BASTA: Offense Sputters Again As Giants Swept At Hands Of Padres

((HT: BASTA their own selves/Leonard))

The Giants came into Petco Park on Friday full of confidence and enthusiasm. They leave on Sunday demoralized and broken, swept by the hapless San Diego Padres, whose team wOBA starts with a two (.282). San Francisco made these Padres look like world-beaters, giving up eight runs on Sunday to the worst offensive team in the major leagues. They have scored fourteen runs in their last eight games, dropping six of eight in the process. With the loss, all hopes of winning the NL West are essentially lost; with the Dodgers’ win on Sunday, San Francisco fell 4.5 games back in the divisional race. They are now tied with Pittsburgh for the first wild card spot; Milwaukee sits 4.5 back, likely an unsurmountable deficit.

Despite the fact that the Giants are practically a lock to make the postseason (98.8% chance), they are no lock to advance far beyond the wild card play-in game (if that). The offense has been silent without Angel Pagan in the lineup, putting four runs across the board in the three-game series. They weren’t much better on Sunday, as their sole runs in an 8-2 loss came on rookie Chris Dominguez’s homer, the first hit of his career. Dominguez launched a 3-1 fastball from Ian Kennedy off of the Western Supply Company Building in left field, cutting the Padres’ lead to 5-2. He became the first Giant to have a homer for a first career hit since Adam Duvall in June.

Besides the homer, the offense was lifeless, failing to get their first hit until two outs in the forth on a Buster Posey infield single. (Yes, you read that right) Unlike San Francisco, the Padres looked very comfortable at the plate, tagging starter Ryan Vogelsong for four runs in five innings. Petco Park continued to haunt the righty, who had posted a 9.37 ERA at the park before Sunday. He was a 5.53 ERA on the season against NL West opponents. Yasmani Grandal had a big day at the dish, going one for two with three RBI’s. His sacrifice fly in the sixth contributed to a four-run outburst from San Diego, chasing Vogelsong from the game.

The Giants now head to Los Angeles full of uncertainty and despair. They will have to take two out of three from the Dodgers to avoid watching them celebrate a division clinch. Luckily, Dodger Stadium does not have a pool.
((HT: FOX Sports))


After being the hottest team in baseball for a stretch, the Giants find themselves facing a postseason possibly without Angel Pagan or an offense. This series against Los Angeles will define the Giants’ season. Can they be resilient? It will be certainly be a test, facing Haren, Greinke, and Kershaw. Haren (13-11, 4.14) will open the series on Monday against Jake Peavy (6-4, 2.16).