stand tall, Giants

I’ve posted before that being a baseball fan is a humbling experience.  The Seattle Mariners won 116 games in the 2001 season, a record for the current 162-game format.  So even with that unprecedented success, folks in the Puget Sound area had to agonize over 46 losses.

I’m in baseball agony now (not to be confused with smashing-my-thumb-with-a-hammer-agony or listening-to-Glenn-Beck agony).  My beloved San Francisco Giants have lost 12 of their last 14 games.  They’re stinking up the league, in all aspects of the game.

Their vaunted pitching staff is unraveling.  Ace Matt Cain, who threw a perfect game last year and went on to a 16 – 5 record, has already lost five games midway through the campaign.  His earned run average has swollen from 2.79 last year to 4.85 now.

Barry Zito had a solid season last year, but has reverted to his losing ways.  Former ace Tim Lincecum continues his tailspin.  Ryan Vogelsong, another stalwart from 2012, is out with an injury.  Sergio Romo, so effective a year ago, has an ERA of 3.03, which is terrible for a closer.

The defense sucks, as well.  In their latest loss yesterday, Buster Posey’s error kept a Dodger rally going in the ninth.  The Giants’ fielding percentage is one of the worst in the majors.

And don’t get me started about the offense.

Too late.  Starters Pablo Sandoval, Hunter Pence and Brandon Crawford are in lengthy slumps.  Posey and Marco Scutaro are both hitting .310, but nobody is getting the clutch hit.  During this recent bad patch, the boys on the bay scored just one run in five of the losses and two in four others.  Homer Bailey of Cincinnati shut them out with a no-hitter.

I know they’ll get better.  They’re usually very good after the All-Star Game break.  And they’re not that far out of first place.  But the Diamondbacks are starting to assert themselves and the Dodgers are finally getting some pay-off from their massive payroll.  It’s going to be an interesting second half.