The San Francisco Giants know they”re in for a dogfight these grueling last two months of the regular season.
And the trade-deadline, back-and-forth with the rival Los Angeles Dodgers proved the Bay Area squad wouldn”t intentionally hold back.
The Dodgers, who caught the Giants over the weekend but fell off a bit since, started last week by acquiring infielder and former batting champ Hanley Ramirez. They traded for reliever Brandon League and outfielder Shane Victorino on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
With that trio of deals, Los Angeles added a power hitter, a much-needed bullpen arm and a veteran with championship experience.
After the ho-hum acquisition of Marco Scutaro last week, the Giants countered with a big-name trade of their own Tuesday, getting outfielder Hunter Pence from the Philadelphia Phillies.
While Scutaro is a nice utility piece to have on the roster, Pence is the type of offensive player that can lift a team to the next level.
For San Francisco, the trades appear to be just what the doctor ordered. But if the moves don”t inspire the team to regroup and change its recent ways, they”re merely a prescription for disappointment.
The Giants held themselves back for most of July, and their 12-12 record during the month made the chase for the National League West crown neck and neck again.
Pitching was the biggest (and most surprising) problem.
The Giants posted a 3.99 ERA during the month, opponents had a .728 on-base plus slugging (OPS) and the bullpen blew five save opportunities. Not the consistency the staff displayed earlier in the season.
The issues at the back-end were particularly alarming.
De facto closer Santiago Casilla gave up 11 earned runs in his last 15 appearances and setup man Sergio Romo surrendered six earned runs in his last two games, through Tuesday – Romo yielded just two earned runs the rest of the season.
Offensively, San Francisco was about as lackluster in July as the previous three months.
The Giants, who are fifth in the NL in hits but 11th in runs scored (entering Wednesday), continue to scuffle when it matters most. Ranking last in the league in home runs and pinch-hitting doesn”t help either.
That”s where the two main acquisitions come into play. Scutaro has experience coming off the bench, and Pence had 17 homers and 59 RBI for Philadelphia this year.
How the new additions perform will factor greatly into the team”s success during the next month.
Scutaro figures to see a lot of playing time early on at third base because of the injury to Pablo Sandoval, giving the former Oakland Athletic a chance to make his mark across the bay.
Pence will be the everyday right fielder, turning the Giants” outfield group (already featuring Angel Pagan and All-Star game MVP Melky Cabrera) into one of the most formidable in the majors.
Team execs no doubt hope Pence”s presence will motivate the rest of the lineup into producing consistently with runners on base.
Then again, the Giants had a similar vision with 2011 midseason-acquisition Carlos Beltran, whose .323 batting average, seven homers and .920 OPS in 44 games didn”t inspire his San Francisco teammates.
A normally sure-handed outfielder, Pence is having a down year defensively with a .971 fielding percentage, so he should fit well in San Francisco.
The Giants committed an NL-worst 79 errors through Tuesday, which contributed to 44 unearned runs.
On the mound, San Francisco needs to trust that the bullpen difficulties are temporary and that the starters throw well.
Ryan Vogelsong (8-5 with a majors-best 2.22 ERA), Matt Cain (10-3, 2.80 ERA and 0.97 WHIP) and Madison Bumgarner (11-6, 3.09 ERA and 1.05 WHIP) have baffled hitters – as their stats entering Wednesday show.
Barry Zito (8-7, 3.89 ERA) has pitched better than expected this season, though he”s still prone to the biweekly blowup game.
The Giants” position would become more secure if two-time Cy Young winner Tim Lincecum (5-11, 5.62 ERA) somehow rights the ship down the stretch.
The 28-year-old right-hander and his San Fran-cisco teammates need to focus during these last two months and take advantage of a favorable schedule, consisting of a moderate August and pretty easy September.
The whole NL West race might come down to the final series against Los Angeles in early October but the Giants can”t look that far ahead.
They can”t worry too much about the Dodgers (or the Arizona Diamondbacks, who suddenly crept up). Their concern needs to be working out of this midsummer slump; otherwise the October set in Los Angeles could be their last of the season.
