A 4-3 Road Trip, But It Could Have Been Better

The Giants lost a heartbreaker today in Cincinnati by a final of 7-6, a game they really should have won. The loss turned what could have been a very successful 5-2 road trip into a satisfactory 4-3 trip.

Today's game was the most maddening of them all. The Giants jumped out to a 4-0 lead against talented Reds rookie Mike Leake, who came into the game 5-0 with a 2.22 ERA. The Giants pummeled Leake for 5 runs and 11 hits in 4.1 innings, and it easily could have been a lot more if the Reds hadn't turned two magnificent double plays. Todd Wellemeyer was throwing the ball well for the first time on the road, but trouble started after he tweaked his quad in the 3rd inning.

Knucklehead of the week: Denny Bautista. Bautista was clearly unprepared to come into the game, and he was lackadaisical warming up to face the Reds' hitters. He inexcusably walked Mike Leake, the pitcher, to open the bottom of the 3rd inning and basically had no idea where the ball was going. Mike Krukow rightfully ripped Bautista in the postgame wrap on KNBR. Today's loss exposed a major flaw on this team: the absence of a long reliever. Todd Wellemeyer is best suited for this role, and not the 5th starter spot. I'd imagine that after his DL stint, he'll go to the bullpen and that Madison Bumgarner will assume his spot in the rotation the rest of the way.

Speaking of the bullpen, the Giants really need to get another quality arm in their middle relief just as badly as they need an extra bat in their lineup. The bullpen was a huge strength of the team last year, but it's been vulnerable this season. Brandon Medders was a disaster in the early part of the season and was designated for assignment after posting a solid season in 2009. Jeremy Affeldt, after being the best setup man in baseball last year, has a 4.58 ERA with a 1.73 WHIP, issuing 14 walks in 19.2 innings. Sergio Romo has been prone to giving up big homeruns. Dan Runzler has had command issues all year. I hope Brian Sabean is scouting the trade market for a valuable reliever, because as we've seen recently, this team is struggling to hold leads.

The Giants finally return home and hopefully will take out some revenge on the A's.

Some final tidbits:

*All hail Matt Cain! What a game he threw on Tuesday! To pitch a shutout against the Reds, the National League's best offense, in that bandbox joke of a ballpark was unbelievable. He's only the 5th pitcher to throw a shutout in Great American Ballpark ever since the stadium opened in 2003. Look at his numbers over his past four stars: 34 innings, 17 hits, 1 earned run, 6 walks, 23 strikeouts, with a 0.26 ERA.

*Pablo Sandoval made a HUGE mistake today missing a squeeze sign in the top of the 7th inning that denied the Giants a run. He can't make stupid errors like this, especially since he's the Giants' 3rd place hitter. The Giants desperately need him to get his act together.

*Buster Posey continues to rake, posting a .444 batting average. His upper-deck homerun off of Aaron Harang was also very impressive. He needs to play every day, simple as that. It's also time for Bruce Bochy to move him up in the batting order.