The Giants are in a bizarre spot. They’re in playoff position with a 61-50 record. That’s good. That’s their stated goal, to make it to October.
But since mid-June, as Ben Kaspick dug up, the Giants have had the worst offense in baseball. Worse than the Nationals, Royals, and yes, the A’s, who doubled up the Giants’ run production on Saturday by scoring twice.
This group of hitters was supposed to score a lot of runs. And they did—for about three and a half months they had an above-average offense. Then the lights went out.
In some ways it feels miraculous for the Giants to be where they are. They have an excellent roster of pitchers to thank—maybe the best in baseball. But with two-hit game after three-hit game after four-hit game, the expectations become too great and the margin for error too small for each pitcher.
And the team’s grip on a playoff spot loosens a little bit more.
Up next: It’ll be Alex Cobb (6-3, 3.05 ERA) vs. Luis Medina (3-8, 5.35 ERA) at 4:07 p.m. The Giants will try to score more than the other team.