On the Road with the San Francisco Giants: So Far, So Good

"A pain stabbed my heart, as it did every time I saw a girl I loved who was going the opposite direction in this too-big world."—Jack Kerouac, On the Road

I could force the quote into some awkward metaphor for the win that got away from Barry Zito on Wednesday after yet another stellar performance on the mound, but that's not why I chose it. With the San Francisco Giants six games into an 11-game road trip, any quote from the beat author's masterpiece would do.

With los Gigantes off to such a beautiful start, the parallelism can be found in title and execution if not substance. And make no mistake—the first six games have been beautiful.

These 11 games constitute one drawn out moment in the 162-game season that will primarily define a team's fate. Once the final tallies are in on the 2009 Major League Baseball, there will be three or four such qualifiers to which observers can point and say, "No wonder."

They'll tell a condensed story of the final standings.

The guilty parties are usually injuries to key players (although not always to one of your guys), extreme hot or cold streaks, and one of the two or three sadistic away series on each organizations' schedule.

San Francisco is currently on its most brutal such jaunt.

Four games in New York against the Mets, three games in Cincinnati against the Reds, and a four-game finale versus the Rockies in Colorado.

In both length and caliber of competition, it's arguably the most arduous road assault on the Gents in 2009.

While both the Metropolitans and the boys in the 'Nnati are banged up (to put it lightly), New York is still a formidable challenge at home and any squad led by Dusty Baker stands a good chance of give the Giants fits. There is no need to cover how hot the Rockies have been—suffice it to say the four games at Coors Field are the biggest challenge.

Which means the real test is yet to come, especially since the Rox currently have themselves perched atop the National League Wild Card race.

That's the bad news, or at least the grayish news.

The good news is that San Francisco managed to trudge into Citi Field, send four starters not named Tim Lincecum to the hill, and emerge with two victories. The pitching did most of the heavy lifting, but the bats perked up to the tune of 18 hits in the finale.

From the Big Apple, the news has gotten better if in an unusual way.

In the opener against the Redlegs, the Freak was decidedly un-Freakish.

Former players always talk about how baseball keeps even its most elite practitioners humble and Tuesday was a perfect example of the Baseball Gods doing just that to Lincecum. The Franchise walked more than he struck out (three and two) and almost surrendered an earned run per inning pitched (five and six).

Of course, Tiny Tim only threw 87 pitches so he did get a mini-breather.

Even better, the offense—that's right, the San Francisco Giant OFFENSE—rallied from four runs down for the first time all year. In so doing, the splinters saved their ace from an inglorious L and managed to win in extra innings.

For those counting at home, that would be a two-game win streak on the strength of the bats. Thank Heaven for small miracles.

In game two against Cincinnati, the club reverted to normal form.

Zito went six scoreless innings, suffered only three baserunners, whiffed four, and got a firm handshake for his efforts. The bullpen, which seems to be over its brief correction that brought the collective back to Earth a bit, grabbed the baton from the southpaw smoothly.

Sergio Romo twirled one-and-two-thirds innings of perfect work (fanning three) before Jeremy Affeldt dispatched of his assignment in a four-pitch K.  Brian Wilson ended the night with two more strikeouts, a perfect ninth, and his 30th save in 36 chances.

Yes, the most important work is yet to be done.

The road trip could still be a devastating failure if the Orange and Black can't hold its own against a scorching Rockie nine who will get to sleep in their own beds.  With Matt Cain on the bump on get-away day in Cincinnati, San Francisco will land in Denver with only one ace up its sleeve so the fellas won't be at full strength.

The season may still turn on the series in Colorado.  For the Giants, as for Kerouac, the road is life.

At least for four more games.

**www.pva.org**