Giants Can’t Sweep Phillies, But Make Most Of Road Trip

For those that watched, today’s game was quite the snooze fest. The Giants’ offense was non-existent and the Phillies weren’t far behind, the teams stranding 16 runners – the Giants leaving five of those in scoring position with two out. Needless to say, the Giants had every opportunity to complete the sweep, but it wasn’t to be as they continually failed wasting opportunity after opportunity before the Phillies struck in the bottom of the 12th. Brad Penny took his first loss at the big boy level this year, giving up two hits and a walk in his 0.1 innings of work.

Despite the loss, it’s hard to be too upset with the Giants as they had a fantastic road trip, ending the six game roadie with a 4-2 record. Tough to complain about that – especially with the wins coming in Atlanta and Philadelphia, with both teams coming into their respective series’ hot.

Zen Zito – Although he’s had some blip’s on the radar, Barry Zito‘s had a pretty solid year for the Giants and today was no different. Barry tossed seven innings of three run ball today and he tossed seven innings of shutout ball in Atlanta earlier in the trip, putting the Giants in position to win both games. Sadly, that wasn’t the case today but it didn’t take away from Zito’s solid effort. At the back of the rotation, all Zito is asked to do is to keep the Giants in the game and that’s exactly what he’s done for most of the year, especially lately where he’s held opponents to 3, 0, 4, 1, and 0 earned runs in his last five starts.

Bummin’ Belt – It’s almost got past the point of frustration with Brandon Belt. Now, it’s just sad. The Giants’ first basemen struggled yet again, going 0-5 with a hat trick. Belt now has two hits since July 7th and is riding a current span of 1 for his last 24.  Worse than that though is how Belt is playing offensively, striking out at an insanely high rate (per his standard) and failing to make any solid contact. If you’re the Giants, your hands are tied. There’s no doubt Belt is talented, but there appears to be mental issues that the Giants have not so quietly brought up before. You continue to hope Belt will eventually find his way out of the hole he’s dug, but with a lack of patience from the coaching staff and a pennant race all but inevitable, the Giants can only wait so long.

Nate Does Look Great – When he’s not hitting dribblers to the left side of the pitching mound, Nate likes to hit bombs. The frustrated outfielder made the most of his start today, leading off the game with a HR and then eventually hitting was was the equalizing homer in the top of the 8th. Sadly, the Giants wasted both efforts but it didn’t take away from Nate’s great game. Maybe the Giants are showcasing Schierholtz or maybe they’re just trying to appease their backup outfielder, but either way, Nate took the opportunity and ran with it – at least for a day.

The Giants will now head home for a 10 game homestand, which ties for the longest of the season (they also have a 10 game homestand in late September).

All in all, despite the loss, a very solid road trip for the orange and black.