Teams generally rise to the occasion when they play tougher competition, especially when aided by sellout crowds dying to make their presence felt. They battle and grind it out for nine innings. The Giants, however, played disinterested baseball this series, and they shot themselves in the foot more than anything else with boneheaded mistakes. The 1-5 homestand dropped the Giants to a 40-37 record, 4th place in the NL West, and 5.5 games behind San Diego. Ever since the team started the season 7-2, they've gone 33-35, and 8-17 against other teams in the NL West.
Give the Dodgers credit, as painful as that is, because they played terrific baseball throughout the series. They got three superb outings from Chad Billingsley, John Ely, and head-hunter Vicente Padilla. Their bullpen pitched well too, as they didn't have to use closer Jonathan Broxton all series. They played strong defense, and they scored 16 runs in three games.
What was most impressive though about the Dodgers' play was how hard the Dodgers' hitters fought against the Giants' pitchers. The Dodgers didn't allow the Giants' starters to go deep into the games because of how many tough pitches they fouled off, waiting for the one pitch they wanted in the at-bat. Jonathan Sanchez threw 88 pitches in 5 innings today, Matt Cain threw 105 pitches in 5 innings yesterday, and Barry Zito threw 113 pitches in 6 innings on Monday. On the other hand, Vicente Padilla threw only 98 pitches in 7 innings today, an average of 14 pitches per inning. The Dodgers had 15 instances of a hitter seeing 20 pitches or more in a game this series, while the Giants only had 3. The Dodgers demonstrated how teams play winning baseball. Every team should know that it's best if you knock the starting pitcher out early, and get into the bullpen.
The Giants offense during this series resembled the performance during the series in Oakland: bad at-bats, poor situational hitting, and of course, double-plays. But it went beyond all of this, to immature baserunning and bad defense. No team can win this way.
The Giants will now embark on a crucial 11-game road trip that will lead them to the All-Star break. It's going to be a tall task for the Giants to right the ship, as they are only 15-20 on the road thus far. But because of the disastrous homestand, the Giants have to go 7-4 or better to be in good standing during the All-Star break. Hopefully the Giants observed the Dodgers closely, and saw first-hand a formula for winning baseball.
As I'm writing this post, multiple media outlets are reporting that the Giants have traded Bengie Molina to the Texas Rangers in exchange for Chris Ray and a player to be named later. This trade is good news for Giants fans. Bengie Molina was a terrific Giant: he was a two-time Willie Mac Award Winner, and he performed admirably in the cleanup spot in the lineup for two years even though everyone knew that he wasn't fit to hit in that spot. Molina, who was batting .257 with a .312 OBP and an awful .332 slugging percentage, had no place on the Giants any more, especially since his defense had significantly faded. This trade allows Buster Posey to play every day at the catcher position, which is a huge addition for the Giants. Despite his slump, Posey has to be in the lineup every day; he and Pat Burrell are the most disciplined hitters on this team. Chris Ray is a former closer, and he will provide an experienced arm to the Giants' bullpen, which is in dire need of some stability. Plus, with Posey behind the plate full time, and with Aubrey Huff able to play either first base or right field, the Bengie Molina trade will give Brian Sabean some more flexibility to acquire a proven hitter who can either play the infield or outfield.
If the Giants truly believe they are postseason contenders, they better turn up their play against Colorado, a team coming off a series win in San Diego. Almost halfway through the season, it's time for the Giants to get serious and play consistently well.
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