San Francisco Giants: Can They Find Enough September Magic?

The San Francisco Giants and their fans suffered through a grueling August that saw them go from first place in the NL West to second place, six games back of the surging Arizona Diamondbacks and barely breathing.

With that horrible month finally in the rearview mirror, the Giants hope for a surge of their own and maybe a little bit of an Arizona stumble.

Even at six games back, the Giants still have a little bit of control over their destiny with six games remaining against the Diamondbacks, starting Friday night "on the shores of McCovey Cove," to quote the great Jon Miller.

Do the Giants have to sweep Arizona? Yeah, probably. A six-game deficit to a red-hot team can't be overcome with a simple winning record, not in 25 games. 

The Giants' only hope of reaching the postseason this year is by going on a tear that starts with a sweep of the Diamondbacks this weekend. A sweep would leave them three games back with 22 games to play and more importantly would send a message to Arizona that they aren't going to roll over and die.

Winning streaks just haven't happened with the Giants since the All-Star break, and they certainly do not look like a team that is on the verge of one unless you subscribe to the notion that the law of baseball averages balance themselves out eventually—meaning they are due.

Baseball is such a weird game. It does, generally balance out for the most part and usually you don't even see it happening at first. 

Wednesday's shutout of the Cubs could have been the start of something, or not. The Giants shook up their roster before the game letting Aaron Rowand and Miguel Tejada take a long walk off the short promenade just outside the right field fence, and then the Giants went out and won a game, easily.

Madison Bumgarner dominated the Chicago Cubs with eight shutout innings and 11 strikeouts. Two Giants, Jeff Keppinger and Pablo Sandoval, hit home runs and all was good at the old ball yard. Is that a sign of things to come? Did the Giants respond to the dismissal of two veteran ball players in a positive way? Is the shakeup the start of a torrid September that will catapult them into the playoffs? 

The odds are significantly against any of those scenarios but it is baseball and you never know. The Giants will be adding some significant speed to their roster with Emmanuel Burriss and Darren Ford, and some significant defense in Brandon Crawford. 

The energy of youth, the upgrade defensively and game-changing speed could be enough to spark the Giants to a historic September run. Or this could all be the pipe dream of a frustrated Giants fan who refuses to give up hope until their simply is no more hope available.

Friday night ushers in the final chapter of the 2011 regular season. By Sunday we should know which way September will go for the Giants. One way or another, it should be interesting.