I feel like I can’t go a day without describing that day’s Giants game as “weird.” But this game was weird.

For the first 6 innings, this game was vintage 2011, except for the whole getting-on-base part. Tyson Ross looked bad, but the Giants couldn’t do anything with it. By the beginning of the 7th, it looked like Tyson Ross had had a good day, when one well-timed hit by the Giants would’ve made it look bad. The Giants grounded into four double plays, and generally acted like there was a giant spider sitting on home plate that nobody wanted to go near.

But then the floodgates opened in the 7th. Manny Burriss legged out an infield hit, which is his M.O. at this point, and Ryan Vogelsong Jeter’d was hit by a pitch. Then Grant Balfour came in threw FourBals to Gregor Blanco, to load the bases. Free rally! The red-hot Brandon Crawford came up and promptly struck out, and it seemed like one of those innings. It was GIDP time.

But wait, a sac fly! A ground-rule double! An RBI single! What is this madness? Suddenly it was 4-0, and Javier Lopez was even more ridiculously unhittable than usual.

But really, Ryan Vogelsong. In a game where the 1-5 hitters went 8-for-16, and the San Francisco Giants drew 5 walks, the story was Ryan Vogelsong. His command and control were as good as I’ve seen them, and the game never looked out of control. Melky Cabrera made an amazing catch to start of the game, the kind of play that an outfielder will make when they’re trying to preserve a no-hitter. Maybe he knew something we didn’t. Nice job, Vogey.

Also, I’m convinced that losing his hitting streak is the best thing that could have happened to Angel Pagan. Before today’s game, in the nine games since then, he’s hit .455/.561/.545, plus today’s 2-for-4. By the end of his streak, it seemed like he was reaching, just trying to poke a single. Now, he’s walking and slugging.

Brandon Watch 2012:

Crawford: Another multi-hit game, making him 9-for-27 in the last week, with three walks. I’m not sure if having him in the 2-hole is actually affecting his hitting, but it sure isn’t hurting. Keep it up.

Belt: 0-for-3 with a walk and 2 strikeouts in key RBI spots. As impressed as I am in general by Brandon Belt, he certainly does have at-bats that make him look pretty bad.

Stats of the Game:

223: Melky Cabrera’s on-pace number for hits this year

7.8: Jonathan Sanchez’s BB/9 this year

6.75: Jonathan Sanchez’s ERA this year

4: Number of games in which Angel Pagan has not reached base

2: The number of times Vida Blue referred to Tyson Ross as “Cody Ross” in the postgamer

1.855: Jonathan Sanchez’s WHIP this year

Bonus of the Day:

Imagine if the Giants had Jemile Weeks.

I hate the Bay Bridge Series. I really do. I’ve been very consistent with this opinion. It has nothing to do with my like or dislike of interleague play, or the fact that the Giants tend to play poorly, or the fact that Oakland Coliseum is a sad, forgotten hellhole of a stadium.

No, I hate the Bay Bridge Series because I actually really like the A’s. Those of you who listen to our podcast have heard Thomas berate me for my affection toward the Green and Gold. I grew up watching and rooting for both teams, in equal measure. When I went to college I started hanging out with Giants fans, and that’s when I really started following them more than the A’s. But I still feel for them.

First of all, I have a lot of respect for the organization. If you’ll indulge my nerdiness for just a moment, the 2012 A’s remind me of Ender’s Game. Ender gets stuck with the Dragon Army, a group of young launchies, all of them inexperienced, inept spazzes, and is told to make them into a winning team. But to read Ender’s Shadow, you find out that Bean actually figured out the market inefficiency of Battle School, and designed the Dragon Army to fit exactly to Ender’s strengths.

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THE SGHTINS ahoabout the Giants is thaot asasj othatsreallly cian;’ta ahit snd ashtat’s fareallly aduasndoying.

Just kidding. Not about the wine, but I’d be lying if I told you I didn’t have at least a little practice writing with a bit of the ol’ fire water in my system. I think I’ll be alright.

Tonight’s game, along with last night’s game, the one before that, the one before that, and probably the one tomorrow, all collectively show something: the Giants don’t have very many good players. They have some stars, yeah. But after the thin crust of skill among the team’s hot young players, there is miles and miles of hot, molten suck among the position players on this team.

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