Games 114 and 115: Pirates 3 Giants 1, Giants 10 Pirates 3

For a long time this afternoon, it seemed like today was just an extension of yesterday. Sure, the Pirates and Giants had traveled all the way across the country and changed halves of the scoreboard. That didn't seem to matter as Paul Maholm picked up where Tom Gorzelanny had left off by dominating the Giants over nine easy innings (three hits, no walks, four K's, one run, 91 pitches) to lead the Pirates to quick (as in less than 2 hours) 3-1 win over the Giants. I think Kip Wells once threw more pitches in an inning than Gorzo and Maholm did combined in their back-to-back CGs. Cain was almost as good (especially after the second inning), but Dan Ortmeier's lead glove at first base had already doomed him to a loss.

Shane Youman started off the nightcap just as easily. He zipped through five innings only allowing one hit and it seemed like maybe the Giants had just given up on life and would be hopping off the Clemente Bridge rather than finishing the game. Then the wheels fell off, Ryan Klesko hit a grand slam, Masumi Kuwata did his thing (I know some commenters lobbied to call Jonah Bayliss "The Gas Can", but Kuwata gives up five runs faster than anyone in the history of baseball), and the five game sweep was avoided.

I will close this recap by saying that three days and four games of the Giants announcers on MLB.tv have given me a new appreciation for Lanny, Greg, Bob, Steve, and the Rock. They can be homers, they might talk about anything but baseball, but they generally aren't stupid. The Giants announcers constantly referred to Jason Bay as having one of the best arms in the National League, at one point saying, "it's one of the best I've seen." Now listen here, man who's name I didn't bother to remember, you can quote the assist numbers and I can feel bad for you for being stupid, but lying is different. They then repeatedly talked about how beloved Barry Bonds was in Pittsburgh, even claiming that lots of Pirate fans just pulled up the stakes and became Giant fans when Barry left. Because, you know, Pittsburgh loves anyone that calls them racists. And then finally, after Rajai Davis's diving catch (which was pretty fantastic, admittedly), they gushed on and on about Davis's brilliant play in centerfield, completely ignoring that he had allowed two Ryan Doumit triples and a Josh Phelps triple over the three days this weekend. I've never wanted to hear Steve Blass tell a fishing story so much in my life.