Road Trip Brings G-Men Back to Reality

After a 21-of-27 roll, the Giants went on the road and absolutely soiled the sheets. A 2-4 run through Colorado and Atlanta surely prompts the question: "How'd they manage to win two?"

It's becoming increasingly evident that the July offensive explosion was a mirage. We crawled through the desert looking at the water in the distance, but upon closer inspection we found out there was no oasis and were were left nothing to drink but sand.

Over the last five games on the trip, the Giants averaged an anemic 2.4 runs a game. Even the one victory they managed was due to Atlanta ineptitude and not any accomplishement by the orange and black. San Diego's uncharacteristic struggles at Arizona helped minimize the damage, but the fact remains that the Giants offense simply isn't very good.

Think about it. San Francisco struck for two runs in the first inning of the Atlanta series. Over the next 37 innings, they scored in just six of them, and in each of those it was a single tally. You simply can't sustain a winning streak against quality competition when your offense depends upon enemy miscues to be productive.

And, of course, the pitching needs to be perfect. It wasn't bad until Sunday, when the usual suspects showed up to whiz in the punch bowl.

At least one prediciton of mine came to pass: Todd Wellemeyer got called into action as the long man because Jonathan Sanchez once again proved that he, well, he sucks. Worse, Wellemeyer did exactly as I anticipated, which mean he sucked too. It appears the Giants have decided forfeiting every fifth day is a legitimate tactic as opposed to actually trying to fix a glaring problem. Of course, if they were into fixing glaring problems they might have actually acquired someone who could hit long before now.

The Atlanta series highlighted everything that it wrong with this team. Every hitter in the Atlanta line-up is dangerous. The San Francisco line-up counts on Huff (a journeyman) and Posey (a rookie) to carry the load. Beyond that all they really do is pray for Sandoval to end his season-long skid and hope either Burrell or Uribe runs into one. An offense predecated on wishful thinking isn't likely to play in October.

But, back to the Chuck-and-Duck Twins. Neither Sanchez nor Wellemeyer has done anything consistently this year other that raise the blood pressure of fans. Wellemeyer's most significant contribution was getting hurt and allowing Bumgarner to take his spot in the rotation. Perhaps some sort of booby trap in his locker is called for -- and it would be just wonderful if Sanchez ended up as collateral damage.

Nice line for Sanchez, who lasted an iron man-like four innings and surrendered four runs. He struck out four but walked the same number (including the opposing pitcher, who of course scored) while allowing pair of long balls. And sadly, that was better than Wellemeyer's outing. Four batters, four hits. Wow, glad we brought that hero back. Who's next, Brandon Medders? What was the point in letting Bautista go? Wellemeyer is Bautista -- without the Ks.

Funny how the Giants refuse to part with a guy like Sanchez. He's made 23 starts this year, and had back-to-back quality starts exactly once. That's right. Once. Uno. And it's not like he's an innings eater either. He averages 5 2/3 innings (and about 600 defense-numbing pitches) per start. Compared to the top of the rotation he simply doesn't measure up. He also can't claim youth and inexperience like Bumgarner -- and to my eye MadBum is out-pitching him.

There comes a point where potential becomes unrealized, and a player transitions from prospect to disappointment. Sanchez is there. This is his fifth season in the bigs. If he hasn't figured it out by now, it stands to reason that he isn't going to. Better to deal him for something that might be of value rather than wait until the rest of baseball catches on to the act and his value plummets.

It's not like the Giants haven't seen this before. Todd Linden and Kevin Frandsen quickly come to mind as poker hands the Giants held way too deep into the game hoping in vain to draw an inside straight. Better off to fold and have some chips for the next hand.

You could sum up the current state of the Giants up by having someone watch the first two innings of Sunday's game. The Giants had a threat in the first inning but got nada after lining into a double play. They struck for a run in the second and could have had more, but refused Atlanta's gift. With a runner at third and one out, Freddie Sanchez popped up to short, only to see Alex Gonzalez watch the ball fall untouched. Now it's first and third with one out, but yet another DP killed the would-be rally.

Then in the bottom of the frame, J-San got lit. A lead-off double and a grounder behind the runner put a man on third with one out. Sanchez then served a 3-2 homer to David Ross -- who hadn't gone yard all year. Not content with that, he walked the next two hitters, including pitcher Derek Lowe. An infield single loaded the bags, and a sac fly had the G-men in a 3-1 hole. They never got out.

There was so much wrong with that exchange, but what really killed me was how Atalnta -- which had been struggling at the plate -- put on a clinic at creating a rally. Sanchez coudn't find the zone. The Braves hitters were patient, letting him get himself into deeper trouble. They took advantage of count leverage. They hit behind runners. They looked for balls to lift in sac fly situations. They did all of the little things that winning clubs do -- and the Giants don't.

Still can't figure out why the Giants are carrying 13 pitchers, although a web report I read said Manny Burris is coming up so someone's gotta go. The fact that the Giants carried 13 says so much about this team's overreliance on pitching -- to the detriment of all else. They've ignored the offense for far too long.

Think about this, if the season were over today the Giants would be in the playoffs. Their reward: a trip to Atlanta. anyone looking forward to that?

D-Day is here. Four games at home with the Cubs begin tonight, then it's four straight series with contenders: at home versus San Diego, at Philly and St. Louis, then home to face the Reds. This is it. Right the ship or start thinking about 2011 -- perferably with some major changes. This team, as constructed, hasn't shown it has the goods.