Giants Unable To Complete Sweep Thanks To Walkoff Three Run Homer

You have to wonder what Matt Cain did to the Baseball God’s to deserve what he’s been given. As one of the most hard luck pitchers in any recent memory, the Giants’ horse yet again found himself on the wrong end of the scoreboard despite throwing another gem. Seven innings of three hit, one run ball wasn’t enough as Santiago Casilla was unable to get out of the ninth for the second consecutive day, this go around being topped off with a walkoff, three run homer from Athletics rookie catcher Derek Norris.

Pitching Staff Riding A Cold Streak – In the past week, the Giants have given up: 7, 2, 3, 12, 6, 4, 8 and today’s 4 – not exactly the things we expect from the Giants’ starting staff or their ‘pen. The Giants are 3-5 in those games, though, all have been on the road. The offense hasn’t exactly been hot either, but they’ve been respectable despite a lot of late inning scoring. With a crucial series against the Dodgers starting tomorrow, the Giants will need to pick up their play if they want to eat into the Blue’s first place lead. Thankfully, with seven straight at home, the Giants’ third ranking ERA in their own comfy confines will hopefully get the staff back on track.

Casilla’s Mini Meltdown – I’ve never been a huge Santiago Casilla fan, not because I don’t think he’s a good pitcher, but more because I don’t trust him. He’s continually proven me wrong, but I’ve always felt the Giants were on borrowed time with him, especially in his current role. While he’s been nothing short of lights out (despite his Brian Wilson like saves) for most of the year, he’s hit a massive bump in the road during his last few innings as he’s been scored upon in three consecutive outings and looked pretty shaky in all of them from the outset. There’s no doubt Casilla owns some downright disgusting stuff, but you have to wonder at times if he knows where he’s throwing it. With limited bullpen options, the Giants don’t exactly have a quick or easy fix to Casilla’s closing situation unless they wanted to look at Sergio Romo (who Bochy has said he prefers in the 8th), but you have to hope it’s just a small glitch in an otherwise solid season for the Giants’ interim closer. He has me on high alert though…

Down in Anaheim, the Dodgers again struggled to pull away from the Giants in the standings as they too took one on the chin. As losers of five of their past six, the struggling Dodgers will make their way North in what should prove to be the biggest series of either clubs season so far. The Dodgers could leave San Francisco in a best case scenario with a six game lead or leave tied for first place, so much is at stake despite the fact it’s only June. A series win and the Giants will find themselves out only two, a pretty impressive feat given how hot the Dodgers were to start the season.