Giants Walk The Plank In Pittsburgh, Enter All-Star Break In Scuffle

Yeesh. What started out so promising with a series sweep over the Dodgers turned into a disaster as the Giants will enter the All-Star break as losers of 8 of their last 10. Starting with the Dodgers, the Giants played a streak of 13 straight games against a (what was at the time of playing) first place team. They’ll finish that 13 game stretch with a 6-7 record, three of those wins coming in the first three games versus Los Angeles. They finished their six game road trip in Washington and Pittsburgh with a 1-5 record.

The Giants first taste of sweltering heat certainly didn’t help, but I’m not one to use that excuse – it’s not like they’ve never played in it before. The Giants were simply outplayed in both Pittsburgh and Washington, many times on both sides of the ball. There’s little to recap from today’s game as they were pounded from start to finish, looking all too ready for the All-Star break and the plane ride home or to Kansas City for a select handful.

Lost Lincecum – Not to make excuses, but there were a few doinks against Tim Lincecum today but there’s no way to slide around it – he’s absolutely dreadful right now. The two-time Cy Young award winner couldn’t even make it out of the fourth today, the final nail in his coffin a bases loaded single by opposing pitcher A.J. Burnett. Lincecum was charged with 6 earned in 3.1 innings. He was charged with 7 earned in the same 3.1 innings in Washington earlier in the week. We’d all love to believe the All-Star break would be the mental cleansing Lincecum needs, but, well, it might be grasping at straws right now. Lincecum is lost.

Tired Posey – I’m not a big fan of personal catchers, but it appears to be Bochy’s thing right now – and with his current pairing of Lincecum and Hector Sanchez, it was the perfect opportunity to get Buster Posey a much needed rest. And Bochy did in his mind, giving him a day off behind the dish, sliding him to 1B – which isn’t much of a day’s rest in my humble opinion. If you’re going to give Posey the day off, give him a true day off. Playing in sweltering heat is no day of rest and it’s showing in Posey’s current struggles at the plate. His swing is soft, tired and he’s chasing pitches he normally lays off and lays off easily. Prior to today’s 1-2 game, Posey had a 1-17 road trip and looked gassed. No rest for the wicked though as Posey boards a short flight to KC to catch the All-Star game this Tuesday (which lost one of their National League catchers, meaning at least a 1/2 game for Posey) before he hops another flight back to San Francisco to open their Friday series. The trials of being a franchise player.

The Giants finish their first half 46-40, a bit worse then their ’11 first half in which they compiled a 52-40 record. Hopefully, the Giants’ ’12 second half will be more productive then their ’11’s 34-35.

Enjoy the break and make sure to tune in for the Panda, Posey, Melky and Cain in Tuesday’s All-Star game. We’ll be keeping you updated on the happenings.