio Romo, who channeled Brian Wilson in earning a 4-out, nothing-easy-about-it Save. That dude is a beast, and it's going to be a shame when he realizes, "hey, I'm the best pitcher on this team. I should be a full-time closer. Who want's to pay me?"

This was a series built on the bullpen for the Giants. While it didn't come through in Games 1 and 2, it was largely responsible for the 3 historic victories. In what will surely turn out to be an underrated performance, George Kontos turned in 3.2 innings, 2 hits, no walks, and no earned runs over 4 appearances. After coming into 2012 as one of the best pitchers in the league, Tim Lincecum was arguably the worst (literally!) in the league by the end of the regular season. So to have him come through with what could be described as a season-saving relief outing in Game 4 was pretty special. He saved the front-line relievers for the decisive Game 5, and they all were needed. You gotta figure he earned a start in the next series.

Speaking of decisions, it should be noted that Bruce Bochy is off to another remarkable start in these playoffs. He's a different manager in the post-season, tailoring all his moves to perfectly fit a short series. It's fun to watch. Yes, that's right. Bruce Bochy: fun to watch. Mind = blown.

I hate the phrase, but there's something about this team that makes you think that they just "know how to win". Whether it's the Pence pre-game speeches, Cain pitching to the score, Bochy's match-up moves, or the bullpen taking it up a notch with runners in scoring position. Maybe after they lost 2 in San Francisco and the world was counting them out -- maybe they had them right where they wanted them. I somehow doubt it was their plan, considering that coming into this series the Reds had not lost 3 in a row at home all year. But this team has made history as the first team to win a best-of-5 series after losing the first 2 at home.

Whatever happens in the NLCS, don't count them out.

Ah, Ah, Ah, Ah, Stayin' Alive, Stayin' Alive

The Giants and Reds have played 28 innings so far in this NLDS. The Giants have had the lead in exactly 1 of them. They've managed a grand total of 4 runs on 13 hits through the 3 games. No starting pitcher has pitched into the 6th inning. Tim Lincecum has pitched out of the bullpen, and Sergio Romo has stepped into the batter's box.

And yet they've staved off elimination to force a Game 4.

In any run to the World Series, a team needs to get some breaks. The Reds got some in Game 1 when the Giants hit a few scorchers right at the defense in RBI situations. In Game 3, the Giants got theirs, taking advantage of a base running mistake in the 1st inning, and a passed ball and mishandled grounder in the last. But certainly credit the pitching staff in this one as well, who allowed just 1 hit after the 1st inning. In a classically gritty Ryan Vogelsong effort, he battled through 5 innings, never giving in to match a nigh-unhittable Homer Bailey. And the bullpen was 2010-esque, in the form of Jeremy Affeldt and Sergio Romo splitting the final four frames. According to Mike Krukow in the post-game discussion, Romo got away with a few hangers, but it's hard to look bad in a 6-up-6-down performance.

Hunter Pence finally showed up in the series. Many Giants will credit his pre-game emotional speech for getting them ready to win. Any team facing elimination always needs that extra motivation, and in this case the Giants got so fired up that they exploded for 1 hit and 1 run through the first 9 innings. Thanks Giant's media, but I'll credit his key hit in the 10th inning while limping down to first base (fighting a calf cramp). He also made a nice diving catch in the 2nd inning.

And so now the Giants are a few hours away from a very winnable, series-tying Game 4. The injury to Reds' ace Johnny Cueto may finally show some benefits to the Giants, as the Reds will trot out Mike Leake (8-9, 4.58 ERA). The Giants are doing their best to keep things fair by handing the ball to Barry Zito, but I, like many Giants fans, have come to gain a strange (but not strong) sense of confidence with him out there over the last couple of months. Why? It's strictly anecdotal. McCovey Chronicles explains that there's not much new about this new Barry Zito. After all, his ERA is the same as it was in 2010 when he was left off the post-season roster. And now he's starting an elimination game. But still! They've won his last 11 starts! And while he'll never live up to his massive contract, he really has a chance to significantly move the needle with the baseball fans of San Francisco. It would also be very easy for him to demolish the bit of good will he's built up, but it definitely shows something that he's getting the ball over Tim Lincecum or Matt Cain on short rest. He'll definitely have a short leash, and even if he pitches adequately, I'm predicting another nice appearance from our boy, Timmy.

Last night the Giants showed up in Cincinatti's rear view. The Reds have got to be a little bit nervous about it.

A's Are In!

Congrats to the Oakland A's on being baseball's best story for the 2012 season so far. (The Orioles are right there in terms on playoff unlikelihood, but they didn't win their division. They still have a game to win before playing in the Division Series. UPDATE: And they did win. Way to go Orange and Black). The A's somehow beat out the Rangers, who are every bit the powerhouse that the Yankees are. Whether you look at this as a magical run by the A's, or a historic collapse by the Texas*, this is quite a story.

How they did it, I have no idea. Seriously, name 4 players on the A's. And now they've suddenly become the team that nobody wants to play. It's not even worth speculating on whether they can continue to ride their all-rookie starting rotation (seriously?!?) to advance, but I'll be rooting for them. In case you haven't noticed, I'm somewhat of a Giants fan. So another shot at the A's in a Bay Bridge 2.0 Series would be ideal. UPDATE/SOMETHING I WISH I WROTE ORIGINALLY: I remember hearing a brief anecdote about the NASA engineers in the '60s, and it went something like this: they were too young and stupid to realize getting to the moon was impossible. Seems like the same attitude may apply here.


*Those poor, poor Rangers. After losing 2 World Series in a row (with the 2nd one being perhaps the worst WS loss in history), the only time during the entire 2012 season they were NOT in first place was at the end of the last game. If they don't win this play-in game against the Orioles...man, it's just agonizing. UPDATE: Yes. Agonizing indeed.

Thoughts Heading Into the NLDS

"Listen, here's the thing. If you can't spot the sucker in the first half hour at the table, then you ARE the sucker."
-Matt Damon in Rounders

Kind of makes you a bit weary heading into this post-season, right? I'm looking around this playoff field in the National League, and I'm not seeing any pushovers. What does that mean about the Giants? Sure, you could argue that they are playing their best ball of the season right now. Winning two out of every three games (or something like that) since Melky went down. But for the last month or so, they've been feasting on the weak competition in the NL West. Frankly, any playoff team should be winning two out of three. And with the starting rotation not having a great September, you can't just point to the Giants' pitching and say everything will be fine. They may be winning at a pretty incredible clip, but they're not playing their best baseball. Speaking of pitching, the Reds have Cueto, Arroyo, and Mat "Joffrey Lannister" Latos. The Nationals lost their best pitcher (by choice!) and still probably have the best rotation of anyone. I'll be rooting for the Cardinals to knock out the Braves, and the Nationals while they're at it, but then suddenly they've got the same magic they had going last year, and who would want to go up against that? It will be very interesting to see how the hitters respond to pitchers qualified to be in the Cy Young discussion, and managers who don't intentionally walk the hitter in front of Marco Scutaro (lol Don Mattingly).

Conclusion: The Giants are in trouble. Good news: So are the Reds. So is every other team still in this thing. 5-game series* are volatile beasts, where blown calls, errors, and Cody Ross can swing the outcome (lol 2010 Braves).

About the roster decisions coming: there aren't that many of them. The choice in the bullpen comes down to Mota, Kontos, or both. I'll trust Bochy in whatever he does. Last time he conducted an award winning symphony with his decision-making, so he's earned my trust here. For position players, there's Xavier Nady, Aubrey Huff, Aubrey Huff's pinch runner, and Eli Whiteside fighting for 2 spots (assuming the Giants bring both Mota and Kontos for a 12-man pitching staff). Huff has certainly earned a spot with his bat and his eye this past month, but the fact that he needs a designated runner diminishes his chances. Nady's right-handed bat does fit better against a heavily left-handed Reds bullpen. Taking Whiteside would allow them to use switch-hitting catcher Hector Sanchez off the bench without worrying about having to use an emergency catcher. So there are definitely a few combinations to consider. But ultimately, it probably won't matter. However they choose 'em, at some point in the series there will be a situation where you say "boy I wish they had chosen abc over xyz".

Really, it's Tim Lincecum who should be the odd man out. In 2010, the Giants only took 4 starters (because that's all you need), and left off Barry Zito. Lincecum's ERA is a full run higher than Zito's was. And yet, in all likelihood in Game 3 or 4, the Giants will hand the ball to their worst, most unreliable starter this year. After a walk, hit, and Joey Votto 3-run homer, he'll get yanked, but the damage will have been done. Vogelsong seems to be very much back on track, but because he's "better suited for the bullpen" than the other guys, he may be hanging out with relievers this month. If Lincecum does get a start, I say let him try to make it once through the order, and if he does, quit while your ahead before the inevitable blow-up. It's happened time and time again this year. To expect anything else would be silly. (Yes, while what I'm writing does make sense to me, it's also a far-fetched reverse jinx attempt to make Lincecum look like The Freak we used to know, in which case then go ahead and let him strike out 14 losers).

Prediction: Giants in 5


*Siri, what's the plural of "series"?