For those of you that read Czar’s blog #10, the message was we had to basically win out to go any further.  Well, after going 1 and 9 in the last 10 games, the G-Men are going no further even if they aren’t mathematically eliminated yet. Even the ever optimistic front office is waving the white flag and offering season ticket holders deals for next year.  The Giants may yet have an impact on the year but if they do it will be when they play teams with a shot at the play-off’s who have to win (like the Red Sox and the Braves). 

Remember the torture team of 2010? We are on that ride again. After a break even June and a torrid July, the team reverted to form so far in August, is playing below .500 ball and is struggling to get back in the wild card race behind six other teams. What it will take to get back in the hunt is a torrid September, and winning the two series here at home this week against two of the other NL West teams with roughly the same shot as the G-men (the Snakes and the Padres).

The big news is that Bum is still a Giant and will be with the team (and Bruce Bochy) for at least the remainder of the season. If the G-men can fight through the wild card traffic and need one pitcher for a winner take all game there is no one better to throw than  Bum, and no one better to manage then Boch. Farhan did a splendid job in managing his first trade deadline as a Giant. He improved the roster for a stretch run with the trade for Scooter Gannet from the Reds, dumped a large contract (Melancon and his $18 million contract to the Braves), obtained young arms for Sam Dyson and Ray Black and didn’t disrupt the core of the team.

First we had a good June (.500 ball) and then the Gigantes went on a hitting tear. They scored 94 runs in their last 11 games (a record) and yesterday they spanked the Rockies in a double header, including a 19 run game (a Coors field record for the Giants) sparked by 8 RBI’s from Brandon Crawford.  They have won every series they have played this month and are two games back of the Snakes for 2nd place in the NL West.  That, boys and girls, is looking like wild card territory.  Yes they are still in last place but they should climb in the standings by the end of this week if they keep playing like this.

The Gigantes continue to play .500 ball in June. The last ten games have been 5 wins and 5 losses but they did (over 7 games against the Snakes, 3 in AZ and 4 at home) take the series against Arizona 4 to 3. For that trend to be meaningful something needs to happen – a trade for power, a call up going crazy (like Alex Dickerson?) or a meltdown of classic proportions of the other teams in the division.  However, the last two games have been eye-popping. For the Giants to score over 10 runs in two successive days (Sunday 10-2 and Monday 13-2) either the stars were perfectly aligned or a power surge in the system is emerging. This week should tell us whether those two games were an aberration or a sign of what may happen after the All-Star break.