The Nats is the worse team in the majors again. If they do that again this year and next, they could end up with the #1 pick overall for 2009, 2010, and 2011. Why is that interesting? This year they get Stephen Strasburg, who some feel is the best pitcher to enter the draft perhaps ever, and 2011 is the year that high schooler Bryce Harper is already consider the likely #1 pick overall, and he's a catcher. They could be their battery in the not so distant future (though our Lincecum and Posey future Golden Spike battery should be pretty good itself).
Game 1: Lincecum vs. Craig Stammen
Should be an easy win. Lincecum has been at the top of his game for the most part, and Stammen is in his third major league start. It would be a big upset if Lincecum loses but it is not impossible.
Game 2: Johnson vs. Jordan Zimmerman
Wildcard. Both have been very inconsistent. Zimmerman has been pretty bad in 5 out of his last 6 starts. Johnson has been good in his last two starts, but wasn't that good for 4 of 5 starts. It should be a win as Johnson could be starting a nice stretch, much like he did last season. Still, he could have another hiccup while Zimmerman could have a good start.
Game 3: Cain vs. Ross Detwiler
Detwiler has not been that good, but he hasn't been that bad either. His overall stats are actually pretty good. However, Cain has been pretty consistently good. It should be a win but Detwiler could finally put it together and make it a game.
Giants Thoughts
The Giants have been 10-10 since May 10, averaging 4.55 runs per game, which is pretty good for this lineup, but unfortunately the scoring has not been evenly distributed, as the pitching has also been pretty good during that stretch, with a 3.65 ERA overall and 4.00 runs allowed per game. That bad stretch of one run losses didn't help, obviously.
Still, the offense and the pitching has been doing well, which it has mostly done when playing at home, but not so much playing on the road. Thus they need to make a statement on this trip, because they are playing against the worse team in the majors, with the Nats, plus playing against Florida, which has a losing record, then playing Arizona, another team with a losing record and a new manager, though playing better with the newer manager.
Not that it would be do or die, but I think it would be a disappointment if the Giants don't make hay this road trip and end with a record of at least 6-4 for the trip.
And they can get off to a really good start towards that by sweeping the Nats, which is a good possibility, as we should win each game on an individual basis. Still, they are only human, plus Josh Willingham has been totally hot (I should know, he's on one of my fantasy teams), so you never know when a player might take over a series. Still, good hitting can be neutralized by good pitching, and we have good pitching starting this series.
Arghhh! Forgot to include relievers in the areas where things would go bad. But this bad?
ReplyDeleteLooking like Howry is still having his problems with the big implosion. Offense was OK though... However, Molina is just going bad, he struck out twice today, he rarely strikes out (about 1 in 10 in seasons past) and was doing well this season too.
It'll be tougher now to win the series, but like I noted, this road trip will be a big test, and they are not passing so far.
Bob Howry you chump! We shouldn't be losing games where we score 5 and timmy gives up 1, ugh frustrating.
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