Usually I'm tearing my hair out watching close Giants games like tonight's (especially when Zito is the pitcher), but this game felt surprisingly stress-free. Posey's first-inning home run certainly helped ease the tension, as did the multitude of hard-hit balls by the Cardinals that flew straight at Giants outfielders (the BABIP gods were with Zito tonight). Sure, it woulda been nice to see Pagan and Pence's fly balls go a couple feet further but they got the W, and that's all that matters.
It's hard to ever feel comfortable against this Cardinals' lineup, though. It seems like every one of their hitters is hitting .300, with good power, and above-average OBP. In fact:
1) Schumaker: .314 BA, .391 OBP, .426 SLG
2) Craig: .298, .362, .573
3) Holliday: .323, .403, .550
4) Beltran: .286, .357, .543
5) Freese: .311, .377, .495
6) Y. Molina: .319, .367, .510
7) Jay: .300, .376, .396
8) Furcal: .267, .336, .343
Besides Furcal, every one of those batting lines is really good. Like start-for-any-major-league-team good. And Furcal would be a huge upgrade over Brandon Crawford and Ryan Theriot. To say St. Louis doesn't miss Albert Pujols is an understatement, and Pujols is still one of the best hitters in the game! How this team isn't leading the division or even leading either of the Wild Card spots is a complete mystery.
The Cards won the World Series last year after a scorching September, taking the Wild Card away from the Braves. Guess who's first in the NL Wild Card team right now. Yup, the Braves. A similar end of the season could be in the cards (I love bad puns) for St. Louis.
As for the Giants, they'll have a solid lineup once Sandoval comes back, and we all know they have pitching, so they might be dangerous in their own right. Thank God they picked up Xavier Nady.
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