San Francisco Giants are snake bit by Arizona Diamondbacks, 6-1, Joe Panik scores single Giants run

Sep 7, 2015; Phoenix, AZ, USA; San Francisco Giants second baseman Kelby Tomlinson (37) turns a double play on Arizona Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb (19) as shortstop Brandon Crawford (35) looks on during the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports

Somewhere out there is a San Francisco Giants fan who stopped believing. Which one of you is it? Come on, who did it? I know somebody stopped believing and now there are more joining up. But not this Gamer Babe. I told you, I won’t stop believing‒not until the last K is hung.

Nothing can keep me from believing‒not even a game like the Giants played Monday in Arizona. I have to admit, it looked an awful lot like the game the Giants played in St. Louis in late August. The biggest differences were: the Cardinals took longer to put a number on the board, Joe Panik didn’t play in St. Louis, and the Giants didn’t score at all in St. Louis.

Let’s look at the latter two differences‒Joe Panik didn’t play in St. Louis.  In Arizona, he pinch hit in the eighth for Kelby Tomlinson and led-off with a double. He played at second base in the bottom half of the inning, tossing the ball to first, putting the runner out for the first out of the inning. Welcome back Joe!

The Giants didn’t score at all in St. Louis. They did, however, score in Arizona‒one run, and it just so happens that Joe Panik is the player that scored the run. After hitting the double in the eighth, he advanced to third on Matt Duffy’s ground out, and scored on Buster Posey’s single.

Panik may not have played much in Monday’s game in Arizona, but when he did come in? The Giants scored. See where I’m going with this? We need more Panik.

Mike Leake pitched for the Giants in Monday’s game and I have to say, I’ve seen him pitch better. According to manager Bruce Bochy “he missed his spots more than he usually does.” He allowed six runs on eleven hits and two walks in five and ⅔ innings, while striking out five hitters.

Ryan Vogelsong pitched two innings and gave up a hit, a walk and struck out one. I have to say, Vogey looked great in relief. Which was, well…let’s face it…a relief. I’d like to see him stay a Giant, even out of the bullpen.

The Giants managed to get ten hits, just two less than the Diamondbacks. The difference‒the Giants couldn’t close the deal. Buster had a three hit game, Angel Pagan fought an epic battle with the Arizona pitcher, ten pitches, then ended the fight by roping a double to right field, and he hit a single in the fifth. Marlon Byrd also had a two hit game.

The Giants rookie catcher, Jackson Williams made his big league debut as a Giant. He made three plate appearances, striking out once. The final score was: Giants 1, Arizona 6

Kruk and Kuip announced that Matt Duffy has played in 94 consecutive games this year, putting him in the top tier of MLB players in 2015 who have played without taking a game off. Didn’t I tell you that kid has been working hard?

The game kinda reminded me of the season itself…up, down…up, down…up…you get the picture.

I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’d like to get off the roller coaster. I’m getting awfully queasy and I’m running low on Dramamine. What do you say…when we get to the top again, we just stay there?

C’mon believers, it ain’t over yet.