Dodgers-Giants series preview, a view from the other side

Editor's note: This post comes is authored by Russell Preston. Preston is a Giants' fan and runs Seedspitters, a Giants' blog that's part of the Yardbarker Network. Preston is a journalism major at Sacramento State University and was a reporter and editor under my watch.

After a four-run rally in the ninth inning in Oakland on Friday, the Giants were on their way to stealing the series opener from the Athletics.

The Giants never seem to win games when they overcome a deficit. In fact, in the games the Giants were losing after the eighth inning, their record stood at 1-29 before the Game 1 win.

Then a huge game on Saturday had the Giants leading 9-4 with just one out remaining in the ninth. Four relievers and four runs allowed later, the Giants pulled a fluky win out from under the Athletics for yet another lucky win.

In the first two games, the main offensive leaders for the giants came from a future all-star in Buster Posey, and a guy who many thought would never produce at the big league level: Brandon Belt.

Giants’ fans alike were rooting for the kid in Spring Training after a rough rookie season in 2011. Now after some consistent playing time, he has been the most productive Giant in the past couple weeks.

In the past 15 games, Belt has 17 hits in 47 at-bats along with four home runs and 14 RBI. What has been most impressive is his on-base percentage of .509 in that stretch, taking 11 walks and only striking out seven times.

Sunday’s game was the only bad note to Belt’s recent success; he went 0-3 with two strikeouts. Then again, every Giant except Ryan Theriot (2-for-4, 1 R) and Buster Posey (1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI) was unable to hit the ball against the rookie pitcher A.J. Griffin.

The Giants bullpen has been shaky (as seen in the 9-8 win on Saturday, allowing four runs in the ninth), and closer Santiago Casilla has been the weak link this weekend. Casilla allowed a three-run walk-off home run to rookie catcher Derek Norris to give the A’s a 4-2 victory. Other than the past two nights, Casilla had been lights out (even better than Brian Wilson, I might add) against hitters in the ninth.

Heading into an exciting home series with the division-leading Dodgers, the Giants will test their ability to keep a lead in a ballgame.

The offense has been doing well. The only question is if Tim Lincecum and Barry Zito can put together good enough starts to gain some ground on the rivaled Dodgers.

Check out Seedspitters for my take on the Dodgers and this series.

Photo credit: SD Dirk, Flickr

Worst nightmare to come to life?

My worst nightmare might come to life in a matter of hours. Hell, every true Dodgers' fan worst nightmare is about to come to life.

Never did I think the San Francisco Giants would win the World Series. Even in 2002, it just didn't seem possible. But here they sit -- 27 outs away from being crowned champions.

...Excuse me, I just threw up in my mouth a little bit.

How does a team with absolutely no offense score 11 -- including seven off Cliff Lee -- in Game 1 and proceed to dominate two of the next three games? It just doesn't seem right.

Then again, the Rangers aren't exactly a model of dominant baseball. Their hitters have been neutralized all series by elite Giant pitching.

So here I sit, just a few hours from a potential Giant World Series championship, and I couldn't be more upset off about it.

And if it happens, this lovely graphic will be no more:


For shame.