I had a really good feeling about this game for, roughly, 7 2/3 innings. I can’t remember exactly what changed around that time, but it was fairly traumatic. I understand Bruce Bochy’s decision to leave Madison Bumgarner in the game to face Ryan Braun, especially considering Bumgarner’s dominance up to that point and the fact that he made Braun look silly a couple of times, but it sure didn’t end well. Hopefully Bumgarner learned a lesson, particularly not to groove a slider down the middle to Ryan Braun while he’s holding a baseball bat.

Edit: Stupid Ryan Braun ruined a perfectly good intro to this wrap. While the below still applies, take it with a grain of Morton’s Coarse Kosher Salt. I’m not gonna rewrite this whole darn thing. Stupid Ryan Braun.

[Until the 8th inning] Madison Bumgarner’s toughest at-bat of the night came against Randy Wolf in the fifth inning.

Let’s revisit that statement. The toughest opponent that Bumgarner faced in a game against the Milwaukee Brewers – a lineup that included Cory Hart, Ryan Braun and Aramis Ramirez – was the pitcher. Braun got on base because Pill isn’t as tall as Damon Minor, and Ramirez had a nice hit, but Bumgarner never seemed too concerned. He had 10 strikeouts, 9 of them swinging, and only reached 3-ball counts a few times.

The Giants pitching staff is pretty amazing. So amazing we take it for granted. But with Bumgarner, Matt Cain, Ryan Vogelsong and Tim Lincecum Barry Zito all signed through next year, hot damn.

Edit: And now back to your regularly scheduled program.

Also, Melky Cabrera is leading the National League in hits, despite being a member of the San Francisco Giants. He came in tied for the title in the majors, and I’m not sure what this Daric Jeter kid did today, but there’s a pretty good shot that he got fewer than three hits today. He’s had multiple hits in half of his 42 games, and is really deceptively fast on the base paths. Even if Jonathan Sanchez were having a good year, or if Melky were just having a pretty good year, this would have been a great trade. Instead, Sanchez has a 6.75 ERA and Melky’s on pace for 239 hits.

I’m not going to start clamoring for an extension just yet, but I will mention the numbers .248/.333/.297, which are Gary Brown’s numbers this year in Double-A Richmond.

Today was a good win, which is to say that the first and last innings were pretty fun and I had a nice nap for the three and a half hours in between. Everything else was less exciting, but gave me plenty of time to finish writing about corporate taxation, sole proprietorship, and other things some of us have to do during our day jobs. And we got to see Santiago Casilla bat again.

How did they go 11 1/2 innings without showing the guy in the banana suit? Oh. Oh God.

Below the Belt:

Brett Pill had a bad day. He’s had a bad week, to cap off a bad month. I still like having him play first against lefties more than Hector Sanchez, but it’d sure be swell if he hot a had streak come right about…now. Edit: Go Hector!

Brandon Watch 2012:

Belt: Lefty power glove off the bench. Two walks and a strikeout. Two true outcomes. And a steal. Niiiice.

Crawford: Still like him in the 2-hole especially with his new-found plate discipline. His defense was good, except for forgetting that Norichika Aoki is damn fast, but he probably wouldn’t have had him anyway.

Stats of the Day:

10: Foul balls caught in the stands by Giants fans

9: Giants fans in the stands

8: Number of wild hairs up John Axford’s nose

3: Number of times Carlos Gomez almost fell down while swinging

2: Reasons for Norichika Aoki to hate Joaquin Arias

0: Number of times I wondered why Nyjer Morgan wasn’t playing. Edit: Stupid Ryan Braun.

Dave Flemming Quote of the Day:

“He’s the top weenie!” – talking about Bumgarner, I assume