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)

Matt Cain just wasn’t quite right all night. But that’s okay, because his battery-mate Buster Posey was.

Posey hit a ground-rule double in the first, then followed that up with dead-center no-brainer panty-dropping 2-run home run in the 6^th that hit the scoreboard. Before today’s game, I didn’t know where the scoreboard in Miller Park was. Buster showed me the way. I could get all fanboy about Buster Posey here, but I think I mentioned the panty-dropping. He is consistently floating around .300 and combines power with the ability to hit to all fields. Nuthin’ fancy.

As for Cain, this is the second straight start where he just didn’t look quite right, giving up four earned runs in both starts. And just like against St. Louis last Thursday, the Giants got Cain a win. Today, Cain gave up 11 hits (7 for extra bases) but zero walks and struck out 8, all with men on base.

Huh. Veteran grit? Pure luck? Eff you pitches? There really is no answer. Other than, wait for it, Matt Cain. He is the answer to many questions. Such as: after giving up 20 baserunners in his last 13 innings, on a scale of 1 to Matt Cain, how worried are you about Matt Cain? Matt Cain.

Brandon Watch 2012:

Belt: Sat in lieu of Aubrey Huff, who made his first start at first base since heading to the DL with a broken heart club foot anxiety issue. Word is Huff may get the start tomorrow, too. I mean, he did take a walk today. He’s trendy.

Crawford: Some more slick fielding, another base hit in four at-bats. I would take this every day. Which leads into my favorite segment…

Kruk Quote of the Day: (on Brandon Crawford) I think this guy can go .260, .280.

Sigh.

Stats of the Day:

12: Hits by Buster Posey at Miller Park, in 23 at-bats

6: Home runs by Posey at Miller Park, in 23 at-bats

3: Innings Bruce Bochy missed with a myseterious illness. But whatever, watching Manny Burriss play hurts my stomach too

0: The number of walks issued by Matt Cain in seven innings, a major-league record

0: The number of players who tested Melky’s arm after smoking Aoki at the plate

Tim Lincecum gave up four runs to the A’s. That’s like giving up a 3-pointer to Ronny Turiaf. He’s broken folks.

Sure, some of those hits were on good pitches and just found holes, but hitters used to struggle to make contact on Timmy’s pitches. Missing bats is what won him two Cy Young awards and got him to four consecutive All-Star games. Oh, and the hair. The hair helps.

And the worst part about Lincecum’s struggles is that he is still missing bats. Another five strikeouts in four innings today. Three previous outings: 7 IP/7 K, 5 IP/8 K, 5 IP/4 K. Looks like a dead ringer for vintage Lincecum. Except for the whole, you know, not getting into the late innings thing.

Let’s find some silver lining. You know the best part of every Tim Lincecum start? Melky Cabrera. A 4-hit day puts him on pace for 1 quintillion hits this season while batting Cecil Fielder’s weight. When Pablo Sandoval returns from the disabled list, the Giants will have a 2-3-4 that all will hit .300. It’s like they have an offense or something.

**

I don’t mind losing to the A’s. It’s sort of like losing to your little brother at ping pong. It stings a little, but you can still pop him one if he mouths off.

**

Brandon Watch: Belt has now come to the plate four times with the bases loaded this season. The result? One walk, three strikeouts. While there is no way in hell I think this is enough of a sample size to judge Belt’s progress as a major leaguer, these are the at-bats that frustrate fans and Bruce Bochy alike. Hits with the bases loaded are also how you get those mythical RBIs. You know, the ones that win you MVPs and Gold Gloves. With reports that Aubrey Huff is “emotionally ready” to start at first base again, Belt will be challenged to not look overmatched in key at-bats.

Crawford: Settling in nicely in the 2-hole. Yes, it’s with a sub-.300 OBP but that’s just one of those “milestones” that nerds use to make athletes feel bad about themselves.

Krukow Quote of the Day:

Kuip: I’ve never done a game from the White Sox ballpark…what’s it called?

Kruk: Comiskey?

Kuip: U.S. Cellular

Kruk: I can’t get over Comiskey, too good of a name for a park

Stats of the Day:

1: Quality starts for Tim Lincecum this year