Postgame 7/31 – Giants 0 Reds 9
Well, glad that’s over with. Ten first inning runs coughed up by Vogelsong, Bumgarner and Zito combined. Watching this team all year, you don’t get a sense that if they go down multiple runs from the get-go that they have a legitimate chance to come back. The Giants scored a whopping four earned runs in this series with three of them coming in the opener. The Reds were reeling going into this series, getting swept in four games against the Mets. We had just forced the first series lost upon the Phillies since May. It doesn’t add up.
Teams will go through their ups and downs and obviously this is a questionable down for the Giants. They came in with their trade deadline gem, praised among many as viable National League Champions come October and then the sub .500 Cincinnati Reds come at them like their leading their division by ten games. Giants will collect their losses and will come home to their biggest homestand (pressure wise) until probably the end of September. The Giants can beat the Diamondbacks. The DBacks have a hard time matching up with the Giants top pitchers, as most teams do and the Giants offense has for the most part been able to handle the Diamondbacks so I’m looking for a series win at home coming up for the Giants.
Barry Zito is owed about $50 million for the rest of 2011, 2012 and 2013.
The rest of the Giants rotation combined salaries remaining on their contracts is significantly less than $50 million. I don’t have any miracle suggestion, nor does anyone else in or around the organization. Best, most viable option is really just to DL him again and deal with the issue further down the roat into late August. Zito was nails for the Giants after coming off the DL with his foot problem so I think doing that again would be an easy way out for the Giants. Putting him the bullpen doesn’t seem viable after that stellar middle relief outing by Mota in the 13 inning marathon. In lue of the recent games against the Reds, last season when Zito was banished to the bullpen for a short time he got the call to come during later extra innings in that game where the Giants came back from a 9 run deficit. Zito got the loss in that game. We’ll see what happens in the coming days but folks, don’t expect to see Barry Zito on the found for a little while.
