The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Giants lost 8-6 to the Cubs. I'd rather not summarize the game, as it was not a happy one for Giants fans, but here are some notes--

The Good:

• Pablo Sandoval was 3 for 5 with an RBI. Batting .300 over his last 13 games. At least we can count on him to hit at home (.330 home batting average). Still hasn't hit a HR in his last 173 AB (since July 15), though.
• Buster Posey: After a mediocre road trip, the kid is back! 3 for 5, 2 doubles, 4 RBIs.
• Emmanuel Burriss' 2 for 3 with 2 R. He'll be pretty valuable down the stretch, especially considering the struggles of other middle-infield options Sanchez and Renteria.
• Santiago Casilla's 3 shutout innings of relief with just 1 baserunner. Kept us in the game enough for us to battle back in the bottom of the 9th.

The Bad:

• Torres and Huff's combined 0 for 9 with 2 strikeouts. I guess you can't expect these guys to perform every single day, but it's hard for the offense to fully function without them.
• Guillermo Mota's line: 1.0 IP, 2 ER, 3 H. As bad as Lincecum's outing was, Mota's 2 ER were ultimately the difference in the game. If the Giants are going to play close games, they need their 'pen to be flawless.
• Torres and Burrell both grounded into double plays. The Giants' pace for a franchise record of double plays doesn't seem to be slowing down, unfortunately.

The Ugly:

• Tim Lincecum's outing: 4 IP, 6 ER, and only 4 K. If Lincecum is not going to be able to hold runners, he'll at least need to strike out batters to make up for it. The Freak will bounce, back though.
• Juan Uribe's final AB of the game: as the tying run at the plate, he took 3 swings for the fences on 3 pitches, all of them whiffs, to strikeout as the 2nd out in the Giants' 9th.

Tomorrow:

Giants face Tom Gorzelanny tomorrow. They bat a collective .391 (9 for 23) against him. Zito has been the Giants' most consistent pitcher lately, and will pitch against a Cubs lineup he's had success against (they bat a collective .239 against Zito).

Alfonso Soriano vs. Barry Zito: 5 for 39, .128, 14 strikeouts