Chris Haft
MLB.com
So far, 2010 is shaping up to be a lot like 2009 for the Giants.
Their pitching remains outstanding. But their offense is noteworthy only for its repeated shortcomings, which were evident in Sunday's 2-0 loss to the St. Louis Cardinals.
The Giants went hitless in six at-bats with runners in scoring position, wasting the nine hits they did muster against ex-teammate Brad Penny and two relievers.
The hitters themselves seem to be excruciatingly aware of their lapses.
"I think we try to do too much," catcher Bengie Molina said. "That's probably normal."
Infielder-outfielder Mark DeRosa asked nobody in particular, "What were we with runners in scoring position this week? Five-for-80?"
That's an exaggeration, but DeRosa wasn't off by much. The correct answer was 5-for-54 (.093) in San Francisco's last seven games, spanning its four-game losing streak and this series, which the Giants somehow captured two games to one.
Four of those five hits didn't clear the infield, making that statistic all the more gruesome.
"We have to be better. I have to be better," said DeRosa, who's hitting .235 overall and was 0-for-1 Sunday with a teammate in scoring position. "We have to realize how good our pitching staff is. We have to grind at-bats and we have to grind every inning."
DeRosa theorized that scoring first in the early innings, even if it's only a run or two, gives the Giants a considerable edge with a starting staff headed by Tim Lincecum, Barry Zito and Matt Cain.
"Just to put the other team on the defensive," DeRosa said. "They don't want to come in here and face those three guys. Same thing tomorrow against [Philadelphia's Roy] Halladay. We have to find a way to chip across [runs] early, give Jonathan [Sanchez] something to relax with."
Instead, the Giants' anxious approach at the plate is giving opposing pitchers the chance to relax. Ask Penny (3-0), who yielded eight hits in 7 2/3 innings yet was never seriously threatened.
"I didn't throw a pitch as hard as I could all day," Penny said. "That's the first time in my career that's happened. They were being aggressive and they didn't let me get deep into counts. The key for me was mixing it up."
Giants manager Bruce Bochy knows he must mix up his batting order, though there's only so much he can do with center fielder and leadoff hitter Aaron Rowand on the 15-day disabled list until next Sunday.
Don't expect to see Eugenio Velez leading off Monday night's series opener against Halladay and the Phillies, however. Velez is in a 1-for-23 skid, resulting from "pulling off" pitches and trying too hard, in Bochy's view.
"I have to get him out of there with him not seeing the ball right now," Bochy said.
Bochy said he wasn't sure whom he would install at the top of the order, though he actually has more than one viable candidate. Andres Torres went 3-for-4 with a double while hitting eighth Sunday. Torres also made two crowd-pleasing plays in center field. Right fielder Nate Schierholtz, who went 2-for-4, is another possibility.
The Cardinals didn't mount much more offense than the Giants. But they did have Albert Pujols, one of the game's pre-eminent hitters, who yanked a first-inning homer to left field off Matt Cain (0-1). Cain allowed a fourth-inning run as Colby Rasmus doubled, moved to third on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Yadier Molina's sacrifice fly, then vanished after the fifth inning.
That output sufficed for Penny, who excelled for the Giants by posting a 4-1 mark as a stretch-drive acquisition last September. The right-hander improved to 7-2 with a 2.82 ERA at AT&T Park. Those statistics weren't lost on the Giants, who insisted at last December's Winter Meetings that they made a competitive offer to retain Penny, a free agent.
"I was pretty close to coming back but the offer wasn't close to the Cardinals," Penny said. "I grew up in Oklahoma and I was always a Cardinals fan. Still, if the offers were similar I probably would have come back. I love this park. It's a huge park. Some of the balls hit today would have been doubles off the Green Monster. This park allows you to pitch to contact."
Especially when the contact isn't very authoritative.
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