GIANTS      77-60   ...            Dropped an eminently winnable series.
Los Angeles 73-65   4.5 GB    How long can this charity go on?

Yesterday
Giants lost to Arizona again, 6-2.
LA "kept pace" by losing to San Diego again, 4-3.

Today
Both teams have the day off as the Dodgers fly north to begin a three-game series at the 'Bell starting tomorrow night.

Last Night's Game
"Losing ugly" comes in many forms, and last night the Giants did their best to offer as much variety as they could. We had the normally jolly Pablo Sandoval exploding in confrontational rage after a tight play at third. Xavier Nady limped off the field with a hamstring injury that may land him on the DL. Trevor Cahill no-hit the Giants through six. Madison Bumgarner turned in the team's fourth straight substandard start, and lost his tenth decision. It all added up to a series lost that ought to have been won. Highlights were few; Brandon Belt drove in both runs with one of the Giants' two hits, but ultimately all that did was get Cahill out of there in favor of three relievers who gave us bupkus. Bumgarner, for his part, wasn't awful, although he wasn't all that good either. Trailing 2-0 in the seventh, he allowed two one-out hits and another run, and was pulled in favor of Jean Machi, who surrendered three runs on three straight hits to decide the ballgame.

Notes
Joaquin Arias, Ryan Theriot, and Belt have all been mentioned as replacement left fielders with Nady sidelined. Using Belt might get Hector Sanchez in on a regular basis, with Buster Posey likely to man first base... Angel Pagan is hitting .200 with four walks in 45 at-bats (.265 OBP) over the last ten games. It may be time to move him down to sixth again; that's where he was when he got hot... Over the same period Belt is at .379, though he's only drawn one walk, but who bats their first baseman leadoff? Gotta love that peer pressure... Aubrey Huff also might see a larger role if Belt moves to left, and how great would it be if he had a memorable September after all that's happened to him since 2010... We still think Gregor Blanco can play, but it's what Bruce Bochy thinks that counts.