Game Recap: Giants 1, Indians 0

Wow. I can't believe the Giants won that game.

This is not how a major-league offense should manufacture runs:

Two errors, a walk, and a balk.

The glimmer of hope: that Andres Torres walk. Two outs, runners on first and second, tied 0-0. And he managed to draw an eight-pitch walk. I know of few Giants capable of such a thing. And that's why I like Torres so much -- he sees a lot of pitches, and he gets on base.

The Giants have now scored 262 runs, with 268 runs allowed. Pythagorean winning percentage, Pythagenpat, and Pythagenport all say that the Giants have been quite lucky, outperforming their 38-39 estimate with a 43-34 record. And their record in one-run games is absurdly high. At some point, they'll probably come down to earth.

But maybe things aren't as bad as they look. Consider that if this is really a .500 team, and they win half of their games for the rest of the season -- they'll finish at 86 games. Doesn't seem like much (because, well, it isn't), but that definitely puts them in contention for first place in the division because the National League West is really that bad. And of course, this assumes that the Giants can't continue to outperform their expected winning percentage, which I don't buy. Teams with strong bullpens such as the Giants are adept at outperforming pythagorean expectations.

As of this morning, Baseball Prospectus pegs the Giants' playoff odds at 86.3%, expecting them to play .530 baseball over the rest of the season. Then again, they also expect them to win 91 games, which doesn't really seem plausible.

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In other news, the Giants solved their rotation problem:

Prior to today's game #SFGiants have placed LHP Jonathan Sanchez on 15-day DL w/left bicep tendinitis. Zito activated off disabled list.Sat Jun 25 19:34:58 via webSan Francisco Giants
SFGiants

Jonathan Sanchez said the tendinitis had been bothering him last 3 starts. Needed to do what's best for him and the team. Wasn't 100%Sat Jun 25 23:50:10 via Twitter for BlackBerry®Jaymee Sire
JaymeeSireCSN

For the record, I'm against a Jonathan Sanchez trade, so long as his trade value is at a low, and teams aren't offering fair returns. Also, if he's traded, the Giants have zero rotation depth behind Lincecum/Cain/Bumgarner/Vogelsong/Zito, which would be a major problem.