The Moment of Reckoning is Here

Computers have these wonderful things called “macros”. You save a certain phrase, sentence or paragraph so that you can use it again and again with just a few keystrokes. It’s a great time saver if you know what you wrote once is gonna be used again.

I think I’ll save this little tidbit from the Marlins’ series:

“Once again the starting pitchers did their jobs, the bullpen failed miserably, and it was up to the offense to prove it was worth the collective oxygen it sucks out of the universe. Evidence that either bullpen or offense is anything better than mediocre was less than convincing.”

That’s a bit of a downer considering the Giants have just won 13 of 17, but after surviving a stretch in which they played 18 of 22 games on the road you would expect more than a four-game split with the Marlins.

For Florida, which entered and exited AT&T with a .500 record, a sister kiss on enemy ground is a decent achievement. For the Giants, who came in at 56-43, going two and two on home turf had to be a disappointment.

Saying the series was a disappointment was like saying Jeffrey Dahmer was a disappointment to his parents. Disappointment? This was bordering on Greek tragedy.

We can bag on Zito and Cain for their inability to keep the ball in the park, but the fact remains that both provided what the stat geeks would call a “quality start.” Sanchez still couldn’t last five frames but it was the bullpen went nuclear, and Bumgarner showed he’s still learning but could have thrown a no-hitter and lost for all the help he got.

The bullpen continues to be atrocious. Watching the Giants blow a 9-2 lead sent visions of Ryan Spilborghs through my brain (see Post #1 if you’ve been more successful than I in blocking the memory). Only Andres Torres’ 4-for-6 day saved the Giants from what I’m convinced would have been a plunge into the abyss.

Of course, inspired by that Houdini-esque escape act the Giants came out the next day and played dead. I’m not talking about sluggish. They literally had no pulse. George Romero movies have more life-like characters. Only Panda’s dying quail helped the Giants avoid being the victim of the year’s sixth no-no. It was a stunning performance worthy of note in any newsletter expounding the virtues of the mortuary sciences.

Radio talk shows, the papers and the blogosphere have varying verdicts on whether or not the Giants are better off than they were last year. Certainly the big run over the past three weeks has built excitement. Heck, we all want to believe.

The cold hard fact is that the Giants are 58-45. At the same point last year they were 56-47. A two-game improvement over the span of 103 is nothing to write home about, and that 2009 team finished in third place -- seven games out. Pardon me if I’m not ordering playoff tickets just yet.

The 2009 Giants had no offense, poor middle relief, and a middle infield more suited to one of those leagues where they keep a keg behind second base. The 2010 Giants have no offense, poor middle relief, and a middle infield more suited to one of those leagues where they keep a keg behind second base. I detect a trend.

Time for Brian Sabean to earn his money.

The Giants have to acquire some on-field help. The kind of deal I imagined evaporated when Roy Oswalt and J.A. Happ traded uniforms. I figured Philadelphia might be the only team willing to take on Rowand, who remains a fan favorite in the world battery toss capitol. Rowand and Sanchez for Werth and Happ made sense to me. The Giants would have needed to work with Werth on an extension, but even if he walked at season’s end the Giants would have rid themselves of a $24 million albatross while swapping an erratic lefty for a pitcher who doesn’t go 3-2 on every hitter. So much for that.

Current speculation centers around acquisition of a left-handed outfield bat or middle reliever, but those spots are going to be hard to fill. There aren’t a lot of players who seem to be a match for the Giants who wouldn’t cost, at the least, Madison Bumgarner (Sanchez I’d deal in a heartbeat). Rather than burn a prospect on someone who might be only a marginal upgrade a la Ryan Garko (thank God the Giants were outbid for Podsednik), I’d prefer they address the glaring hole at shortstop.

Edgar Renteria is a shadow of his former self. Yes, he was a World Series hero – as a 20-year-old rookie. The current version is 35, an inconsistent fielder with limited range and durability issues, and his once clutch bat is now the weakest part of his game. He had a big homer in Tuesday’s game – a bomb that doubled his season total and accounted for the only time he’s gone deep in his last 30 outings. He’s amassed a whopping eight RBIs in that span. In the Florida series that homer was his ONLY hit.

In his two seasons with the club he’s been a contributing member for about an hour and a half. His 2009 campaign was a joke, and after a hot start this year he went into the tank. Now I hear the argument “But he’s been injured.” Yeah, so? Since joining the club, when has he NOT been injured?

Uribe can’t play short on a regular basis because, well, to put it kindly, you need your shortstop to cover the ground with his legs and glove, not his rather immense shadow. There are no options on the farm: Manny Burris is proving to be more suited to second base, and our candidates at the lower levels are waging ongoing love affairs with the Mendoza line. The answer lies outside the organization. The Diamondbacks and Mariners are in fire sale mode and looking to move Stephen Drew or Jack Wilson. Go get one.

Over the next 16 games the G-men face every team in the division except Arizona. They get three-gamers with LA and San Diego at The Big Phone, and only a four-game series at Atlanta screams “trouble.” By August 15 we’ll know if this was real or a mirage.

It’s Waterloo, make or break, D Day, zero hour, (insert your favorite metaphor here). After this run the Giants will see the Pads and Dodgers 10 more times combined, none before Sept 9, and the first four with San Diego are in Tijuana Heights. By then it’s too late to do anything but pray – especially with the Giants playing six of their last nine on the road.

It starts tonight with The Hated Dodgers in town. The Giants get to throw the top of their rotation, Kershaw’s suspension means the LA rotation is tweaked, and Joe Torre probably had Don Mattingly fitted for restraints. LA isn’t hitting, so this is the Giants’ chance.

A 3 ½-game bulge by San Diego isn’t insurmountable, especially in August, but the Padres have the second best record in baseball over their last 162. They aren’t a fluke, and they aren’t coming back to the pack.

To win the West, the Giants will have to hunt them down.