SFGate/San Francisco Chronicle
- Rarely does baseball provide such a neatly wrapped package of numbers and perspective.
Two weeks ago, the Giants went into the All-Star break after a 7-3 homestand that fortified all the hope from a season of promise. That was negated by a 3-7 trip that not only returned them where they were July 2, at six games over .500, but also justified the underlying fear they would be exposed.
It ended with a 4-2 loss to Colorado on Sunday. Ryan Sadowski formally returned the keys to his magic pumpkin - he did not last three innings - and an offense that was outscored 44-23 in Pittsburgh, Atlanta and Denver sputtered against Aaron Cook, who won his 10th game.
When the Giants hit the road, they had a two-game lead over the Rockies in the nascent wild-card race. Now, after losing the head-to-head series, they are two games out.
"Awful," first baseman Travis Ishikawa said when asked to assess the trip. "I can't speak for the team, but for me, just us having a great first half and coming out of the All-Star break flat, it's definitely frustrating."
So the Giants will try to get healthy at home, where they are 31-15 and play 13 of their next 16. But they get no break over the next week as the Pennsylvania teams visit.
The Pirates will have the same three starters the Giants saw in Pittsburgh, where they scored five runs in 32 innings. Then the Phillies, the hottest team in the league, enter for four games.
On Friday comes the nonwaiver trade deadline amid word from general manager Brian Sabean that chances for a deal are 50-50.
Although the Giants could use a bopper - they hit one home run on the trip - what they really need are fewer sure outs, especially in RBI situations.
There are options besides the oft-mentioned Freddy Sanchez and Nick Johnson.
A source said the Indians have thoroughly scouted the Giants' system. That could mean the teams are discussing a major deal involving first baseman and catcher Victor Martinez or a lesser deal for first baseman Ryan Garko, whom the Giants scouted earlier this year.
Do not discount Toronto's Marco Scutaro or Baltimore Aubrey Huff, who is slumping and has an average below Ishikawa's, but whose 57 RBIs would rank second on the Giants to Pablo Sandoval's 58.
More immediate internal changes are possible. Triple-A first baseman Jesus Guzman is hot and could get another look.
"We're talking," manager Bruce Bochy said. "I'll talk to Brian. I'll discuss it with the staff on the plane on the way back and see what we can do to get this thing going again."
With the series on the line, Bochy might have wanted his best lineup in the field. But he sat one of his hottest hitters (Nate Schierholtz) and his No. 2 RBI man (Bengie Molina).
Bochy insisted both needed the day off, Schierholtz to rest his bruised leg and Molina to rest, period, after starting at night and the next day in Atlanta followed by two warm night games here.
"Your catcher, you don't want to wear him down in July," Bochy said. "Bengie has been pushed pretty good here the last four or five games."
So the weakened lineup mustered one run in the second inning despite having second and third with nobody out, got a rare two-out RBI hit, by Edgar Renteria, in the sixth then went nine up, nine down over the final three innings.
The bullpen held the Rockies to a run over 51/3 innings after Sadowski allowed three in 22/3. After starting his career 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA, he is 0-3 with a 10.32 ERA since. Bochy said that for now Sadowski will stay in the rotation.
 San Francisco (52-46) Lost 2 | Colorado 4, San Francisco 2 |  Colorado (54-44) Won 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Standings thru 7/26/09 | Gameday |
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