The game was supposed to be a tight pitchers duel just like the two previous games were. After all, the Padres young up-and-comer Mat "Hey there's a T missing" Latos was facing the defending 2 time Cy Young award winner Tim Lincecum.
That pitcher's duel never materialized. Instead the Giants broke both of Latos' streaks today. The first streak they broke was Latos' record streak of consecutive starts of allowing 2 earned runs or less. They also broke his 16 start unbeaten streak.
On the other hand, Lincecum has been struggling this season. He had a streak of 5 straight losing decisions in August and at 3.69 his ERA was at the highest it had been since his rookie season.
Instead, the Giants lit Latos up for 5 earned runs over 4 innings and looked like he had no idea where the strike zone was. Lincecum meanwhile allowed 1 run in seven innings and struck out 9. It cemented Lincecum as the answer to the question: "Who would you rather have on the mound to start one must-win game?" there is no question that this was as close to a must-win game that the Giants have played all season.
On Offense, the Buster Posey show continued. His 2 run HR got the scoring started and had Latos reeling in the first inning. Posey's habit of carrying the offense and getting the hits at exactly the right time only have added to his case for rookie of the year.
Tomorrow is an off day for the Giants who can take the day to figure out what they are going to do to replace Andres Torres over the next 10 days at least. Bochy jumped at the chance to give Aaron Rowand a start in center and he was vintage Rowand going 0-5 and left 4 runners on base. On the positive side, he only struck out one of those times! I think the Giants would be better off with Cody Ross patrolling centerfield and the Giants would get more for the $13 million they were paying for Rowand if they released him and he stunk it up for another team.
Tuesday marks the start of a 3 game set against the Dodgers at AT&T. Kershaw against Zito. Hopefully the Dodgers lay down and die for us like they did against the Padres the other day.
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