All season my brother has been singing the praises of Brad Hennessey. I went to the game last Saturday (8/19/06). Yeah, that’s the one the Giants lost 14-7. The Dodgers scored 10 runs in the first two innings, and I believe most of them were charged to Hennessey (even though he left in the middle of the second inning). Now I’m watching him mow down the Wild-Card leading Reds. He hasn’t allowed a run into the 6th. And speaking of young arms… Lowry nailed down a complete game shutout on Monday  (8/21/06) against Arizona. The next couple of years could see the Giants have the best young staff in the NL.

The Giants lost their first game to Colorado after winning one to end their 9-game losing streak. They had a glimmer of hope in the 9th, but drama interrupted, Bonds got tossed, garbage got tossed, and ultimately the Giants lost the game. Yes, the ball was low and a bit outside, but Barry can’t get thrown out of that game. Krukow said it on the postgame wrap and I have to agree. That’s not to say that the umpire wasn’t out of line. He shouldn’t have taken his mask off and reignited the battle. And yet, Barry is the one to blame because his actions let down his teammates, and the fans. I wanted to see Barry on first, with Vizquel already on third, and Alou coming up. But alas, it wasn’t to be. The only silver lining from this debacle will be if a sleeping giant has been woken. Can the Giants get pumped enough to start getting it done???

I just didn’t have the heart to write during the 9-game losing streak. Boy, these guys can break your heart sometimes, can’t they? But finally, although not easily, they won one on Wednesday (8/2/06). And it being the NL West, we’re only 3.5 games out! Not too surprising, I suppose. Maybe we should just hang out in last place until the very end, and have one of those winning streaks that we’ve yet to have, and surge through ‘em all. One thing that needs to happen is Pedro needs to get off this slump he’s in. He can’t hit the ball. I wonder how easy it is for a batter to change his approach. For example, Pedro is essentially a .270 hitter with power. Could he change his approach and try to poke a few through the infield, get some hits, and then ease back into the power game? It’s got to be demoralizing to continue to pop up every time he’s at bat.