Giants Lose Close, Competitive Rivalry Game

Put your hand down Hanley nobody cares

It would be so easy to overreact to this game. The panic button is right there, looking at you, piercing your eyes, and penetrating your soul. 10-0 to the Dodgers is bad enough, especially considering they’re just 1 game back of first place and oh crap maybe we overrated the giants shit what if the pitching is this bad the bullpen sucks swinging the effing bat belt where did huff come from maybe he can do things like thongs or whatever where are the giants who are they GIVE ME A BIG BAT.

Let’s take a step back. You knew going into this game Matt Kemp was going to have multiple at bats against Barry Zito. That should have told you everything. The only hope you had was that firm belief in the game of baseball. Baseball has the power to do weird, unusual things, like Emmanuel Burriss hitting a home run (never forget). Matt Kemp vs. Barry Zito looks like a mismatch on paper, but, baseball, I believe in you and your power to make people laugh because silly silly silly things are going to happen you don’t expect.  

Still, Matt Kemp was going to face Barry Zito, and you knew before the game Barry Zito throws an 85 mph changeup as his fastball. Matt Kemp goes to bed dreaming of 85 mph fastballs. When Matt Kemp was in 1^st grade, his teacher made him and his classmates explain about their biggest most beautiful dreams. Some kids said they wanted to be astronauts, some kids said they wanted to rule the universe, and some kids said wanted to be rich. Matt Kemp said he wanted a pitcher to throw him an 85 mph fastball. Some might say Matt Kemp was a strange and unordinary child. No. He was a dreamer.

We take a look at Matt Kemp’s first at bat and hey what do you know! A life time of waiting and there is Barry Zito flopping in his second pitch to Matt Kemp on the inside corner with what Gameday has as an 83.9 mph fastball. Matt Kemp got every bit of it. And without looking at the box score, that was a 10 run home run. That’s what happens when possibly the best player in baseball hits against one of the worst.

Matt Kemp went on to go 4 for 5 with 4 RBIS, 2 doubles and one home run. He didn’t do everything but he might as well have. I believed in you baseball. You let me down. You take Emmanuel Burriss away from me, and now this. Stupid stupid stupid.

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There was also Chad Billingsley. His career ERA against the Giants is 3.33 which is a lot worse than I thought. These are the types of games Chad Billingsley seems to throw every time against the Giants. You always hear the talking heads say coming into a Chad Billingsley start against the Giants “well he’s never harnessed his potential. He’s very inconsistent and he should be a guy the Giants should handle.” It’s a wonderful story. Full of hopes and dreams and fairy tales. It’s a magical fable.

Chad Billingsley harnesses his potential against the Giants, seemingly every time. That probably has to do with the type of offense the Giants have thrown out there every year, but still, Chad Billingsley. It's not like he's a bad pitcher, he's certainly a talented, above average starter. But he ain't no Stephen Fife! Against the Giants though, announcers get used to saying "you are witnessing one of the best games of his career!" Today was no different. Dodger fans are on thin ice with him every start, and the Giants get to see Cy Billinglsey. Lucky!

*****

The Giants offense seems to have plateaued. Buster Posey and Melky Cabrera and that’s it. Schierholtz hitting leadoff was doomed from the start, Ryan Theriot is still scrappy, but still Ryan Theriot, Angel Pagan has been slumping since the stone age, Brandon Belt is struggling, and Brandon Crawford is one of the worst hitters in baseball. Marco Scutaro is probably the 4^th best hitter on this team, because I still believe in Brandon Belt. But I don’t feel strongly about that, or any of the other hitters sans Posey, Cabrera and Sandoval, who is on the DL.

The offense has been average, mediocre and that might be good enough. But it also might not be. Thank me later for fizzling it down to those two options. One or two of the 6 other hitters in this lineup needs to step up Cody Ross style. In 2010, the Giants had Huff and Posey carrying the bulk. In 2012 the Giants have Melky and Posey carrying the bulk, with Pablo keeping pace. But in 2010, the Giants had other hitters playing above average, more than just 3 hitters. Right now, the Giants don’t. A big hitter at the deadline probably isn’t going to happen, because of the price that comes with it. Who knows, maybe a waiver wire pickup trots along, or Hunter Pence is given to the Giants for potato chips. But if that doesn’t happen, somebody in house needs to step up. I’m choosing Gregor Blanco for no reason other than he takes pitches. Somebody. Anybody.

*****

These last 2 games have been utter failures, and because it's the Dodgers, fans are going to make a fuss. Sportsphone 680 is exploding as we speak. IS IT CRAZY TO BE THINKING ARIAS FOR TROUT. Stop. It's two sucky games that sucked. The Giants are still probably a better team. There are 10 more of these match ups. That's plenty of games where you can panic and complain. But not after two games. Please not after two games.

What a freakishly awful baseball game.