The best defense is a bad offense. The Cubs have a bad offense. The second best defense is good defense. The Giants had that today. Meanwhile, Alfonso Soriano played defense like his socks were on fire.

There are routine plays. There are tough plays. The Giants made all of them. Brandon Crawford and Gregor Blanco put on clinics at their respective positions, which no Giant has done since Melky Cabrera quashed Bacon’s Rebellion with his right arm. Joaquin Arias is locking down a position that is not natural to him. If the Giants are going to continue to struggle at the plate against mediocre left-handed pitchers, good right handed pitchers, and guys who have never pitched in the majors, defense is essential to the Giants’ playoff hopes.

And with Tim Lincecum’s continued struggles, Barry Zito becomes just as important to the Giants’ playoff hopes as the defense. Barry Zito is important to the Giants’ playoff hopes. This is not something Giants fans would not have been comfortable saying before the season. Pretty comfortable after a day like today. Three-game winning streaks can make Milwaukee seem so far away.

The Dodgers are coming back to Earth. The rest of the teams in the division all have fatal flaws. Breaks are going the Giants’ way. I love the Cubs.

**

In Spring Training, the Giants ran. And then ran. And then ran some more. So when the regular season started and the Giants weren’t utilizing their speed, Giants fans were confused by the early message. Angel Pagan was never on base. Pill, Shierholtz, and Huff were blocking Gregor Blanco in the outfield, Manny Burriss was getting one more chance. With all of the molasses-footed and OBP-strapped guys out of the way, the Giants can use their speed to force bad defense and create much-needed runs.

Brandon Watch:

Belt: Sitting in favor of Posey and the fact that Travis Wood is left-handed. Or a pitcher. One or the other.

Crawford: Defense, defense, defense. What a backhand stab today.

Stats of the Day:

-27: Consecutive home games Angel Pagan has a hit. Friendly confines

-8: Hits by both teams

-3: Atrocious defensive plays by Alfonso Soriano

-2: Consecutive pitches Hector Sanchez hit a foul ball off of his shin

-0: The number of future at-bats Sanchez will forget to wear a shin guard

The Giants offense was a lumbering, sputtering, defeated group of gents today. For seven innings anyway.

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Bumgarner got smacked around quite a bit today. Oh well, the offense didn’t show up anyway.

After scoring two touchdowns in the first game in spacious Doc Ellis Park, the Giants have fallen short the last two games against the Fish. Two big innings by the Marlins built leads the Giants just could not overcome.

Madison Bumgarner is an all-time great for a pitcher his age. The list of pitchers better than him by 22 is shorter than even the tallest Hairston. Games like today prove that even when he isn’t on his game, Bumgarner can still go six innings and make a great contact hitter like Omar Infante fall down. With Lincecum’s struggles, only the consistency of Matt Cain makes MadBum the number two pitcher on the Giants.

Melky Cabrera came into today’s game with ownage on Mark Buehrle. 17-24 with a Bondsian OPS. 0-3. Oh. Ok. /tears up stat sheet.

Extension Talk Brought To You By Extenze:

Melky: An 0-fer! Buy low! The Giants have been asked about extending the red-hot Cabrera and have backed away slowly, claiming budgetary concerns and locking up the young(er) studs. Good for them. Leverage. We don’t need you anyway.

Pagan: Equally hot, and plays a more crucial position. Especially with can’t-miss-oh-wait-maybe-you-can prospect Gary Brown hitting like Manny Burriss…in AA. Even with a good-to-great year from both guys, they both have holes in their resumes and couldn’t quite demand a premium.

Brandon Watch 2012: No Country For Old Men:

With the left-handed Buehrle forcing Belt and Crawford to the bench, let’s talk vets

Theriot: 2-4 with a triple(!) and 34 plate appearances since his last strikout. Maybe he is the contact guy that Bochy is looking for.

Huff: Since his DL stint: 9 plate appearances. 1 hit, 4 walks, 0 strikeouts. Not exactly winning back his first base spot, but ons the base is ons the base.

Kuip: (looking at South Beach) You might be in that shot somewhere

Kruk: Ya, ya I’m the guy with the thong on. Right by the tent.

Kuip: In the tent

Stats of the Day:

6: Times “snot rockets” were mentioned on the broadcast

1: Triples for Ryan Theriot since the beginning of 2010

0: Days since Emmanuel Burriss’ last extra base hit (muffin basket to the official scorer)