Wednesday's game got off to a lousy start, as Bumgarner served up three home runs. His final line was: 2.2 IP, 7 ER, 3 HR.

The Giants were at one point facing a 10-1 deficit against the Cincinnati Reds; but they rallied back. They rallied and rallied and rallied, scoring 10 runs in their third consecutive game.

With an 11-10 lead, the Giants couldn't hold on, and would end up losing 12-11 in 12 innings, thanks in part to a throwing error by Pablo Sandoval, who really should be moved to first base ASAP.

In what's become sort of a tradition, here are the multi-hitters from Wednesday:

 

  • Pablo Sandoval, 4 for 6
  • Mike Fontenot, 2 for 4, 2 R
  • Andres Torres, 2 for 7, 2 RBI
  • Jose Guillen, 2 for 5, 2 R
  • Juan Uribe, 3 for 6, 1 HR, 3 RBI
The Giants have now scored 38 runs in their past three games. To put that in perspective, in the 11 games before this homestand, the Giants had scored 37 runs. 
The Giants rallied back to overcome an enormous deficit, and just barely lost the game. Some people say that this was a crushing blow (which it was), and that because of that, it would have been better for the Giants not to even have a shot at winning in the first place.
I wholeheartedly disagree, however. This Giants not only proved that they have the ability to maintain focus and effort despite a seemingly insurmountable deficit, but they also validated and confirmed the performance of their offense from the previous two games.
The fact that they were able to explode offensively in three consecutive games confirms this teams potential to produce runs...
Now, if only the Giants could get their pitching together...Tim Lincecum, although it's impossible to determine, seems to be getting on the right track.
He has had flashes of brilliance in the past two games, but has not been able to maintain the old Lincecum prowess throughout these entire starts. Hopefully he's got everything figured out: the Giants can't afford to keep losing his starts. 
Philadelphia and St. Louis have suffered defeats at the hands of Houston and Pittsburgh; the Giants need to take advantage of these crumbling teams, and they need to do it with pitching.
That's been their team the past couple of years, a team built on pitching. Now that they have the offense, they need the pitching to do its job. 

Notes:
  • The pitchers shouldn't receive all of the blame. As I've said numerous times, the defense playing behind them is mediocre. Rowand can't cover half the range that Torres covers (that is when Rowand actually plays). Burrell, Guillen, and Sandoval are slow and cover minimal range at their respective positions. And Uribe has had hamstring problems, which have sapped his speed (not that he was ever too fast to begin with...). 
  • Pablo Sandoval remains on fire. The old Pablo is back. Not officially. But it appears so. Nothing is official until all of the games are over. But when the season's done, I think we'll be looking back at a great September Pablo Sandoval. 
  • Nate Schierholtz had yet another pinch hit. Guillen was playing right in the 12th inning in a close game. That should have been Nate out there. Defense is important in close games. Bochy doesn't seem to appreciate the value of a good defense.
Off-day tomorrow. Then Arizona. Here's where the Giants need to feast on inferior teams.