Great win to finally knock off Maddux for the first time in, what, five years? Bengie Molina, PLODAG, a homer, four ribbies and, make note, behind the plate to catch a Barry Zito gem after Pablo Sandoval seemed to become Zito's personal catcher. The Upside is Sandoval, with two doubles off Maddux, one to drive in two runs after Maddux threw a little chin music, plus the coolest baserunning move of the year. When they post the video on sfgiants.com, go look at it. I'm going to bed. I have a plane to catch in the wee morn.
But first! It's that time of year to shoot for arbitrary but time-honored milestones, like an entire season's worth of blog posts without the letter....whoa, I almost typed it. Sorry, you'll just have to guess.
How about Bengie Molina, 100 RBIs? With four tonight off the Ducking Fodgers and Meg Graddux, Molina needs eight more.
Zito won his 10th game tonight, amazing when you consider he was 0-8 and sinking in mid-May like an aura crystal in a pool of aromatherapy oil. I generally put little stock in wins, but with Zito this year a "W" at least shows he managed to last five innings. Small victories, indeed. No surprise that Zito will also finish the year with the worst ERA of his career, not to mention most walks and least strikeouts. The silver lining is that he seems to have recovered some MPH on his fastball, perhaps fixed mechanical problems, and has no health problems. Maybe he's turned it around and in the next couple years can be a regular contributor.
Unless Molina goes nuts, no Giant will finish with 20 homers. Molina leads with 15. Accordingly, the Giants are a whisker away from the lowest slugging percentage in the National League. OBP, too. Tonight's game will help, but they're perilously close to the worst offense in the league. Last year, even with Bonds, the Giants missed the dubious distinction by one point of OBP. (.322 to Arizona's .321.) Before that, the last time they were that bad was 1985, last in OBP (.299!) and second to last in SLG by one point.
Final note, from what is probably the last game I hear all year: in the top of the 9th tonight, someone was pounding on the outside of the Giants' radio booth, and it was coming in loud and clear over the air. Duane Kuiper duly noted it, then turned away from the mic and yelled, still quite audible, "Hey, my name's Vin Scully, and you better knock it off!"
He didn't. Stupid Dodger fans, boo. Duane Kuiper and all the Giants broadcasters, yay. Pablo Sandoval. Double Yay.
