Win the Battle, Lose the Game

Score this one Giants 3, Nationals 2, Forces of Darkness 0. You're never going to see an uglier 1-1 tie ballgame until they let Rhesus monkeys wear major league uniforms. But rookie John Lannan was what we'll call "effectively ineffective" going 7 innings and allowing just 1 run despite coughing up 8 hits and surrendering 5 walks. The kid buckled down when it mattered most, holding "He Who Shall Not be Named" to an 0-3, 1 BB, 1 K evening. Unfortunately Lannan wasn't around to pitch the 10th and 11th, when Chad Cordero, Ray King and Luis Ayala combined to make Lannan look like a latter-day Walter Johnson.

For those who missed the late game (stupid distant West Coast) Misschatter live-blogged the whole thing. Capitol Punishment has a concise recap of the extra inning action, but I'm not in the mood to lay too much of the blame at the feet of our relief corps. Except for Ray King, of course, and he can't see his feet anyway. If that non-inning of work didn't destroy whatever trade value the Burger King has left, then I should be signed, passed through waivers and dealt for an A-baller.

On the other hand, Ray wouldn't have been out there if the Chief had nailed down the save in the bottom of the 10th. Chad wouldn't have blown the save if FLop had just a little more range up the middle. But FLop wouldn't be playing SS if Cristian Guzman hadn't broken his thumb on Josh Barfield's stupid, oversized head. So, you see, the absence of GUZMANIA! is undeniably responsible for the extra inning loss, and the end of our shiny, happy 6-game winning streak. I told you people this would happen.

PS - I know Da Meat Hook had a nice hit, but nobody should get credit for a 309 foot home run, even if it was a 40 foot high screaming liner of a 309 foot home run. Stupid ballpark.