Giants 7, A's 1: How could it get any better? The weather was great, the pitching was off the hook, The Kung Fu Panda went deep, Nate Schierholtz had one of the most exciting plays ever witnessed in this blessed ballpark, and the team on the ugly end of the whoopin' stick was the A's.
Right -- it could've been better. It could've been the Dodgers. In fact, it could've been either of the next two teams to visit, the Angels or Rangers, and the sweep would have been more significant. Oakland is a flawed team and, not to take anything away from the last three nights of spectacular mound work, a bit wheezy once you get past the budding young rotation. Jack Hanahan, sixth place hitter? Raj Davis pressed into a starting role? Jason Giambi, old and unenhanced?
Jack Cust showed why he really should be a DH as he clanked around right field all weekend, which leads me to ask: Why in the hell would an opposing manager put his worst outfielder in right at Mays Field? Bob Melvin did it late last year with Adam Dunn, and it cost them crucial runs.
While you ponder that, let's get to our players of the week:
On offense, Pablo Sandoval takes the honor not only for his power -- two crucial homers and a double -- but for his smaller ball. His bunt single started the rally Friday night against the otherwise flawless Vin Mazzaro, and he walked three times this week, twice coming around to score. My runner-up isn't Nate Schierholtz, though huzzahs for his nice series this weekend with the inside-the-parker, two fine throws his pinch-hit RBI single. No, it's Andres Torres, who came up 14 times, got on base seven times, hit two triples, a double, and walked twice. Show me a better fifth outfielder in baseball right now.
Among pitchers, Matt Cain had one trophy-case start and one grind-it-out win. It's hard to pick anyone else.
