At more than 20 games above .500 with an ever-widening division lead, the San Francisco Giants are in a prime position.
They”re on the doorstep of clinching a postseason berth and more importantly, look as if they”ve successfully avoided the dangerous one-game wild-card playoff.
The Giants ran away from their NL West foes — most notably, the overpaid rivals in blue and white — in the wake of an embarrassing revelation that would have crippled most teams.
MLB suspended San Francisco”s star outfielder, Melky Cabrera, for 50 games on Aug. 15 because of a positive drug test.
But losing the All-Star Game MVP (and the man who still holds the league”s best batting average) didn”t faze the Giants, who were 21-10 since that day, entering Wednesday.
Catcher Buster Posey continues to power the offense in Cabrera”s absence, hitting .333 with 22 home runs, 93 RBI, 162 hits and a .951 on-base plus slugging overall through Tuesday.
But the bigger spark late in the season has come from trade-deadline acquisition Marco Scutaro. In his first 49 games wearing orange and black, the veteran infielder batted .355 and drove in 32 runs.
As impressive as Scutaro”s numbers are, the Giants probably preferred to get that level of consistency from their other late addition, Hunter Pence.
The big-money outfielder is hovering around .230 as a Giant and had only one multi-hit game in September entering Wednesday. It”s difficult to imagine San Francisco winning a title without Pence contributing down the stretch.
Then again, it”s even harder to see the Giants become champions if Tim Lincecum struggles on the mound.
The right-hander and former Cy Young Award winner is a meager 10-14 with an astonishing 4.91 ERA. However, he has shown signs of progress recently, going 4-1 while yielding three earned runs or fewer in his last six starts.
Barry Zito, who pitched his way off the roster when the Giants won the World Series two years ago, might find himself in the postseason rotation this time around. The lefty is 12-8 overall and San Francisco won the last eight games he started.
Deciding which starter to bump into the bullpen come playoff time could be difficult, considering the results Madison Bumgarner, Matt Cain and Ryan Vogelsong have put up this season.
Of course, the reliever corps is already in pretty good shape — especially at the back end, with Sergio Romo, Javier Lopez and Santiago Casilla each posting a sub-3.00 ERA entering Wednesday.
The Giants clearly have the pitching to get it done, but like 2010, the issue is whether the offense will show up.
San Francisco relied on clutch hitting and production from throughout the lineup during its World Series run.
It remains to be seen whether the 2012 squad — which is seventh in the league in batting but 14th in runs scored — will generate those same results.
And whomever the Giants face in the playoffs won”t give them much time to work into a groove.
The Washington Nationals are a young group, but they”ve been one of the top teams in baseball throughout the season.
The Cincinnati Reds are a hungry team coming off the disappointment of missing the postseason last year; the same can be said of the top-seeded wild-card Atlanta Braves.
With the second wild-card race coming down to the wire, the team that makes it through will be battle-tested.
The competition will be rough, but the Giants continue to show that they”re a force in the National League.
The final 13 games of the regular season could foreshadow their playoff run. If they start looking shaky, then an early exit could be on the horizon. But if they put together a strong finish, that ring might not be too far away.
