San Francisco Bay Area

So, who is still ready to throw Barry Zito into the nearest dumpster? Anybody?

Zito threw 5.2 innings and gave up one hit and no earned runs. He picked up loss No. 13.

He is 8-13 with a 4.02 ERA.

Now I realize when he is bad, he’s really bad. Zito has allowed four or more earned runs in nine of his 30 starts. In those nine starts, he has allowed 46 runs in 44.1 innings.

Zito is 0-6 in those starts. The Giants are 3-6 in those starts.

He's baaaacccckkkkkkk!!!!

Looking at Tim Lincecum's three starts in September, one would think he is back to Cy Young form. After a horrible 0-5 August record, Lincecum has responded by winning each of his three starts in September. His ERA in August was an abysmal 7.82, compared to 2.09 in September. 

So he's back on track right?

Well, hold it right there. Sure his stats are back to ace-like form, but how do we know he has really changed?

May 6. 

That is the last day the Giants were in 1st place. Four months later, the Giants stand atop the NL West, tied with the San Diego Padres.

Brian Wilson leads the National League in saves at 39. He has been one of the most consistent closers in all of baseball. 

Consistent you ask?

Well Brian's version of closing in consistent in a different way than you think. 

Giants fans are witnesses to this.

Almost every time he is asked to save a game, he starts off by putting men on base. Whether he walks them, or gives up a hit, he is always making Giants fans nervous. 

The Padres have been leading the NL West for virtually the whole season. Recently, a week or so ago they extended their lead to 6.5 games over the Giants. 

At this point, the team showed no signs of slowing down. Their pitching was still magnificent and their hitting was getting it done. 

The Padres also seemed to show no signs of having a major weakness, even though they didn't have a major strong point besides their pitching staff. 

For the entirety of the San Francisco Giants 2010 season, there has been an air of inconsistency that can only be described as Duane Kuiper has: torture. 

The team itself had a real good April (.591) followed by a .500 May, a sub-par June (.481), a torrid July (.714), and a dismal August (.464). 

This is the team that scored one run in three games against Oakland in May and then scored 11 runs in three straight games against the Reds in August. 

In 1995, the owner of the Oakland Athletics, Walter Hass Jr., died. Successors Stephen Scott and Ken Hofman had watched Hass spend an abundant amount of money on players, and they wanted to go into an entirely different direction.

Apparently the San Francisco Giants are trying to set the record for most outfielders acquired in one season.

The Oakland A's took the first two games of the 1972 World Series from the favored Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati. The A's were in an enviable position since no team had ever lost the first two games at home and won the Series.

The teams traveled to Oakland for the next three games, but rain caused the third game to be moved up a day.