Baseball Lifer

The Giants just lost a series to the FUCKING REDS

First, we had last night, featuring Joc Pederson getting into a shouting match with Tommy Pham during batting practice over a fantasy football league they’re both in; a two-hour, and eight-minute rain delay; and Jake McGee not being able to pitch in his return from the IL due to not being on the lineup cards handed to the umpires.

Then, we had today, where the Giants had 12 hits, and all they could show for it was two runs.

GAMEBALL:

Kap

With things not going so great for the Giants right now, I’m giving the Gameball to the Skipper. Kap has been able to hold everything and everyone together during these tough times, as the Giants struggle due to injuries. Every night, Kap has the same calm demeanor, and is able to keep everyone in check.

Kap took responsibility for the lineup card fiasco last night, and whether it was his fault or not, the fact that he’s taking responsibility as the head of the ship and not throwing anyone under the bus makes him a great leader. Today, even after Mark Hallberg made the wrong decision to send in Joey Bart to get thrown out at the plate to defend the game, Kap defended and stood by Hallberg, who has been great as the 3rd Base Coach this season. This kind of leadership makes a clubhouse a lot looser, and players will play much better in that kind of environment, just as the Giants will when they get healthy.

TIP OF THE CAP:

Yaz: Yaz can seem to do nothing wrong this month, as he went 2-for-4 today. He doubled and scored the first run of the game for the Giants in the third.

Joc: Not just for having to deal with Tommy Pham’s horseshit, but have a couple of solid games as well. Today, he doubled in Yaz to put the Giants on the board in the third.

Alex Wood: His lone blemish was a costly one: Kyle Farmer’s three-run home run in the bottom of the first inning. However, it would have been a lot less costly had the offense shown up, and Wood did end up retiring 11-straight before giving up the base-hit to Joey Votto that knocked him out in the sixth.

Longo: He’s been swinging the bat again, and he made it 3-2 with a solo shot in the sixth.

Dominic Leone: Four-up, and four down.

Tyler Rogers: He gave up a base-hit in the eighth, but retired the rest. It’s not the most remarkable outing, but with his recent struggles, he deserves a Tip of the Cap, and the rest of us need to not forget that he is generally reliable late in the game. His ERA is now at 7, but early in the season—which it still is—just a couple of bad innings can completely inflate your ERA, and Rogers’ ERA was 1.98 just two and a half weeks ago. Once Rogers settles back down, and if Jake McGee can do what he did last year—and I see no reason why he can’t—then our bullpen will be a strength, not a weakness.

Luis Gonzalez: 2-for-4 day for him. Hope he can get hot again.

Donovan Walton: How about a 2-for-3 day from the kid?!!!

Curt Casali: Man, am I glad to have him back, and on top of that, he singled to lead off the ninth before being pinch-ran for by Joey Bart.

Wilmer: Held in there down to the Giants’ last out, as he took a slider, and fought off a pair of pitches before proceeding to get an opposite-field base-hit to right that would have extended the game had Bart not been nailed at the plate.

Aristedis Aquino: As bad and reckless as Hallberg’s decision to sent Bart was, Aquino still made a perfect throw to the plate to nail Bart, and you can only tip your cap.

JERK:

Tommy Pham

So I think we all know what happened by now. Joc Pederson sent a group text in a Fantasy Football League they and Tommy Pham were in, and he sent a gif making fun of the Padres’ collapse late season, which Pham, as a Padre, was part of. Pham called it “disrespectful shit,” and thought violence was appropriate eight months later. Well said, tough guy.

SMACK OF THE STICK:

Mark Hallberg: Hall’s had a great year as the Giants’ 3rd-Base Coach thus far, but it was still very reckless to send in the slow-running Bart against a cannon in Aquino down to your final out. Yes, Brandon Crawford, who has had a rough year so far, was on deck, but Crawford has also been swinging the bat a bit better as of late, and for me, it’s an easy decision to take your chances with Craw.

Tommy LaStella: A pair of strikeouts for Tommy, including the first out of the ninth.

Darin Ruf: Ruf’s been going good recently, but an 0-for-5 with a Hat Trick is something I can’t just ignore. Especially, when your third is in a crucial spot down a run in the ninth. Sorry, pal.

FINAL THOUGHTS:

Losing at least the first two of three of a series to the worst team in Baseball is bad and unacceptable, even if they’re on a 13-8 run. However, as I’ll just keep saying, the Giants are hurt right now. We just got Casali back today, but Belt and LaMonte Wade, whose absences are making a real impact, remain on the shelf.

Even though the Giants are now seven and a half games behind the Bums in the West, we’re still three games over .500 at 24-21, and when fully healthy, we are not just a playoff team, but a championship-caliber team. Just be patient, because once we get fully healthy, we’ll get hot again, and we will win at least 90 games.

Stephen