Game Wrap 08-28-2010: D'backs 11 Giants 3

For a team that recently lost two Cy Young caliber pitchers, the Arizona Diamondbacks suddenly have a pretty solid looking pitching staff looking to the future. I watched part of this game via the Arizona broadcast feed on MLB package. They asked the question of the fans, "Which pitcher has ace potential?" The choices were Ian Kennedy, Barry Enright and Daniel Hudson. The winner, going away, was Enright. My choice would have been the pitcher for this game, Hudson. It didn't really matter though. The Giants could have faced most any pitcher and lost because Barry Zito had what might have been his worst outing in two years, and that's really saying something! The Cincinnati series notwithstanding, teams just don't overcome 10-1 or 9-1 leads very often, which makes that loss in the Cincy series all the more galling. Anyway, this game was done by the time the Giants came to bat in the first inning. Key lines:

Pablo Sandoval- 1 for 4, HR(12). BA= .274. Pablo is hitting .326 with 4 dingers in the last 10 games. Too little, too late? At least it gives some hope for next season.

Barry Zito- 3.2 IP, 6 H, 9 R, 7 ER, 5 BB, 1 K. Just atrocious pitching here from Zito. He's had a pretty good season, but has been horrible his last two starts at critical time in the pennant race. Don't know what else to say. We have at least 3 more seasons of this guy!

Ramon Ramirez- 2.1 IP, 0 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 3.55.
Javier Lopez- 2 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K's. ERA= 2.25.

The Giants control both Ramirez and Lopez with arbitration eligibility. Add in Cody Ross in the same situation and it should be an interesting offseason. Both of these pitchers have gotten the job done since the trades. Unfortunately, the Giants starting pitching has regressed to the point where it hardly matters.

The Padres lost again to the Phillies so the Giants remain 6 games off the pace in the NL West race. With the win, the Phillies stretched their lead in the Wild Card race to 1.5 games over the Giants and 2 games over the Cardinals. The Rockies beat the Dodgers so those teams are 9 and 10 games off the division lead and 4.5 and 5.5 games off the Wild Card lead respectively.

Matt Cain takes the mound today to try to stop the bleeding. His opponent is Rodrigo Lopez, probably the weakest D'Backs starter, so this is a game the Giants should win.