Monday, September 14, 2020

 

	W-L	GB
Philadelphia	23-22		Get swept, end up here
GIANTS	23-24		Get swept, end up here
Colorado	21-25	1 1/2	Angels doin' their job
Milwaukee	20-24	1 1/2	Couldn't take advantage
New York	21-26	2	Ryu remembers 'em from LA
Cincinnati	21-26	2	Ah, ah, ah, ah-- stayin' alive!

Yesterday

Giants were swept by San Diego in their false-positive-covid-test-induced doubleheader, 6-0 and 3-1.

Philadelphia was swept by the Marlins in Miami and dropped to third place in the East and first place in the at-large wild-card derby.

Colorado , Milwaukee, and New York all lost and failed to gain any ground. Cincinnati defeated St Louis; they've pulled within two games of second place in both races.

Today

Giants are idle; they're on their way to Seattle, their last road trip of the season.

Colorado and New York likewise are idle. Philadelphia has to deal with the Marlins one more time.

Elsewhere, doubleheaders abound. Cincinnati is home for two against the execrable Pirates. Watch out for the Reds. Milwaukee hosts two against the Cardinals.

Yesterday's Games

A bad day all around for San Francisco sports, as the 49ers inexplicably lost a winnable game to Arizona at Levi Stadium. In San Diego, Johnny Cueto simply didn't have it; he was dinged for six runs (four earned) in five-plus innings, allowing ten baserunners against 16 outs. Perhaps, then, it was just as well that the Giants' bats fell silent against Mike Clevinger, who looks something like a big beefy Tim Lincecum on the mound. He pitched a 7-inning complete game, allowing two hits. But it was the second game that really hurt. Logan Webb pitched pretty well, as did opposite number Garrett Richards. It was decided in the fifth when Sam Selman, so effective of late, faced four batters and lost the game. It went like this: walk, walk, single, sac bunt. In came Tyler Rogers; he forced a fielder's choice at home on a good play by Evan Longoria, but then gave up a RBI single to Manny Machado, the run charged to Selman. On a day when the Giants managed a grand total of five hits in 14 innings across two games, three runs was evidently enough. 

This doubleheader, which was originally announced as a single game and not changed until Sunday morning, had the smell of doom from the start after Friday night's game was postponed just minutes before the first pitch by reports of a positive covid-19 test in the Giants' clubhouse. (The team eventually admitted it was Alex Dickerson's test.) The twitterverse broke into excited chatter immediately, of course, with opinion evenly divided between the "abundance of caution" people and the "overreaction" crowd, which is our camp. We were suspicious of a false positive from the start, and it brings us no satisfaction to know we were right. Did anyone else see the MLB-MLBPA Joint Committee's statement on it, which read in part “the presumptive positive did not represent an actual infection?" "Presumptive positive?" Can't these people talk straight? What are they afraid of? It was a false positive, and playing tiddlywinks with the language serves no one.

We repeatedly hear that 190,000 Americans have died from covid-19, which is complete bovine excrement. What those numbers mean is that 190,000 Americans who had the coronavirus have died, of multiple causes. 91% of those people had serious pre-existing illnesses or conditions unrelated to covid-19. Yes, covid-19 is listed as a contributing factor in those cases, just as every diagnosed ailment is listed as a contributing factor.  We forget that six months ago, the "experts" predicted millions of American deaths from this pandemic, and we have yet to realize that not only have they not been held accountable for their scare tactics, but many of these "experts" are still out there making pronouncements, predictions, and recommendations, and politicians and presidential candidates are still taking them seriously. How much is enough? There is no proof that even one healthy, physically fit American of young or middle age has been struck down dead by covid-19.  Clearly, those at high risk for all communicable diseases, such as the 'flu', are at high risk for this one, too. But it's just as clear that the panicky responses and the ongoing lockdowns have harmed tens of millions, some perhaps permanently. At what point does "abundance of caution" result in "economic depression?" And just how much of this lockdown mentality is operating with one eye on November 3?

Okay. The Giants survived the sweep because Miami and Philadelphia have been beating up on each other, and because the teams right behind them are in even worse shape. After a week of being over .500, the Giants are now one win below it, but retain their playoff position for the moment. They have two more days off this week; why a fourth game at San Diego wasn't scheduled for today escapes us. Thursday they return home for the final ten (or eleven) games: three across the Bay at Oakland over next weekend, then four against Colorado, then the final three (or four) against the Padres, against whom the Giants are now 1-5 on the season. The finale on Sunday, September 27 is scheduled for 12:05 PDT; it's possible the teams may play two if necessary to break or avoid a tie.