A Sweep By The Padres And A Dismal 1-5 Road Trip

Last season, the Giants won 88 games, narrowly missing out on winning the NL West and the NL Wild Card. You can make a strong argument that an 0-6 stretch in April of 2009 on the road against the Dodgers and Padres kept the Giants out of the postseason. The same 6-game swing this season was almost identical to last year, as the Giants, after being swept by the Padres, finished a 1-5 road trip through LA and San Diego. Their schedule doesn't get any easier, as they'll come home and play their next six games against the Cardinals and the Phillies.

The Giants' current 4-game slide is eerily similar to the same stretch of games from a year ago. In 3 of the 4 losses, the Giants wasted superb outings by their starting pitching. Jonathan Sanchez yesterday allowed only 1 run on 1 hit while striking out 10...and still lost! By the way, the last time the Giants lost a game when they allowed only 1 hit was 90 years ago. During this losing streak, the Giants have scored a grand total of 5 runs. 5 RUNS IN 4 GAMES! That's beyond pathetic. While their offense has been absent for the most part, in the very few run-scoring opportunities they've had, they're situational hitting has been abysmal. I know that the Giants have been missing two of their regulars in Aaron Rowand and Mark DeRosa, but everyone on the roster should be capable of laying down a sacrifice bunt, and everyone on the roster should be able to hit a fly ball to the outfield to bring a runner home from 3rd base with less than two outs. These are supposed to be major leaguers right?!!

The saying that numbers in spring training don't translate to the regular season is ringing true for Tim Lincecum and Todd Wellemeyer. Lincecum had a shaky spring, but has been unhittable so far. Wellemeyer had a very solid spring winning the 5th starter's job over Madison Bumgarner, but so far, he's been well below average. Wellemeyer had a decent opening outing, but his last two starts have been awful. As a result of being all over the place with his command, he's consistently put himself in hitter's counts and subsequently been hit hard. In his 14.1 innings pitched, he's allowed 13 earned runs on 16 hits with 11 walks. That amounts to a 1.88 WHIP and a .271 opponent's batting average. He's slated to pitch next against the Phillies and I don't want to even think about how ugly that might get. Yes it's very early in the season, but the Giants have to be considering alternatives for the 5th spot in the rotation. Both Joe Martinez and Eric Hacker have put up nice numbers so far at AAA Fresno. Plus, Wellemeyer is better suited as the long reliever rather than a member of the rotation.

It's time for the Giants to snap out of their funk and turn it up. If they don't, the Cards and Phillies are going to bring them hell.